On Wednesday 5 March, new data was presented on the prospects that a feminist woman will be selected as the next United Nations Secretary-General. Organized by the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP), the NYU School of Professional Studies Center for Global Affairs (NYU SPS CGA), and 1 for 8 Billion, the event presented findings from an analysis of UN Member States’ official statements regarding gender and leadership within the UN.

The event, titled A Historic First? Tracking State Responses to Having a Feminist Woman UN Secretary-General, took place at the Bahá'í International Community Offices.

The findings of the research are available here.

For 80 years, the highest leadership role in the United Nations has been held exclusively by men. Women’s rights activists argue that the time is now to elect a woman leader, and it needs to be someone with a track record in defending feminist principles.

The headline finding was that 92 UN member states have expressed strong support for a Woman UN Secretary-General. The full findings of the research are available here.

UN Member States expressed support for a woman Secretary-General in the last selection, a full decade ago. There was gender parity in the list of candidates in 2016 (for the first time ever); nevertheless, a man was selected. Reacting to this history, Mavic Cabrera Balleza, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of GNWP, notes, “It’s time for Member States to walk the talk! We cannot have another decade of empty talk. The world needs to see a feminist woman at the helm of global governance. This will bring back credibility and legitimacy to the UN and hope for the world.”

Claudette Segura, from the team of student researchers from New York University (NYU) that conducted the research, said she “hopes the tracker will aid the growing civil society movement advocating for a woman SG, and incite member-states to review their own level of support and commit to concrete actions. As governments around the world react to the dramatic shifts in the US’s position on multilateralism, there may be pressure to conform with the US’s de-centering of gender equality in global efforts on development, human rights and peace – for instance in the Sustainable Development Goals.”

1 for 8 Billion Advisor Ben Donaldson warned about self-censorship to placate the US and said: “states need to be ready for an uncomfortable ride.” In his conversations with diplomats, he noted there is a risk: “ they are regressing into tentative mode where they’re figuring out how to position themselves with the new US dynamic. And there’s this strong instinctive desire to try to do all this by consensus as it has been done in the past. (...) This instinct could very well mean going along with the appointment of a candidate that is an anti-feminist, and anti-UN candidate. Destroying the UN is not a price worth paying for UN consensus.”

Donaldson concluded: “ If all of us have the first Madam Secretary General’s back, this is how we can make the impossible gig a difficult but feasible gig, and one which could make progress on the raft of issues facing the world’s 8 billion people.”

Ahead of the launch, GNWP, NYU SPS CGA and 1 for 8 Billion released an op-ed making the case that the next UN Secretary-General should also be a feminist, because of the need to defend gender equality in the context of a growing tide of misogyny linked to autocratic governance around the world. As highlighted in the op-ed, “The selection of the next UN Secretary-General will be a pivotal moment in global efforts to resist authoritarianism.” The interactive discussion will feature speakers from UN Member States, civil society, and UN entities.

The full findings of the research are available here.