LONDON: Jordan’s Foreign Ministry announced on Monday its support for Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, a UAE diplomat, in her candidacy for UN secretary-general. The ministry said that Nusseibeh has extensive diplomatic experience, promoting dialogue, mutual understanding, and international consensus. It expressed confidence in Nusseibeh’s ability to enhance the UN’s effectiveness and performance and wished her success in the candidacy, according to the Jordan News Agency. Nusseibeh, 48, served as the UAE’s permanent representative at the UN from September 2013 to April 2024. She is a minister of state at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Last week, she announced her candidacy for UN secretary-general as the current UN chief, Antonio Guterres, steps down at the end of December. She was born in the UAE to a Palestinian family from Jerusalem. She said she believes the UN should actively solve problems instead of merely observing the world’s crises. “The UN was never meant to agree with the world. It was built to help the world agree,” she wrote on X. Nusseibeh has actively helped deliver aid supplies to Gaza following the eruption of the Israel-Hamas war in late 2023, making the UAE one of the largest global providers of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian coastal enclave. The Palestinian Authority has endorsed her. She wrote on X: “Throughout my career including at the United Nations, I have worked to advance a political pathway that enables Palestinians and Israelis to live in security, freedom and dignity. I deeply appreciate Palestine’s confidence in my candidacy.” She also received endorsements from Lebanon, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, the Maldives, Albania, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, among others. Nusseibeh is competing for the top UN position against several candidates, including favorite Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica, Argentine diplomat Rafael Grossi, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett from Guyana, and Ugandan diplomat Olara Otunnu. From Ecuador, former Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa and former Ambassador Ivonne A-Baki are also contenders.