With the second term of the current United Nations Secretary-General, Antònio Guterres, expiring on December 31, 2026, the organization is in the process of selecting its 10th secretary-general. The UN’s first-ever Secretary-General, Trygve Lie, famously described it as “the most impossible job in the world.” That was at a time when there were 60 UN member states and the world’s population was 2.6 billion; now there are 193 members and the world’s population is 8.3 billion. It is also, arguably, the most important job in the world.

As the current President of the General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock (1 of only 5 women ever elected to this post in 81 years; the other 76 were men), explains, “Our choice will send a powerful message about who we are, and whether we truly serve all 8 billion people of the world in all their diversity.”

The overall selection process is prescribed by Article 97 of the UN Charter: “The Secretary-General shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.” But the charter offers little other guidance, so various informal procedures and practices have evolved over time. One is the rule of regional rotation, with it currently being Latin America and the Caribbean’s “turn,” although candidates from other regions can also be nominated, as they have been in this round. Seven candidates have been nominated to date—five from Latin America and the Caribbean (four women and one man) and two from Africa (both men). Although women have only been nominated as candidates since 1991, no woman has ever been appointed, in spite of campaigns to see a woman selected in 2006 and 2016.

It is generally accepted that candidates should come from small or mid-sized countries but not from the five permanent members (P5) of the Security Council. To be considered, a candidate must be nominated by one or more of the 193 member states, although the nomination does not have to come from the country of a candidate’s nationality.

This momentous decision will most likely occur in early October. How the process is carried out and how its outcome is perceived will have significant implications for the restoration of confidence in the UN’s ability to fulfill its mandate in an increasingly turbulent world.

For many years, the selection process was not transparent, but that has recently improved. The current round of nominations was initiated on November 25, 2025 by a joint letter from the presidents of the General Assembly and the Security Council addressed to all member states, inviting nominations and explicitly encouraging countries “to strongly consider nominating women as candidates.” The letter requested that nominations be accompanied by a nomination letter, a vision statement, a curriculum vitae, and a statement of campaign financing disclosures. As nominations were received, the two presidents jointly informed all member states and the information was posted on a UN website.

In response to General Assembly resolution 79/327 of 5 September 2025 on the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly, the president organized interactive webcast dialogues with all candidates (each lasting three hours), where candidates responded to questions posed by representatives of member states and civil society. As anyone who has ever interviewed applicants for a job knows (and as I learned from watching the webcasts), this is a useful means for identifying the best candidates.

In addition, on July 23, a UN Town Hall was organized in the General Assembly Hall by the president of the GA and broadcast live on Bloomberg, with two Bloomberg moderators presiding. All six candidates at the time (a seventh was subsequently nominated) appeared together on the stage and answered questions from the moderators, as well as the audience, who were again representatives of member states and civil society. The Security Council also organized confidential closed-door sessions with each of the candidates.

Subsequently, on July 30, the Security Council held its first confidential “straw poll,” an iterative process repeated over a number of weeks to decide which candidate has the most support. In each, the 15 members of the council, i.e., the P5—the US, Russia, China, France and the UK and its 10 elected members (E10) who serve two-year terms (currently, Bahrain, Colombia, Congo, Denmark, Greece, Latvia, Liberia, Pakistan, Panama, and Somalia) indicate which candidates they are willing to support by voting “encourage” (in favor), “discourage” (against), or “no opinion” (abstain).

During the first........

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