Published on: 2026-04-18
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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The selection of the tenth Secretary-General of the UN, who will take office on January 1, 2027, is becoming one of the key diplomatic events in the coming months. The direction of global policy, the ability of the international community to respond to crises, and the sustainability of the multilateral system in conditions of increasing world fragmentation will depend on who leads the Organization.
At the beginning of the year, member states received an invitation to nominate their candidates by April 1, 2026. The first public dialogues with the candidates will take place at the General Assembly at the end of April.
Then follow closed consultations in the Security Council, where the group of five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States — traditionally plays a decisive role, since any one of them can block a candidacy. Formal approval by the General Assembly is expected at the end of 2026, although the actual selection usually takes place between August and October.
Currently, four candidates have been officially nominated: former President of Chile Michelle Bachelet, who served as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022; Rafael Grossi from Argentina, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Rebeca Grynspan from Costa Rica, head of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); and former President of Senegal Macky Sall.
Notably, three of the candidates represent Latin America—a region many consider to be “next in line” in informal geographic rotation, although such a policy officially does not exist. Meanwhile, citizens of five countries, which have permanent representation on the Security Council, traditionally do not put forward their candidates.
The question of whether a woman will be elected for the first time remains open. For eight decades of the UN’s existence, the post of Secretary-General has been held by nine men, and states are increasingly calling to nominate women. However, gender is not a formal criterion, and the final decision still depends on the ability of the permanent members of the Security Council to reach a consensus. Recent disagreements between them over crises in Gaza, Ukraine, and Iran show how complex this process can be.
The future Secretary-General will succeed António Guterres, who has held the position since 2017. Before him, the organization was headed by Pan Gi Mun, Kofi Annan, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Kurt Waldheim, U Thant, Dag Hammarskjöld, and Trygve Lie.
The stakes in this race are high: the new UN leader will not only have to manage the global bureaucratic machine, but also act as a mediator in conflict, a defender of international law, and the voice of the world community in an era of growing instability.
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