Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, will face the full UN membership on Thursday in her first major test since being named Guyana’s candidate for the post of secretary general.
Member states, civil society, and the wider public will hear how the veteran diplomat intends to lead the world body when the session goes live on the UN WebTV Portal at 10 am.
The secretary general sits at the helm of the world’s premier multilateral institution, charged with steering an organisation of 193 member states on matters ranging from peace and security to development, human rights and climate.
The ambassador is seeking to succeed António Guterres, whose second term ends on December 31, 2026. The next secretary general would take office on January 1, 2027.
Ahead of the engagement, she framed the dialogue as the opening step of a longer journey.
“As I embark on this journey seeking to be the next United Nations Secretary-General, I begin the process with an informal Interactive Dialogue with the Membership of the United Nations,” she said in a statement.
The ambassador called the exchange a central part of the selection process. She said she was ready to set out her vision and hear from those she hopes to serve.
“I am eager to share my vision, engage with the membership, civil society and wider international community, and commit to maintaining a similar consultative posture once entrusted with the responsibility of serving as the world’s chief public servant,” the ambassador said.
By long-standing custom, the post rotates among the world’s regions, and Latin America and the Caribbean have not held it since Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru, who left office in 1991.
President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali announced Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett’s nomination earlier this month.
He tied it to Guyana’s growing weight in international affairs, pointing to the country’s 2024–2025 term on the UN Security Council.
“In my estimation, Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett has acquired the experience, expertise, judgement and diplomatic skills necessary to perform ably and effectively carry out the duties of secretary-general of the United Nations,” he declared.
Her career spans more than two decades in public service.
Before her role as Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the UN, she served as Director of the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s liaison office in Geneva from 2017 to 2020, as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2015, and as Minister of Amerindian Affairs from 2001 to 2008, where she championed the rights and welfare of indigenous peoples.