Key facts
- Ecuadorean diplomat Ivonne Baki has been nominated as a candidate for UN Secretary-General.
- Baki, a former Ecuadorean minister and ambassador, was nominated by Tonga.
- She is the eighth candidate to enter the race to replace Antonio Guterres.
- The UN Security Council plans to conduct further informal polls to select a successor.
- Antonio Guterres' term as Secretary-General concludes at the end of the year.
Ecuadorean diplomat Ivonne Baki has entered the race to become the next Secretary-General of the United Nations, documents revealed. Baki, who has held ministerial positions and served as an ambassador for Ecuador, was nominated by the Pacific island nation of Tonga. She is the eighth candidate vying to succeed Portugal's Antonio Guterres, whose second five-year term concludes at the end of the year.
Tonga's U.N. ambassador, Viliami Va'inga Tone, stated in Baki's nomination letter that the United Nations is at a critical juncture and requires experienced, principled, and unifying leadership. He expressed confidence in Baki's ability to mobilize the organization and the international community to strengthen multilateralism.
The selection process involves informal polls among the 15 members of the UN Security Council. Denmark, the current chair, aims to hold another poll soon. Precedent suggests multiple rounds of voting may occur, potentially concluding in late September or early October, with the possibility of new candidates joining the contest.
Early frontrunners among the seven existing candidates included former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan, former Guyanese Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, and Rafael Grossi, head of the UN nuclear watchdog. Other candidates in the running are former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, former Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa, former Senegalese President Macky Sall, and Ugandan diplomat Olara Otunnu.