Khaberni - The Lebanese-born Ecuadorian diplomat Yvonne Abdel Baki has officially entered the race to succeed United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, after being nominated by the Kingdom of Tonga for the position, making her the eighth candidate to enter the competition to lead the international organization starting from 2027.
While consultations continue to choose Guterres's successor, whose second term ends at the end of 2026, amid a competition that includes political and diplomatic figures from various regions around the world, according to "Reuters".
Lebanese Roots
Yvonne Leila Juwaiz Abu Shaqra Abdel Baki was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador in 1951, to parents of Lebanese origin. At a young age, she married the Lebanese Sami Abdel Baki and moved to Lebanon, where she lived during the Lebanese civil war years, an experience she later said influenced her direction towards working for peace, according to the Ecuadorian newspaper "El Universo".
Art as a Gateway to Diplomacy
She began her professional life in the field of art, studied arts at the Sorbonne University in Paris, before moving on to study public administration and public policy at Harvard's Kennedy School, where she received two master's degrees in 1993.
She also worked as a resident artist at Harvard, and founded the "Harvard Arts for Peace Foundation", which used art exhibitions and cultural events as a means to bring communities and countries experiencing conflicts closer, according to the Association of Latin American States and the Council of the Americas (AS/COA). (AS/COA).
The Beginning of the Diplomatic Path
Her diplomatic career began in 1981, after her appointment as Honorary Consul of Ecuador in Beirut.
She then held the same position in Boston between 1992 and 1998. This phase was the beginning of a career that later extended to embassies, government work, and international negotiations, according to the Association of Latin American States.
Peace Between Neighbors
Abdel Baki's name also emerged in the peace negotiations between Ecuador and Peru, after she participated in 1995 in the efforts to end the conflict between the two countries following the "Cenepa" war.
She worked with American negotiation expert Roger Fisher as part of the team that assisted the Ecuadorian government in the negotiation process, which ended with the signing of the "Brasilia Peace Accords" in 1998, according to the newspaper "El Universo".
From Washington to the Presidential Elections
In 1998, the Ecuadorian President Jamil Mahuad appointed her as Ambassador of Ecuador to the United States, making her the first Ecuadorian woman to hold this position, and she continued in it until 2002, before moving to government and political work within Ecuador.
In 2002, Abdel Baki ran for the presidential elections in Ecuador but did not win the position, before she was appointed in 2003 as Minister of Foreign Trade, Industry, Regional Integration, Fisheries, and Competitiveness, becoming the first woman to hold this portfolio as it was formatted at the time. She continued in the position until 2005, and during this period, she participated in trade negotiations with partners including the United States and the European Union, according to the Association of Latin American States and the Council of the Americas (AS/COA). (AS/COA)
President of the Andean Parliament
Then in 2006, Abdel Baki became the representative of Ecuador in the Andean Parliament, and was unanimously elected as President of the Parliament for two years in 2007, holding the position until 2009. She also chaired the Economic Affairs Committee in the Andean Parliament and led the Economic Affairs Committee of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat).
Her name was also linked to environmental issues, as she chaired the negotiation team of the "Yasuni-ITT" Ecuadorian initiative between 2010 and 2013, which aimed to keep oil reserves in the ITT field within Yasuni National Park unextracted in exchange for international financial contributions to support the project.
Return to the Embassies
Abdel Baki returned to diplomatic work, holding the position of Ambassador of Ecuador to Qatar between 2017 and 2020, while also being accredited as non-resident ambassador to Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, Oman, and Syria, then was appointed as ambassador to the United States in 2020, before moving to the Ecuadorian Embassy in France in 2024.
Her Official Nomination
She enters the race to succeed Guterres after being officially nominated by Tonga, making her the eighth personality to enter the competition, and the second from Ecuador after Maria Fernanda Espinosa. Abdel Baki said she wants to work on "renewing" the United Nations and enhancing its ability to achieve measurable results, within a vision focused on peace, multilateralism, climate action, and biodiversity, according to "Reuters".
A Complex International Race
It should be noted that the selection of the Secretary-General is not decided simply by announcing the nominations, as the 15-member Security Council undertakes the process of recommending a candidate to the General Assembly, which in turn appoints the Secretary-General. The five permanent member states of the council (the United States, Russia, China, France, and Britain) play a crucial role, as any of them can use their veto right to block the recommendation.
While consultations are expected to continue over the coming months, the selection process may extend until late September or early October, before deciding on the name who will succeed Guterres, according to "Reuters".
Eight in the Race
With Abdel Baki's entry, the race now includes eight names, including former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, former Vice President of Costa Rica Rebeca Grynspan, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi, former Guyanese Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, former Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa, former President of Senegal Macky Sall, Ugandan diplomat Olara Otunnu, and Abdel Baki.
An earlier informal survey round within the Security Council showed a slight advance by Grynspan, in an early indicator of the nature of the competition, although these surveys are not final votes and do not determine the identity of the next Secretary-General.
