|
UN secretary-general announces female deputy The new United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has appointed his deputy. She is Tanzania's foreign minister Asha-Rose Migiro, who became her country’s first female foreign minister in January 2006. Ms. Migiro will become only the second woman in UN history to serve as deputy secretary-general. Ban Ki-Moon spoke highly of his new second-in-command and described her as an immensely respected leader and outstanding manager who had championed many causes across the developing world. A UN spokeswoman said Mr. Ki-Moon: “…underlined the fact that [Ms. Migiro] was not named because she's an African and because she's a woman, but essentially because of her qualifications.” He intends to put Ms. Migiro very much in the driving seat at the top of the UN and will delegate to her the lion’s share of management of the world body. Asha-Rose Migiro, 50, is a lawyer and a former senior university lecturer. Prior to her becoming foreign minister, she served as minister for community development, gender and children for five years. Ban feels her experience and credentials will serve the UN well. His ideal is for her to reform the institution to meet the rigors and challenges of the 21st century, both current crises and developments and issues yet to unfold. South Africa’s ambassador to the UN Dumisani Kumalo forewarned any doubters of Ms. Migiro’s abilities by somewhat stating the obvious to reporters: “You know people undermine women. …Women are multi-tasked people. They can do many things. [Ms. Migiro] has experience in managing a whole foreign affairs ministry. ... And African women are even better - watch out!’’ he said. |
1. U.N.: What do you know about the United Nations? Find out as much as you can from your partner. Change partners often to build up your information.
2. READING: Get students to read the passage aloud. Swap readers every paragraph.
3. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.
4. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.
United Nations / foreign ministers / managers / developing world / qualifications / lawyers / community development / doubters / challenges / experience
Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.
5. SECURITY COUNCIL: Talk to your partner(s) about the UN Security Council. What is it? Where do they meet? What do they do? What is the veto? Why does it happen? List the countries who have it.
With your partner decide on three (different) things you would like to see discussed in the Security Council. Discuss.
|
6. QUICK DEBATE: Students A believe the UN makes the world a better and safer place to live in. Students B believe the UN has become weak and ineffective. Debate this with your partners. Change partners often.
1.Did anything in the article surprise you?
2.What advice would you give to Asha-Rose Migiro?
3.What difficulties do you think she will face?
4.What will be her first challenges?
5.What qualifications does one need to work at the UN?
6.What do you think of the South African ambassador’s comment that “women are multi-tasked people”?
7.Why do you think the UN Secretary-General chose Ms Migiro?
8.Have you ever had the lion’s share of anything?
9.What role should the UN play in the twenty-first century?
1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.
2. UNITED NATIONS: Search the Internet and find more information about the United Nations. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
3. LOGO/POSTER: Design a new logo or poster to advertise the UN. Present your ideas to the rest of the class. Have a vote on the best one.
4. LETTER: Write a letter to Asha-Rose Migiro. Tell her your thoughts on her getting the job of deputy secretary general. Ask her three questions. Read your letter to your classmates in the next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions. Which letter did you like best and why?
|