Caribbean candidate within reach of UN’s top job

A Caribbean diplomat has emerged as one of the leading contenders to become the next United Nations Secretary-General, potentially placing a CARICOM national at the helm of the world body for the first time.

Guyana's Ambassador to the United Nations Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett is competing to succeed António Guterres when his second five-year term expires at the end of December.

The candidacy carries particular significance for Belize and the wider Caribbean. CARICOM Heads of Government formally endorsed Rodrigues-Birkett in July, effectively making the Guyanese diplomat the Community's candidate for the UN's highest office.

Her campaign has since emerged among the strongest in the field.

In the latest informal poll of the 15-member UN Security Council on September 18, Rodrigues-Birkett received eight "encourage" votes, six "discourage" votes and one "no opinion." Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan narrowly led with nine votes encouraging her candidacy.

Rodrigues-Birkett had led the previous Security Council straw poll on August 21, receiving eight encourage votes against seven each for Grynspan and Argentina's Rafael Grossi.

The results leave the Guyanese diplomat among a small group of candidates with significant support as the Security Council attempts to find consensus on Guterres's successor.

Rodrigues-Birkett has served as Guyana's Permanent Representative to the United Nations since 2020 and previously served as the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs. Her candidacy was formally submitted to the United Nations in June.

Her selection would break two barriers at once: no Caribbean national has served as UN Secretary-General, while all nine people to hold the office since the United Nations was established have been men.

The decision, however, rests heavily with the Security Council.

A successful candidate requires at least nine votes from the Council's 15 members and must avoid a veto from any of its five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Once the Security Council agrees on a candidate, it recommends that person to the 193-member General Assembly for appointment.

The contest remains unsettled. Grynspan currently holds a narrow advantage in the informal polling, while diplomats and analysts have raised the possibility that additional candidates could enter before the Security Council reaches a final decision.

For the Caribbean, however, Rodrigues-Birkett's position already places the region unusually close to securing one of the most prominent diplomatic positions in the international system.

The next Secretary-General is expected to take office on January 1, 2027.