The woman who will try to save the world
Irina Bokova, the Bulgarian stateswoman tipped to be the next leader of the United Nations, talks with Margarette Driscoll.
As Irina Bokova stepped up beside Emma Watson at the UN General Assembly Tuesday, she knew that this was her moment. The director general of UNESCO has ostensibly flown to New York to report on the UN’s special education programme for women (part of an initiative launched by Watson, the British actress and UN goodwill ambassador).
In reality, as she works the conferences and receptions, discussing the aftermath of the weekend’s bombing and the rocky relations between the U.S. and Russia over Syria, delegates will be assessing her suitability to be the new leader of the UN.
Ban Ki-moon steps down at the end of this year and Bokova, 64, a Bulgarian diplomat, is one of those tipped as a possible successor. If appointed, she would be the first woman to head the UN and take her place — alongside Angela Merkel and possibly Hillary Clinton — as one of the most influential women on the planet.
“It’s not a first — remember Margaret Thatcher — but it’s good to see so many women with strong ideas,” she says. “We need every talent we have, as the world is so fragmented.”
The rise of women in global politics (even Japan looks set to have a woman prime minister soon) would have been unimaginable to Bokova as a young diplomat in eastern Europe. “Women were working as lawyers or doctors, but they only got to a certain level. There definitely was a glass ceiling and women in top positions tended to be there to fill quotas,” she says.
She feels “incredibly lucky” to have built a career at a time when opportunities have been opening up for women, though the continuing controversy over Clinton’s health might give any woman — especially those of a certain age — pause for thought. Bokova, who speaks five languages, won’t get drawn into America’s domestic politics, but agrees that women in public life are subjected to harsher scrutiny than men: “People look at the way they dress, their hairdos, things that don’t seem so important for men.”
Bokova — who became director general of UNESCO, guardian of the world’s treasures, in 2009 — built her career as a working mother who sat in Bulgaria’s parliament. “I achieved it in a very old-fashioned way: my mother helped me,” she says. “I have spoken to many, many prominent women about their experience and it’s tough. Even if you have a very encouraging husband there is always some kind of remorse. Did you spend enough time with your children? For women, it’s an eternal question. I have always been busy, but I think I have earned my children’s respect and I think it has made my son more sensitive and respectful towards women. He is very supportive of his wife.”
There are no set rules governing the election of a new UN secretary general, though some nations have campaigned to make the process more transparent. A series of secret “straw polls” are taken over a period of months, during which countries can “encourage” or “discourage” certain candidates. The next (and last) takes place on Sept. 26 and the winner will be announced in October. Antonio Guterrez, the former prime minister of Portugal, appears to be the front-runner, with Bokova in a strong position if the more influential nations opt for a woman.
Bokova very much looks the part. She is eloquent and impressive but she also has a touch of warmth. She has five grandchildren, who all live in America.
“I often visit New York,” she says. “My son is there, my daughter nearby in Connecticut. We spend Christmas together and technology allows us to keep in touch: only yesterday, I got some pictures of my granddaughter’s first day at school.”
Bokova’s father, Georgi Bokov, was the editor of the communist party newspaper in Bulgaria. She was studying at the prestigious Institute of International Affairs in Moscow just as the first signs of a thaw in the Cold War came in the 1970s: “It was the time of détente and liberalization. President (Richard) Nixon came to the Soviet Union. I befriended painters and writers, who gave me a different perspective on the world.”
Much later, as a minister for foreign affairs, she led Bulgaria’s integration into the European Union and played a prominent role in the country’s transition from communism to democracy.
Meanwhile, at the UN, trying to balance the competing interests of member nations must be a nightmare: Trygve Lie, the first secretary general, said it was “the most difficult job in the world.” Why on earth would she want to do it?
“I like challenges,” she laughs. “I think from an early age I wanted to save the world, if that doesn’t sound too pretentious.”
THERE DEFINITELY WAS A GLASS CEILING AND WOMEN IN TOP POSITIONS TENDED TO BE THERE TO FILL QUOTAS. — IRINA BOKOVA, UNESCO DIRECTOR GENERAL