United Nations, March 14 – Five candidates have been nominated to compete for the position of the next United Nations Secretary-General, taking over the organization at a time of crises both globally and internally. The election process will begin next month, according to General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock.
“This is a very transparent, neutral, and fair process in which every candidate… will have the same chances and opportunities,” she said on Friday.
Starting April 20, each of the candidates will participate in a three-hour interactive session during which they will present their case for election to head the 193-member organization and face a series of questions.
The dialogue will involve civil society organizations and will be broadcast online.
Baerbock and the then-president of the Security Council issued the call for candidates last year, requesting that women be nominated, reflecting a widespread sentiment that it was time for a woman to lead the organization after 80 years.
The Assembly resolution on the election set “equal and fair distribution” based on gender as a desirable goal. However, two of the five nominated candidates are men.
The three female candidates are former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, who was also the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and was nominated by Chile, Brazil, and Mexico; Rebecca Grynspan, the Secretary-General of UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and a former Vice President of Costa Rica; and Virginia Gamba, nominated by the Maldives, who held senior positions at the UN, including the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, appointed by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and the head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Another Argentinian, Rafael Grossi, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency, and was nominated by his country, is one of the two men running for the position.
The other candidate, nominated by Burundi, is Macky Sall, a former president and prime minister of Senegal.
Nominations close on April 1, and other candidates may emerge.
Although the winner will need a simple majority in the General Assembly, the Security Council, where the five permanent members have veto powers, ultimately makes the decision, as the UN Charter states that the Assembly appoints the UN's top official "upon the recommendation of the Security Council."
Baerbock said the interactive dialogue will first focus on "personal visions and management skills, and then in the second part, on the three pillars – peace and security, sustainable development, and climate, and human rights."
Asked about the qualities expected of the person who will succeed Guterres, she said the person "should provide strong and dedicated, effective leadership skills with experience in governance structures."
The next leader should also have the management skills to guide the UN through reforms, she said.
Guterres, a former prime minister of Portugal, will be completing his second term this year.