Rodrigues-Birkett to Face UN Membership in Live-Streamed Dialogue Thursday

Jun 17, 2026 News

(Kaieteur News) – Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and the country’s official candidate for the post of UN Secretary-General, will participate in a formal interactive dialogue with the full UN membership this Thursday, June 18, at 10 a.m. a pivotal moment in the selection process to succeed Secretary-General António Guterres when his tenure expires at year’s end.

The dialogue will be live-streamed via the UN WebTV Portal, opening the exchange to civil society, the broader international community, and the global public.

Rodrigues-Birkett to Face UN Membership in Live-Streamed Dialogue Thursday

Permanent Representative of Guyana to the UN, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett

Ahead of Thursday’s engagement, Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett framed the dialogue as both an opportunity and a commitment.

“As I embark on this journey seeking to be the next United Nations Secretary-General, I begin the process with an informal Interactive Dialogue with the Membership of the United Nations, on Thursday 18 June 2026,” she said. “This dialogue forms an important part of the selection process for the next Secretary-General.”

She added that she is eager to share her vision and engage with member states, civil society, and the wider international community and pledged to maintain that same consultative approach if entrusted with leading the world body. “I commit to maintaining a similar consultative posture once entrusted with the responsibility of serving as the world’s chief public servant,” she said.

President Irfaan Ali formally announced Rodrigues-Birkett’s nomination last Friday in a video statement, describing her as the “fit and proper” candidate to lead the United Nations at a defining moment in global affairs.

The Head of State tied the nomination directly to Guyana’s rising stature on the world stage. He pointed to the country’s successful election to the UN Security Council and the completion of its 2024–2025 term as proof that Guyana is capable of providing meaningful leadership within the global system, not as an aspiration, but as a demonstrated fact.

During that Security Council tenure, Ali said, Guyana pressed consistently for peace, dialogue, and respect for international law. Beyond the Council chamber, he noted that Guyana has carved out an increasingly prominent role on climate change, food and energy security, biodiversity, and the interests of small and developing states arguing that the country has shown economic growth and environmental stewardship need not be in conflict.

“Over the past several years, Guyana has emerged as an influential voice on the global stage,” President Ali declared. “Our successful election to the United Nations Security Council… have demonstrated to the world that Guyana can provide leadership at various levels of the global system.”

President Ali made the case that Rodrigues-Birkett’s biography matches the demands of the office.

She has served as Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the UN since 2020, guiding the country’s participation through its landmark Security Council term. Before that, she led the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s liaison office in Geneva from 2017 to 2020. She served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2015, and as Minister of Amerindian Affairs from 2001 to 2008 a role in which she championed the rights and welfare of Indigenous peoples over a transformative period for Guyana’s indigenous communities.

In total, her career spans more than two decades of public service across diplomacy, multilateral affairs, and government, a record President Ali said equips her with “the experience, expertise, judgment, and diplomatic skills necessary to perform ably and effectively carry out the duties of Secretary-General of the United Nations.”

Thursday’s interactive dialogue is one of the formal steps in the UN’s selection process for its next Secretary-General. With Guterres’ term ending December 31, 2026, the process is expected to intensify in the months ahead as member states weigh candidates and the Security Council and General Assembly move toward a decision.

For Rodrigues-Birkett, Thursday represents her first major public test on the global stage as a declared candidate and a chance to signal to 193 member states what kind of Secretary-General she intends to be.

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António Guterres, Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, Guyana’s Permanent Representative, United Nations

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