As global tension intensifies, four candidates vying to become the next UN Secretary General warned during public hearings this week that the world body is facing increasing doubts over its effectiveness, underscoring the urgent need to rebuild trust and reaffirm its role in a fractured world.
Rafael Grossi
Rafael Grossi, 65, the Argentinian director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the choice for the next UN chief would be “one of the most consequential” in decades.
“There are enormous, huge doubts about our institution,” Mr Grossi told member states, referring to widespread concerns over the UN’s effectiveness, efficiency and ability to deliver meaningful results.
He said that a world marked by intensifying conflict, polarisation and geopolitical rivalry has increased scrutiny of the world body’s role, particularly as it appears to be sidelined from key decisions.
“Where is the UN?” he asked.
Mr Grossi who speaks English, Spanish, French and Italian, acknowledged that reform efforts were under way but warned they were not enough.
The UN, he said, was not created to deliver “messages from an ivory tower”, but to “solve problems on the ground".
Michelle Bachelet
For former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, 74, the real challenge is not just responding to crises but preventing them.
Setting out her vision to member states and civil society, she called for a renewed emphasis on early intervention through stronger warning systems, sustained engagement with regional figures and what she described as “quiet diplomacy”, conducted away from public pressure.
“My own vision was born of the difficult and sometimes improbable miracle of dialogue, even when all odds are against it, I know it can deliver because I have seen it transform the impossible into achievable,” Ms Bachelet said.
“We must reconnect with the peoples of the world. Restoring credibility requires delivering results, effective results, supporting peace and security, advancing sustainable development and defending human rights efficiently and impartially."
Her candidacy has drawn criticism from some Republican politicians in the US, who have urged Washington to veto her bid over her support for abortion rights.
Ms Bachelet told reporters in New York she “will always be by the side of women" and that if she is selected, she would focus on ensuring that existing UN commitments on women’s rights are carried out in practice.
Rebeca Grynspan
Costa Rica’s former vice president Rebeca Grynspan, who is also aiming to become the first woman to lead the UN in its 80-year history, offered a similarly urgent assessment, warning that trust in the world body is eroding and that time is running short.
Drawing on her background, including her parents’ experience as refugees after the Second World War, she underscored the importance of multilateralism.
Ms Grynspan, 70, pledged to make peacemaking her top priority. She outlined a hands-on approach that emphasises early engagement, direct dialogue and close co-ordination with the Security Council, and the 193 UN member states.
“I will be a peacemaker. I will land before conflicts erupt, be the first to pick up the phone. I will travel to where the wars are. I will speak to every party. I will work with the Security Council, with the member states, and will mediate among the mediators,” Ms Grynspan said.
She later told reporters that diplomacy often requires persistence in the face of repeated setbacks.
“The biggest risk for the United Nations,” Ms Grynspan said, “is not trying.”
Macky Sall
The last candidate to speak before UN member states was former Senegalese president Macky Sall.
At 64, he stands out as the only contender not from Latin America, a region widely expected to produce the next UN secretary general under the body’s informal system of geographic rotation.
His candidacy was put forward by Burundi, which currently chairs the African Union, but he has struggled to secure backing from African states or from within Senegal itself.
Mr Sall said he wants to lead a world body that "uses its resources wisely and its voice responsibly, a United Nations that delivers results that government can define before the citizens".
He said he would pursue reforms with "rigorous management" to ensure better coordination between UN agencies and avoid duplication.
"Now is the time to take bold decision with all member states," he said. "Now is the time to do better with less."
Mr Sall said global crises, including intensifying geopolitical rivalries, violent conflicts, climate threats, inequality and migration, were “not cyclical” but structural in scale and severity, requiring a more effective and united international response.
He pledged to act as an impartial leader focused on easing tensions and bridging divides between nations, cultures and regions.
The candidates are competing for a five-year term, with the option of a second five-year mandate.
The field is currently smaller than in 2016, when António Guterres was selected from 13 contenders, though additional candidates may still enter the race in the months ahead.
