Grynspan urges UN to accept diplomatic risks and pursue deeper reform
Rebeca Grynspan, the frontrunner to lead the UN, says its next chief must risk diplomatic failure while reducing bureaucracy, cutting posts and ending overlapping work.
Nicosia, Cyprus. Rebeca Grynspan, the frontrunner to become the next UN secretary-general, told Reuters on Thursday that the organisation had grown overly cautious and needed a leader willing to face diplomatic setbacks and keep trying. She also advocated staffing reductions and institutional reform, saying savings alone would not restore its effectiveness.
Leadership vote approaches
Grynspan spoke before a further Security Council poll scheduled for Friday to assess backing for candidates seeking to replace Antonio Guterres. His second term, lasting five years, concludes on December 31.
The 70-year-old economist and former vice president of Costa Rica argued that the UN needed to act more proactively. The organisation, which has 193 members, has been largely pushed aside during the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, while US President Donald Trump’s administration has pressed it to reduce spending.
Grynspan said the next leader needed to accept rejection and failed diplomatic efforts as part of the role, rather than allow those risks to prevent further attempts.
Reform beyond spending cuts
With the UN facing diminished funding and political influence, Grynspan called for fewer posts, less bureaucracy and an end to overlapping work among agencies. She argued that cutting expenditure without reform could leave the organisation performing its tasks worse than before, and said its priorities needed to be refocused.
As an example, she cited her leadership of the UN Conference on Trade and Development, where she said she had eliminated 20% of posts while giving its work a sharper focus.
US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz has criticised excessive bureaucracy and duplication within the organisation and urged it to concentrate more clearly on peacekeeping.
Grynspan said she agreed with his concerns. She argued that several areas of expanding UN activity required consolidation and a reassessment of how mandates were carried out. She also said she would assign someone within her own office to enforce greater discipline in implementing mandates.
Grain negotiations as a model
Grynspan cited her involvement in negotiating the 2022 Black Sea Grain Initiative as an example of how to approach conflicts involving a permanent member of the Security Council.
Russia left the agreement in 2023, saying that important elements of the arrangement had not been put into effect.
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