By Catarina Demony and Mark Bendeich
LONDON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - One of the candidates to become the U.N.'s first female secretary-general, senior U.N. official Rebeca Grynspan, has pledged to restore trust in the organisation as it faces heavy criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump.
The process to elect the next U.N. chief formally kicked off last week as member states were asked to nominate candidates to take over the role from Antonio Guterres of Portugal from January 1, 2027.
Grynspan, secretary-general of the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development and a former vice president of Costa Rica, is among the publicly declared candidates for U.N. leadership. If elected, she would assume the role during Trump's tenure as U.S. president.
Trump has maintained the same wary stance on multilateralism that was a hallmark of his 2017-2021 first term and has accused the U.N. of failing to help him broker peace in various conflicts. He describes the U.N. as having "great potential", but says it has to get its "act together".
U.N. leadership has pushed back against Trump's remarks, saying it works to implement reforms and that U.S. support for its institutions has saved lives.
Grynspan, 69, told Reuters in an interview in London on Tuesday that Trump's critiques could be "constructive" and not "destructive," emphasising that the U.N. should strive for improvement: "The U.N. has to embrace reform, not be defensive about reform."
Asked whether Trump's criticism of the U.N. had merit, she said it was important to acknowledge a "weakening of trust" in the organisation and to work toward restoring confidence in an institution she called crucial for global stability.
The U.N. has helped create a world with less poverty and lower maternal and infant mortality rates, among other achievements, she added.
"Institutions have to be able to look at themselves and... admit that they don't do everything right," she said. "What we don't want is to throw away all the experience and infrastructure the U.N. has built (over) these 80 years that has served the world pretty well."
CALLS FOR FIRST FEMALE UN CHIEF GROWING
The role of secretary-general of the 80-year-old institution has never been held by a woman, which Grynspan said defies explanation given how many women have the merit and credentials to lead.
"We don't need special treatment. What we are really asking for is no discrimination," she said. "If equality will prevail, we will be able to get there. That's the only thing that we are asking: equal treatment."
Calls have been growing for a woman to assume the role, and the next secretary-general will likely come from Latin America as the position traditionally rotates among regions. Latin America, along with the Caribbean, is next on the list.
Alongside Grynspan from Costa Rica, other publicly declared candidates for the role include former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Argentine diplomat Rafael Grossi.
Grynspan said the U.N. must become more inclusive, pointing out that when it was founded in the aftermath of World War Two, it had 51 member states, whereas today there are 193, most of which had no role in shaping the institution's original 1945 architecture.
"Those voices have to have wider space to be heard," Grynspan said, adding that granting permanent Security Council seats to Africa and Latin American nations would be a welcome reform.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony, Mark Bendeich and Marissa Davison; Editing by Aurora Ellis and Frances Kerry)
