As the United Nations moves forward with its selection process for the next global leadership post, Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley has formally committed her nation’s full backing to Guyanese diplomat Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett’s bid to become the 10th UN Secretary-General, while dismissing widespread speculation that she would pursue the role herself in the near term.
Speaking from the floor of the UN General Assembly during the annual high-level debate, Mottley confirmed that Barbados aligns with the wider Caribbean Community (CARICOM) bloc in supporting Rodrigues-Birkett, who currently serves as Guyana’s permanent representative to the UN. “As the United Nations undertakes the important task of selecting its next Secretary-General, Barbados joins its sister member states in the Caribbean Community in pledging its full support for the candidature of Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett of Guyana,” Mottley stated.
Rodrigues-Birkett’s path to the candidacy began earlier this year: she was formally put forward by her home country Guyana in June, before securing a collective endorsement from CARICOM heads of government at their July regional summit. The race itself is to replace incumbent António Guterres of Portugal, whose second five-year term is set to conclude on December 31 of this year, with the new secretary-general scheduled to take office on January 1.
The Guyanese former foreign minister has emerged as a leading contender in the informal, closed-door straw polls conducted by the UN Security Council to gauge candidate support. In the most recent round of polling held last week, Rodrigues-Birkett earned eight “encourage” votes, six “discourage” votes, and one abstention, putting her among the top performing candidates. Only Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan secured a higher number of encouraging votes, at nine.
On the sidelines of the General Assembly gathering, Mottley addressed growing rumors that she would enter the race for the top UN post during a discussion with the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations. When asked why she had declined to throw her hat into the ring this cycle, the Barbadian leader pointed to her existing governing obligations at home and across the Caribbean. “I have a country to run and a region to take care of,” Mottley explained.
She added that the electoral mandate she received from Barbadian voters and the array of pressing economic, climate and social challenges facing the Caribbean region mean her immediate priorities remain focused on her home jurisdiction. However, Mottley stopped short of permanently ruling out a future run for the position. “Do I say never? I never say never,” she said. “But at the same time, I don’t see it as an immediate prospect.”
If Rodrigues-Birkett succeeds in her bid, she will make history on two fronts: she will become the first Caribbean national and the first woman to hold the position of UN Secretary-General. Since the organization’s founding in 1945, all nine of its previous secretaries-general have been men, a long-standing gender imbalance that many member states have pushed to correct in this selection cycle.