NEW YORK CITY, New York — President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali has appealed to the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and other UN member states to support Guyana’s nominee for UN Secretary-General, Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett.

Ali made the appeal on September 24 during his address to world leaders at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

His call comes amid reports that the United States plans to use its veto power to block Rodrigues-Birkett’s nomination because of her description of the situation in Palestine as “genocide”.

Agence France-Presse reported that Rodrigues-Birkett, who served as Guyana’s foreign minister from 2008 to 2015, narrowly led the second round of the informal process to select the next UN chief.

Other candidates include Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, the current head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Senegal’s Macky Sall, former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, Ecuador’s Maria Fernanda Espinosa and Uganda’s Olara Otunnu.

Making the case for Rodrigues-Birkett, Ali said the UN needs leadership capable of addressing the challenges facing the organisation and restoring confidence in the multilateral system.

“The United Nations needs leadership that can bring its different organs, agencies and programmes into a greater unity of purpose,” Ali said.

He said the next Secretary-General must be able to work with all member states to restore confidence in the organisation, strengthen its effectiveness and turn the principles of multilateralism into action.

“It is in this spirit that Guyana has put forward the candidature of Her Excellency Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett for the office of Secretary-General of the United Nations,” Ali said.

He highlighted Rodrigues-Birkett’s experience serving Guyana, representing the developing world and working within the multilateral system.

“We believe that her experience, her convictions and her record of service speak directly to the kind of leadership this moment demands,” he said.

Ali said her candidacy was particularly significant given the challenges facing the UN and the international order.

“We need leadership capable of restoring trust without compromising principle; of listening without surrendering conviction; of building bridges across the widening chasms between North and South, between large states and small, between the developed and developing worlds,” he said.

He also called on members of the Security Council to consider Rodrigues-Birkett’s candidacy on its merits.

“The responsibility for recommending the next Secretary-General rests, in the first instance, with the Security Council, and we therefore respectfully place before its members the candidature of Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett,” Ali said.

He noted that her candidacy has been endorsed by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and urged member states to consider whether her vision, experience, expertise and record could help restore confidence in the United Nations.