Reuters. The four candidates vying to become the next United Nations secretary-general faced live hearings on Tuesday (April 21) and Wednesday (April 22) on their bids to lead the troubled global organization from next year.
Chile's former president, Michelle Bachelet, underlined her support for women's rights in her bid to head the United Nations on Tuesday, despite calls for Washington to veto her candidacy due to her support for abortion.
Bachelet, 74, one of four candidates vying to head the 193-member global organization from next year, told reporters she had read a letter from more than two dozen Republican U.S. lawmakers accusing her of having "prioritized an extreme abortion agenda" and calling for the U.S. veto.
"I will always be by the side of women," the two-time president of Chile and a former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said, adding that as secretary-general her job would be to ensure U.N. agendas on women's rights are implemented.
Bachelet is up against Argentina's Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal's Macky Sall for a five-year term, which can be extended for another five.
While they are the only declared candidates so far, others can join in the race in the coming months.
The next U.N. leader will face an enormous task to revitalize an organization in crisis, whose stature has significantly diminished in recent years.
Major powers, even as they increasingly flout long-held norms of international order, have pressed the U.N. to reform, slash costs, and prove its relevance.
Grossi, a 65-year-old career diplomat and father of eight who speaks English, Spanish, French and Italian, has headed the U.N. nuclear watchdog for six years. He told his hearing before representatives of U.N. member states and civil society that reform was going in the right direction, but was just a start.
"This house was not created to be an institution propelling messages from an ivory tower," he said. "It is supposed to be solving problems on the ground."
Former Costa Rican vice president Rebeca Grynspan, a candidate to head the United Nations, vowed on Wednesday (April 22) that peacemaking would be her first priority if chosen, while warning that trust is waning in the world body and time is running out to restore it.
"Peacemaking is the purpose of this organization," Grynspan, one of four candidates vying to become the next U.N. secretary-general from next year, told a hearing on her candidacy at the U.N. in New York.
"I will be a peacemaker. I will land before conflicts erupt, be the first to pick up the phone. I will travel to where the wars are. I will speak to every party. I will work with the Security Council, with the member states, and will mediate among the mediators," she said.
The candidates are bidding for a five-year term to succeed Antonio Guterres of Portugal, which can be extended for another five, and will face an enormous task to revitalize an organization in crisis, whose stature has significantly diminished in recent years.
Former Senegal President, Macky Sall said, “As a bridge builder Secretary-General, I want to restore trust in the United Nations so that it will deliver once more for all."
The 10th United Nations secretary-general will be elected this year for a five-year term starting on January 1, 2027.
