Guyana’s candidate for United Nations Secretary General (UNSG), Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, has said that one of her priorities if elected would be to help make the international financial system fairer for developing countries, arguing that even incremental changes could significantly improve their ability to access financing for development.

Speaking in separate interviews with CGTN Europe and the Global Dispatches podcast on Wednesday, Rodrigues-Birkett said that developing countries have long advocated for changes to the international financial institutions that would give them better and more equitable access to finance.

She said the UN, while not itself a financial institution, has an important role to play in advancing those discussions by using its global voice and working more closely with institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.