As the public dialogues with candidates for the United Nations secretary-general post approach — scheduled for April 21 and 22 — one nominee, Rebeca Grynspan, is seeking to claim the moral high ground with her decision to step away as head of UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Grynspan, an economist nominated by Costa Rica, is one of four candidates in the race so far, including Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who was nominated in November last year by Argentina.
Of these candidates currently in the running — the informal deadline for nominations passed on April 1 — Grossi and Grynspan are the only ones who hold positions in the UN system and therefore fall within the scope of the General Assembly resolution that asks such officials to “consider” suspending their roles during the secretary-general campaign to avoid conflicts of interest.
Grynspan, secretary-general of UNCTAD, heeded the General Assembly’s call, contained in last year’s Resolution 79/327; Grossi did not.
Grossi has previously told PassBlue the operative word in the resolution was “consider,” so he was not obliged to leave his IAEA post, which has kept him front and center of global attention during the Israeli/United States war against Iran and entails widespread travel at his agency’s expense. In his financial disclosure, he said he would pay all his campaign expenses out of his own funds.
Grynspan, however, does not see the word “consider” as an escape clause from the need to step away from her post. “For me, this is not a difficult decision. It is simply the consistent one,” she said in an email to PassBlue. “The guidance comes from Member States through the General Assembly, and that carries weight. It is the body I seek to serve and work with, and its signal should be taken seriously.”
The UN depended on people making choices “that favour long-term trust over short-term advantage. That is what gives predictability to the system and confidence to those who rely on it,” Grynspan said.
Costa Rica’s obligatory statement on the source of Grynspan’s campaign financing said only that “the resources will be drawn from public and private sources.” Grynspan is traveling to Moscow this week to meet with Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, on April 7. The country is a key player in the decision-making process of selecting the next UN leader.
Grossi said after his nomination that he needed to stay on at the IAEA because of “the nature and responsibilities of my position” at the agency, which, among other things, is involved in trying to ensure the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine and of nuclear facilities in Iran — including a power plant at Bushehr and several uranium-enrichment and research facilities. The agency is also responsible for trying to verify whether Iran is producing weapons-grade uranium.
UNCTAD’s global role is also crucial and has become more so in recent weeks, after Iran virtually closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to the onslaught against it by the US and Israel and choked off an essential shipping route for oil, natural gas and fertilizer. But Grynspan said she could take leave from her role, safely knowing that UNCTAD would continue to operate smoothly, because she had built a strong team.
“Institutions prove their strength when they continue to deliver without interruption,” she said. “This is something I have worked to build over time.”
Conflict of interest?
Under her leadership, Grynspan said UNCTAD had become “more focused, more present in global debates, and more capable of responding in moments of crisis, from the pandemic to broader economic shocks.”
“That reflects the work of a strong team and an institution that has learned to operate under pressure. That continuity is not accidental. It comes from sustained efforts to strengthen how the organization works so it can perform, adapt and deliver beyond any one individual.”
In her responses to PassBlue’s questions, Grynspan stressed that ethics, trust, integrity and credibility had been her main motives in stepping away from UNCTAD temporarily when her nomination as a UN secretary-general candidate was formally declared in early March.
Asked if she would be disappointed if other candidates failed to do the same, Grynspan said, without naming Grossi: “Trust is built through actions that renew and strengthen institutions over time. Each candidate will make their own decision. For me, credibility has always been built through choices, not statements. It takes time to earn and very little to weaken.”
In the mission statement she submitted as part of the selection process, Grynspan said she was stepping away from her post in the interests of “accountability.”
“Accountability means being able to stand up to any scrutiny of your ethical behavior, including avoiding any conflict of interest and removing any doubt about where you stand. It is about avoiding any ambiguity between the responsibility I hold and the role I am seeking. It is also about protecting the institution at a moment when trust in it is under pressure.”
Grynspan said all institutions should be stronger than the individuals who serve them.
“Stepping aside follows that same logic. It allows the organization to remain fully focused on its work, and it ensures that my candidacy is conducted with clarity and respect for the system and the membership recommendations.”
Shortly after Grynspan’s nomination became formal, PassBlue asked Grossi if he thought he should follow her example in stepping away from a UN post. He replied: “Regarding other candidates, I would not be able to comment on their own particular circumstances.”
He did not respond to a question about whether he understood the General Assembly’s concerns about conflicts of interest.
Grynspan said potential conflicts of interest were wider than just the “actual misuse of position.”
“It is about making sure that decisions and access are not shaped by personal considerations,” she said. “It can relate to engagement with Member States, visibility through official platforms, media exposure, travel linked to institutional functions, or the use of institutional resources.
“At a time when multilateral cooperation is under scrutiny, these distinctions matter. Institutions do not lose credibility overnight. They lose it in what may be perceived as small decisions but over time can form a pattern of practice. That is why this needs to be clear. Credibility rests on both integrity and confidence in the process.”
“See what they say”
The two other candidates in the running to succeed António Guterres are Michelle Bachelet, a former two-time president of Chile and UN high commissioner for human rights, and Macky Sall, a former president of Senegal. (The Maldives nominated Virginia Gamba, an Argentine who most recently directed the UN’s Children and Armed Conflict office, but later withdrew the nomination.)
Bachelet and Sall are seen by some analysts as being long shots; Bachelet because Washington would object to her record on supporting abortion, and Sall because he has failed to win the support of the African Union for his nomination. (He is backed by Burundi.)
Adam Lupel, the executive director of the Coalition for the UN We Need (C4UN), said that Grossi was likely to be asked during the interactive dialogues that are scheduled to occur on April 21 (Bachelet and Grossi) and April 22 (Grynspan and Sall) about his failure to step away.
“There’s pretty clear guidance in the GA resolution that one should suspend their work to avoid conflicts of interest and the advantages of sitting in office. It’s pretty clear, that guidance is not just something that came out,” he said in a call.
“There are two strong candidates, presently both employed by the system, and one has suspended their work and one hasn’t — so the question is, Why not? Let’s see what they say. There is a risk, as the resolution says, that it could raise questions of conflict of interest and unfair advantage.”
Lupel added: “There’s no doubt that part of the debate around leadership, right now, is about integrity.”
He referred to the current multipanel IAEA display at the UN headquarters in Manhattan, “with a nice smiling picture of Mr. Grossi. For me, it’s a little bit cheeky.”
Grossi’s decision to remain in his post was a strategic error, Lupel said, especially amid the widespread belief that it was time for the UN to select a woman as secretary-general for the first time in its 80-year history.
Anton Ferreira worked for 23 years as a correspondent and desk editor at Reuters. He started in Hong Kong and later worked long-term assignments in the Mideast, Latin America, New York City, Washington and South Africa. Ferreira is now based in South Africa.
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Where can we see the interviews ?
UN WebTV
Thanks a lot
Grynspan did not resign; she merely took a temporary leave of absence until September 30. If she is not elected, she will return to her post. Is it even possible for the Director General of the IAEA to temporarily step down from his position for private reasons?
Anton, thank you for your contribution which brought me to conclude that in fact there is only one candidate and that is Grynspan and the other three are in limbo because of lack of political support (Michelle and Macky) and the non respect of the GA rules (Grossi). The world through the UNGA needs to extend Antonio’s tenure for 6 months to allow more candidates to apply i.e. more strong women from the Global South in general.
Rebeca Grynspan needs to quickly distance herself from Guterres on UN reform. As one of his senior officials, she carries his political baggage of inaction. Her separation allows for independent thinking. But that needs to be shown as she has only taken a temporary leave.