By David Brunnstrom
Aug 20 (Reuters) - Ecuadorean diplomat Ivonne Baki, one of eight candidates vying to become the next head of the United Nations, drew on her experience of Lebanon's civil war on Thursday as she pledged to focus on conflict prevention in the role.
Baki, who was born in Ecuador to Lebanese immigrant parents and lived in Lebanon during the 1975-1990 civil war, also pledged to lead a "renewal" of the United Nations.
"More than 40 years ago, in a basement in Beirut, where I lived all
through the war, I held my three children as bombs fell around us. In that moment, I made a promise that if they were spared, I would devote my life for peace. I've kept that promise ever since," she said at an informal dialogue with U.N. states and civil society groups to assess candidates seeking to succeed Antonio Guterres.
Guterres steps down at the end of the year after two five-year terms as the organization's secretary-general.
His successor faces pressure to reform the United Nations, which critics say has become bloated and costly. The 15-member U.N. Security Council is due to hold a second informal poll on the candidates on Friday.
Baki said the U.N. should prioritize preventing conflicts and pledged personal diplomacy to that end.
"I will be on the ground, not just at the desk in New York ... in war zones, in areas of tension, engaging every party directly to stop conflict before they erupt," said Baki, who is 75 and is the second oldest of the candidates.
Baki also pledged to work to make the Security Council more representative, saying it had remained "frozen in the geopolitical landscapes" of the end of World War Two.
A first straw poll at the end of July showed Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan as a narrow frontrunner, followed by Guyana's Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and Argentina's Rafael Grossi.
Baki was only nominated this week so was not included in that poll. She is the second contender from Ecuador.
Other candidates can still join the contest and polling could continue into October or beyond.
VETO POWER
Avoiding a veto by any of the five permanent members of the Security Council – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States – is vital, and the countries have widely differing worldviews.
Baki, who has served as an Ecuadorean government minister and as ambassador to France, Qatar and the United States, has previously told Ecuadorean radio that her candidacy has U.S. support and publicly acknowledged her friendships with President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton.
The United States has not commented on these remarks.
The other candidates are former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, former Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa, former Senegalese President Macky Sall and Ugandan diplomat Olara Otunnu.
By tradition, the role rotates among regions, with Latin America seen as next in line, and there has been support for a first woman in the job.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Don Durfee and Sanjeev Miglani)
