The United Nations in a Time of Opportunity & Uncertainty: a Time to Choose By Amitabh Behar Copyright © 2026 IPS-Inter Press Service. All rights reserved. -

The United Nations in a Time of Opportunity & Uncertainty: a Time to Choose By Amitabh Behar https://www.ipsnews.net/2026/07/the-united-nations-in-a-time-of-opportunity-uncertainty-a-time-to-choose/ DELHI, India, Jul 29 2026 (IPS) - On 15 September 1953, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit of India was elected the eighth president of the UN General Assembly — the first woman to hold the UN’s second-highest position. Since then, only four women have followed her, most recently the current president, Annalena Baerbock. Since its founding, the UN has had nine Secretaries-General. All men. Now, 81 years after the UN’s founding, we have a historic opportunity to correct that record. It is time to entrust the UN leadership to a woman of the Global South who shapes a more inclusive, effective and forward-looking UN. Copyright © 2026 IPS-Inter Press Service. All rights reserved. -