Former UNGA president from Latin America enters race for secretary-general

United Nations: A former president of the General Assembly, Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, has entered the race to become the next secretary-general, according to Assembly president’s Spokesperson La Neice Collins.

The government of the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda made her nomination, Collins said on Tuesday.

Espinosa from Ecuador is the fifth candidate in the running to succeed Antonio Guterres, who finishes his second term at the end of this year.

She joins two other women, also from Latin America like her, in the race.

Espinosa was the Assembly president during 2018-2019.

After her election and before taking over as president, she visited India for discussions on India’s role at the UN and the working of the Assembly.

She held several cabinet positions, including as defence and foreign minister, in the administrations of the PAIS alliance.

Ecuador, which is now ruled by the National Democratic Action, has not endorsed her candidacy.

Antigua and Barbuda, which has nominated her now, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines nominated her in 2020 for secretary-general of the Organisation of American States, but she lost that election.

The other candidates are Michelle Bachelet Jeria, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights nominated by her country Chile, as well as Brzail and Mexico; Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis, the secretary-general of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) nominated by her country Costa Rica; Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nominated by his nation Argentina, and Macky Sall, a former president of Senegal, who does not have the backing of his country, but is nominated by Burundi.

Another Argentinian, Virginia Gamba, who was the secretary-general’s special representative for Children in Armed Conflicts, was nominated by the Maldives, but it withdrew her nomination.

All nine secretaries-general in the UN’s 80-year history have been men, and there are calls for a woman to head the organisation.

The Assembly resolution on the election set “equal and fair distribution” on the basis of gender as a desirable goal.

The call for candidates put out last year by the presidents of the Assembly and the Security Council called for women candidates.

The Assembly resolution on the election set “equal and fair distribution” on the basis of gender as a desirable goal.

The other candidates have each gone through a three-hour grilling session by diplomats of member countries and civil society group representatives.

Collins said a similar session would be held for Espinosa and any candidates who emerge.

A simple majority in the Assembly is required for election, but the Council, where the five permanent members have veto powers, really has the final say.

That is because the UN Charter says that the Assembly appoints the UN’s top official “upon the recommendation of the Security Council,” and in practice, the Assembly rubber stamps it.

IANS