Posted on 07/21/2006 9:59:22 AM PDT by jome
KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 (Bernama) -- With his good looks Dr Sashi Tharoor could have been a star in the Indian film industry.
Instead, he choose to be a career diplomat and spent the last 28 years serving the United Nations (UN).
Now he cherishes another ambition -- to lead the UN, the world's largest and vital organisation.
The 50 year-old diplomat is India's official candidate for the UN secretary-general's post which falls vacant when Kofi Annan completes his second and final five-year term in December this year.
The London-born United States-educated Indian, who will join three other Asian candidates for the coveted position which by convention should go to Asia, told Bernama Friday that he had a "vision" to change the agency that has come under severe international criticism in recent years.
"I'm a strong believer in change. I believe the organisation needs reform not because the UN has failed but because the UN has succeeded enough that it is worth investing in.
"I come equipped for the job because I know what the job involves and I know how to go about doing it.
"I do have a vision for the UN, that is to articulate to the world that the UN cannot take people's support for granted and explain to governments and the people what the UN is trying to accomplish," said Dr Tharoor who is currently the UN's under-secretary general for Communications and Public Information.
Dr Tharoor, a father of two sons who hails from Kerala, said the UN needed internal and external changes to make it more effective to tackle the growing global woes ranging from nuclear weapons and HIV/AIDs to bird flu which threatens peaceful societies.
His campaign platform is continuity and change within the UN -- to streamline and make all agencies under the UN more effective to resolve current and unpredictable challenges affecting the world.
"First it is important to recognise that the UN is not an organisation where one issue can be focused on at a time. You have to be ready to deal with some 15 unrelated issues every day.
"We need an organisation that is ready to take on the new geo-political environment and new possibilities that the world offers. And I believe I have the skills to take it in that direction," he added.
Besides Dr Tharoor, the other three official candidates for the post are Sri Lanka's Jayantha Dhanapala, adviser to the nation's president with nearly 30 years experience in international relations, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai and South Korea's Foreign Minister Ban ki-Moon.
Asked about his chances, coming from a growing economic powerhouse in the world, the diplomat said his chances were as good as those of the other candidates.
"There seems to be a race where there's no front-runner. That may change after the first (straw) ballot next week.
"But even if there is a front-runner emerging from the ballot next week, my feeling is that the race will remain wide for another couple of months. More candidates will emerge, we will have serious discussion among the governments and see how we can proceed," said Dr Tharoor who is seen as a close ally of Annan.
On flaws in the UN, he said structural bureaucracy impeded functions of the UN.
"I wouldn't call it a flaw, but I would call it a structural reality. You have 192 bosses, 192 countries, they will tell you what to do. As a manager, for example, I have very limited flexibility.
"We need much more flexibility and creativity, which in turn should go down to the lower level managers so that they have the opportunity to deliver results," he added.
Dr Tharoor said poverty eradication, children education, mainly for girls, and healthcare were some pressing issues that needed urgent attention, especially in Africa which is prone to natural disasters and diseases.
-- BERNAMA
I also have a plan for the UN and the first step is building a new office somewhere outside the U.S.
I have an idea as well. Ban all the terrorists countries from U.N...lol
I have an idea as well. Ban all the terrorist countries from U.N...lol
kick them out...
That's the second step of my plan.
>>said Dr Tharoor who is seen as a close ally of Annan.
All I needed to read. Sigh.
i won't blame you for that. Annan is a joker.lol
I also have a plan, but it requires me to wear sunglasses and a flak jacket...
I'm leary of him already.
But there is more money in running the UN.
"I'm a strong believer in change." - Unlike my friend Kofi who prefers to work strictly in folding money, checks, or electronic fund transfers.
Annan is a 'THIEF'!!!
He is a great author, eloquent speaker, with a history of decisive leadership. Far more talented than Any other Secretary General's we ever had.
some info from his website.
Shashi is 50 years old, and has worked for the UN since 1978, the same year he received his PhD at age 22. He's a life long UN Bureaucrat, and may not have the type of independent view of the role of the UN that an outsider might bring to the position.
Born in London in 1956, Shashi Tharoor was educated in Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi (BA in History, St. Stephen's College), and the United States (he got his PhD at the age of 22 from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University).
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