Along with the White House, another sphere of global power may get its first female leader this fall: the United Nations.
The current slate of candidates to replace Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has five women and six men. The women are: Susana Malcorra, the foreign minister of Argentina; Irina Bokova, the Bulgarian head of UNESCO; Helen Clark, former New Zealand PM; former Moldovan Foreign Minister Natalia Gherman; and Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic.
The UN has come under pressure to select a woman as its secretary general since the presidents of its General Assembly and Security Council urged the nomination of female candidates. Member nations back the idea.
Unlike the U.S. presidential race, there aren’t polls that track who’s ahead. But a story in the Financial Times says Malcorra is favored by the U.S. and Bokova is backed by Russia. The piece also calls the post “the most impossible job in the world.” But that’s a characterization it’s earned with only men holding the position. If that’s how people think of it, it’s time to let a woman have a shot.
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