The next UN Secretary General? Rebeca Grynspan’s Priorities for the UN

Costa Rica’s former Vice-President and long-serving UN official, Rebeca Grynspan, is one of four candidates bidding to be the next UN Secretary-General. She sat down with Canning House to discuss her priorities for the UN and vision of a multilateral future.

Ms Grynspan started by explaining her motivation: that she considers herself a daughter of peace and a daughter of international institutions; her family fled Europe to Costa Rica in the wake of the Holocaust. She wants to protect a multilateral world with principles and humanitarian law. Ms Grynspan established three priorities, were she to become the Secretary-General: peace and security, reform, and a hopeful future.

The candidate wants to bring the UN back to the negotiating table to end armed conflicts across the globe. To do this, the UN needs to rebuild trust in its capabilities. But more fundamentally, the office of the Secretary-General needs to be restructured for conflict mediation. Through her experience in the Black Sea initiative, Ms Grynspan appreciates the need for greater integrated planning in each peacekeeping mission, and the importance of listening to those working in the field.

Reform of the UN is another of Ms Grynspan’s key priorities. Duplication of work between entities and competition between UN agencies for funding have become detrimental to the UN’s operations. A modern UN, Ms Grynspan insisted, needs to recognise the limits of its abilities, and understand the increased capacities of countries, civil society, and the private sector, compared to 1945. The UN harness its unique nature while learning how to partner on projects with civil society.

Finally, if she becomes UN Secretary-General, Ms Grynspan insists she will look to the future. She recognises that people are growing anxious at the rate of global change and wants to create a more hopeful future in which the UN is more connected to citizens, visibly delivering on its promises. New technology needs to be built for all, and her work will strive to create an equal, unified future.

As the questions opened up to the table, the discussion turned to the mechanisms of the UN. Voting will take place in the Security Council first, with the five permanent members holding a veto, before the decision is approved by the General Assembly. Ms Grynspan reminded the audience that the Secretary-General does not have the power to reform the Security Council, but would like to see a more representative UN that would be more relevant in today’s multipolar world.

Canning House thanks Rebeca Grynspan for sharing her insights, and will be following all candidates of the election closely.