UAE Minister of State Lana Nusseibeh has entered the race to become the next UN secretary general.
State media agency Wam reported on Wednesday that Ms Nusseibeh would be joining the list of candidates for the role leading the world body.
Ms Nusseibeh previously served as the country's representative to the UN, and led its delegation during its recent two-year membership on the Security Council.
Wam said that in a letter submitted to the UN Security Council from President Sheikh Mohamed, Ms Nusseibeh’s “deep experience of the United Nations, her judgment in addressing the ongoing international challenges, and her record of constructive work” were highlighted.
“I have spent much of my professional life working in and around the United Nations, and I have seen first-hand what determined diplomacy can achieve – countries with profound differences finding common ground, and agreement where people said agreement was impossible," Ms Nusseibeh said after her candidacy was announced.
"But I have also seen the cost when diplomacy falls short. When the distance between what we promise and what we deliver grows, trust erodes, and so does our ability to act.
"I am standing to be Secretary General because I believe this is a moment to act with greater urgency: to act earlier, bring people together across difference, and drive the work forward until it produces concrete results. That is how we rebuild trust in the United Nations and ensure it delivers meaningful change for the people it exists to serve.”
Secretary General Antonio Guterres's second and final term will finish at the end of the year. Ms Nusseibeh joins a crowded list of candidates to become UN secretary general.
Eight people have been put forward for the role: Guyana’s Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett; Argentina’s Rafael Grossi; Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan; Senegal's Macky Sall; Ecuador's Ivonne Baki; Chile's Michelle Bachelet; Ecuador's Maria Fernanda Espinosa; and Uganda's Olara Otunnu.
But none of the candidates has been able to get enough support among the members of the UN Security Council's members.
Deliberations continue at the Security Council, with straw polls indicating that Ms Grynspan is the front-runner. With the current deadlock, it was expected that new candidates would enter the race.
If selected, Ms Nusseibeh would be the first woman to hold the position of Secretary General of the UN and only the second Arab, after Egypt's Boutros Boutros-Ghali. She would also be the first Gulf Arab to assume the role.
Ms Nusseibeh was appointed the UAE's ambassador to the UN in 2013. Before that, she served in a number of positions in the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, launching its Policy Planning Department and serving as its first director for three years.
She also served as the head of the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) campaign task force at the ministry, and as director of research and communications for the Ministry of State for Federal National Council Affairs.
She stepped down from her role as UN ambassador in mid-2024 to take up her role as UAE Minister of State.
Priorities
Ms Nusseibeh spoke to The National last month at the General Assembly in New York about the UAE's key messages at the UN and its commitment to multilateralism.
“Although it seems that this is a really uncertain time ... a challenging time, it is not a time to give up hope. It is not a time to give up optimism about the future. It is not a time to give up diplomacy and a recommitment to multilateralism,” she said.
In announcing her candidacy, Ms Nusseibeh said she wished to "offer myself to this office as I would serve it: speaking frankly with every government and answering to none".
According to Wam, if elected, Ms Nusseibeh would prioritise ensuring peace and security worldwide. She called for clearer priorities, leadership and resources closer to the problems the UN exists to solve, stronger accountability for results, less duplication and empowering people to deliver on the field.
The UN development system must also respond to a changing world in which progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals remains deeply uneven. As secretary general, she said she would help to forge trustworthy commitments that governments can explain to their citizens.
In addition, Ms Nusseibeh would focus on ensuring the equal application of international law, without double standards, which was necessary for the UN to maintain credibility.
