Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright and Prime Minister Helen Clark have been suggested as possible contenders to head the United Nations.
The international human rights group Equality Now has included New Zealand's two highest-ranked women in a group of 18 candidates to become the first female head of the UN when Kofi Annan steps down at the end of the year.
"In the 60 years since the United Nations was founded, no woman has ever been elected to serve as Secretary-General, despite the fact that there are many qualified candidates," the group's website says.
"Women are under-represented in the ranks of the organisation, as well as at the top."
The National Business Review reported that "speculation" had been swirling for more than a year that Helen Clark hoped for a top UN post after her stint as Prime Minister was over.
Other Equality Now candidates include Myanmar Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi; Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former Prime Minister of Norway; and Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the President of Latvia.
- NZPA
Top Kiwis on list for first female UN head
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