Nusseibeh served as the UAE’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2013 to 2024, becoming the first woman to hold the post. During the UAE’s 2022–2023 term as an elected member of the Security Council, she twice presided over the Council (in March 2022 and June 2023) and co-authored six resolutions
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ABU DHABI” As the United Nations prepares to select its next Secretary-General to succeed António Guterres, whose second term ends on 31 December 2026, Lana Nusseibeh has emerged as a notable late entrant. Nominated by the United Arab Emirates in October 2026, the veteran diplomat brings more than a decade of hands-on experience at the world body and a clear emphasis on earlier action, concrete results, and institutional reform.
Nusseibeh served as the UAE’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2013 to 2024, becoming the first woman to hold the post. During the UAE’s 2022–2023 term as an elected member of the Security Council, she twice presided over the Council (in March 2022 and June 2023) and co-authored six resolutions. These include Resolution 2720 (2023) on humanitarian access to Gaza, which established a UN mechanism to scale up and streamline aid delivery, as well as resolutions addressing Afghanistan and the links between hate speech, discrimination, and conflict.
Her platform focuses on practical steps: acting earlier on emerging crises, securing “first agreements” such as humanitarian corridors, local truces, or prisoner exchanges that save lives and create space for broader settlements, and reforming the UN for clearer priorities, faster decisions, reduced duplication, and stronger accountability. She has described the goal as restoring the Organisation’s role as a problem-solver rather than a spectator to global crises.
If elected, Nusseibeh would be the first woman to lead the United Nations and the first Gulf national in the role (and only the second Arab Secretary-General after Boutros Boutros-Ghali). All six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council have unanimously endorsed her candidacy. Of Palestinian descent—her family has roots in Jerusalem—she has also drawn support from the Palestinian delegation.
The selection process remains competitive. Informal Security Council straw polls have shown no candidate yet securing the support of all five permanent members, and Nusseibeh joined a field that includes several other nominees. She has taken a leave of absence from her role as UAE Minister of State and Envoy to the UN and EU to focus on the campaign.
