Group For Woman As Next U.N. Chief

If a women’s rights organization has its way, the next secretary-general of the United Nations will be female.

The New York-based group Equality Now is asking some 2,000 women’s rights organizations around the world to urge U.N. Security Council members to elect a woman.

Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali’s term ends Dec. 31.

Equality Now suggests six potential candidates: Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland; South African Parliament Speaker Frene Ginwala; U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata; Navanethem Pillay, a South African judge serving on the Rwanda war crimes tribunal; Irish President Mary Robinson; and Philippines Senate President Leticia Shahani.