The question is very simple: if women have long assumed high-level public responsibilities at the United Nations and multilateral organizations, why are they not considered for the top position, that of secretary-general? This is the starting point of the annual report “Women in Multilateralism” by the organization GWL Voices, which brings together more than 80 female leaders from 39 countries, and which was presented on Thursday in Madrid.

With months to go before selecting a replacement for António Guterres, this organization, made up of women who have held and currently hold positions in governments and multilateral institutions, focuses on this “anachronism,” which reflects decades of female underrepresentation in the most important positions in decision-making bodies.

“Electing a woman as UN Secretary-General could be key to change. Because there are many things that need to be changed, such as the UN Charter, which is quite outdated,” Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand, who was a candidate for secretary-general in 2016, told a group of journalists.

According to this founder of GWL Voices, these principles need to be reviewed. There is a campaign underway in civil society to make this happen, and she expressed her hope that a future secretary-general will carry it out. “The UN would improve people’s quality of life if it were more active. It could do more in terms of peace and security. It could be more effective in raising funds for humanitarian disasters. It could be more proactive in promoting the development goals. All of these things have an impact on people’s lives,” she stated.

Guterres’s term ends on December 31, 2026, and the process to replace him has already begun at the UN. A secretary-general’s term lasts five years and is renewable once. “We are convinced that it should be a woman. Geographical rotation is a practice, not a rule. But in this case, it would be good to maintain the practice and have a woman from Latin America. But above all, it must be the woman we need,” said Susana Malcorra, former Argentine foreign minister and a candidate for secretary-general in 2016.

“We haven’t had a Latin American secretary-general since Javier Pérez de Cuéllar. It’s been a long time, so it’s really Latin America’s turn. And there are many capable women in diplomacy and leadership in that region, and in my opinion, there has to be a quality candidate among them,” Clark confirmed.

Geographical rotation is a practice, not a rule. But in this case, it would be good to maintain the practice and have a woman from Latin America. But above all, it must be the woman we need

Susana Malcorra, former Argentine foreign minister

A “fictitious transparency”

The GWL Voices report, presented during the “Women Leading the UN of the 21st Century” conference, inaugurated by King Felipe VI, notes that in 80 years, there have been more than 40 candidates to head the United Nations. Only eight of them have been women, and none have held the position to date. In 2006, 60 years after the founding of the UN, the first female candidate was Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, then president of Latvia. Ten years later, in 2016, for the first time in history, there were more female candidates than male: seven out of 13, although Guterres was ultimately elected. In addition to Clark and Malcorra, other candidates included Irina Bokova, a Bulgarian diplomat and former director-general of UNESCO; Christiana Figueres, a Costa Rican politician; Natalia Gherman, former prime minister of Moldova; Vesna Pusić, former foreign minister of Croatia, and Kristalina Georgieva, currently managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“For women, strength often ends up being seen as a weakness. There are many people who don’t want a strong secretary-general. And we are strong women, we have achieved everything on our own, and sometimes that strength is seen as a flaw, as if we were too tough. And all of that plays a role,” Clark pointed out.

The organization notes that one of the obstacles is the way in which the secretary-general is chosen. Although the person is formally appointed by the General Assembly, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom) must approve the nominations and also have veto power.

The process is “opaque because you don’t know exactly what happens behind closed doors,” said Bokova, who was also present in Madrid. In the interest of greater transparency, GWL Voices, made up of women who are driving the transformation of multilateral organizations after experiencing the persistent gender imbalance in their careers, plans, for example, to organize voluntary debates among all the candidates in Geneva in June.

But has anything changed since 2016? “At that time, there was support from civil society for a female secretary-general. Now, there is a civil society movement and also a political movement led by some member states,” said Malcorra, citing, for example, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar, and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. “They managed to get 82 countries to sign a statement a few months ago in support of a female secretary-general. So I think there is a bit more political interest from those who aren’t behind closed doors. The question is whether the same is true for those who are behind the scenes,” Malcorra added, referring to the five countries with veto power.

There are many people who don’t want a strong secretary-general. And we are strong women, we have achieved everything on our own, and sometimes that strength is seen as a flaw, as if we were too tough. And all of that plays a role

Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand

Evaluate merit without bias

The GWL Voices report also examines 62 international organizations to assess the representation of women within them. Currently, 46% of these entities are led by a woman. “Some organizations have already achieved full parity or are close to doing so. Overall, multilateral institutions continue to perform better than other sectors, demonstrating that once prioritized and quantified, parity can become an achievable standard,” the research summarizes.

But the percentage drops considerably when we examine the spaces where decisions are actually made. For example, only 23% of permanent representatives to the UN in New York (the highest diplomatic post within the UN system) are women. There are 72 countries that have never sent a permanent representative and 63 that have done so only once. Furthermore, in the governing bodies of multilateral institutions, where priorities for action are defined, women hold only 29% of the seats.

GWL Voices insists that the reason is not a lack of qualified women, but rather “structural patterns of exclusion and selection processes that do not fairly assess merit.” “Highly skilled and qualified women have existed for decades; what is lacking is a process that recognizes them without bias,” according to Malcorra.

Highly skilled and qualified women have existed for decades; what is lacking is a process that recognizes them without bias

Susana Malcorra

In presenting the report, members of GWL Voices highlighted a striking fact for 2025. “Of the eight organizations monitored by GWL Voices that have appointed new leaders, none have named a woman to their top positions for the first time,” they stated. For example, the African Development Bank (AfDB) elected Sidi Ould Tah as president, and the African Union (AU) elected Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, “continuing the uninterrupted trend of male leadership” in these two highly influential institutions on the continent. Also included are the Organization of American States (OAS), which has never been led by a woman, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

On the other side of the scale, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has appointed Diene Keita as executive director, continuing the trend of choosing women for the organization’s top position.

“At this point, the question is no longer whether there are qualified women to fill these positions, but what prevents them from accessing them,” the GWL Voices leaders concluded.

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