Monaco has called for a woman to be seriously considered as the next United Nations Secretary-General and thrown its weight behind a new declaration on sea-level rise, at the 81st General Assembly in New York. The Principality’s positions were set out by Minister of State Christophe Mirmand who led the delegation through the high-level week from 21st to 28th September and delivered Monaco’s address to the general debate on 25th September on behalf of Prince Albert II.
Mirmand told the assembly that, 80 years after the UN was founded, the candidacies of women should be seriously considered for its top job. António Guterres completes his second and final term as Secretary-General at the end of the year, and the search for his successor is under way. No woman has led the organisation in its history.
Seven candidates are currently in the running, four of whom are women. Based on the United Nations’ informal regional rotation, there is also a strong possibility that a candidate from the Latin American and Caribbean region will be selected.
A defence of international law
Speaking for the UN’s smallest member state — two square kilometres with one of its smallest populations — Mirmand built his address around the defence of international law. Each of the 193 members “has one voice, a single voice, and the same”, he said, equal in rights and in responsibilities. “When force claims to make the law, the smallest are the first to be threatened,” he told delegates. “When law frames force, the whole of humanity is protected.”
He also pressed for reform of the organisation, calling for a simpler, more effective UN, and for international governance of artificial intelligence grounded in law, ethics and human rights.
Sea-level rise declaration adopted
On 24th September, member states unanimously adopted a political declaration on sea-level rise, calling for urgent action to protect populations, territories and economies. Monaco supported the text, and Mirmand told the high-level meeting it should mark a beginning: “The declaration must not be a point of arrival. It must be a point of departure.” He said the Principality would “leave no state alone facing the rising waters”.
Monaco hosts the International Hydrographic Organisation and supports GEBCO, the global project to map the ocean floor, and Mirmand welcomed the entry into force of the High Seas Treaty, which the Principality was among the first countries to sign and ratify.
Talks with fellow small states
At a meeting of small European states co-hosted by Cyprus and Andorra, Mirmand said small states made up the majority of the UN’s membership and that the next Secretary-General must ensure reforms served them. He confirmed that Monaco will host the 2027 Games of the Small States of Europe, and held bilateral talks on the margins of the assembly, including with the foreign minister of Mauritania and the prime minister of Rwanda.
Mirmand closed Monaco’s general-debate address on the commitment made at the UN’s founding: “This promise will only be kept by the force of law, and not the right to force.”
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Photo credit: Loey Felipe, United Nations