Former UNGA President Espinosa Enters Candidacy for UN Secretary-General

The United Nations (ANTARA) - Maria Fernanda Espinosa, former President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), has been recommended as a candidate for the next Secretary-General of the UN, according to the spokesperson for the current President of the UN General Assembly.

Espinosa’s nomination was recommended by the government of Antigua and Barbuda, said La Neice Collins, spokesperson for UNGA President Annalena Baerbock.

Espinosa, from Ecuador, served as President of the 73rd UN General Assembly from 2018 to 2019. Previously, she held positions as Ecuador’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York and Geneva.

Espinosa also served twice as Ecuador’s Foreign Minister and once as its Minister of Defence.

To date, there are five candidates competing to become the next UN Secretary-General.

In addition to Espinosa, the other four candidates are Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Rafael Grossi from Argentina, currently Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Rebeca Grynspan from Costa Rica, current Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); and Macky Sall, former President of Senegal.

Antonio Guterres, the current and ninth UN Secretary-General, began his term in January 2017. The next UN Secretary-General will officially take office on 1 January 2027.