The Dag Hammarskjöld Fund for Journalists

Today, UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon is visiting Tanzania for the second time. His visit willalso extend to other Great Lakes region countries. 

Mr. Ban visited Tanzaniafor the first time in early 2006 as Korean Minister for Foreign Affair. He wason his six months campaign for the position of Secretary General and Tanzaniansupport, a Security Council member at that time, was very much needed.

UnderUnited Nations procedures, the 15-member Security Council selects one name outof those vying for the position and sends it to the 192 member General Assembly forappointment.

While in Tanzania, Mr.Ban passed outmoney worth $18 million for supporting development of ICT at the UDSM Collegeof Engineering and Technology and vocational training institutions.

Duringthe election, Mr. Ban won 14 positives, including from all five permanentmembers, and lost one vote from one of the 10 rotating members.

Upon entering the office, he chose Dr Asha RoseMigiro, Tanzanian Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation tothe post of Deputy-United Nations Secretary General (DSG), a position thatwas generally seen as one entailing a great deal of management skills.

The bearer of the position of DSG was expected tooversee the day-to-day running of the office and overall the institution thathad been shaken by management tumble.

The UN media community expressed concern thatMigiro did not have “demonstrable, relevant, and high-profile managementexperience having been foreign minister for a few months only.”

On the other hand,African diplomats viewed her as a person who would help Mr. Ban to win new supportfor reform ''in a way that does not seem threatening'' to the United States.

''Womenare multitasking people,'' said Dumisani S. Kumalo, the South Africanambassador, who is a major player on behalf of developing nations. ''AndAfrican women are even better. Watch out!''

But some commentators consider having a DSG from Africa as akey step in pushing UN to take bold steps to resolve conflicts in the GreatLake Region and Africa development needs. 

For that matter, Mr Ban’s trip to Africa is significant at timewhen aid to sub-Saharan Africa has virtually remained unchanged since 2004.

Despite facing world’s most difficult problems in places likeLebanon, Sudan, Iran, Kosovo and North Korea, Mr Ban however has frequently pusheddonors to move more quickly if they were to meet their 2005 pledge to doubleaid to Africa by 2010, fairer trading rules and progress on the Doha round ofworld trade talks.

Mr.Ban’s visit to Tanzania is significant and he could use the trip to talk withPresident Kikwete over the country’s plan to send between 600 and 800 troops toDarfur region of Sudan soon.

PresidentOmar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan arrest warrant which could be issued next weekby the International Criminal Court might be a centre of the discussion betweenthe two duos.

Tanzania is one of thecountries which have pressed the Security Council to use its power to suspendPresident Bashir’s arrest warrant, saying the arrest could backfire anddiminish Sudan's willingness to compromise for the sake of peace.

“Though the humanitariancrisis in Darfurpersisted, there may be some encouraging signs of improvement”, Kikwete said inhis speech at the UN General Assembly last year.

However,Mr. Ban has called for President Bashir and theSudanese government to react very responsibly," Ban said. "… And heshould fully cooperate with whatever decisions that the ICC makes."

Al-Bashir's government hasbeen accused of encouraging Muslim militias to commit atrocities against ethnicAfricans in Darfur since a rebellion broke out there early in 2003. U.N.officials say up to 300,000 people have died in the conflict and 2.7 millionhave fled their homes.

Tanzania is also one ofthe four countries in Africa piloting the One UN, an initiative meant to testhow UN can become more effective and its delivery of support at the countrylevel. The project was started after the report of the Secretary-General’s High-levelPanel on System-wide Coherence recommended the project.

Mr. Ban might be eagerto learn the progress and challenges of the project because one of his mainfocuses is to reform and modernize the organization.

 Mr. Ban will also stop in the Democratic Republicof Congo for a meeting with President Joseph Kabila and visit Bukavu where the United Nations says 27,000 sexual assaults were reported in 2006 and now UN supportsa programme to help victims of sexual violence at Panzi Hospital.

 UNforces in Congo known by its French acronym MONUC, is the UN’s largest currentpeace mission, comprising 17,000 soldiers, of whom about 5,000 are in theeastern province but critics say it has foundered despite being the largest andmost expensive in the world. It also has the strongest mandate ever issued toUN troops to use force to protect civilians.

Mr. Ban will also holdtalks with both Congolese President and Joseph Kagame over the Rwanda andCongolese border which he last year described as being “gone on too long andwith catastrophic consequences.”

Some65 per cent of the UN peacekeeping budget is devoted to Africa and UN has beencalling for address of root causes to end the problems of conflicts in Africa.

Beforelaunching the joint military operation to drive out the Democratic Forces forthe Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebel members, DR Congo and Rwanda expressedwillingness to resume diplomatic relations, which were severed in the 1990samid hostilities in which they accused each other of supporting rebels. 

 Global warming has also been one of theMr. Ban’s priorities in office. He has called for world leaders to consider theBali Conference as a starting point for negotiations to replace commitmentsagreed to under the Kyoto Protocol which is due to expire in 2012.

 And by visiting Mountain Kilimanjaro tosee the reduction of ice there, it is a sign of strong commitment towardsputting most pressing global issues on the forefront.