The United States backed the possibility of a woman becoming the next UN Secretary-General, saying there is no barrier to female leadership. With five women among seven candidates, Washington said it is actively evaluating contenders before António Guterres’ term ends in 2026
Published Date – 16 July 2026, 11:17 AM
New York: The US has voiced its support for a woman to lead the United Nations, saying “there is no reason” why a female cannot be elected as the next Secretary General of the world organisation.
“Could be a woman, absolutely. There is no reason why not,” 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 Wednesday.
Negrea responded to a question by PTI on a woman leading the United Nations as its next Secretary General.
Negrea was addressing a press briefing organised by the New York Foreign Press Centre here on ‘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.
Negrea, in response to a question on the selection process for the world’s next top diplomat, 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 with candidates vying for the top job at the 193-member world 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 with the UNSG candidates, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, as well as other officials, have met with them.
“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 process to select the next Secretary General of the United Nations has commenced at the world body, and so far, seven candidates are in the fray for the post of the world’s top diplomat, of which five are women.
The following persons have thrown their hats in the UNSG election ring: former Chilean President and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and former Vice President of Costa Rica Rebeca Grynspan Former President of the UN General Assembly and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Natural Heritage of Ecuador, Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces.
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, Virginia Gamba, Permanent Representative of Guyana to the United Nations, Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi and former President of Senegal, Macky Sall.
UN chief Antonio Guterres, the former Prime Minister of Portugal and former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, will complete his second five-year term as head of the global organisation in December 2026.
He had assumed office in 2017 as the ninth Secretary General of the UN, an organisation that had never seen a female leader at its helm in 80 years of its existence.
The Secretary-General is appointed by the 193-member General Assembly “upon the recommendation of the Security Council”, the powerful but divided 15-nation body where China, France, Russia, the UK and the US sit as permanent members and have veto powers.
A UN General Assembly resolution adopted in September last year had noted “with regret” that no woman has ever held the position of Secretary-General and had encouraged Member States to “strongly consider nominating women as candidates” for the top post.
While the selection of the Secretary General does not follow any regional rotation, it is being pointed out that the next UN chief should come from Latin America.
Negrea further said that while the United States has been “very critical” of many aspects of the UN, many places where it sees duplication of effort and wasted effort, at the same time, there are parts of the UN that are very, very useful, and “we want to work with them and harness their capabilities to this cause.
He noted that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UNICEF are doing important work.
“…we are working with the UN. We find that they can contribute,” he said.
