Nusseibeh, 48, a Cambridge-educated diplomat of Palestinian heritage, announced her candidacy as the UN Security Council remains deadlocked after six rounds of voting. Her late entry, though widely predicted, drew an objection from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which said a consensus was emerging for a candidate from their region.
Nusseibeh has been endorsed by the state of Palestine and is noted for advocating the Palestinian cause and a two-state solution. During her tenure as UAE representative on the Security Council, she worked to deliver aid to Gaza.
“At the heart of the UN sits a wager: that states will give up a little today to gain a great deal together over time,” Nusseibeh said in her vision statement. “States have not stopped needing to partner with one another, but they no longer trust that cooperation will yield sufficient returns. Rebuilding that trust, with faster, more certain, and more realistic results, is the work of the UN.”
Brett McGurk, a former top national security adviser under President Joe Biden, backed her, saying: “How did UAE become the largest global provider of humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to UN data? Because of Lana Nusseibeh – a diplomat who knows everyone and works with them … she would be an inspired choice for this impossible job.”
Nickolay Mladenov, the Bulgarian diplomat who heads the Trump administration’s Gaza Board of Peace, said Nusseibeh “has always understood that the UN works when someone is willing to systematically build the bridges nobody else wants to build.”
The candidacy has drawn fierce criticism from human rights advocates over the UAE’s domestic record and its alleged supply of weapons to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan, a group accused of genocide by two successive US administrations. Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, attacked Nusseibeh’s denials of UAE provision of “military, logistical, financial or political support to any faction in Sudan”. A January 2024 UN panel of experts described allegations of arms smuggling into the RSF from the UAE as credible. The UAE says it supports a civilian-led government in Sudan.
The current frontrunner from the latest straw poll is Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica, who faced objections from two unidentified permanent Security Council members. Other candidates include Rafael Grossi of Argentina, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett of Guyana, Olara Otunnu of Uganda, and María Fernanda Espinosa of Ecuador. Two previously declared candidates have withdrawn. Guterres is due to stand down at the end of the year.