Tonga nominates Ecuadorean diplomat Ivonne Baki for UN secretary-general

Tonga enters Baki into secretary-general race

Ecuadorean diplomat Ivonne Baki joined the race to become the next secretary-general of the United Nations on 18 August 2026, following a formal nomination by the Pacific island nation of Tonga. The 75-year-old diplomat is the eighth declared candidate seeking to succeed Portugal's Antonio Guterres when his second five-year term concludes at the end of December 2026. Baki is the second contender nominated from Ecuador, joining former foreign minister and former UN General Assembly president Maria Fernanda Espinosa. Over her public career, Baki served as Ecuador's minister of foreign trade and as the country's ambassador to France, Qatar, and the United States, where she was the first woman to hold the post in Washington. Announcing her candidacy on social media, Baki stated that she entered the contest to help revitalize the global body.

It is with great humility and honour that I announce my official candidacy for the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Diplomatic background and Yasuni initiative

Born to Lebanese parents, Baki pointed to her background bridging Latin America and the Middle East as a central element of her campaign. She served as a mediator between Ecuador and Peru following their 1995 border dispute, helping conclude the 1998 peace agreement between the two neighboring countries. Baki later served as the chief representative for Ecuador's Yasuni initiative, an environmental proposal that sought international financial contributions in exchange for leaving Amazon crude oil reserves unexploited. President Rafael Correa shelved that initiative in 2013 after determining it had not secured adequate funding, subsequently authorizing oil extraction in Yasuni National Park. In Tonga's formal nomination letter, UN ambassador Viliami Va'inga Tone argued that the United Nations requires proven leadership during a difficult organizational period.

The United Nations is at a critical point of transition and requires leadership that is experienced, principled and unifying to navigate this period.

Expanding candidate field and first straw poll

Baki's entry expands the field of contenders to eight candidates, comprising five women and three men. The United Nations Security Council initiated its preliminary selection process in late July 2026 with a first closed straw poll involving the initial seven nominees. Former Costa Rican vice president Rebeca Grynspan finished as the narrow frontrunner in that vote, followed by former Guyanese foreign minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett in second place and International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Grossi of Argentina in third. The candidate list also includes former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, former Senegalese president Macky Sall, Ugandan diplomat Olara Otunnu, and Ecuador's Maria Fernanda Espinosa. Nominations remain open, allowing additional governments to submit candidates in the coming weeks.

Security Council voting and permanent member vetoes

The incoming secretary-general will inherit an institution facing budget constraints, international divisions, and persistent demands to trim administrative duplication across agencies. Under UN procedure, the 15-member Security Council must recommend a candidate to the General Assembly, requiring at least nine affirmative votes and zero vetoes from the five permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. None of the five veto-bearing nations has announced a preferred candidate. Denmark, which holds the rotating council presidency, scheduled the next informal straw poll for Friday, 21 August 2026. Informal polling is projected to continue through September and October 2026 before the council transmits a final recommendation, with the chosen leader taking office on 1 January 2027.