Rebeca Grynspan Leads Among Candidates for UN Secretary-General
Amul Info ·
Former Costa Rican Vice President and UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan received 10 “encourage” votes in the fourth informal UN Security Council straw poll on candidates for the next Secretary-General. Three members voted “discourage” and two expressed no opinion.
Former Vice President of Costa Rica and Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Rebeca Grynspan, continues to lead in the preliminary votes being held to determine the next UN Secretary-General.
In the fourth informal vote of the UN Security Council, held on September 29, Grynspan received 10 “encourage” votes. Three members voted against her candidacy, while two members did not express their position.
Earlier, in the third preliminary vote held on September 18, Grynspan also received nine “encourage” votes. At that time, five members opposed her candidacy, while another member did not express a position.
The voting results show that the level of support for the candidates has changed over time. In the second vote, Guyana’s candidate, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, moved ahead of Grynspan after receiving eight “encourage” votes.
The process of selecting the UN Secretary-General consists of several stages. Ultimately, the Security Council must recommend one of the candidates to the UN General Assembly, which then formally appoints the new Secretary-General. The term of office of the current UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, ends at the close of 2026.
The votes at the current stage are not formal elections but informal consultations conducted in the form of “straw polls” to determine Security Council members’ views on the candidates. The agreement of the Security Council’s permanent members — the United States, China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom — is of particular importance in selecting the final candidate.