The UAE nominated Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Lana Nusseibeh to become the next UN secretary-general, entering a crowded race to succeed António Guterres when his term ends in December. Born in 1978, Nusseibeh is an Emirati citizen whose family traces its roots to one of the most prominent Muslim dynasties in Jerusalem. She became the UAE’s ambassador to the UN in 2013 and led the country’s delegation during its 2022-2023 term on the Security Council.
“Her candidacy stands as confirmation of the importance Gulf states still place on the UN in their ambitious future planning,” Kristin Smith Diwan recently wrote for the Washington-based Arab Gulf States Institute. If selected, Nusseibeh would become the second Arab to lead the UN, after Egypt’s Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and its first woman.