US backs woman for next UN Secretary-General, says no reason against it

Newyork,UPDATED: Jul 16, 2026 10:46 IST

The United States has said it would support a woman becoming the next Secretary-General of the United Nations, with a senior American envoy saying there is "no reason" why a female candidate cannot be elected to lead the world body.

The US also said it is closely involved in assessing the candidates for the post and considers the choice of the next UN chief an "extremely important matter". The process to choose the next Secretary-General is under way, with seven candidates in the fray so far, including five women.

Responding to a question by PTI on Wednesday, US Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council and Alternate Representative of the United States to the Sessions of the General Assembly Ambassador Dan Negrea said, "Could be a woman, absolutely. There is no reason why not." He was speaking at a press briefing organised by the New York Foreign Press Centre on the outcomes of the High-Level Forum on the US Trade Over Aid Initiative. The briefing was held a day after the US Mission to the UN hosted a Trade Over Aid Forum on the margins of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum.

On the selection process for the world body's next top diplomat, Negrea said, "The United States is very much involved in evaluating the candidates, and we are considering this an extremely important matter." He said the US has met candidates seeking the top job at the 193-member organisation. "...it's a crucial, crucial matter on the efficiency of a very important international organisation. And we are spending a lot of time at the U.S. Mission to the U.N. on this and at the State Department in Washington. Yeah, very much so," he said. He added that while Secretary of State Marco Rubio has not met the candidates, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz and other officials have. "I met with some of them, not all of them, but we are taking this very, very, very seriously. It's extremely important," he said.

The candidates in the race are former Chilean President and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet; Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and former Vice President of Costa Rica; Mara Fernanda Espinosa Garcs, former President of the UN General Assembly and Ecuador's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Natural Heritage; Virginia Gamba, former Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Prevention of Genocide and Hate Speech and former UN Under Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict; Guyana's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett; Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi; and former Senegal President Macky Sall.

Current UN chief Antonio Guterres, a former Prime Minister of Portugal and former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, will complete his second five-year term in December 2026. He took office in 2017 as the ninth Secretary-General. In the organisation's 80-year history, no woman has held the post. The Secretary-General is appointed by the 193-member General Assembly "upon the recommendation of the Security Council", where China, France, Russia, the UK and the US are permanent members with veto powers. A UN General Assembly resolution adopted in September last year noted "with regret" that no woman has ever held the position and encouraged member states to "strongly consider nominating women as candidates". While there is no formal regional rotation in the selection, it is being pointed out that the next UN chief should come from Latin America.

Negrea also said that while the US has been "very critical" of many parts of the UN, including what it sees as duplication and wasted effort, it also believes some parts of the organisation are "very, very useful" and wants to work with them. He cited the United Nations Development Programme and UNICEF as examples of agencies doing important work, and said, "...we are working with the UN. We find that they can contribute." In all, the US signalled support for a woman to lead the UN and said it is taking the choice of the next Secretary-General very seriously.

With PTI Inputs

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