Christiana Figueres

• April 15, 2021

Six Latin American names are being circulated in regional political circles as possible candidates to become the first woman to lead the United Nations, while the current secretary-general, António Guterres, will most likely be re-elected for the upcoming five-year term, starting in 2022. So women appear to be lining up to cast their names for …

Latin America, Secretary-General, Women

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TAKE A LOOK

Paris Pact Staying Alive: Christiana Figueres’s New Role and More Data on Climate Change

Barbara Crossette

• July 9, 2017

Christiana Figueres, who piloted the Paris Agreement on Climate Change through years of negotiations to success in December 2015, will become chair of The Lancet Countdown’s high-level advisory board, the British medical publication announced recently. The Countdown project was established in November 2016 to monitor the effects of climate change on health and track …

Climate Change, Health and Population, Take a Look

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Guterres Leads Latest Poll for UN Secretary-General Again, but It May Not Matter

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• September 9, 2016

The latest Security Council straw poll pointing to the selection of the next secretary-general of the United Nations happened on Sept. 9, with the results leaving António Guterres of Portugal still the front-runner ever since the informal, anonymous balloting began in the Security Council in July. The latest poll is the fourth such vote; …

Secretary-General, Security Council, US-UN Relations, Women

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WORLDVIEWS

Personalities Can’t Be Ignored in Candidacies for UN Secretary-General

Ingvild Bode

• August 16, 2016

What personal qualities are needed to become a successful United Nations secretary-general? The 2016 campaign to select a new leader features many novelties in the UN’s history: an official list of candidates, public job interviews by the General Assembly and informal panel debates in London and New York. Civil society coalitions and the current …

WORLDVIEWS

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Only 1 Woman in Top-3 Winners Again in UN Secretary-General Vote

Lori Silberman Brauner

• August 5, 2016

With 11 candidates left in the race this year for United Nations secretary-general, the Security Council held its second straw poll on Aug. 5, showing a slight shift in levels of support by the council’s 15 members, but placing António Guterres of Portugal at the top again. Yet once more, only one woman, this …

Secretary-General

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Getting to Know the UN Secretary-General Candidates Better: A Wrap-Up of Two New York Forums

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• July 14, 2016

When it comes to the United Nations, the word “debate” takes on a civilized bearing, with no relation to heated contests among many sides. Over two nights this week at different settings in New York, UN secretary-general candidates campaigning to fill the shoes of Ban Ki-moon in January 2017 debated publicly. One event, held …

Secretary-General

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New Candidates for Secretary-General Make Their Cases at the UN

Barbara Crossette

• June 7, 2016

The field of nine candidates campaigning formally to become the next United Nations secretary-general grew by two on June 7, when Miroslav Lajcak, Slovakia’s foreign minister, and Susana Malcorra, who holds the same position in Argentina, spoke in public sessions lasting more than two hours each, taking questions from UN member delegates and civil …

Secretary-General

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The Field Grows and Shifts in the Race for UN Secretary-General

Barbara Crossette

• June 1, 2016

The second crop of campaigners making a pitch to replace Ban Ki-moon in January is now being assembled, and it looks like the first declared candidate on the list may well shake up the race. She is Susana Malcorra, Argentina’s foreign minister and a well-respected, internationally known former United Nations official. The next round …

General Assembly, Secretary-General, Security Council, Women

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UN Puts on Big To-Do, Amid Tight Security, for Signing of New Climate Agreement

Dulcie Leimbach

• April 22, 2016

The United Nations threw a large and lavish party at its headquarters in New York on Earth Day, the opening day of the signing ceremony for the world’s new climate agreement. About 170 heads of state and government representatives came to inscribe their names, in alphabetical order by country, in the General Assembly Hall, …