Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE's ambassador to the UN from 2013 to 2024, is now its candidate, nominated on Wednesday, 21 October.
On Friday, 16 October, none of seven candidates escaped a negative vote from one of the five permanent Security Council members.
Rebeca Grynspan, 70, received nine encourage votes and five discourage votes, two of them from permanent members.
The United Arab Emirates put forward Lana Nusseibeh on Wednesday, 21 October, as its candidate to succeed António Guterres as UN secretary-general. The move came after no candidate in the latest straw poll escaped a negative vote from one of the five permanent Security Council members: Britain, France, the United States, China and Russia. That closed-door ballot was held on Friday, 16 October, with the Council's 15 members taking part. Nusseibeh is a state minister at the Emirati foreign ministry and also serves as the UAE's special envoy to the UN and the European Union. From 2013 to 2024 she was the UAE's ambassador to the United Nations.
Nusseibeh set out her reasons in a written statement issued with the nomination.
“I am a candidate for the post of secretary-general because I believe the time has come to act with greater urgency.”
She said the UN should act earlier, bring people together across their differences and keep working until concrete results appear. The nomination comes as the UN goes through one of the most difficult periods in its history. Multilateralism is being weakened by countries that once defended it, including the United States, while conflicts are multiplying and the organisation faces serious financial difficulties. Many countries also want the first woman to lead the UN, and Latin America is claiming the post under a geographic rotation that is not always respected.
Costa Rican Rebeca Grynspan, 70, who leads the UN Trade and Development agency (UNCTAD), finished first in the straw poll. She received nine encourage votes, five discourage votes, two of them from permanent members, and one no opinion.
Data from the article text
Each of the 15 members rated every candidate anonymously as encourage, discourage or no opinion. Rafael Grossi, 65, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, came second, followed by Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, 53, a former foreign minister of Guyana. The remaining candidates are Uganda's Olara Otunnu and Ecuadorians María Fernanda Espinosa and Ivonne A-Baki. Senegal's former president Macky Sall withdrew his candidacy after the poll. A new candidate can still declare at any point in the process.
The 16 October poll was the sixth closed-door straw poll and was expected to be the last one. For the first time, the ballots of the five permanent members were identified by a specific colour. In a formal vote, a single veto from a permanent member is enough to block a candidate from being recommended. Any candidate the Council recommends must then be confirmed by the UN General Assembly. With Sall gone, the race stands at seven active candidates, including Nusseibeh.
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The United Arab Emirates nominated Lana Nusseibeh on Wednesday, 21 October, after no candidate escaped a negative vote in the Security Council's latest straw poll. Rebeca Grynspan finished first in that closed-door ballot, held on Friday, 16 October.
AI text based on reports by SWI swissinfo.ch, rts.ch, Notícias ao Minuto and other publishers. Published .