Lana Nusseibeh has entered the contest to become the next United Nations secretary general with a clear pitch: she would answer to the Charter, not to Abu Dhabi, and she would be judged by what she delivers in her first hundred days.

The 48 year old state minister of the United Arab Emirates and former ambassador in New York is a late arrival in a race that must settle before Antonio Guterres leaves at year end. She said every candidate comes from somewhere, that great and small states alike have faced UN findings on international humanitarian law, and that she would speak frankly to every government while balancing pragmatism and principle. Sudan's war and its humanitarian catastrophe would be her immediate priority.

Critics, including Sudan's military authorities, some rights groups and former Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth, argue she is unfit because she rebutted claims that the UAE backed the Rapid Support Forces while serving as a diplomat. Abu Dhabi denies arming that force. Her answer is to invite scrutiny of her record once in office rather than of the capital she once represented.

Supporters see a different ledger. She comes from a Palestinian family with roots in Jerusalem; her father Zaki worked as a translator to Sheikh Zayed. The Palestinian Authority and several Gulf governments have endorsed her. Diplomats who watched her in New York recall adroit floor work, and she has backed Gaza humanitarian efforts. On the Board of Peace linked to the Trump Gaza plan she frames the body as complementary to the UN and useful where the system is gridlocked.

Her vision is to restore peacemaking so the UN sits at the centre of crises rather than as a spectator. She favours sharper priorities over blunt cuts, and closer partnership with the private sector, the World Bank, the IMF and regional development banks. Criticism from President Donald Trump, she suggests, is galvanising a push for efficiency, though she has not spoken to him about her candidacy.

The politics remain open. Tradition points to a Latin American turn, with figures including Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan and Argentina's Rafael Grossi in the field, while Turkey's Volkan Sinirlioglu has entered. Washington has played down regional rotation. An unofficial Security Council straw poll put Nusseibeh fourth, with another round due later Thursday. Frontrunners face resistance among the permanent five, which is why her late bid retains room to grow.