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An Indian-origin employee at the United Nations has announced her candidacy for the election to appoint next secretary-general. If won, she will be the first woman to have ever held the position in its 75-year history.

The office is currently occupied by Antonio Guterres, who is competing for a second five-year term after his current term end in December.

Arora Akanksha, 34, announced her entry by launching her campaign UNOW with the hashtag #AroraforSG on Twitter, and other social media platforms including TikTok. Candidates for the election are generally nominated by UN member states, but Akanksha is leading an independent campaign.

An audit coordinator for the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Akanksha said, “People in my position aren’t supposed to stand up to the ones in charge. We are supposed to wait our turn, hop on the hamster wheel, go to work, keep our heads down and accept that the world is the way it is,” she said in a campaign message describing her candidacy as a “David and Goliath story”.

In a campaign video, she remarked that the body hasn’t kept its promises to the world and that it needs better leadership. She also added that the body has been working for politicians for long and it's time that it starts working for people.