PM Mottley Backs Guyana’s Candidate for UN Secretary-General Role

Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley has stated that she believes Guyana’s Ambassador to the UN, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, has the skills and experience needed for the UN Secretary General job.

The Barbadian Prime Minister offered her support for Rodrigues-Birkett’s candidacy as she addressed the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday.

“At a moment when the international community is being called upon to renew its faith in multilateralism, we believe that Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett brings to this tasks the experience, the skills and the understanding to serve the entire membership of this organization. Indeed, Mr. President, I believe that others think so too” Prime Minister Mottley said.

The Prime Minister’s address came hours after Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali told the United Nations that it needs leadership that can build bridges where division has become habitual.

He said Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett, has served her country, represented the developing world, and worked within the multilateral system with a deep understanding of both its promise and its imperfections.

“We believe that her experience, her convictions, her record of service, speak directly to the kind of leadership this moment demands. Her candidature therefore requires special significance amid the profound challenges confronting the United Nations and the international order. We need leadership capable of restoring trust without compromising principles, of listening without surrendering conviction, of bridging bridges across the widening chasms between north and south, between large states and small, between the developed and developing world. We need a Secretary General who will defend the charter not only when it is politically convenient but precisely when its principles are under pressure,” President Ali said.

Noting that Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett has drawn on every experience, President Ali said her upbringing encompassed struggle but also accomplishments that have defined and broken barriers.

“An Indigenous woman coming from a small Indigenous village, defying the odds – the odds against Indigenous persons; the odds against women; the odds against poverty – defying every challenge and rising to the top amidst those challenges. Her character is built on struggle, sacrifice, and commitment. Her accomplishments are crafted in her humanity. This is an individual of exceptional qualities,” President Ali said.

He urged the five permanent members of the Security Council – China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States – and every other member of the U.N to look beyond the small country that nominated her for the position.

He said already, Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett has received the endorsement of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

“Let us rise to the challenge of giving this indigenous woman the chance of helping us craft together, the United Nations we want to see succeed. The responsibility for recommending the next Secretary-General rests, in the first instance, with the Security Council, and we therefore respectfully place before its members the candidature of Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett. Endorsed by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), we invite all to consider her candidacy on its merits and to judge whether her vision, experience, expertise and record can help restore confidence in the United Nations at this critical moment,” President Ali urged.

The United Nations will make a decision on its new Secretary General before the end of the year.

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