Good morning, this is Kasmira. The race to appoint the next United Nations chief is now well underway, with five candidates in the running so far – of which three are women.
Susana Malcorra, one of the seven contenders in 2016, has since set up a movement to promote more women in multilateralism. She tells us why now, more than ever, it would be significant to see a woman at the helm. |
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Susana Malcorra is president of GWL Voices, an orgsanisation promoting women in multilateralism, which she co-founded alongside two other former UN secretary general candidates, Helen Clark and Irina Bokova. (GWL Voices)
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In 2016, Susana Malcorra was one of seven women candidates out of 13 in the running to become the next secretary general of the United Nations, ultimately losing out to former Portuguese prime minister António Guterres.
The experience prompted the former Argentine foreign minister and UN under-secretary general, together with two other candidates, Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand, and the Bulgarian Irina Bokova, previously director general of the UN’s cultural agency Unesco, to create GWL Voices , an organisation that seeks to change the course and advance women’s leadership in the multilateral system.
Its latest annual report, Women in Multilateralism, exposes decades of underrepresentation at the highest levels: not a single female candidate was officially considered for secretary general during the UN’s first 60 years. The advocacy group, which now counts nearly 80 members including all former female human rights commissioners, will hold a general debate in Geneva on 8 June at the Maison de la Paix, with all five candidates in this year’s race to replace Guterres on 1 January 2027, invited to attend. So far, three have confirmed.
In an interview at our offices in Geneva, Malcorra explains why it's high time for highly qualified women candidates to be assessed fairly on their merits.
Read the full story on Geneva Solutions.
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Here’s what else is happening
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🛳️US flexes 'new order' trade policy as WTO meet kicks off.
In a video statement at the opening of the World Trade Organization ministerial meeting in Cameroon, US trade representative Jamieson Greer said Trump was restructuring the global system to be based on “reciprocity, fairness, and balanced trade”.
AFP via Barron's (EN)
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🦠Talks deadlock: should pandemic agreement annex go to a vote?
Some civil society members are suggesting that an outstanding annex to the treaty should be voted on, as drafts fail to garnish approval among WHO member states.
Health Policy Watch (EN)
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🚶🏿♀️Sudan’s war nears Syria-style refugee tipping point, UN migration agency says.
The head of the International Organization for Migration in Sudan said that, with 9 million people displaced and 150,000 facing catastrophic hunger in the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis, migration is set to further increase within the region and beyond.
Politico (EN)
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💸UN needs more funds to help people displaced by Mideast war, refugee chief says.
Barham Salih, head of the UN refugee agency, told donors in Brussels that it only received 10 per cent of its $69 million appeal to respond to the crisis so far.
Reuters (EN)
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