UNESCO head Irina Bokova is "often considered to be the frontrunner" to become the next UN Secretary General, a piece on FT's website reads.

Bokova, who has been at the helm of UNESCO since 2009, "certainly ticks many of the right boxes: heavyweight UN experience, educated in Washington and Moscow, and a fluent French Speaker to foot," reads the text authored by David Clark, from the Russian Foundation, posted on the prominent beyondbrics blog.

"She is said to be acceptable to the US and has been nominated by her own government, one of the few in the region that maintains cordial relations with Russia," Clark notes further.

In his words, Bokova meets all the requirements which he sets out in more detail above in his article.

Clark stressed that gender equality lies at the core of next year's selection, and also that "as the only group never to have had a [UN] Secretary General, it is widely accepted to be the turn of Eastern Europe."

Serious contenders from Eastern Europe "are all men," and there are "well qualified" female challengers "from other regions", including from Latin America, according to the article, which claims their origin brings "additional hurdles to cross".

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