In the 70-year history of the United Nations, a woman has never held the top position of secretary-general, but this year that might finally change. A number of women are reportedly in the running to become the U.N.’s next chief diplomat after current Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s term ends in December.

Recently, the U.N. has faced increased pressure to create a more gender-equal cabinet. In February of last year, a campaign to elect a female U.N. secretary-general was launched by several U.N. officials and experts. “There have been eight male secretaries-general, but never a female, even though women represent half the world’s population,” the site reads. Samantha Power, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, along with Mogens Lykketoft, the president of the U.N. General Assembly, also called for “equal opportunities for women and men in gaining access to senior decision-making positions.”

A number of female leaders around the world have been presented as potential candidates for secretary-general. Bulgarian politician Irina Bokova, who is currently the director-general of UNESCO, is said to be the front-runner. Vesna Pusic, who helped introduce Croatia into the EU, is also one of the most promising nominees, as is Christiana Figueres, who led the Paris climate talks last November. Other candidates include former vice president of Costa Rica Rebeca Grynspan; Helen Clark, chief of the U.N. Development Programme; and Natalia Gherman, the former acting prime minister of Moldova. While we still have to wait a few months to find out whether the U.N. will elect a woman as its scretary-general, one thing’s for sure: 2016 is already shaping up to be quite an interesting year for female political leaders.