Caribbean Candidate Eyes First Woman UN Secretary General
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- Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett is the first Caribbean candidate for UN secretary general and would also be the first woman in the role if elected, after nine men held the post over 80 years
- Rodrigues-Birkett placed second in the latest UN security council straw poll with nine 'encourage' votes, two 'discourage' votes, and four 'no opinion,' trailing Costa Rican diplomat Rebeca Grynspan among seven candidates
- CARICOM leaders gave Rodrigues-Birkett their full endorsement at their July summit, making her the only candidate with regional backing
- Climate financing is her stated priority — she noted the UN's Loss and Damage Fund has distributed just $19 million over 16 years, despite Jamaica sustaining $10 billion in damage from Hurricane Melissa in October 2024
- Rodrigues-Birkett was born in the Indigenous Arawak village of Santa Rosa, Guyana, with no running water or electricity, and became minister of Amerindian affairs at age 27 before serving as minister of foreign affairs
- The UN secretary general role would require managing the largest number of active conflicts since WWII — including Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, and Haiti — alongside rising racial tensions and the slavery reparations resolution
Why it matters: Rodrigues-Birkett's candidacy breaks a 40-year informal regional rotation that determines when different world regions get a shot at the top UN job. If she wins, she would be the first woman and first Caribbean national in the role — a symbolic and structural shift for a region on the front lines of climate disasters, as illustrated by the $19 million distributed versus $10 billion in Jamaica's Hurricane Melissa damages.
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