Secretaries-General of International Organizations and Their Career Development: an Analysis of Nine Humanitarian Igos

Secretaries-General of International Organizations and their Career Development: An Analysis of Nine Humanitarian IGOs

Paper for the World Conference on Humanitarian Studies 2-5 June 2011 at Tufts University, Medford MA, USA

By Bob Reinalda, Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands, and IO BIO Editor [email protected] & www.ru.nl/fm/reinalda

Abstract This paper provides a small inventory of what we know about the careers of the secretaries- general (SGs) of nine humanitarian intergovernmental organizations (IGOs). The paper starts with an overview of the 67 SGs (or similar titles) in nine Tables, which together provide some general data, such as about gender, the average duration of the term of office and nationality. The paper questions the information that is available about the careers of these SGs. It does so by comparing the very short biography that is made available at an IGO’s website with a more extensive biographical study. It is not so much the obvious number of words that makes the difference, but the absent political dimension and the way a SG tries to lead an organization. Initiatives taken by Van Heuven Goedhart as the first High Commissioner for Refugees do not match the idea that an IGO, or its main executive, is always part of a principal-agent relationship with the major states. Finally the paper takes a closer look at the information that is available about the careers of all Directors-General of one particular IGO (the FAO). Two topics are discussed: the professional background and the performance as Director-General. Information about the professional background and previous positions are provided to a far larger extent than details about the careers as Director-General. In many cases details about career development are simply lacking and this is even more the case with regard to criticism and disagreement that existed. Essential information about disagreement and changes within the organization has to be retracted from other sources. The general conclusion is that we need to know more about the career development of the secretaries-general of various international organizations.

The IO BIO Project This paper for the WCHR conference in Medford is part of a recently set-up Project: the Biographical Dictionary of Secretaries-General of International Organizations, or IO BIO Project. The Project aims to describe the lives of secretaries-general of international organizations in the format of a so-called ‘short biography’: with between 800 and 3,600 words (the length is determined by level of importance, with three planned category levels). These descriptions will be published as entries in the Biographical Dictionary, both online and in print. The purpose of the project is to know more about the career development of secretaries-general, in particular their capacity to lead an international bureaucracy and to play a role in international relations as representatives of their organizations. Career descriptions pay attention to personal background, such as education and previous positions in both national and international institutions, and the contribution of the organization’s head to his or her profession, organization and international relations as a whole, with specific attention to his or her promotion of new policy directions. A collection of lives of similar functionaries also allows analyses of group aspects (the prosopographical dimension), such as the social and professional connections of SGs and their interactions. Those interested in the career 2 development of SGs of humanitarian or other IGOs are welcomed to write an entry for the IO BIO Project.1

Humanitarian IGOs It is hard to precisely define international organizations as humanitarian and relief organizations, because many IOs may be engaged in humanitarian and relief action in one way or another, but if we leave non-specialized agencies, non-governmental organizations and regional IGOs out there is a cluster of United Nations and non-UN intergovernmental organizations that may be seen as the main humanitarian and relief IGOs. These are: • the Food and Agriculture Organization FAO • the International Organization for Migration IOM (a non-UN IGO) • the UN Development Programme UNDP • the UN Population Fund UNFPA • the UN Settlements Programme UN-HABITAT • the UN High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR • the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF • the World Food Programme WFP, and • the World Health Organization WHO. Many would add the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), but in the context of the IO BIO Project this is seen as part of the UN, headed by an Under-Secretary- General. For practical reasons (mainly the number of SGs and also the issue of how ‘deep’ to go inside an organization) the IO BIO Project has decided to not include Under-SGs. OCHA was formed in 1991 and has been headed by eight Under-Secretaries-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinators.

What do we know about the SGs of these nine humanitarian IGOs? Although it is possible to find information about the SGs of humanitarian (or other) IOs, there is not a coherent body of knowledge about these functionaries available. The IO BIO Project uses the term SG, but includes other executive heads with different titles, such as director- general, administrator or executive director. One organization provides more information than another. In general only very short descriptions of SGs are available, in some cases providing no specifics other than the dates of being SG. Often it is difficult to find details about what SGs did after their appointment as SG. Sometimes an inventory of formal functions is available, but without going into the results, or non-results, of policies and actions. It may be mentioned when a person or the organization itself has received an award, but in general it is difficult to find more details about initiatives and policies initiated by a SG or about particular difficulties a SG met while in function. Sometimes successes are mentioned, but it is far more difficult to find information about failures. These failures may inform us about what was tried, the impediments and the reasons of failure or partial success. In general it can be argued that organizations are not inclined to disclose information about persons that may be harmful to either the person or the organization. The same goes for ‘sensible’ affairs, i.e. those that met with disapproval or criticisms. Our interest in both persons (as leader of an organization or as an actor in international relations) and affairs is not focused on bringing out details about personal scandals or failures as such, but rather focuses on a coherent description of what individuals in an executive position are able to do and what not, in order to see what they have achieved. That heading in a specific direction or changing the organization results in

1 An Invitation to Join the IO BIO Project as well as the Project’s Database and Draft Instructions can be found at www.ru.nl/fm/reinalda, then select IO BIO link. Contact us at [email protected]. 3 criticism and disagreement happens in every large organization. Rather than being silent about these quarrels one should investigate them, both in their technical and political dimensions and also with respect to personal careers. Descriptions of the careers of main staff members in an executive function will help to understand the functioning of an international organization over time.

About how many SGs of humanitarian IGOs are we talking and where do they come from? The Database of the IO BIO Project now covers some 130 IGOs and produces the following results for the humanitarian IGOs mentioned above. Tables 1-9 inform about the years of birth and death of a SG, the years of being SG and the SG’s nationality; there are also some sources with biographical data (for practical reasons restricted to the IGO itself, Wikipedia and a few other sources, such as Nobel Prize descriptions). Names in yellow (or grey in the printed version) refer to the fact that a SG is deceased. This is relevant, because the general rule of biographical dictionaries is to only publish entries about deceased persons (‘the life is finished’ argument). But it may also be discussed to include in IO BIO persons who have been out of office during a certain time (for instance, five years), while it may be expected that they will not return in any function. The Tables 1-9 will say something about the group of SGs of the nine humanitarian IGOs. Each Table informs about the respective SGs of that specific IGO and is followed by a summary, with the numbers of persons who have been SG (m/f), the average term of office and the nationalities of the SGs.

Table 1: The Directors-General of the FAO Boyd Orr, Sir John (U.K.) (b. 1880 – d. 1971) Food and Agriculture Organization FAO Director-General 1945 Oct – 1948, 14 Apr http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boyd_Orr,_1st_Baron_BoydOrr#International_and_political_work http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/p4228e/P4228E07.htm http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1949/orr-bio.html Dodd, Norris E. (U.S.) (b. 1879 – d. 1968) Food and Agriculture Organization FAO Director-General 1948, 14 Apr – 1953, 31 Dec http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/p4228e/P4228E07.htm Cardon, Philip V. (U.S.) (b. 1889 – d. 1965) Food and Agriculture Organization FAO Director-General 1954, 1 Jan – 1956, Apr http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/p4228e/P4228E07.htm Broadley, Sir Herbert (U.K.) (b. 1892 – d. 1983) (acting) Food and Agriculture Organization FAO Director-General 1956, Apr – 1956, Nov http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/p4228e/P4228E07.htm Sen, Binay Ranjan (India) (b. 1898 – d. 1993) Food and Agriculture Organization FAO Director-General 1956, Nov – 1967, 31 Dec http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binay_Ranjan_Sen http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/p4228e/P4228E07.htm Boerma, Addeke Hendrik (Neth.) (b. 1912 – d. 1992) Food and Agriculture Organization FAO Director-General 1968 1 Jan – 1975, 31 Dec http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/p4228e/P4228E07.htm Saouma, Édouard (Lebanon) (b. 1926) Food and Agriculture Organization FAO Director-General 1976, 1 Jan – 1993, 31 Dec http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edouard_Saouma http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/p4228e/P4228E07.htm Diouf, Jacques (Senegal) (b. 1938) Food and Agriculture Organization FAO Director-General 1994, 1 Jan – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Diouf 4 http://www.fao.org/about/21423-1-0.pdf Summary FAO: 8 men over a period of 66 years: with one Director-General acting, an average term of office of 9 years; nationalities: 2 UK, 2 US and 1 each from India, The Netherlands, Lebanon and Senegal

Table 2: The Directors-General of the IOM and its Predecessors Gibson, Hugh S. (U.S.) (b. 1883 – d. 1954) Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration ICEM (1980 Intergovernmental Committee for Migration ICM; 1989 International Organization for Migration) Director-General 1952, Jun 10 – 1954, Dec 12 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_S._Gibson Tittman, Jr., Harold H. (U.S.) (b. 1893 - d. 1980) Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration ICEM (1980 Intergovernmental Committee for Migration ICM; 1989 International Organization for Migration) Director-General 1955, May 3 – 1958, May 13 Daly, Marcus (U.S.) (b. 1908 – d. 1969) Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration ICEM (1980 Intergovernmental Committee for Migration ICM; 1989 International Organization for Migration) Director-General 1958, May 14 – 1961, Oct 3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Daly_%28politics%29 (?) Haveman, Bastiaan W. (Netherlands) (b. 1903 - d. 1979) Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration ICEM (1980 Intergovernmental Committee for Migration ICM; 1989 International Organization for Migration) Director-General 1961, Oct 27 – 1969, Feb 8 Thomas, John F. (U.S.) Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration ICEM (1980 Intergovernmental Committee for Migration ICM; 1989 International Organization for Migration) Director-General 1969, Feb 14 – 1979, Feb 28 Carlin, James L. (U.S.) Intergovernmental Committee for Migration ICM (prev. Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration ICEM; 1989 International Organization for Migration IOM) Director-General 1979, Mar 1 – 1988, Sep 30 Purcell, Jr., James (U.S.) (b. 1938) International Organization for Migration IOM (1952 Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration ICEM; 1980 Intergovernmental Committee for Migration ICM; as of 14 Nov 1989 IOM) Director-General 1988, Oct 1 – 1998, Sep 30 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_N._Purcell,_Jr. McKinley, Brunson (U.S.) (b. 1943) International Organization for Migration IOM (1952 Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration ICEM; 1980 Intergovernmental Committee for Migration ICM; as of 14 Nov 1989 IOM) Director-General 1998, Oct 1 – 2008, Sep 30 http://www.aim-international.org/community/members/bkinley/default.aspx http://www.iom.int/jahia/webdav/shared/shared/mainsite/microsites/IDM/workshops/global_labour_m obility _0809102007/bios/bio_mckinley.htm Swing, William Lacy (U.S.) (b. 1934) International Organization for Migration IOM (1952 Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration ICEM; 1980 Intergovernmental Committee for Migration ICM; as of 14 Nov 1989 IOM) Director-General 2008, Oct 1 – http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/director-general/lang/en http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lacy_Swing http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lacy_Swing Summary IOM: 9 men over a period of 59 years: an average term of office of 6.5 years; nationality: 8 US, 1 from The Netherlands

Table 3: The Administrators of the UNDP Hoffman, Paul Gray (U.S.) (b. 1891 – d. 1974) United Nations Development Programme UNDP Administrator 1966, Jan – 1972 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_G._Hoffman Peterson, Rudolph A. (U.S.) (b. 1904 – d. 2003) United Nations Development Programme UNDP Administrator 1972 – 1976 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolph_A._Peterson Morse, Frank Bradford (U.S.) (b. 1921 – d. 1994) United Nations Development Programme UNDP Administrator 1976 – 1986 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradford_Morse Draper, William Henry III (U.S.) (b. 1928) United Nations Development Programme UNDP Administrator 1986 – 1993 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Draper_III Speth, James Gustave (Gus) (U.S.) (b. 1942) United Nations Development Programme UNDP Administrator 1993 – 1999, Jun 30 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Speth Malloch Brown, George Mark, Baron Malloch-Brown (U.K.) (b. 1953) United Nations Development Programme UNDP Administrator 1999, Jul 1 – 2005, Aug http://www.undp.org/about/mmb-bio.shtml http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Malloch_Brown Derviş, Kemal (Turkey) (b. 1949) United Nations Development Programme UNDP Administrator 2005, Aug 15 – 2009, Feb 28 http://www.undp.org/about/bio1.shtml http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kemal_Dervi%C5%9F Melkert, Ad (Netherlands) (b. 1956) (acting) United Nations Development Programme UNDP Administrator 2009, Mar 1 – 2009, Apr 20 http://www.undp.org/about/melkert.shtml http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_Melkert Clark, Helen Elizabeth (f) (New Zealand) (b. 1950) United Nations Development Programme UNDP Administrator 2009, Apr 20 – http://www.undp.org/about/helen-clark-bio.shtml http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Clark Summary UNDP: 8 men and 1 woman over a period of 45 years; with one Administrator acting, an average term of office of 5.5 years; nationality: 5 US, 1 each for The Netherlands, New Zealand, Turkey and the UK

Table 4: The Executive Directors of the UNFPA Salas, Rafael Montinola (Philippines) (b. 1928 – d. 1987) United Nations Fund for Population Activities UNFPA (1987 United Nations Population Fund) Executive Director 1969 – 1987 http://www.unfpa.org/public/site/global/lang/en/pid/4755 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_M._Salas Sadik, Nafis (f) (Pakistan) United Nations Population Fund UNFPA (prev. United Nations Fund for Population Activities) Executive Director 1987 – 2000 http://www.unfpa.org/public/site/global/lang/en/pid/4827 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nafis_Sadik Obaid, Thoraya Ahmed (f) (Saudi Arabia) United Nations Population Fund UNFPA (prev. United Nations Fund for Population Activities) Executive Director 2001 – 2010 http://www.unfpa.org/public/site/global/lang/en/pid/4741 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoraya_Ahmed_Obaid Osotimehin, Babatunde (Nigeria) (b. 1949) United Nations Population Fund UNFPA (prev. United Nations Fund for Population Activities) 6

Executive Director 2011, Jan – http://www.unfpa.org/public/site/global/lang/en/pid/7096 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babatunde_Osotimehin Summary UNFPA: 2 men and 2 women over a period of 42 years; with one Executive Director starting in 2011, an average term of office of nearly 14 years; nationality: 1 each for Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia

Table 5: The Executive Directors of UN-HABITAT Tibaijuka, Anna Kajumulo (f) (Tanzania) (b. 1950) United Nations Human Settlements Programme UN-HABITAT Executive Director 2000, Sep – 2010, Oct http://www.unhabitat.org/categories.asp?catid=14 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Tibaijuka Clos, Joan (Spain) (b. 1949) United Nations Human Settlements Programme UN-HABITAT Executive Director 2010, Oct 18 - http://www.unhabitat.org/categories.asp?catid=649 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Clos_i_Matheu Summary UN-HABITAT: 1 man and 1 woman; with one Executive Director starting in 2010, an average term of office of 10 years; nationality: 1 each for Spain and Tanzania

Table 6: The UN High Commissioners for Refugees Van Heuven Goedhart, Gerrit Jan (Netherlands) (b. 1901 – d. 1956) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR 1951 – 1956 http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49da0b4d6.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Jan_van_Heuven_Goedhart Lindt, Auguste R. (Switzerland) (d. 2000) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR 1956 – 1960 http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49da0b296.html Schnyder, Félix (Switzerland) (b. 1910 – d. 1992) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR 1960 – 1965 http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49da0b0d6.html Aga Khan, Sadruddin (Iran) (b. 1933 – d. 2003) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR 1965 – 1977 http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49da0aed6.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Sadruddin_Aga_Khan Hartling, Poul (Denmark) (b. 1914 – d. 2000) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR 1978 – 1985 http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49da0abf6.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poul_Hartling Hocké, Jean-Pierre (Switzerland) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR 1986 – 1989 http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49da0aa16.html Stoltenberg, Thorvald (Norway) (b. 1931) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR 1990, Jan – 1990, Nov http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49da0a756.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorvald_Stoltenberg Ogata, Sadako (f) (Japan) (b. 1927) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR 1990 – 2000 http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49da0a2a6.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadako_Ogata Lubbers, Ruud (Netherlands) (b. 1939) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR 2001 – 2005 http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49da08dd6.html 7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruud_Lubbers Guterres, António (Portugal) (b. 1949) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR 2005, Jun 15 – http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c8.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant%C3%B3nio_Guterres Summary UNHCR: 9 men and 1 woman over a period of 61 years: an average term of office of 6 years; nationality: 3 Switzerland, 2 The Netherlands and 1 each for Denmark, Iran, Japan, Norway and Portugal

Table 7: The Executive Directors of UNICEF Pate, Maurice (U.S.) (b. 1894 – d. 1965) United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund / United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF (as of 6 Oct 1953) Executive Director 1946, 11 Dec – 1965, 19 Jan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Pate http://www.unicef.org/about/who/index_bio_pate.html Labouisse, Henry (U.S.) (b. 1904 – d. 1987) United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF (prev. UN International Children’s Emergency Fund) Executive Director 1965, Mar – 1979, 31 Dec http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Richardson_Labouisse,_Jr. http://www.unicef.org/about/who/index_bio_labouisse.html Grant, James (U.S.) (b. 1922 – d. 1995) United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF (prev. UN International Children’s Emergency Fund) Executive Director 1980, 1 Jan – 1995, 28 Jan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_P._Grant http://www.unicef.org/about/who/index_bio_grant.html Bellamy, Carol (f) (U.S.) (b. 1942) United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF (prev. UN International Children’s Emergency Fund) Executive Director 1995, 1 May – 2005, 30 Apr http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Bellamy http://www.unicef.org/about/who/index_bio_bellamy.html Veneman, Ann (f) (U.S.) (b. 1949) United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF (prev. UN International Children’s Emergency Fund) Executive Director 2005, 1 May – 2010, 30 Apr http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_M._Veneman http://www.unicef.org/about/who/index_53479.html Lake, Anthony (U.S.) (b. 1939) United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF (prev. UN International Children’s Emergency Fund) Executive Director 2010, 1 May – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Lake http://www.unicef.org/media/media_53427.html Summary UNICEF: 4 men and 2 women over a period of 65 years; with one Executive Director starting in 2010, an average term of office of 12.8 years; nationality: 6 US

Table 8: The Executive Directors of the WFP Boerma, Addeke Hendrik (Netherlands) (b. 1912 – d. 1992) World Food Programme WFP Executive Director 1962, Jun 1 – 1967, Dec 31 http://one.wfp.org/aboutwfp/how_run/documents/EX%20ED%20Bio%20-%20Boerma%20- %20E%20-%20Col%20-%20Nov%2006.pdf Dev, Sushil K. (India) (acting) (b. 1907 – d. ) World Food Programme WFP Executive Director 1968, Jan 1 – 1968, Aug 1 http://one.wfp.org/aboutwfp/how_run/documents/EX%20ED%20Bio%20-%20Dev%20-%20E%20- %20Col%20-%20Nov%2006.pdf http://www.un.org/sg/senstaff_details.asp?smgID=112 8

Aquino Herrera, Franciso (El Salvador) (b. 1919) World Food Programme WFP Executive Director 1968, Aug 1 – 1976, May 15 http://one.wfp.org/aboutwfp/how_run/documents/EX%20ED%20Bio%20-%20Aquino%20- %20E%20-%20Col%20-%20Nov%2006.pdf Robinson, Thomas C.M. (U.S.) (b. 1912) World Food Programme WFP Executive Director 1976, May 17 – 1977, Sep 30 (acting to 1 Jul 1977) http://one.wfp.org/aboutwfp/how_run/documents/EX%20ED%20Bio%20-%20Robinson%20- %20E%20-%20Col%20-%20Nov%2006.pdf Vogel, Garson N. (Canada) (b. 1918 m- d. 1981) World Food Programme WFP Executive Director 1977, Oct 1 – 1981, Apr 29 http://one.wfp.org/aboutwfp/how_run/documents/EX%20ED%20Bio%20-%20Vogel%20-%20E%20- %20Col%20-%20Nov%2006.pdf de Azevedo Brito, Bernado (Brazil) (b. 1935) (acting) World Food Programme WFP Executive Director 1981, May 12 – 1982, Feb 24 http://one.wfp.org/aboutwfp/how_run/documents/EX%20ED%20Bio%20-%20Azevedo%20- %20E%20-%20Col%20-%20Nov%2006.pdf Yriat, Juan Felipe (Uruguay) (b. 1919 – d. 2008) (acting) World Food Programme WFP Executive Director 1982, Feb 26 – 1982, Apr 4 http://one.wfp.org/aboutwfp/how_run/documents/EX%20ED%20Bio%20-%20Yriat%20-%20E%20- %20Col%20-%20Nov%2006.pdf Ingram, James C. (Australia) (b. 1928) World Food Programme WFP Executive Director 1982, Apr 5 – 1992, Apr 1 http://one.wfp.org/aboutwfp/how_run/documents/EX%20ED%20Bio%20-%20Ingram%20- %20E%20-%20Col%20-%20Nov%2006.pdf Bertini, Catherine (f) (U.S.) (b. 1950) World Food Programme WFP Executive Director 1992, Apr 1 – 2002, Apr 4 http://one.wfp.org/aboutwfp/how_run/biography/bertini.asp?section=1&sub_section=3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Bertini Morris, James T. (U.S.) (b. 1943) World Food Programme WFP Executive Director 2002, Apr 5 – 2007, Apr 4 http://one.wfp.org/aboutwfp/how_run/biography/morris.asp?section=1&sub_section=3 Sheeran, Josette (f) (U.S.) (b. 1954) World Food Programme WFP Executive Director 2007, Apr 10 - http://www.wfp.org/about/corporate-information/executive-director/biography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josette_Sheeran Summary WFP: 9 men and 2 women over a period of 49 years; with two acting Executive Directors, an average term of office of 5.2 years; nationality: 4 US, 1 each for Australia, Brazil, Canada, El Salvador, India, The Netherlands and Uruguay

Table 9: The Directors-General of the WHO Chisholm, Brock (Canada) (b. 1896 – d. 1971) World Health Organization WHO Director-General 1948 – 1953 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brock_Chisholm Candau, Marcelino Gomes (Brazil) (b. 1911 – d. 1983) World Health Organization WHO Director-General 1953 – 1973 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcolino_Gomes_Candau Mahler, Halfdan T. (Denmark) (b. 1923) World Health Organization WHO Director-General 1973 – 1988 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halfdan_T._Mahler Nakajima, Hiroshi (Japan) (b. 1928) World Health Organization WHO Director-General 1988 – 1998 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshi_Nakajima Brundtland, Gro Harlem (f) (Norway) (b. 1939) 9

World Health Organization WHO Director-General 1998, 13 May – 2003, 21 Jul http://www.who.int/dg/brundtland/bruntland/en/index.htmlv http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gro_Harlem_Brundtland Lee Jong-wook (Rep. of Korea) (b. 1945 – d. 2006) World Health Organization WHO Director-General 2003, 21 May – 2006, 22 May http://www.who.int/dg/lee/biography/en/index.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Jong-Wook Nordström, Anders (Sweden) (b. 1960) (acting) World Health Organization WHO Director-General 2006, 23 May – 2006, 8 Nov http://www.who.int/dg/nordstrom/biography/en/index.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders_Nordstr%C3%B6m Chan, Margaret (f) (China) (b. 1947) World Health Organization WHO Director-General 2006, 9 Nov – http://www.who.int/dg/chan/en/index.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Chan Summary WHO: 6 men and 2 women over a time period of 63 years; with one Director- General acting, an average term of office of 8.8 years; nationality: 1 each for Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Japan, Norway, the Republic of Korea and Sweden

What do we know about this group of SGs? The total number of secretaries-general (or rather similar titles: 4 Executive Directors, 3 Directors-General, 1 Administrator and 1 High Commissioner) for these nine humanitarian IGOs is 67, of whom 56 men and 11 women. Based on the summaries of the nine IGOs the average term of office of SGs in these organizations varies from 5.2 years to 14 years: WFP: 5.2 years, UNDP: 5.5 years, UNHCR: 6 years, IOM: 6.5 years, WHO: 8.8 years, FAO: 9 years, UN-HABITAT: 10 years, UNICEF: 12.8 years and UNFPA: 14 years. Among the nationalities of these SGs (see Table 10) the most represented states are the US (25), The Netherlands (6), Switzerland (3) and the United Kingdom (3), with 18 states having one SG. If we group these states by ‘continent’, the results are:

North America 27 Western Europe and Turkey 20 Asia-Pacific 10 Central and South America 4 Africa 3 Middle East 3

Table 10: Nationalities of SGs of Nine Humanitarian IGOs US 25 Australia 1 Republic of Korea 1 The Netherlands 6 China 1 Saudi Arabia 1 Switzerland 3 El Salvador 1 Senegal 1 UK 3 Iran 1 Spain 1 Brazil 2 Lebanon 1 Sweden 1 Canada 2 New Zealand 1 Tanzania 1 Denmark 2 Nigeria 1 Turkey 1 India 2 Pakistan 1 Uruguay 1 Japan 2 Philippines 1 Norway 2 Portugal 1

By the time that we will have more descriptions of the lives of these SGs we will be better informed about their background. Were they trained diplomats, politicians or coming from a military background? Did they themselves have administrative and bureaucratic skills or did they leave the running of the bureaucracy to other staff members? And were they initiators with regard to policies or did they accept the political realities of their principals, the major states, as assumed in principal-agency theory? In order to answer the last question the career of the first High Commissioner for Refugees will be discussed.

The career of Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart as High Commissioner Let me show the difference between the short UNHCR biography of its first High Commissioner and the light an entry in the IO BIO Project may shed on the career of a SG, in this case a High Commissioner for Refugees. At the website of the UNHCR (www.unhcr.org/pages/49da0b4d6.html; accessed on 10 May 2011) there is a short biography of 123 words, which says: ‘As High Commissioner, van Heuven Goedhart put much of his energy into securing funds for the estimated 2.2 million refugees still displaced after the Second World War. By the time of his sudden death in 1956, he had put UNHCR on a much sounder financial footing than five years earlier.’ Without disputing the substance of these sentences and also understanding that the organization only provides a short biography (as well as some of his speeches!), I believe that an entry about him in a Biographical Dictionary deserves more attention to the ways in which Van Heuven Goedhart secured the funds and financial footing mentioned in the UNHCR quote. In the Netherlands Jeroen Corduwener just published a biography of Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart,2 who was UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 1951 and 1956. The book describes his background as a lawyer and a journalist, who became a resistance fighter during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940-1945). He was the editor in chief of an illegally printed and distributed resistance newspaper and after his escape to London in 1944 he became engaged in Dutch politics as a member of the government-in- exile. After the war he returned to journalism, but also became a Senator for the Dutch Labour Party, with a critical attitude towards the Dutch (war) policies vis-à-vis Indonesia that as a colony strived for independence. In 1947 Van Heuven Goedhart became a member of the Dutch governmental delegation to the UN Economic and Social Council meetings in Geneva and was elected a member of the subcommittee on liberty and information. Given his qualities as a diplomat and his proficiency in various languages, he became engaged in UN policies in various areas, among them the 1951 Convention related to the status of refugees. Eventually he became the first High Commissioner. However, the UNHCR was an institution that the US for various reasons did not support, the main one being the fear of the need to support another expensive institution after the UNRRA (UN Relief and Rehabilitation Administration) and IRO (International Refugee Organization). As Table 6 above shows, none of the High Commissioners for Refugees has been an American, whereas most Directors-General of the IOM (and its predecessors) have been US citizens (see Table 2: 8 out of 9). US policies focused on the IOM (ICEM at the time), rather than on the UNHCR. Because the US did not support UNHCR, Van Heuven Goedhart’s main job was finding resources, apart from his thorough fact finding about refugees in the various camps in Europe (at that time some 200). He visited many camps in his second-hand Studebaker and elaborated his ideas about what refugees needed and also became strongly convinced that the refugee problem was not ‘over’. While the US-led IRO, which was in liquidation, in fact did not cooperate with the UNHCR, or rather frustrated UNHCR activities, the US argued that the UNHCR was not allowed to raise funds. Van Heuven Goedhart then used his connections

2 Jeroen Corduwener, Riemen om de kin! Biografie van mr. dr. Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart, Amsterdam: Bert Bakker 2011. 607 pp. 11 with the Dutch royal family (dating from the war time) which resulted in the Dutch Queen Juliana approaching US President Truman (and later also Eisenhower) to support the establishment of a UN Refugee Emergency Fund, given the ongoing refugee problems and the many difficult cases. These and other political moves led to a situation that in 1952 the US allowed fund raising. Van Heuven Goedhart felt like the world’s ‘beggar No. 1’, but succeeded in attracting resources, most notably in 1952 from the American Ford Foundation. Van Heuven Goedhart managed to keep a smile on his face, when he was forced to cooperate harmoniously, first with the IRO and later as a condition for further fundraising with the IOM, and also bluffed his way into politics when the number of Eastern European refugees began to grow by using the money from the Ford Foundation and states like Switzerland, Norway and West-Germany. He sent a staff member from Geneva to West Berlin to actually coordinate the processes and arranged accommodation in prefab houses. These vigorous actions made the UNHCR the leading and accepted organization for managing the problem of new refugees at the time. He took care of political contacts necessary for these moves, including talks with the US President and high officials, and continued his begging, using his charisma and even piano recitals at receptions to win sympathy and to get more resources. Rather than stressing how much money he had actually received (eventually he would collect some 6 million dollar during his terms of office), he would argue how much money he needed. He showed that other UN agencies were much better off. UNWRA, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, had an objective of 24 million dollar, UNICEF of 17.5 million, whereas the UNHCR Emergency Fund had an objective of just 4.2 million dollar. While UNWRA and UNICEF met their objectives because the governments provided the money, the Emergency Fund was still half empty and half of that amount was not made available by governments, but was donated by a private Dutch initiative. This private initiative was publicly supported by Queen Juliana and resulted from a common endeavour of Van Heuven Goedhart and Juliana. This initiative resulted in the establishment of a (still existing) Dutch NGO for refugee help and in an amount of one million dollar that helped to fill up the Emergency Fund. Van Heuven Goedhart used the Dutch case as an example elsewhere. In order to draw attention to the support for refugee action Van Heuven Goedhart invented the Nansen Medal Award, received by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1954 and by Queen Juliana in 1955. Based on the chapters 18 and 19 of Corduwener’s book, this information shows that a strong political dimension to the terms of office of the first High Commissioner existed, during which the US changed from a negative to a positive attitude vis-à-vis the UNHCR. This has to be mentioned in order to understand the position of the High Commissioner. The book also shows that Van Heuven Goedhart took various initiatives in order to establish an Emergency Fund, in securing resources for that fund (including private funding) and in coordinating the new refugee problem in Europe, as well as elsewhere (in Asia and Latin America). In this Van Heuven Goedhart case it seems difficult to assess the High Commissioner as an actor in a principal-agent relation, in which the agent (the UNHCR) acted according to the wishes of the strongest nation-state(s). According to Corduwener the importance of the function should be put into perspective: ‘it was a newly created position with a mandate of only three years, caring for one last “remnant” refugees of the Second World War, an annual budget of $ 300,000 and a staff of 30 men, housed on the top floor of the Palais des Nations in Geneva’. In 1956 and a new mandate later much had changed for Van Heuven Goedhart. ‘The organisation now cared about over two million refugees; the Geneva Convention had been written, there was an agreed budget of sixteen million, the number of staff employed grew threefold and was housed in twelve offices all over the world’ (Corduwener 2011: 587).

What do we know about the Directors-General of the FAO? Apart from discussing one Secretary-General we may also use the Tables to know more about the respective Secretaries-General of one particular IGO. This will help to understand the organization’s policies, including changes, over a longer time period or even its entire existence. Table 1, for instance, can be used to find out what we know about two aspects of the Directors-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization: their professional background and their performance as Director-General.

Sir John Boyd Orr was the director of an institute of research in animal nutrition, who became university rector in 1945 and later that year was elected the first Director-General of the FAO (1945-1948). The FAO mentions that he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1949, but we hardly learn at the FAO website what he did for the FAO. ‘Although he had accomplished a great deal in developing the Organization's basic structures and programme, he left with a feeling of grave disappointment over the rejection of his idea for a World Food Board’, according to the FAO (http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/p4228e/P4228E07.htm; accessed on 10 May 2011). The Nobel Prize organization is more informative in its short biography, but mentions the same disappointment: ‘Boyd Orr found his work with the FAO exasperating because of the FAO's lack of authority and funds, but he energetically pursued every avenue for improving the world production and equitable distribution of food. In 1946, under the aegis of the FAO, he set up an International Emergency Food Council, with thirty-four member nations, to meet the postwar food crisis. He traveled extensively throughout the world trying to get support for a comprehensive food plan and was bitterly disappointed when his proposal for the establishment of a World Food Board failed in 1947 when neither Britain nor the United States would vote for it. Believing that the FAO could not, at that point, become a spearhead for a movement to achieve world unity and peace, Boyd Orr resolved to resign as director-general and to go into business.’ (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1949/orr-bio.html; accessed on 10 May 2011). Although I did not go into details with regard to the professional background and previous positions, both Boyd Orr sources provide sufficient information about the background, far more indeed than about his career as Director-General. The same goes for his successors.

Norris E. Dodd was FAO Director-General between 1948 and 1953. He was a pharmacist, who became involved in governmental organizations in the US dealing with agriculture. After having been a US delegate to the FAO Conference, all that is mentioned by the FAO is that during his term of office the FAO headquarters was transferred from Washington to Rome (http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/p4228e/P4228E07.htm; accessed on 10 May 2011).

Philip V. Cardon was FAO Director-General between 1954 and 1956. He studied agricultural economics and did research work on forage crops in the US. He participated in The Hot Springs Conference of 1944 as a member of the Technical Secretariat. All we learn at the FAO website is that he resigned in 1956 owing to ill health (http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/p4228e/P4228E07.htm; accessed on 10 May 2011).

Sir Herbert Broadley from the UK was acting Director-General in 1956. He had served in the British civil service and was involved in various international negotiations, but from 1926 to 1939 he worked for an advertising firm. During the war he was Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Food and since 1948 he was FAO Deputy Director-General.

Binay Rajan Sen was an Indian diplomat, who served as FAO Director-General between 1956 and 1967. He studied in India and the United Kingdom and worked between 1943 and 1946 as Director General of Food for all India. The FAO website is short but positive about his FAO career. ‘Among the innovations that took place during Mr. Sen's term of office were the development of the Freedom from Hunger Campaign, and the holding of the first World Food Congress in 1963’ (http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/p4228e/P4228E07.htm; accessed on 10 May 2011). Wikipedia is even more positive. Sen ‘drew on his experience as relief commissioner (1942-43) during the Bengal famine of 1943 to build the FAO from a data- gathering bureaucracy into a major force against world hunger’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binay_Ranjan_Sen; accessed on 10 May 2011). Good to hear about an innovation and organizational change, but we do not hear very much about what happened during the 1960s and how the campaign affected the organization. Was that policy successful? To what extent? Where there any negative or side effects?

Addeke Boerma from the Netherlands served as Director-General between 1968 and 1975. He was a specialist in horticulture and agricultural economics. He joined the FAO staff in 1948 and in 1958 became Director of the Economics Division. In 1967 he became Assistant Director-General. What we learn at the FAO website is that he served two terms: ‘In November 1967, Mr. Boerma was elected to the post of Director-General of FAO for a four- year term, from 1 January 1968 to 31 December 1971. In November 1971 he was re-elected for a further four years, until the end of 1975’ (http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/p4228e/P4228E07.htm; accessed on 10 May 2011). Nothing is mentioned about his policies, whereas a Dutch short biography by M.G.M. Smits argues that he began to reorganize the FAO, shifting the focus from hunger to poverty. In 1968 there were four rounds of elections before Boerma defeated Sen. He changed the staff mentality by chasing them out of their office as he instructed them to see the world from the perspective of the fields and the farmers. Initially he was optimistic about beating hunger and poverty, but soon he understood that these were difficult goals. Unlike Henry Kissinger, Boerma did not believe that hunger could be banned in a time period of ten years, in particular as a result of insufficient political will to do so. He said this in 1975 when leaving the FAO (http://www.inghist.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/BWN/lemmata/bwn6/boerma; accessed on 10 May 2011).

Édouard Saouma from Lebanon was FAO Director-General between 1976 and 1993, which is a term of office of 18 years (three terms). He studied agricultural chemistry and agronomy in Lebanon and France and served in governmental institutions, becoming Minister of Agriculture in 1970. He participated in FAO Conference and Council meetings between 1955 and 1961 and served as the FAO’s Deputy Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific from 1962 to 1965. This time the FAO website is more informative about his being Director- General, because it is argued that Saouma introduced two innovations, i.e. the setting up of a corps of FAO Representatives as a main instrument for the decentralization of FAO’s activities to the country level and the establishment of a Technical Cooperation Programme for the provision of small-scale, short-term assistance of an urgent nature (http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/p4228e/P4228E07.htm; accessed on 10 May 2011). Wikipedia is more critical and refers to his ‘controversial leadership’. During the 1987 elections the states that wanted to replace him concerted their strategy in secret meetings, known as the Camberley Group, but Saouma was re-elected. His tenure was marked by dedication to and support from Third World Countries, his independence from major donor states and his initiatives, although it is also said that he could have been more successful by a stronger identification of the FAO with the fight against global hunger, according to this 14 source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edouard_Saouma; accessed on10 May 2010). It may be difficult to assess the Wikipedia information, but it may be obvious that a closer look at this long term of office and the disagreements that came into being is required.

Present Director-General Jacques Diouf from Senegal has been in office since 1994, which is nearly as long as his predecessor: three terms. Diouf studied agriculture, agronomy and agricultural economics in France and became an international civil servant as Executive Secretary of the West Africa Rice Development Association (1971-1977) and Secretary- General of the Central Bank of West African States (1985-1990), while also being Secretary of State for Science and Technology in Senegal between 1978 and 1983. The FAO website presents a rather formal curriculum vitae, statements and speeches. ‘The current Director- General, Dr Jacques Diouf of Senegal, was elected on 8 November 1993 and began his first six-year term in January 1994. After completing a second term, Dr Diouf was re-elected to a third six-year term, which began in January 2006’ (http://www.fao.org/about/director-gen/en/; accessed on 10 May 2011). His summary CV adds: ‘He sat on the boards of a number of international institutions and produced several scientific publications. He has received numerous high awards from governments around the world and various academic recognitions (Doctor Honoris Causa and Membership of Academies of Agriculture and Science)’. In 2006 a British newspaper published the resignation letter of Assistant Director- General Louise Fresco, in which she speaks about the fact that he has isolated himself so much from most senior managers, according to Wikipedia. ‘Combined with a lack of transparency in decision making, you have stimulated a culture of silence, rumors and even fear’. She also refers to a steady decline of the organization’s contribution and reputation and stated that his leadership has not proposed bold options to overcome the crisis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Diouf; accessed on 10 May 2010). Although the information presented here is restricted and Wikipedia may not be a reliable source, the conclusion is that we need a more balanced description of the Director-General’s career for such a long term of office.

Conclusion This short inventory shows that we need to find out much more about these individuals: less about their backgrounds because in most cases such data are being provided, but much more about the careers within the IGOs, about which hardly any information is given. With regard to the professional background and previous positions of these eight men we can conclude that most of them came from a background with study of agriculture and experience in government positions and policies in that field, with two diplomats as major exceptions (Broadly and Sen). But even they had experience in a Ministry of Food. Because it is rather difficult to easily find information about the career developments of Secretaries-General, it is necessary to know more about organizational developments and the roles of executives. Taken together the various careers of the FAO Directors-General have shown important trends in the organization, such as the setting up of basic structures, moving headquarters, initiation, elaboration and implementation of specific policies, disagreement about policies and functionaries and changes of the organization’s focus. What is missing most is a Biographical Dictionary with detailed entries about the background and career development of Secretaries-General of international organizations. The IO BIO Project is seeking participants; contact us at [email protected]. The writing of an entry is rewarding. Text and topic are not that extensive and when finished the author finds the satisfaction of having portrayed a person who mattered in an organization, whether for good or bad, during some years.