Rodrigues-Birkett, UN leadership hopeful: “Not choosing a woman would send a very negative message”

Guyana’s ambassador to the UN, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, one of the best-placed candidates to succeed António Guterres at the head of the organisation, has warned that not choosing a woman “would send a very negative message to the world”, in an interview with the newspaper El País published on the day the Security Council holds its first informal colour-coded straw poll, which reveals whether any of the five permanent members opposes each candidate.