Arora Akanksha Is Done ‘Being Nice’ In Her Quest To Become U.N. Leader

Arora Akanksha, a 34-year-old U.N. staffer who has decided to launch a campaign last February to become the next U.N. Secretary-General against incumbent Antonio Guterres, says she is done “being nice” to member states. She is still not considered an official candidate because no country has so far backed her push to become U.N. leader.

In an exclusive interview, Arora Akanksha expresses her disappointment towards Canada, her home country, for not supporting her candidacy. In March, she has met with Canada’s highest officials at the U.N., Ambassador Bob Rae, Louise Blais and Deputy Richard Arbeiter, but says she hasn’t heard from the Canadian government since then. “It shows the lack of courage and leadership of Canadian [Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau,” she said. Canada’s Mission to the U.N. did not immediately answer a request for comments.

Since U.N. officials say candidates need to be backed by a country to be recognized, and the process is in the hand of Security Council members, she is still considered a self-declared, non-official candidate. Despite having been in the media spotlight for the last two months, she has yet to be invited officially to the debate table.

After a tireless two months of campaigning, and as many at the U.N. believe Guterres could get a second term in the coming month, May is going to be a crucial month for her. As such, she is changing her approach to her campaign moving forward: “I’ve tried being nice to member states, and it didn’t work. Now, I’m activating my social media,” she said, adding “[t]his month I will be conducting a lot of workshops, webinars and directly talking to the people on what the U.N. is and what the U.N. should be. Its time for a New U.N. and for a new generation to take the lead.”

The President of the General Assembly (PGA), Volkan Bozkir is holding today, May 7, a dialogue with candidates for the position of Secretary-General, which only includes Guterres. In 2016, in a push to make the process more open and transparent, a total of 13 candidates ran for the job. However, this year, because it is generally a tradition that Secretaries-General get a second term, there was little appetite for competition. Still, Arora Akanksha wished she had a chance to at least debate the Secretary-General, and be able to run a normal campaign. In 75 years, the U.N. has never been led by a woman.

“I started this battle because I was disgusted by what’s going on in the system,” she says, “Now my job is to expose it, educate and give way forward”. She has most recently published a vision statement for the job which was prepared, she says, “with the help of 200 experts and 300 volunteers.” (Guterres’ vision statement is available here)

According to the PGA office, there are currently seven self-nominated candidates, including a former President of Ecuador, Rosalia Arteaga.

Fillion: How has your experience been with the U.N. been so far, running as Secretary-General?

Akankska: I am running for this position because I believe in the U.N. I know the U.N. is capable of doing great things in the world, but the U.N. of today is failing. The world has responded very enthusiastically to my campaign. The employees of the UN are extremely supportive of my candidacy. Young people, especially girls and women are very inspired by my candidacy. People are shocked to learn so much about the U.N. My candidacy is lifting the blackbox of who and what the U.N.N. is. I have been able to expose and explain to the world – that there are two U.N’s – the U.N. that makes decisions and the UN that implements decisions. The decision-making has shortcomings, but the implementation is absolutely failing. We have the highest numbers of refugees, displaced, and stateless people all over the world today – 85 million. For every dollar the UN receives only 29 cents is used for the actual cause, the rest goes towards bureaucracy. When it comes to climate initiatives, that number is 15 cents, which is used for climate initiatives. This is what my candidacy is about – to make a New UN that serves those it’s supposed to serve. 

Fillion: With all the barriers you’ve encountered over the last two months, is your goal still to become Secretary-General, or have you adapted your campaign?

Akanksha: When I was planning my campaign and preparing for it in 2019 and 2020, I was guided by resolution 69/321 passed in 2015, which does not prohibit self-nomination. I thought during my campaign we would be discussing ideas, policies, and ways to make the U.N. work. But here we are, where the member states are exhibiting discriminatory behavior and blocking my candidacy by making it a requirement to secure a member state nomination. This shows how they bend the rules to suit themselves with no shame and consequences. That’s what we the people have to hold them accountable towards. 

With that said, in March I reached out to Canada for a nomination and they took a meeting but not corresponded with me since March 15th. So a no-response is their response. It shows the lack of courage and leadership of Canadian PM Trudeau. As a next step, I reached out to all member states twice and 10 countries have responded to my message. The countries that have met are fearful of nominating me because of retaliation from members of the Security Council and the European Union.

 The western and developed countries, the so-called “global north” have not acknowledged my emails and these are the counties who brand themselves as champions of democracy, gender equality, and youth inclusiveness. So the hypocrisy and double standards by western leaders have been the most shocking and disturbing behavior to witness. I will add, no country with a female head of state has responded to my request either. This goes to further show that we have a long way to go in women empowering and supporting other women leaders.  

Fillion: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the only recognized candidate so far, is holding a dialogue event on May 7, discussing with civil society and member states. Would you like to be there? What would you do?

Akanksha: Have you ever heard of an election with just one candidate? That’s a mockery of an election and a democratic process. The Secretary-General’s behavior through this process is an expression of his lack of leadership and a clear demonstration that he doesn’t believe in women empowerment or youth inclusiveness. He said in a speech, “in a male-dominated world, the empowerment of women must be a key priority”, yet he hasn’t made any attempt to allow self-nominated candidates to be given a hearing date and ensure we have a free and fair election. The current Secretary-General being the only recognized candidate should ring alarm bells for anyone who cares about democracy and equality. What kind of back door dealings has taken place that no other member state has ever nominated a candidate? 

I am sure the civil society can see for themselves what they are seeing today is a curated event with questions filtered and selected ahead of time to achieve the outcome that maintains the status-quo. Status quo that serves those in power but not the people. My campaign has always been about people.

Fillion: What does this say about transparency in general of the process?

Akanksha: There is no transparency in the U.N. system – from the process of selecting the Secretary-General to the operations of the U.N.  

When it comes to the Secretary-General election process you can see for yourself that member states bend resolutions as they see fit. I appeal to the people of the world to not turn a blind eye to this because they think “the U.N. doesn’t impact them”. For far too long the UN has used confusion, complexity as a strategy to keep people away from trying to learn about the UN.  

All member states know the U.N. system is failing, yet they are not willing to engage in the conversion of how the U.N. should change. I am not running for this position because of some long-held desire. I am running because I want to create a UN that is relevant for the 21st century – one that is technologically driven and has innovation at its heart, one where youth are given leadership positions to bring their energy and fresh perspective to the table.