Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has explained why she did not enter the race to become the first woman to lead the United Nations, saying her responsibilities at home and across the Caribbean require her full attention.
“I have a country to run and a region to take care of, and I mean that with all sincerity,” Mottley said during a conversation with former United States Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
She also joked about whether the international community was ready for her outspoken style.
“I’m not sure that the world wants somebody whose tongue might be as heavy as mine,” she said, while questioning whether governments were prepared for the consensus required to lead the organisation.
Mottley had been widely discussed as a possible successor to António Guterres, whose second term ends on December 31, 2026. Her international standing has grown through her campaigns for climate financing, debt reform and a fairer global financial system for vulnerable countries.
Her immediate priority, however, remains Barbados. Her Barbados Labour Party won all 30 parliamentary seats in February 2026, completing a third consecutive clean sweep. She said protecting her country’s future and regional stability had become increasingly demanding.
Mottley did not completely close the door on a future candidacy. “I never say never,” she said, although she does not consider it an immediate prospect.
Barbados is supporting Guyana’s Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, a former foreign minister and current UN ambassador. If selected, she would become the first woman and first Caribbean national to serve as Secretary-General.
Other candidates include Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, former Senegalese President Macky Sall, Ecuador’s María Fernanda Espinosa and Ivonne Baki, and Uganda’s Olara Otunnu.
Otunnu is a former Ugandan foreign minister, UN ambassador and Under-Secretary-General who served as the UN’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.
The next Secretary-General will be recommended by the Security Council and appointed by the General Assembly. No woman has held the position since the UN was established in 1945. For Mottley, the answer is not now, but not necessarily never.
