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    June 17, 2011

Security Council Endorses Ban for Second Term as UN Chief

   Margaret Besheer | United Nations
   United Nations SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon holds his smartphone in his
   hotel room in Brazilia, Brazil as he learns that the Security Council
   has voted to recommend him as a candidate for a second term
   Photo: AP
   United Nations SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon holds his smartphone in his
   hotel room in Brazilia, Brazil as he learns that the Security Council
   has voted to recommend him as a candidate for a second term

   The U.N. Security Council has endorsed Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
   for a second five-year term as U.N. chief. The South Korean diplomat
   faces no other candidates and is likely to sail to reappointment in the
   U.N. General Assembly next week.
   The U.N.'s most powerful organ held closed door consultations on Ban's
   reappointment Thursday and then endorsed his second term Friday by
   acclamation in another private meeting. Had any of the five permanent
   members of the council vetoed recommending Ban's reappointment he would
   not have been eligible for another term.
   After the meeting, the president of the U.N. Security Council for June,
   Gabonese Ambassador Nelson Messone, read a communiqué from the
   15-member council.
   "The Security Council, having considered the question of the
   recommendation for the appointment of the secretary-general of the
   United Nations, recommends to the General Assembly that Mr. Ban Ki-moon
   be appointed secretary-general of the United Nations for a second term
   of office from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2016,' he said.
   Speaking from the capital of Brazil, where he is on a Latin American
   tour, Ban said he was "deeply honored" by the Security Council's vote.
   On Tuesday, the 192-member General Assembly is expected to reconfirm
   Ban in a resolution also to be adopted by acclamation.
   Under the U.N. Charter, the post of secretary-general is rotated
   regionally and is currently held by Asia.
   Ban, now 67, moved from being South Korea's foreign minister to U.N.
   chief in January 2007. During his tenure he has made climate change,
   disarmament, gender inequality, and peace and security among his top
   priorities.
   He has been a near-constant traveler, personally extending U.N. and
   international support to countries in crises from natural disasters to
   armed conflict.
   Ban's critics say he has not been as outspoken as he should be on
   issues such as human rights and complain that his 'quiet diplomacy' has
   failed in reigning in the world's dictators and despots.