WASHINGTON, October 16. /TASS/. The United Nations needs reform like never before in order to correspond to modern challenges, Guyana's UN envoy Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, who has been nominated to the post of the next UN secretary-general, said.
"Attention is <…> rightfully placed on reforms of the United Nations. It has never been louder to call for reform, in my view," she said at the Washington-based Stimson Center in Washington.
In her words, the question should be raised whether "the structures of 1945 are relevant to 2026 realities."
"And that brings in the issue or the matter of Security Council reform. Of course, the Secretary General doesn't have a role in that as such, that's for member states. But then you have the reform of the agencies, funds, and programs, and we have over 35 of them. Are they fit for today, and what do we need to do? Can we reduce the overlaps, or eradicate the overlaps, the duplication, so that we can deliver better on the ground," the diplomat continued.
In her view, there is also the need for a "reform of the UN Secretariat - that comes under the Secretary General as well - to be more effective, more efficient, and in lockstep with member states, and not the other way around."
She added that "the organization, as it currently is, must change."
"We are 19 years away from the centenary of the UN, and so now is the time to reform and to remake that UN," Rodrigues-Birkett concluded.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called for reforming the UN Secretariat as it has been taken over by one group of states pursuing their own interests. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the organization has been under pressure for a reform. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi believes that changes within the organization should start from a reform of the UN Security Council.
Currently, seven candidates are vying for the post of the UN secretary-general: Rafael Grossi (Argentina), head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Rebeca Grynspan (Costa Rica), Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); Macky Sall, former President of Senegal; Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, former Foreign Minister and Defense Minister of Ecuador; Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the UN; Ivonne Baki, former Ecuadorian Ambassador to the US and France; and Olara Otunnu, Uganda’s former Permanent Representative to the UN.
Antonio Guterres, who has headed the UN since 2017, will complete his term on December 31, 2026. Members of the Security Council select a candidate to recommend for the post of UN chief. The General Assembly then votes to formally appoint the new UN secretary-general.