Security Council lays the bottom within the race for the subsequent Secretary-General

Governments will quickly submit letters nominating candidates to guide the 80-year-old group, whose high publish is historically rotated amongst geographical areas – though all UN chiefs up to now have been males.

The Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly, the UN’s most consultant physique, following a suggestion from the Council’s 15 members.

A ‘significant’ duty

“As the year draws to a close, the Council approaches one of its most significant responsibilities, namely the process of selection of the next Secretary-General,” stated Danish Ambassador Christina Markus Lassen, co-chair of the Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions.

“In the coming months, the Council will be discussing how it votes, how it engages with candidates, how it informs the wider membership of its progress and its outcomes.” 

Russia held the rotating Council presidency in October and Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya stated the nation “promptly started work for agreement to be reached” on the joint invitation letter with the General Assembly inviting nations to submit their candidates.

“We trust that the document will be adopted in short time to formally start this important process,” he stated.

“We trust that the efforts of the Security Council will help to facilitate the selection of the worthiest candidate for the future head of the Secretariat.”

A lady chief

The subsequent UN Secretary-General will serve a five-year time period beginning in January 2027, after present chief António Guterres of Portugal leaves workplace.  

As no girl has ever held the publish, Chile’s consultant spoke up for “an open, participatory and gender-inclusive process.” 

“After 80 years, the time has come for a woman to lead this organization; a woman who, with her leadership and vision, can provide the multilateral system with the credibility that it needs to respond to the challenges of our time,” he stated.

“The principle of regional rotation should be respected as well, and it is the turn of the region of Latin America and the Caribbean to lead this post,” he added.

Productive conferences matter

More than 40 nations participated within the debate on the Council’s working strategies, often known as Note 507, adopted final December.

How conferences are performed has turn into more and more necessary over the previous 12 months, given the pressing crises on its agenda, stated Loraine Sievers, former chief of the workplace that helps the each day work of the council. 

“Of course, people focus primarily on the statements made here and the voting on draft resolutions,” she stated.

“But even when Council members and non-member participants demonstrate starkly differing positions, the Security Council and the UN itself can gain credibility or lose credibility depending on how orderly and professionally Council meetings are conducted.”