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The United Arab Emirates’ senior diplomat Lana Nusseibeh has entered the race to become the next United Nations secretary-general, adding a new contender to the competition led by former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan.
Nusseibeh, the UAE minister of state, announced her candidacy this week as the selection process entered a decisive phase. Her entry has renewed attention on the possibility of the UN appointing its first female secretary-general in its more than 80-year history.
Grynspan retained a narrow lead in an informal straw poll held last week among members of the UN Security Council, ahead of her closest competitors, former Guyanese Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi of Argentina.
However, two opposing votes prompted the process to reopen to additional candidates, creating an opportunity for Nusseibeh to join the contest.
Other candidates include former Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa, former Senegalese President Macky Sall, former UN Under-Secretary-General Olara Otunnu of Uganda and Ecuadorian diplomat Ivonne A-Baki.
Under the selection process, a candidate must secure at least nine votes in the 15-member Security Council and avoid a veto from any of its five permanent members — the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China and Russia.
The council is expected to select a successor to outgoing Secretary-General Antonio Guterres by the end of December, with the appointment subsequently confirmed by the UN General Assembly.
Announcing her candidacy, Nusseibeh highlighted her experience working with the United Nations and her commitment to diplomacy and conflict resolution.
“I have spent much of my professional life working in and around the United Nations, and I have seen first-hand what determined diplomacy can achieve — countries with profound differences finding common ground, and agreement where people said agreement was impossible,” she said.
Her vision statement places peace and security at the centre of her proposed agenda, alongside development, human rights and reforms aimed at improving the organisation’s focus and results.
“I am standing to be secretary-general because I believe this is a moment to act with greater urgency: to act earlier, bring people together across difference, and drive the work forward until it produces concrete results,” she said.
“I wish to offer myself to this office as I would serve it: speaking frankly with every government and answering to none.”
The selection process has drawn particular attention to the prospect of a woman leading the United Nations for the first time. Nusseibeh’s entry adds another contender to a field in which several women are seeking the organisation’s top post.
