By EDITH M. LEDERERAt a time when the fight for gender equality is facing a backlash, pressure is mounting for the next leader of the United Nations to be the first woman in its more than 80-year history. The contradiction isn’t lost on UN Women, the agency facing an uphill struggle pressing for the rights of women and girls — and for women to be at the top in international organizations, governments, business, technology and the escalating debate over artificial intelligence. According to the U.N. agency’s recent “gender snapshot,” at the current rate of progress it will take 171 years…