The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has offered an advisory position former German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the organization, according to sources from the organization quoted by the German news agency DPA.
Guterres would have asked Merkel to head an advisory body made up of former heads of state with the aim of “identify global public goods and other areas of common interest where governance improvements are most needed and propose options on how this might be achieved.”
This committee is one of Guterres’ main reform projects ahead of his second term, which began in January. Among the global public goods are matters such as the regulations applicable in aviation safety and global trade, as well as the state of the ozone layer.
Guterres has argued that the coronavirus pandemic has revealed significant gaps in international cooperation, so the committee he plans to launch seeks to give impetus to practices and principles for action at the international level.
The general secretary would have transferred the offer directly to Merkel, according to these sources, who have stated, however, that the possibility that German politics will accept it is quite low, with no apparent response for now.
Merkel, 67, did not stand in federal elections in September and retired from national politics at the end of the year following 16 years as chancellor of the European country, being succeeded by Olaf Scholz.
.
