Senegal’s former president Macky Sall is one of four candidates auditioning this week for the United Nations’ top job. Sall is the only African among those vying to replace outgoing Secretary-General António Guterres, who leaves office at the end of the year.
Four candidates to be the next secretary-general of the United Nations will audition for the job this week, far fewer than there were 10 years ago when António Guterres was selected as UN chief.
Chile’s former President Michelle Bachelet — one of two women and one of three from Latin America — will be the first to face ambassadors from the UN’s 193 member nations during a three-hour question-and-answer session on Tuesday. Bachelet will be followed by UN nuclear chief Rafael Mariano Grossi of Argentina.
On Wednesday, UN trade chief Rebeca Grynspan will take center stage in the General Assembly hall, and finally, Senegal’s former President Macky Sall.
In 2016, a hotly contested race drew 13 candidates. What has changed?
For starters, the deeply polarised and conflict-wracked world of 2026 is far different from the more peaceful global climate in 2016, the year Donald Trump was elected president for the first time.
Add to that the diminished stature of the United Nations. A decade ago, the world organisation was basking in its success in helping achieve the Paris climate agreement to curb global warming and an agreement by world leaders on 17 goals to promote global economic growth, preserve the environment and close the growing gap between rich and poor nations.
Today, the divisions among world powers are so deep that the UN has been unable to fulfill its primary role in ensuring global peace and security. The once powerful Security Council has been blocked from acting to halt wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran, among other conflicts, leaving the UN on the sidelines of major global crises.
The International Crisis Group’s Richard Gowan, a UN watcher and program director, said the current geopolitical scene has affected the race to succeed Guterres, whose second five-year term ends on December 31.
He said 10 years ago, many candidates entered the race knowing they had little chance of winning, but used it to raise their profiles.
“There was no real cost associated with losing,” Gowan said. “This time around, potential candidates and the governments who sponsor them are much more cautious. There is a feeling that if a candidate puts a foot wrong and offends Washington or Beijing, it could cause real diplomatic damage.”
How the selection worked in 2016
In 2016, there was intense pressure to choose the first woman to lead the United Nations. Seven of the 13 candidates were women. But there was widespread agreement that Guterres performed best in what the UN calls the “interactive dialogue” with General Assembly members.
The UN Charter says little about choosing the secretary-general except that the General Assembly, which includes all members, should do so upon the recommendation of the Security Council.
That gives the five permanent members of the UN’s most powerful body — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — the decision-making role and veto power over the selection.
By tradition, the secretary-general rotates by region. Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister and UN refugee chief representing Europe, succeeded former South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, who represented Asia. He followed Ghana’s Kofi Annan, who represented Africa.
Now, it should be Latin America’s turn, though Eastern Europe has never had a secretary-general and lost out in 2016.
Under UN rules, candidates must be nominated by a member nation — not necessarily their own. There is no time limit for nominations, and more candidates could appear, but in 2016 the Security Council started doing “straw polls” among the 13 candidates in late July, which basically served as a cutoff.
How the four candidates were nominated
During their sessions this week, the four candidates are likely to be asked about their vision for the job, global hot spots and the future of the United Nations — but anything goes.
Bachelet, 74, who was the UN high commissioner for human rights after serving two non-consecutive terms as Chile’s president, was initially nominated by Chile, Brazil and Mexico. But after Chile’s far-right leader, José Antonio Kast, became president in March, his government withdrew its support for Bachelet, a leftist, though she remains a candidate because of nominations from Brazil and Mexico.
Grossi, 65, a former Argentine diplomat who has been director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency since 2019, was nominated by his home country.
Grynspan, 70, a former vice president of Costa Rica, has been secretary-general of the UN Trade and Development agency, UNCTAD, since 2021 and was also nominated by her country.
Sall, 64, was nominated by Burundi, but his home country, Senegal, told the African Union that it had not endorsed him. Neither did the divided 55-nation regional organisation.
A fifth candidate, Argentine diplomat Virginia Gamba, a former UN representative for children in armed conflict, was nominated by the Maldives, but the Indian Ocean nation withdrew her candidacy in late March without giving a reason.
While there are only two female candidates, pressure for a madam secretary-general continues, including from Guterres, who has sought to achieve gender equality in his administration. Britain and France have also said they would like to see a woman at the helm.
The global advocacy group 1 for 8 Billion and GWL Voices, an organisation of nearly 80 global female leaders, have been campaigning for a woman. GWL’s president and co-founder, Susana Malcorra, a former Argentine foreign minister and senior UN official, was a candidate for secretary-general in 2016.
