Rebeca Grynspan: The UN must sit at the most important negotiating tables in the world'

"Grynspan, who is the current secretary-general of United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD), faces a long and intense campaign that will take her around the world for months. In a London hotel cafe, surrounded by papers and sitting in front of her laptop, while bland, unsolicited music plays in the background typical of a Sunday afternoon she speaks to EL PAIS."

"If you were to ask me what my campaign slogan is, I would tell you it's Article 1 of the U.N. Charter. It says it all, and we should be true to those values, she argues. But at the same time, we have to be much more agile and flexible, more innovative in the proposals the U.N. presents to the world. And for that, we have to take risks."

"To maintain international peace and security; [...] to develop friendly relations among nations; [...] to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems; to be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends, reads the first article of the U.N. Charter. Quite a mission. The Costa Rican economist is committed to restoring the organization to its central role."

Rebeca Grynspan, Costa Rican economist and current UNCTAD secretary-general, is the official candidate nominated by Costa Rica for UN secretary-general. She previously served as vice president of Costa Rica and headed the Ibero-American General Secretariat. The campaign will be long and global, with travel around the world for months. The campaign slogan is Article 1 of the U.N. Charter, emphasizing maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, achieving international cooperation, and harmonizing state actions. The campaign emphasizes restoring the UN to a central role while being more agile, flexible, innovative, and willing to take risks. The UN grew from 50 founding countries to 193 members.

Read at english.elpais.com