The UN this week enters a pivotal phase in its leadership race, as four candidates prepare to set out their visions in public hearings at the world body's headquarters, giving a rare, live-streamed glimpse into the contest to succeed Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
The next UN chief will take office on January 1, 2027, at a time when the organisation faces mounting financial pressure, unpaid contributions from key member states and growing doubts over its ability to manage conflicts and uphold its mandate.
In a break from traditionally closed-door selections, the process now includes public interactive talks aimed at increasing transparency and allowing member states and the public to assess the candidates competing for the top post.
The UN has never had a woman serve as secretary general in its almost 80-year history, a shortcoming the General Assembly acknowledged in a resolution last September that called for stronger consideration of female candidates.
The four nominees this time are former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, Argentinian diplomat and head of the UN's nuclear watchdog Rafael Grossi, Costa Rican economist and former vice president Rebeca Grynspan, and former Senegalese president Macky Sall.
Hearings begin on Tuesday with Ms Bachelet and Mr Grossi, followed by Ms Grynspan and Mr Sall on Wednesday.
According to a letter from UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock, the interactive dialogues are to be organised around two thematic segments – the candidates’ leadership abilities, experience and skills to lead the organisation, and the UN’s three core pillars of peace and security, development and human rights.
Civil society groups will be able to submit questions to the candidates during each segment, allowing for broader participation in the selection process.
Who is running?
Ms Bachelet is among the most high-profile candidates, having served as Chile’s first female president for two terms before leading UN Women. She was also UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 until 2022.
At a US Senate hearing last week, Republican Pete Ricketts criticised her for not describing China’s treatment of the Uighurs as genocide in a 2022 UN report.
Mr Grossi, championed by Argentina on the first day that nominations opened, has framed his candidacy around institutional efficiency.
As head of the International Atomic Energy Agency since 2019, he has navigated some of the world's most sensitive nuclear diplomacy and has called for the UN to bring its operations into alignment with the funding member states are actually prepared to commit.
Ms Grynspan, former secretary general of the UN Conference on Trade and Development, was nominated by Costa Rica.
An economist with deep experience in multilateral institutions and Latin American governance, she has argued that restoring trust in the UN's ability to deliver tangible results on development, trade and global stability is the defining challenge facing the new UN chief.
Mr Sall, put forward by Burundi, brings a different perspective to the race. As president of Senegal from 2012 to 2024, he governed one of West Africa's most stable democracies and became a prominent voice for African interests in international forums.
He has called for the UN to be fundamentally restructured and modernised, stressing that the organisation has fallen behind the pace and complexity of contemporary global crises.
American factor
Washington's position will be central to the outcome. The US, as the UN's largest financial contributor and a permanent Security Council member, retains the ability to block any candidate it does not support.
Washington's ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, said last week that the administration would not follow the traditional informal convention that the secretary general role rotates by region and that the future UN chief should be a Latin American woman.
“We just need the best,” Mr Waltz said. “This institution desperately needs strong, effective leadership.”
How the decision is made
Under UN procedures, the Security Council holds a series of secret straw polls among its 15 members, where each country signals whether it supports, opposes or has no opinion on each candidate.
Ballots from the five permanent members are printed on different coloured paper, making it possible to see if any veto power is blocking a contender.
Once there is broad agreement, the council adopts a formal resolution, which requires at least nine votes and no vetoes, to recommend a candidate to the General Assembly for final approval.
