In the eighty-year history of the United Nations, a woman has yet to serve as Secretary-General. The process of nominating a new UNSG is now underway, with the selected candidate assuming office in 2027. Rebeca Grynspan is one of four women seeking the position in a field of six candidates. 

Born in San José, Costa Rica, Grynspan studied economics at the University of Costa Rica and later earned a master’s degree in economics from the University of Sussex, in England. Grynspan has held several ministerial and economic policy roles in the Costa Rican government, and she served as the nation’s Vice President from 1994 to 1998. She has also held senior-level positions at the UN. Since 2021, she has served as Secretary-General of UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), where she has been involved in discussions on food security, trade, and development finance. Previously, she served as Secretary-General of the Ibero-American Conference and as Associate Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP). 

If appointed UNSG, Grynspan says she will prioritize the promotion of multilateral cooperation to address global economic inequality, trade imbalances, and sustainable development challenges. She likewise seeks to strengthen international coordination on food security, development financing, and crisis response for developing countries.

Michelle Bachelet is one of four women in a current field of six candidates to be seeking the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations in 2027.  In its eighty-year history , the United Nations has yet to appoint a woman to serve as Secretary-General. 

Bachelet is a native of Santiago, Chile. In the 1970s, she and members of her family experienced persecution under the military government, forcing them into exile, but Bachelet eventually returned to her home country, studying medicine at the University of Chile and pursuing a career in public health. She was appointed Chile’s Minister of Health in 2000, and in 2002 was named Minister of National Defense, the first woman to ever hold the position. 

If appointed UNSG, Bachelet will bring to the role executive experience, having served as President of Chile for two (nonconsecutive) terms. She has also held senior leadership roles at the UN, serving as Director of UN Women (2010–13) and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (2018–22). Her work has focused on human rights, gender equality, democratic governance, and humanitarian protections, particularly for victims of political persecution and torture. As UNSG, she says she will support UN reform and the promotion of multilateral cooperation to strengthen international responses to humanitarian crises, inequality, and conflict prevention.

The selection process for the next United Nations Secretary-General is now underway, with the new Secretary-General expected to take office in 2027. In the organization's eighty-year history, a woman has yet to hold the position. Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett is one of four women seeking the role among six candidates.

Born in the Barima-Waini region of Guyana, Rodrigues-Birkett studied social work at the University of Guyana and later completed a certificate in business administration at the University of Regina in Canada. Rodrigues-Birkett has held several ministerial and diplomatic roles throughout her career. She served as Guyana's Minister of Amerindian Affairs from 2001 to 2008 and as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2015. Since 2020, she has served as Guyana's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. She previously held senior UN positions at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), including Director of the FAO Liaison Office in Geneva and Special Coordinator of Parliamentary Alliances.

If appointed UNSG, Rodrigues-Birkett pledges to prioritize strengthening multilateral cooperation among nations and maintaining confidence in the UN as a force for global good. She likewise seeks to improve the organization's effectiveness and responsiveness in addressing emerging global challenges while advancing sustainable development and international cooperation.

As the United Nations seeks its next Secretary-General in 2026, Maria Espinosa is one of four women among the six nominees. In the organization’s eighty-year history, a woman has yet to  hold the Organization’s highest office. 

Born in Salamanca, Spain, Espinosa spent her formative years in Ecuador. She earned a bachelor’s degree in applied linguistics from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador and completed graduate studies at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, where she specialized in social sciences and Amazonian studies. Espinosa is also a celebrated poet, honored with the National Poetry Prize of Ecuador in 1990.

Espinosa has held several senior-level ministerial roles for the Ecuadorian government, at various points in her career leading  the nation's foreign policy, defense administration, and cultural and environmental departments. At the international level, she served as Ecuador’s Permanent Representative to the UN in both New York and Geneva. In 2018, she became President of the UN General Assembly, serving through 2019; she was only the fourth woman, and the first from Latin America and the Caribbean, to preside over the body since its establishment in 1945.

Drawing on a background in multilateral diplomacy, environmental governance, and institutional leadership, Espinosa, if appointed UNSG, pledges to focus on modernizing the UN, establishing an early-action framework for global security, and ensuring that the UN adapts in ways that better address complex climate and financial challenges through inclusive multilateralism.