GUYANA’S candidate for United Nations Secretary-General, Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, continued her global campaign on Monday with an engagement before the Princeton Group, where she outlined her approach to implementing the UN80 reform process should she be elected to lead the world body.
The session gave Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett, Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, an opportunity to detail how she would translate the UN80 reform decisions into practical outcomes, with a stated focus on making the organisation more agile, effective and efficient.
Her remarks centred on the need for the UN to remain responsive to the concerns of member states, while adapting to what she described as an evolving global landscape.
The Princeton Group, chaired by Ambassador Christian Wenaweser, Permanent Representative of Liechtenstein to the United Nations, brings together diplomats and officials who focus on strengthening the UN’s institutional architecture and its rules of procedure.
Following the engagement, Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett expressed her gratitude to Ambassador Wenaweser and the group’s members for organising the dialogue, and thanked participants for the questions and perspectives they raised during the exchange.
The session forms part of a sustained diplomatic push by the Guyanese candidate, who has in recent weeks held a series of high-level meetings and forums as she seeks support ahead of the selection of the next Secretary-General.
She has engaged Heads of Mission from the European Union, met Caribbean Community leaders at their 51st Conference of Heads of Government in Saint Lucia, held talks with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, and presented her candidacy to the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner.
She also took part in a UN General Assembly town hall alongside five other contenders vying for the post.
Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett was formally nominated by President Irfaan Ali to succeed António Guterres, whose second term as Secretary-General concludes on 31 December 2026.
Her candidacy has been built around themes of inclusive multilateralism, institutional reform, conflict prevention, and stronger representation for the Global South in UN decision-making.
She brings more than two decades of experience in public service, having served as Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Amerindian Affairs, as well as Director of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Liaison Office in Geneva, and Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the UN since 2020.
If elected, Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett would become the first woman to hold the position of UN Secretary-General in the organisation’s 80-year history; a milestone she has repeatedly emphasised throughout her campaign as she positions herself as a practical, results-driven leader for an institution she says stands at a critical crossroads.