World

Grynspan leads in the sixth UN Secretary-General poll.

Stateline MEDIA Newsroom•October 17, 2026•3 min read

The sixth informal poll of the UN Security Council on Friday (16/10) placed Rebeca Grynspan, former Vice President of Costa Rica, as the leading candidate for the 10th UN Secretary-General. However, two opposing votes from veto-wielding members mean the race remains open—and Grynspan has a chance to become the first woman to lead the UN.

Key Facts

The sixth informal poll of the UN Security Council on Friday (16/10) placed Rebeca Grynspan, the 70‑year‑old former Vice President of Costa Rica, as the leading candidate for the 10th UN Secretary‑General.
Grynspan received 9 “encourage” votes, 5 “discourage” votes, and 1 “no opinion”; two of the five votes against came from members of DK PBB (P5).
Carolyn Rodrigues‑Birkett (Guyana’s UN ambassador) received 8 votes in favor, 6 against, 1 neutral; Rafael Grossi (IAEA Director General) noted the result was almost identical, with one fewer P5 support.
This poll, for the first time, uses color‑coded ballots that show whether a veto‑holding country opposes a candidate.
A DK recommendation requires at least 9 affirmative votes from the 15 member states and no "discourage" votes from the P5; the DK has less than three months to select a successor to Antonio Guterres, whose term ends on December 31.
If elected, Grynspan would become the first woman to serve as United Nations Secretary-General.

Grynspan Leads Narrowly in Sixth Poll

The sixth informal poll of the United Nations Security Council on Friday (16/10) placed Rebeca Grynspan as the frontrunner in the race to become the 10th United Nations Secretary-General. However, the lead of the 70-year-old former Vice President of Costa Rica is still far from decisive.

Grynspan received nine "encourage" votes, five "discourage" votes, and one "no opinion" vote. Of concern to Grynspan's camp, two of the five "discourage" votes came from permanent members of the UN Security Council—the US, Russia, China, France, and the UK—who hold veto power.

That means Grynspan still has to convince at least two of the five veto‑holding countries before DK PBB issues an official recommendation for Antonio Guterres’s succession.

Intense Competition and Color‑Coded Ballots

The closest rival to Grynspan, Carolyn Rodrigues‑Birkett, Guyana’s ambassador to the UN, secured eight votes in favor, six against and one neutral — with two of the dissenting votes also coming from permanent members. Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), noted a nearly identical result, with only one fewer permanent‑member support.

For the first time, this poll used color-coded ballots indicating whether a veto-wielding country opposed a candidate. This mechanism made the tally more transparent ahead of the decisive stage.

The new Secretary‑General must secure at least nine affirmative votes from the 15 UN Security Council members and cannot receive a single “discourage” vote from any permanent member. Because every candidate still faces two or more vetoes, the door remains wide open for a fresh contender.

Grynspan: UN Too Reluctant to Take Risks

In an interview with Reuters, Grynspan assessed that the UN has become “too risk-averse” and expressed agreement with US Ambassador Mike Waltz on the need to reform the organization’s bureaucracy. He pointed to his role in negotiating the Black Sea Grain Initiative in 2022 as an example of the quiet diplomacy he could bring to the Secretary-General’s seat.

Grynspan emphasized that the race is not over yet and warned that new candidates can still enter the nomination pool at any time.

If she wins, Grynspan will make history as the first woman to lead the UN in its eight decades of existence.

Heavy Challenges Await the Next Secretary-General

The UN Security Council has less than three months to select a successor to Antonio Guterres, whose term ends on December 31. Whoever is elected will face formidable challenges: a series of raging wars, cuts to US contributions to the UN, and the declining political relevance of the global body following Washington’s withdrawal from dozens of its agencies.

Amid the UN's existential crisis, the next poll will determine whether Grynspan can move from the lead to become the outright winner.