Bob Reinalda African Sgs of Ios 19Aug2014
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African Secretaries-General of International Organizations A View from the IO BIO Project Dr. Bob Reinalda Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands & IO BIO Editor (Biographical Dictionary of Secretaries-General of International Organizations) [email protected] www.ru.nl/fm/iobio Paper for the Fourth European Congress on World and Global History ENIUGH: European Network in Universal and Global History Paris, 6 September 2014 Panel: Africa and International Organizations This paper undertakes an initial mapping exercise of African Secretaries-General of International Organizations, using the Database of the IO BIO Project. The paper explains the objectives of this specialized Biographical Dictionary and focuses on 132 African Secretaries-General in the Project’s Database, who can be grouped under three headings: African regional organizations, organizations that are part of the United Nations system with African Secretaries-General and ‘other’ international organizations with African Secretaries- General. The paper asks what we know of these three groups of Africans, assuming that the executive heads of international organizations are relevant actors, both within their organizations (leading the international secretariat or bureaucracy) and in international relations (playing a role on behalf of their organization). The paper scans some literature on African politics and international organizations to see to what extent Secretaries-General are mentioned. The tentative impression is that leadership in the African context is seen as a matter of heads of state and government, rather than also a matter of Secretaries-General. An initial internet search for information about some African Secretaries-General in the IO BIO Project provided very limited data: only 8 out of 26 comprise some data – but that is exactly why IO BIO needs experts in this area to be engaged in writing entries so that the work of these important Secretaries-General can be better known and appreciated. The IO BIO Project This paper explores the group of African Secretaries-General (SGs) of International Organizations (IOs) that are included in the Database of the IO BIO Project (current as of 2013). IO BIO stands for Biographical Dictionary of Secretaries-General of International Organizations, a collection of short biographies of Secretaries-General, or office-holders with equivalent titles, that provides full life and career descriptions (see: www.ru.nl/fm/iobio). Entries in IO BIO cover those individuals who left a mark for any reason, whether good, bad or unusual, with Secretaries-General at three category levels: VIPs (level 1), other remarkable leaders (level 2) and relatively lesser, but important, office-holders (level 3). IO BIO’s focus of analysis is: How do Secretaries-General perform, both as actors representing their institutions in international relations and as managers of large organizations? IO BIO entries 2 are explicitly designed to also allow for group analysis, as we do not know much about patterns across these institutional leaders in general, or about leaders from a particular area, such as the African continent. The Project’s database provides an overview of 905 Secretary-General positions of 128 intergovernmental organizations, both universal and regional (see Kille and Reinalda 2013: 14). As of August 2014 IO BIO had published over 35 entries on its website. However, only one of these so far is an African, Robert Gardiner of the United Nations (UN) Economic Commission for Africa (1962-1975) (Mistli 2014). Thus, the IO BIO Project is looking for experts willing to write an entry and it is hoped that this paper will help attract authors of entries of African Secretaries-General.1 132 Africans in the IO BIO Database As the Appendixes 1 and 2 show, 132 Africans are included in the IO BIO Database as of 11 July 2013 and are discussed in this paper. Appendix 1 provides an alphabetical overview of persons, the first column provides information about the name of the SG, the gender, the nationality, the years of birth and death as well as the Category level given in the IO BIO Project (1-3). The second column lists the name of the IO, the name of the function (Secretary-General, Executive Director, etc.) and the term in office. Appendix 2 provides an alphabetical overview of the IOs, the first column containing information about the name of the function and the term in office, and in the second column the names of the SGs, their gender, nationality and years of birth and death. While there are 132 persons under discussion, the number of functions is actually larger, because seven of the individuals are mentioned with two functions and one with three. It should also be taken into account that a name and/or organizational change of the IO results in mentioning more than one organization; for instance SADCC and SADC are counted as two organizations. The 132 persons include both SGs and ‘acting’ or ‘interim’ SGs. The number of African SGs, who were acting or interim for a shorter or longer time is 13 (8 plus 5), but since they have performed as SG for a while, we count them as SGs. Functions below the level of SG are not included in IO BIO. Among the 132 persons are 128 men and (only) four women: Monique Esoavelomandroso (Madagascar) of the Indian Ocean Commission, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay (South Africa), Mervat Tallawy (Egypt) of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia and Anna Tibaijuka (Tanzania) of UN- Habitat. The number of countries included is 37 (out of 55). The number of international organizations (in the extended sense mentioned above) is 45. 1 IO BIO includes deceased SGs and those who have been out of office for five years or more and most probably will not return to office as SG. The short biographies (between 800 and 3,600 words; the length is determined by level of importance, with three category levels and one level undecided) present an accurate and coherent description of the entire life and career of each SG. Entries provide biographical data, a balanced account of life and work, as well as references and a picture. To allow for group analyses authors are encouraged to pay attention to the social and professional connections of SGs. Scholars and practitioners are carrying out the IO BIO Project on a voluntary basis. More information and its Instructions for Authors, Model Biography, Tools to Find More Data and Databases 1 and 2 (respectively Persons and Entries, and IGOs and their SGs) are available at the website. To express an interest, or for more information, please contact IO BIO by e-mail: [email protected]. When applying to write an entry, please provide name, institutional affiliation, and contact information, and provide arguments as to why you are a good author for this entry. 3 Countries with Secretaries-General Table 1 shows that Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal are the countries that have provided the most SGs. Egypt provides 14 SGs, Nigeria 9 and Ghana and Senegal each 8. Kenya and Tunisia follow with 7 SGs each. A middle group of countries provides 3 to 5 SGs, with two countries providing 5 SGs (Algeria and Morocco), 7 countries providing 4 SGs and 5 countries providing 3 SGs. Finally, 9 countries provide 2 SGs each and 8 countries 1 SG each (see Table 1). Table 1: The Number of Secretaries-General per Country [ranking in brackets] Countries Number of SGs [1] Egypt 14 [1] Nigeria 9 [2] Ghana, Senegal 8 [2] Kenya, Tunisia 7 [2] Algeria, Morocco 5 [7] Ethiopia, Guinea, Mali, Mauritius, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda 4 [5] Gabon, Libya, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe 3 [9] Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, 2 Niger, South Africa, Zaire, Zambia, [8] Angola, Botswana, Cape Verde, Congo Brazzaville, Gambia, 1 Guinea-Bissau, Namibia, Togo Three types of International Organization The IO BIO Database covers 14 African regional IOs, among them the continental African Union plus regional organizations covering parts of the African continent, 20 IOs that are part of the UN system, among them the UN itself as well as specialized agencies such as the IAEA, UNEP and UNESCO, as well as 11 other IOs, among them the Arab League and OPEC. The African regional international organizations include the continental organization OAU/AU, the African Development Bank and regional organizations in Africa such as SADCC/SADC, PTA/COMESA, EAC, IGADD/IGAD, ECCAS, AMU and ECOWAS (see Table 2). UN ECA is mentioned under the UN system, but could also be mentioned in this group of African regional IOs. Table 2: African Regional International Organizations [with number of SGs between brackets] 1. African Development Bank AfDB [8] 2. African Union AU (prev. Organization of African Unity) [3] 3. Arab Maghreb Union AMU [3] 4. Common African and Malagasy Organization OCAM [Organisation Commune Africaine et Mauricienne] (prev. African and Malagasy Union for Economic Cooperation UAMCE Feb. 12, 1965; Common African, Malagasy, and Mauritanian Common Organization OCAMM 1970; Common African and Mauritanian Organization OCAM 1973) [5] 5. Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa COMESA (prev. Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern Africa PTA) [4] 6. East African Community EAC [9] 7. Economic Community of Central African States ECCAS [3] 8. Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS [8 + one period without a SG] 4 9. Inter-Governmental Authority on Development IGAD (prev. Inter-Governmental Authority on Drought and Development IGADD) [3] 10. Inter-Governmental Authority on Drought and Development IGADD (1996 Inter- Governmental Authority on Development IGAD) [2] 11. Organization of African Unity OAU (2002 African Union) [9] 12. Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern Africa PTA (1994 Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa COMESA) [3] 13. Southern African Development Community SADC (as of 17 August 1992, prev.