The United Arab Emirates has nominated Lana Nusseibeh, its Minister of State and former ambassador to the United Nations, to be the next UN Secretary-General. Her candidacy was announced on Wednesday, 21 October, through the UAE state news agency WAM, after President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed wrote to the Security Council backing her. She enters a race that has so far failed to produce a consensus choice to succeed António Guterres, whose second and final term ends on 31 December 2026.
If chosen, she would be the first woman to lead the UN, the first Gulf Arab in the post and only the second Arab after Egypt’s Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
Key facts
- Candidate: Lana Nusseibeh, 48, UAE Minister of State; on leave from her government post for the campaign
- Experience: UAE ambassador to the UN from 2013 to 2024; led the UAE’s Security Council term
- Race: At least eight other declared candidates, with Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan seen as the narrow front-runner in straw polls
- Deadlock: No candidate has yet won the backing of all five permanent Council members
- Firsts: Would be the first woman and first Gulf Arab Secretary-General
Who is Lana Nusseibeh?
Nusseibeh served more than a decade as the UAE’s permanent representative in New York, from 2013 until she became Minister of State in mid-2024. She led the campaign that won the Emirates a two-year seat on the Security Council and headed its delegation during that term. During the Gaza war, she helped steer Resolution 2720, which set up a mechanism to speed humanitarian aid into the Strip, in part by organising a Council visit to the Rafah crossing.
Before New York she built the UAE Foreign Ministry’s policy planning department and worked on the country’s successful bid to host the International Renewable Energy Agency. In announcing her bid she said she would approach the job by speaking frankly with every government and “answering to none”.
What she says she will prioritise
- Restoring the UN’s role as a practical problem-solver in conflicts
- Clearer priorities and resources for core UN work, with less overlap between agencies
- Reform of the UN development system and stronger accountability for results
- Applying international law equally, without double standards
- Attention to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan
A crowded and deadlocked race
Other declared candidates include Rebeca Grynspan (Costa Rica), Rafael Grossi (Argentina), Michelle Bachelet (Chile), Macky Sall (Senegal), María Fernanda Espinosa and Ivonne Baki (Ecuador), Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett (Guyana) and Olara Otunnu (Uganda). In last week’s informal straw poll, every candidate drew at least two discouraging votes from the permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — which is why late entrants were expected.
Her bid will also face scrutiny. UN sanctions monitors have described as credible allegations that the UAE supported Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, a charge Abu Dhabi denies. How Council members weigh that issue may shape her chances.
Why it matters for the Muslim world
No one from a Muslim-majority Gulf state has ever led the UN, and the organisation’s handling of Gaza, Sudan, Yemen and the Iran crisis has been a constant concern for Muslim communities. A Secretary-General from the region would bring first-hand knowledge of those conflicts, though the post requires strict neutrality towards all member states. Muslim governments have been pressing for a stronger UN role, as seen at the OIC foreign ministers’ meeting in Baghdad and among Gulf states at the GCC ministerial council.
What happens next
Security Council members are negotiating whether to hold another straw poll as early as this Friday. The Council must agree on one name, free of a permanent-member veto, and recommend it to the 193-member General Assembly for appointment before the end of the year.
FAQ
Has a woman ever led the United Nations?
No. All nine Secretaries-General so far have been men.
How is the Secretary-General chosen?
The Security Council recommends a candidate, and the General Assembly appoints them. Any of the five permanent members can block a candidate.
Source: The National — https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uae/2026/10/21/lana-nusseibeh-un-secretary-general/; Arab News — https://www.arabnews.com/middle-east/senior-uae-diplomat-lana-nusseibeh-enters-race-for-un-chief-3007609
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