--- title: 'Three Women Are in Line to Lead the UN. We Covered their Live Debate' url: 'https://thediplomaticinsight.com/three-women-in-line-lead-un-live-debate/' author: 'Samia Tanveer' date: '2026-06-11T15:12:43+05:00' categories: - 'Diplomatic News' - 'Featured' - 'Gender Insight' - 'Women Insight Daily' --- # Three Women Are in Line to Lead the UN. We Covered their Live Debate For the first time in 80 years, the position of the United Nations Secretary-General is being contested by a majority of female candidates. On Tuesday, 9 June, CNN host Zeinab Badawi brought together all three female candidates — Rebeca Grynspan (Costa Rica), María Fernanda Espinosa (Ecuador), and Michelle Bachelet (Chile) — to present their vision for the role of the next Secretary-General. The debate drew journalists, academics, researchers, and leaders, all eager to hear the aspirations of these prospective leaders. From rebuilding trust in multilateralism to AI governance, the discussion was dynamic and covered a broad range of pressing global challenges. ## **Rebuilding the Trust of Youth** **Question: Young people feel multilateral institutions are failing to deliver on the challenges that matter most to their futures. What would you do as Secretary-General to rebuild trust among younger generations?** Rebeca Grynspan placed strong emphasis on not allowing skepticism to descend into fatalism, urging youth to retain faith in the institution. She noted that young people under 30 hold only 4% of positions within the UN, arguing that the organization cannot expect trust from a generation it continues to render invisible. María Fernanda Espinosa stressed the critical distinction that the UN suffers from a crisis of impact and accountability, not of purpose. She stated plainly: “Trust is earned through delivery, not declared.” By centering her candidacy on measurable outcomes, she aims to restore credibility with younger generations. Michelle Bachelet underscored the importance of a results-oriented UN. She also highlighted the enduring significance of multilateralism, noting that despite its shortcomings, the system continues to function, as evidenced by vaccine distribution in refugee camps and sustained displacement support worldwide. Follow-up discussion: On regional bodies (AU, EU, ASEAN) as alternatives, all three candidates agreed that the UN remains unique as the only truly universal platform, but acknowledged that it suffers from a “culture problem” around genuine partnership. Grynspan captured this succinctly: “The UN is unique, but not alone.” **Read More: [How the United Nations Secretary-General Is Selected?](https://thediplomaticinsight.com/how-the-un-secretary-general-is-selected/)** ## **The Political Strategy of the Secretary-General** **Question: Should the SG be an independent political actor who shapes global diplomacy — as envisioned by Boutros-Ghali’s Agenda for Peace — or primarily a facilitator of member-state cooperation, as put forward by Guterres’s New Agenda for Peace?** Rebeca Grynspan invoked Kofi Annan as the ideal model: independent and effective at once. She asserted that “the SG must absorb the cost of failure and rejection and try again,” calling for a less risk-averse approach to diplomacy. María Fernanda Espinosa declined to endorse either model exclusively, instead emphasizing the importance of deploying every available tool enshrined in the UN Charter. She advocated for prevention and early warning systems to function as an operating principle rather than a mere slogan, and proposed the creation of a Prevention and Early Action Hub. She remarked: “The SG must be foot-on-ground, active, and trusted by all member states.” Michelle Bachelet expressed support for both models, observing:  “A facilitator without independent judgment is just a moderator. An independent figure who cannot build trust is just a news commentator.” She placed particular emphasis on the value of back-channel diplomacy in navigating complex geopolitical situations. ## **Climate Justice** **Question: Countries most affected by climate change have the least influence over global decisions and face the heaviest debt burdens. Climate change also disproportionately displaces women and marginalized communities. How would you make climate governance more equitable?** Rebeca Grynspan prioritized adaptation over mitigation alone, arguing that climate finance mechanisms are overly bureaucratic and inaccessible. She proposed that collaboration between multilateral development banks and the private sector is essential to streamlining and scaling up climate finance. María Fernanda Espinosa acknowledged that climate change is simultaneously a development issue, a macroeconomic issue, a security issue, and an industrialization issue, a complexity that makes equitable governance exceedingly difficult to achieve. She identified a lack of political will and fragmented financing as the primary obstacles to progress. Michelle Bachelet drew attention to the conspicuous absence of small island states and low-lying coastal communities from key decision-making forums. She stressed that the triple crisis: climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss must be tackled collectively, and offered a pointed observation:  “Affected countries need grants, not loans — they are drowning and being asked to take on debt.” **Read More: [Four UN Secretary-General Candidates Lay Out Their Vision in Interactive Dialogue](https://thediplomaticinsight.com/four-unsg-candidates-interactive-dialogue/)** ## **Getting the SDGs Back on Track** **Question: The next Secretary-General takes office in early 2027, fewer than three years before the SDG deadline. Only 18% of the 169 SDG targets are currently on track, and there is a $4 trillion annual financing gap. How do you propose to bring the SDGs back on track? Should national parliaments be engaged?** Rebeca Grynspan argued that the UN must transition from a supply-driven to a demand-driven model of support. She maintained that progress must return to the country level, given that SDG delivery relies heavily on national agendas and that parliaments must anchor this through legislation. She warned: “96 million more people face hunger today compared to 2015 — indicators are going backward, not forward.” María Fernanda Espinosa identified three fundamental needs for developing countries: financial resources, technology, and institutional capacity. She acknowledged that the Secretary-General’s primary role is to help countries design their own development pathways and push for reform of the international financial architecture, noting: “Development cannot be delivered from New York. It must be nationally owned and funded.” Michelle Bachelet called for deeper integration between multilateral development banks, national parliaments, and the private sector. She urged a recalibration of ambition: “Future goals should be fewer, but better-funded and more rigorously defended.” ## **Science, Technology, and AI Governance** **Question: How can science be made more structurally embedded and equitable within the UN? And how should the UN ensure that all countries have a meaningful voice in shaping the rules governing AI — when most decisions are currently made by a small number of states and private companies?** Rebeca Grynspan expressed strong support for the Secretary-General’s AI advisory and scientific committees. She outlined three core principles: ethics must be embedded at the outset of AI development – “you cannot regulate an algorithm built without ethics” – the digital divide must be addressed as a development imperative, and urgent multilateral cooperation is needed on three critical frontiers: disinformation, cybersecurity, and autonomous lethal weapons systems. María Fernanda Espinosa observed that the UN’s scientific capacity is fragmented across the system and requires coherent integration into everyday decision-making. She emphasized that AI is not merely a technological issue, it is simultaneously a jobs issue, an economic issue, a security issue, and an ethical issue. She expressed firm support for the Global Digital Compact and the upcoming Global Dialogue on AI Governance (Geneva, July). Michelle Bachelet praised the UN’s conduct during COVID-19 as evidence that its scientific community can operate with solidarity and transparency. She made a pointed observation about institutional leverage: “The UN’s unique asset is a table of 193 member states — no private company possesses that convening power.” ## **Human Rights** **Question: Dag Hammarskjöld stated in 1957: “Without recognition of human rights, we shall never have peace.” Will you be a true champion for the principles enshrined in the UN Declaration of Human Rights?** Rebeca Grynspan argued forcefully for pushing back against the politicization of human rights and expressed support for the UN80 human rights working group proposal.  She stated: “Human rights are an indivisible package, not a menu, member states must comply with all of it, alongside international and humanitarian law.” María Fernanda Espinosa noted that with the Human Rights Council marking its 20th anniversary this year, it is time to critically reassess the architecture built around it. She insisted that everything the UN undertakes must place human dignity at its center, cautioning: “Saying ‘I will champion human rights’ is easy; actually doing it is hard.” Michelle Bachelet affirmed that human rights, development, and peace are inextricably linked and must not be treated as separate silos within UN work. She also drew attention to the chronic underfunding of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which currently receives only 4% of the UN’s regular budget. The questionnaire round concluded with closing remarks from each candidate, reinforcing the distinct leadership visions they would bring to one of the most consequential roles in contemporary international affairs.