Louise Fréchette, as Deputy Secretary-General, is the second-highest ranking official in the United Nations. The post also has a lot of responsibility over the Secretariat’s internal reform agenda. Ms Fréchette announced last week that she will depart the Secretariat in April next year. Intelligent design could turn her departure into something helpful; a failure to appoint the right candidate early and transparently would reduce even further the chances of meaningful internal reform taking place next year.