A women's rights group has launched a campaign for a woman to replace United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan when he retires next year.
The New York-based group Equality Now says that UN tradition calls for the position to rotate among each geographical region, but women, who make up half of the world's population, have never held the post.
The group also says despite UN pledges to appoint more women to leadership posts, they continue to be under-represented.
Equality Now has released the names of qualified women for the position, including jailed Burmese rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi, Liberian President-Elect Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, former UN Population Fund Director Nafis Sadik of Pakistan and
Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga.
The group is calling for people to contact their UN representatives and urge them to seek a female candidate as secretary general.