Guyana’s Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett is stepping up engagement with African leaders as she campaigns to become the next United Nations Secretary-General, taking her message of UN reform, stronger multilateralism and greater attention to developing countries to capitals across the continent.
By Ajong Mbapndah L
Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and CARICOM-endorsed candidate for UN Secretary-General, has taken her campaign to Ghana, meeting President John Dramani Mahama and Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa as she expands consultations with African governments.
Rodrigues-Birkett said she presented her candidacy to Ablakwa and outlined her vision for a more agile, efficient and effective United Nations. She also held separate talks with President Mahama, using the meeting to explain her priorities for the organisation and continue her engagement with African leaders on the challenges confronting the international system.
“I thank both Officials for their well wishes, and look forward to continuing my engagement with Ghana and all other Member States as we work together to build a stronger United Nations for present and future generations,” Rodrigues-Birkett said following the meetings.
Ghana is the latest stop in a series of African engagements that have brought the former Guyanese foreign minister into discussions with presidents, ministers and senior African Union officials. Her consultations have touched on UN reform, development financing, conflict prevention, food security, youth development, the Sustainable Development Goals and Africa’s representation in global institutions.
In late August, Rodrigues-Birkett was in Luanda, Angola, where she met African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf on the sidelines of an AU meeting. Their discussions covered reform of the multilateral system, including the United Nations and international financial institutions, as well as the need for global institutions to become more inclusive and responsive to Africa’s priorities.
The African Union said the meeting provided an opportunity to exchange views on the future of multilateralism and Africa’s role in shaping reforms of international institutions. Rodrigues-Birkett also raised issues including geographical balance in UN staffing, cooperation between the UN and regional organisations and development financing.
Her Luanda engagements included talks with Angolan President João Lourenço. UN reform and cooperation between the world body and regional organisations featured in the discussions, alongside Africa’s longstanding push for changes to the UN Security Council.
Rodrigues-Birkett has made stronger cooperation between the United Nations and regional organisations part of her campaign message, particularly in conflict prevention and peacebuilding. The issue has particular resonance in Africa, where the African Union and regional economic communities frequently work alongside the UN in responding to conflicts and political crises.
Namibian President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was among the other African leaders Rodrigues-Birkett engaged during her visit to Angola. Their discussions included the challenges developing countries face in meeting the 2030 Agenda and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
South Africa has also featured in her consultations. Rodrigues-Birkett met International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola for discussions on challenges confronting developing countries and reforms that could improve the effectiveness of the United Nations.
Her African outreach has also included engagement with Cabo Verdean officials, with discussions touching on food security, youth development and the wider challenges facing developing countries.
The growing number of engagements underscores the attention Rodrigues-Birkett is giving to African governments as the selection process for the UN’s top diplomatic post moves forward. Her discussions have gone beyond her candidacy to include issues African leaders have repeatedly raised in debates over the future of the international system.
At the centre of those concerns is reform. African governments have long argued that the structure of global institutions does not adequately reflect contemporary political and economic realities. Reform of the UN Security Council remains one of the continent’s most persistent demands, alongside calls for greater representation in international financial institutions and a stronger African voice in decisions affecting peace, security and development.
Rodrigues-Birkett brings more than 25 years of public service experience to the contest. She has served as Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations since 2020 and previously held several senior government positions, including Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Minister of Amerindian Affairs. She has also worked with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
Her diplomatic experience includes representing Guyana during the country’s 2024–2025 term on the UN Security Council, including during Guyana’s presidencies of the Council. The two-year term placed the Caribbean country at the centre of debates on wars, geopolitical rivalry, humanitarian crises and growing pressure on the multilateral system.
Guyana formally nominated Rodrigues-Birkett for Secretary-General in June 2026. She subsequently participated in the UN General Assembly’s interactive dialogue on June 18, where she faced questions from member states and civil society on peace and security, development, human rights, reform and the leadership required to steer the organisation through an increasingly difficult international environment.
Her candidacy has the backing of the Caribbean Community, CARICOM, giving the regional bloc a candidate in one of the most consequential diplomatic contests in the international system.
The candidacy also carries historic possibilities. Since the United Nations was founded in 1945, all nine Secretaries-General have been men. If selected, Rodrigues-Birkett would become the first woman and the first Caribbean national to lead the organisation.
For African governments, the selection comes at a time when questions of representation, financing and influence are becoming increasingly prominent in debates about the future of multilateralism.
Africa accounts for 54 of the UN’s 193 member states, more than a quarter of the organisation’s membership, yet the continent has no permanent seat on the Security Council. African leaders have increasingly used that collective weight to press for greater representation and a stronger say in how international institutions are structured and how major global decisions are made.
That gives engagement with African states considerable importance in the selection process.
From Luanda to Accra, Rodrigues-Birkett has sought to demonstrate that the issues occupying African governments are also part of her vision for the United Nations. Her conversations with leaders and officials have repeatedly returned to representation, development, conflict prevention, financing and stronger cooperation between the UN and regional institutions.
As the selection process moves forward, African governments will weigh the candidates against their own national and continental priorities. Rodrigues-Birkett’s expanding engagement with the continent gives her an opportunity to make the case that a more agile, efficient and effective United Nations should also be one in which Africa and the wider developing world have a stronger voice.
