UN chief '2nd best in world'
2009-06-30 13:57
Pretoria - United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon is the second-highest ranked world political leader who has the confidence of many people around the world.
Ban Ki-moon inspired more confidence than any other political leader polled, except United States President Barack Obama, the United Nations information centre in Pretoria said on Tuesday, referring to a survey by WorldPublicOpinion.org.
The survey was conducted in most of the world's largest nations, including China, India, the United States, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Russia, as well as Mexico, Germany, Great Britain, France, Poland, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Kenya, Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, the Palestinian territories and South Korea.
The nations polled represent 62% of the world population.
The study was conducted between April 4 and June 12 and 19 224 respondents were interviewed.
"On average... 11 nations expressed confidence [in Ban Ki-moon], seven did not, and two were divided."
Views were especially positive in Asia and Africa. Only in the US and in some nations in the Middle East (Egypt, the Palestinian territories and Turkey) did a majority express low confidence in the secretary-general.
- SAPA