426 Global Ethics for Leadership
Prominently included in that Guide is a list of ethical principles, as
part of the description of the Ethical Framework of the UN. The list of
virtues is simple; there are only six to remember: independence, loyalty,
impartiality, integrity, accountability, and respect for human rights. Six
virtues are not too many, and not too few. They are neither contradicto-
ry, inconsistent, nor confusing.
The simplest solution, though politically delicate, would be for the
International Civil Service Commission to propose amendments to the
Standards of Conduct that explicitly include the language of the UN
Ethics Guide, specifically describing these six cardinal virtues. What
objections can there possibly be to recognizing that independence, loyal-
ty, impartiality, integrity, accountability, and respect for human rights
are the necessary pre-conditions for service as an international civil
servant? These six values and their definitions were previously dis-
cussed and endorsed by the Ethics Panel of the United Nations (formerly
known as the UN Ethics Committee), a body whose membership in-
cludes the head of the ethics functions at each of the UN Funds & Pro-
grammes and the Director, UN Ethics Office, who chairs that body.
These virtues were thoroughly vetted, in discussions between 2007 and
2009.
A simple declaration of these six virtues recognizes what interna-
tional civil servants already know and experience. They want to work
for an institution with a life-affirming mission. They want to work for an
entity whose values align with their own personal values. They want to
enhance their sense of purpose and need for belonging by identifying
with specific virtues—those principles that we humans view as morally
right—that describe the kinds of behavior in which they ought to en-
gage. By officially adopting these six cardinal behavioural virtues, the
UN would address the current confusion and inconsistency which this
article addresses. And in its place, we would replace confusion and in-
consistency with simplicity.