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María Fernanda Espinosa of Ecuador, nominated by Antigua and Barbuda, has officially entered the race for UN Secretary-General.

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Espinosa is the third candidate with a radically feminist profile — alongside Michelle Bachelet and Rebeca Grynspan — with a documented history of promoting abortion as a “human right” and of promoting gender ideology.

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The candidate has criticized the pro-life policies of the Donald Trump administration and advocates gender mainstreaming as a “cross-cutting element” of all of the Organization’s policies.

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Under the UN Charter, the Secretary-General is the Organization’s chief administrative officer and has no authority to impose obligations on states in matters reserved to their sovereignty.

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The Ordo Iuris Institute stresses that the future Secretary-General should respect the limits of the mandate set out in the UN Charter and protect the sovereignty of states from the instrumentalization of international institutions.

María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés of Ecuador has officially joined the race for the top position at the United Nations. A former minister of national defense and foreign affairs of Ecuador, and President of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in 2018–2019, she is a well-known figure within the Organization as a consistent supporter of radical feminist demands. Her candidacy, put forward on May 11, 2026 by Antigua and Barbuda, makes her one of the key contenders to succeed António Guterres, whose term ends on December 31, 2026.

During a recent, nearly three-hour meeting with ambassadors at the UN General Assembly, Espinosa expressed “deep concern” over alleged attacks on human rights, including “the full enjoyment of the rights of women and girls and gender equality.” Her remarks amounted to an unconcealed criticism of the policy of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump on protecting unborn life and opposing gender ideology. These comments fit into the broader context of her many years of international activity, during which she has consistently promoted the abortion and gender agenda.

A Long History of Promoting the Abortion and Gender Agenda

Espinosa has a long track record of promoting controversial initiatives at the UN. As President of the General Assembly, she led a network of pro-abortion and feminist organizations shaping the Organization’s policy on women’s issues. After her term ended, she joined the steering committee of the Generation Equality Forum — a UN initiative that spreads gender ideology throughout the entire UN system. She also co-authored texts calling on governments to ensure “comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services” for all, which in practice means promoting abortion as an element of “human rights.” In 2024, during the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), she once again stressed a “troubling trend of regression” in women’s rights.

Her candidacy makes her the third representative of the radical feminist current in this race — alongside Michelle Bachelet, the former president of Chile and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (about whom the Ordo Iuris Institute has already written), and Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and former vice president of Costa Rica. All three candidates have documented records of promoting abortion as a “human right” and of interfering in the internal affairs of member states on matters such as family policy, sex education, and the protection of life. Feminist organizations have for years pushed for a woman to be chosen as Secretary-General, but during a debate in Geneva the candidates themselves agreed that the choice should be based on competence rather than on gender.

Dispute Over the Limits of the Secretary-General’s Mandate

The procedure for selecting the new Secretary-General is taking place amid a significant dispute over the nature and limits of the powers of this office. Under the UN Charter, the Secretary-General is the Organization’s chief administrative officer and has no authority to create norms of international law or to impose new obligations on member states in areas reserved to their sovereignty — such as the protection of life, family policy, education, or bioethical regulation.

Nevertheless, for years a tendency to exceed these limits has been observed in practice. Previous Secretaries-General and senior UN officials have repeatedly used their positions to promote particular ideologies, including gender ideology, “reproductive rights” (under the guise of protecting women’s rights), and radical interpretations of human rights that find no basis in binding international treaties. States such as the United States have consistently called for a return to a strict, literal interpretation of the UN Charter and for limiting the Secretariat’s bureaucratic and ideological activism. Against the backdrop of growing multilateralism and geopolitical tensions, this issue has taken on particular significance.

The role of the Secretary-General within the UN system is crucial. The person holding this office determines not only the management of the Organization’s day-to-day work, but also the shaping of its political agenda and its narrative on global issues. In the face of numerous crises — from armed conflicts, through demographic problems, to disputes over sovereignty — the choice of the new head of the UN may determine whether the Organization serves genuine dialogue between states or becomes a tool for pressuring sovereign governments on ideological matters.

Promoting radical feminist demands at the highest level of the UN could lead to further instrumentalization of international institutions in pursuit of an agenda that does not enjoy widespread support among member states. Examples include criticism of the United States’ pro-life policy and pressure to change national legislation on abortion and sex education.

Espinosa’s Vision: Gender Mainstreaming Across All UN Policies

In the vision she presented during an informal meeting with the General Assembly on June 15, 2026, Espinosa stressed the need to strengthen the UN’s role in crisis prevention by creating “crisis prevention hubs,” as well as greater inclusiveness and gender mainstreaming across all of the Organization’s activities. In the candidate’s view, the future Secretary-General should actively promote gender equality not only as a goal in itself, but as a “cross-cutting element” of all UN policies — from peace and security, through climate change, to sustainable development. She also stressed the need for closer cooperation with civil-society organizations, including those with a feminist profile.

From the perspective of states concerned with sovereignty and the protection of fundamental values, the choice of the new Secretary-General is of strategic importance. The selection process includes, among other things, informal votes (straw polls) in the Security Council, in which the Council’s permanent members (including the United States) hold the right of veto. The Security Council’s final recommendation goes to the General Assembly, which makes the appointment. The process is expected to conclude by October 2026.

“The choice of the new UN Secretary-General is not merely a personnel matter, but above all a decision about the direction the entire Organization will take. Candidates with a radical feminist profile, such as María Fernanda Espinosa, signal a continuation of the trend of promoting ideological projects in the field of human rights that go beyond binding international treaties. It is essential that the future Secretary-General respect the limits of the mandate arising from the UN Charter and protect the sovereignty of member states from the instrumentalization of international institutions,” notes Julia Książek of the Ordo Iuris Institute’s Center for International Law.

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Source of cover photo: iStock