UN Secretary General, is it time for a woman in charge?

THEAntónio Guterres’ mandate expires at the end of 2026 and they have begun the nominations for the next Secretary General of the United Nations. Among those already made official are the Argentine Rafael Grossi, director of the IAEA (the international atomic agency), to which Italy has already given its support, and of Rebecca Grynspan, former vice president of Costa Rica. Both had to deal with the Russians whose vote will be central to prevailing. Grossi negotiated for the security of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, occupied by Russian forces, and Grynspan on the Black Sea grain initiative (as head of UN Trade and Development), to allow Ukraine to export grains and products blocked from Black Sea ports after the Russian invasion.

Will the UN have a female Secretary General?

To be selected you must receive the support of nine of the ten members of the United Nations Security Council, but also not receive any veto from the five permanent members: the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and France therefore have a dominant weight in the choice. After that, voting is held in the General Assembly, where a simple majority is needed to elect the next leader. There is considerable momentum behind choosing the first woman as General Secretary in 80 years. UN leaders Annalena Baerbock, president of the General Assembly, and Michael Imran Kanu, president of the Security Council – in their traditional letter to member states asked for the first time to “seriously consider female candidates”.

Research shows that at least 94 states intend to nominate the first woman. Groups like WomanSG, GWL Voices and 1 for 8 Billion support female nominations. Grynspan, formally appointed by Costa Rica last October, said in an interview with Reuters: «We don’t need special treatment. What we are really asking for is the absence of discrimination… equal treatment.” Her words reflect how many countries place emphasis not simply on a female UN leader, but on a selection that reflects merit, inclusiveness, diversity, challenging traditional dynamics.

Latin America’s turn

And there is Latin America’s push for leadership by a woman from their region. The tradition of geographical rotation would ensure that it is Latin America’s turn (even if rotation is not mandatory and is not foreseen in the UN Charter). Chilean President Gabriel Boric, in his endorsement of Michelle Bachelet, framed it as “Latin America’s moment.” Bachelet, former president of Chile (first woman) and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rightsannounced her intention to run in New York last September, at the end of a panel dedicated to women during an event organized by the Clinton Foundation. Boric called her “not only a well-known and respected figure on the global stage, but a woman whose personal story is deeply aligned with the values ​​that inspire this organization.” Under past US administrations, Bachelet’s background in human rights would have been a plus, but with Donald Trump in the White House it is considered a possible obstacle.

But it’s still too early to say how it will go

The formal selection process begins at the end of July, with many more applications coming in throughout the year and the race remains wide open. Approximately 146 countries have recently expressed concern about the lack of women in leadershipUN. But the Security Council is the body that will identify the successful candidate. States that want a woman have the option of rejecting a Security Council recommendation if it were a man, but the vast majority of diplomats, regardless of their beliefs, try to avoid such divisive actions. Of the ten members of the Security Council, five (Colombia, Pakistan, Panama, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo) have signed joint declarations showing “indirect” support; the other five (Bahrain, Greece, Liberia, Denmark and Latvia) have expressed “strong” support for a female Secretary General (the last two in particular). Among the five permanent members, however, only France and the United Kingdom have taken a strong position on this matter.

Russia, however, has indicated that “merit comes before gender”. Moscow’s deputy permanent representative said: “Gender is a criterion, but it should not play a decisive role.” China unexpectedly joined this conversation, saying that it considers it positive that member states submit female candidates. Beijing and Moscow, however, favor regional rotation more than other countries (including the United States).

The priority of merit

Last year the United States, under the Biden administration, signed a joint statement supporting greater female representation in leadership positions, but today the climate has changed. The Trump administration has cut funding for programs affecting women’s rights at the United Nationsand American officials at the UN are pushing Unicef ​​and UN Women to eliminate the word “gender” from human rights documents (for example, they want to use the term “violence against women” instead of “gender violence”). Deputy US Ambassador Dorothy Shea told the UN Security Council that the next Secretary General should be chosen in a process “based purely on merit” from as large a number of candidates as possible from all regional groups. «The next Secretary General should bring the UN to the basicshow to help realize the bold vision of peace and prosperity” conceived by its founders, Shea added. However, this does not necessarily mean hostility to a woman’s candidacy. What is important for the White House is an alignment with US priorities.

The disengagement of the United States

Among the candidates not yet made official but whose imminent candidacy has been revealed by some Lebanese media in recent days is the Ecuadorian diplomat

Yvonne Abdel Baki. Abdel Baki’s supporters say that their candidate has the advantage of not only being Latin American but also having – unlike the socialist Bachelet – a good relationship with Donald Trump, having been Ecuador’s ambassador to Washington during her first mandate and having the support of the Gulf countries: she has Lebanese origins and is a friend of Reema Bint Bandar Al Saud, the current ambassador of Saudi Arabia in Washington. Abdel Baki’s supporters also cite her role as an advisor to former Ecuadorian President Jamil Mahuad (also of Lebanese descent) in achieving peace between Ecuador and Peru in 1998, after 50 years of conflict. Abdel Baki is Druze, not Muslim.

Chance also for the UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed

Among Muslim women, however, it is Nigerian Amina Mohammed is considered a possible strong candidatedeputy secretary general of the United Nations since 2017, deeply involved in global development and action against climate change (she was minister of the environment in Nigeria), but this is also not a favorite theme of the Trump administration. Mohammed is president of the UN Sustainable Development Group, and does not currently appear to be campaigning to become Secretary General. The debate over the next Secretary General is not taking place in a vacuum, but at a time when the credibility of the United Nations is under intense debate, including over its response to the Gaza crisis. Whoever wins will not be able – alone or alone – to “fix” and renew the United Nations. But there is a sense that change is needed after nearly ten years (two terms) of Guterres. The cuts and disengagement of the United States are deeply impacting this season, but the feeling of many “insiders” is that even after Donald Trump, America will not necessarily return to the spending levels of the past. The push for the first woman to head the UN comes at a time of great uncertainty about the future of multilateralism in the face of global challenges.

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED