UN Secretary General Candidacy
Guyana’s candidate for the United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) position, Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, has received the backing of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in Jamaica, the Most Honourable Juliet Holness.
In a recent video statement, Mrs Holness, who is the wife of the Jamaican Prime Minister (PM) Andrew Holness, expressed full support for a fellow Caribbean national in her bid for the top UN office.
According to PM Holness, the nomination of a candidate from a small Caribbean nation reflects the potential that exists within the region. To this end, she underscored the importance of the entire region to lobby behind Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett.
“Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett is one of us. A woman coming from a very small region within Guyana, who appreciates that Guyanese and Caribbean people need to see that they can potentially be masters of our world. As Jamaicans would say, ‘We’re little, but we’re Tallawah.’ It means that though we are coming from small communities and smaller countries, regionally we are stronger,” she stated.
Holness went on to add, “We, as a region, our Caribbean, Americas, and Atlantic regions, are in full support of our sister Carolyn. We want every single voice to be raised supporting her candidacy, and we are speaking it into being. We look forward to you, our next UN Secretary General. You can do it. Do it for all of us.”
In recognition of this latest endorsement, Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett expressed gratitude to Mrs Holness for her warm words of affirmation and support for her UNSG candidacy.
“I am deeply humbled by this show of support from my fellow CARICOM sister in public service. I also take this opportunity to once again express my sincere appreciation to the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) for their collective endorsement,” the Guyanese diplomat stated on Saturday.
Back in July, Caribbean leaders endorsed Guyana’s candidacy for the UN Secretary General position.
“Heads of Government strongly welcomed Guyana’s nomination of Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and expressed their full endorsement of her candidacy,” a communiqué from the CARICOM Secretariat stated following the 51st Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM held in Gros Islet, Saint Lucia.
In fact, Deputy Secretary General of CARICOM, Dr Armstrong Alexis, had lauded Guyana’s bid for the top UN position.
During an interview on the side-lines of CARICOM Heads of Government in St Lucia, Dr Alexis said this ambitious move by a Caribbean member state would augur well in positioning the region on the global stage.
“If we succeed in electing a CARICOM national as the Secretary General of the United Nations, that is going to be a huge accomplishment for this region,” the CARICOM Deputy SG stated.
Already, he pointed out that for the first time, the Caribbean has been able to occupy the seat of the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) in the person of Ambassador Albert Ramdin from Suriname.
According to the CARICOM Deputy Head, the Caribbean region, over recent years, has been positioning itself among the international community.
“We are Small Island Developing States, but we are not islands without the capacity, without the capability, without the intelligence to be able to stand among the best and the brightest in this world,” Dr Alexis had posited.
Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett, who currently serves as Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the UN and is a former Foreign Affairs Minister, was nominated by President Dr Irfaan Ali back in June for the UNSG position. The tenure of current UNSG Antonio Guterres will end on December 31, 2026.
Since her nomination, Ambassador Rodrigues has embarked on a global campaign to push her candidacy among major leaders and organisations.
Ambassador Rodrigues is vying for the UNSG post alongside the former President of Chile and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet; former President of the UN General Assembly Maria Fernanda Espinosa of Ecuador; Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi of Argentina; SG of UN Trade and Development Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica; and former President of Senegal Macky Sall.
As she continues her campaign across the globe, Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett has been stepping up in the race for the UNSG post. In fact, only two weeks ago, she moved into the lead following the second United Nations Security Council straw poll, securing the highest number of “encourage” votes among the candidates.
Rodrigues-Birkett received eight encourage votes, three discourage votes, and four no-opinion votes in the second round. The result places her narrowly ahead of Rebeca Grynspan, who received seven encourage votes, four discourage votes, and four no-opinion votes.
The latest result represents a shift from the first straw poll, when Grynspan led the field with ten encourage votes. Rodrigues-Birkett had secured nine encourage votes, two discourage votes, and four no-opinion votes in that round.
While Rodrigues-Birkett’s encouragement tally declined by one vote in this second round, Grynspan’s fell by three, allowing the Guyanese candidate to emerge with the highest number of encouragement votes in the field.
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