GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Oct 28, CMC -The 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Wednesday reiterated its support for Guyana’s candidate, Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkette, adding that it has taken “note of developments in the ongoing process of selection for the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations”.
In a statement, the regional inntegration grouping gave no indication as to what are the “developments” regarding the appointment, but “reaffirmed the Community’s commitment to multilateralism undergirded by the United Nations Charter and International Law”.
In July, President Irfaan Ali announced the candidature of Rodrigues-Birkett to succeed the current UN Secretary-General António Guterres, whose term ends on December 31, 2026.
“Over the past several years, Guyana has emerged as an influential voice on the global stage. Our successful election to the United Nations Security Council and the successful completion of our 2024-2025 term on the body have demonstrated to the world that Guyana can provide leadership at various levels of the global system,” he said then.
Rodrigues-Birkett has served as Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations since 2020 and represented the country during its term on the UN Security Council.
Her career in public service spans more than two decades, including service as Director of the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s liaison office in Geneva from 2017 to 2020, Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2015, and Minister of Amerindian Affairs from 2001 to 2008.
The CARICOM statement said that regional leaders at their inter-sessional on October 23 this year, “recalled and reaffirmed their decision to fully endorse the candidacy of Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, a distinguished daughter of Guyana and the Caribbean, for the post of Secretary-General, as set out in the Communiqué of the Fifty-First Regular Meeting of the Conference, issued on 10th July 2026”.
The statement said that the leaders affirmed their confidence in the “ability and integrity of Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett to effectively lead the United Nations in this season of pressing global challenges and needed institutional reform and renewal, in full consonance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
“In that regard, they called attention to her more than two decades of field, legislative, political, diplomatic and international civil service experience, and to her proven skills and diplomatic acumen as a change agent and consensus builder.”
The regional leaders also recalled the Declaration of the Foreign Ministers of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) on the selection process for the next Secretary-General of the United Nations on September 21, this year.
“They underscored the need for the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly to uphold the principle of equitable geographical balance and honour the practice of regional rotation in the selection process for the next UN Secretary-General, as a critical safeguard for all states, especially small states aspiring to contribute to the work of the UN in its several dimensions, including through appointment to the highest offices within the Organization. “Accordingly, they shared the view that it is now time for a national of Latin America and the Caribbean to assume the mantle of leadership of the Organization.”
The regional leaders said that they also “recognise the broad support so far extended to candidates from Latin America and the Caribbean.
“They expressed appreciation for the support extended to the CARICOM candidate, mindful that the selection of a CARICOM woman as Secretary-General would mark an historic new chapter for the United Nations and the world,” the statement added.
The formal selection and appointment of the United Nations Secretary-General is a two-step process involving the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, with up to 10 formal nominees involved in the 2026 race.
Apart from Rodriquez-Birkett, the other main candidates are Rebeca Grynspan, the Secretary-General of UN Trade and Development and former Vice President of Costa Rica; the Argentine, the Ecuadoran diplomat Ivonne A-Baki nominated by Tongo and Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, the former president of the UN General Assembly and former Ecuadorian foreign and defense minister.
CMC/gt/ir/2026