2026 United Nations Secretary-General selection
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A United Nations Secretary-General selection is currently being held to choose the next Secretary-General of the United Nations.[1] The current Secretary-General, António Guterres of Portugal, will complete his second term on 31 December 2026.[2]
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2026
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Campaign
The selection process is governed by Article 97 of the Charter of the United Nations and by United Nations General Assembly resolutions, including resolution 79/327 of 5 September 2025.[3] The process formally began on 25 November 2025 with a letter from the President of the General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, and the President of the Security Council, Michael Imran Kanu, inviting Member States to nominate candidates.[4] Nominations are announced jointly by the General Assembly and the Security Council.[1]
Interactive dialogues between the nominated candidates and Member States were held in April and June 2026 and were broadcast live on UN Web TV. A town hall meeting with six of the official candidates, hosted by Bloomberg, took place on 23 July and was also broadcast online.[1][5] The fifteen members of the Security Council began considering the candidates in July, and are expected to submit a recommendation to the General Assembly later in the year.[6][7] They held the first of several closed-door, anonymous "straw poll" votes on their preferences on 30 July,[8][9] followed by further polls on 21 August and 18 September.[10][11][12]
Under an unwritten customary rule whereby the office of Secretary-General rotates among the organization's five regional groups, a candidate from the Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC) is strongly favoured.[13][14]
Candidates
Registered candidates
Nine candidates have been formally nominated by Member States, two of whom subsequently withdrew their candidacies.[1]
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Withdrawn
| Photo | Candidate | Nominator | Nominated | Withdrew | Regional Group | Prior experience | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_(cropped2).jpg) |
Michelle Bachelet | Brazil[a] Mexico[a] |
2 February 2026 | 19 September 2026 | Latin American and Caribbean Group | President of Chile (2006–2010, 2014–2018) United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2018–2022) Executive director of UN Women (2010–2013) |
[24][25][26] |
.jpg) |
Virginia Gamba (Argentina) |
Maldives | 11 March 2026 | 25 March 2026 | Latin American and Caribbean Group | Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Prevention of Genocide and Hate Speech (acting) (2024–2025) Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (2017–2025) Director of the Office of Disarmament Affairs (2012–2015) |
[27][28] |
Expressed interest
Before the formal start of the process and during the initial months, several individuals expressed an interest in the role but no formal candidacies have been received.
- Colombe Cahen-Salvador, a French activist, co-founder of the Atlas movement. Cahen-Salvador announced her intention to stand in March 2024.[29][30][31]
- David Choquehuanca, foreign minister (2016–2017) and vice president of Bolivia (2020–2025). In May 2025, before nominations formally opened, the Bolivian mission distributed a note to the UN's other permanent missions announcing Choquehuanca's candidacy; the nomination was described as "premature".[32][33][34]
- Bruno Donat of Mauritius, head of the Geneva Office of the United Nations Mine Action Service (2019–2025).[35][36]
Speculated
Press speculation about possible candidates, mostly before the formal process commenced, included such names as Jacinda Ardern, Alicia Bárcena, Kristalina Georgieva, Vuk Jeremić, Amina J. Mohammed, Mia Mottley, Kevin Rudd, Juan Manuel Santos and Achim Steiner.[32][37][38][39][40][41][42] Santos and Mohammed both ruled themselves out, with Santos saying he preferred a woman candidate, and Mohammed favouring a female candidate from Latin America or the Caribbean.[32]
Endorsements
Security Council straw polls
The Security Council is holding a series of straw polls, in which its members[c] are asked to indicate whether they "encourage", "discourage" or have "no opinion" regarding the candidates. During the first rounds of the polls, all ballots were identical; in future rounds, ballots from the five permanent members will be marked to identify potential vetoes.[52]
| Candidate | 30 July[52] | 21 August[11] | 18 September[53] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E | D | N | E | D | N | E | D | N | |
 Michelle Bachelet |
6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 11 | 3 |
 Ivonne Baki |
Not yet nominated | 0 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 5 | ||
| María Fernanda Espinosa |
5 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 6 |
 Rafael Grossi |
7 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 2 |
 Rebeca Grynspan |
10 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 1 |
 Olara Otunnu |
2 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 3 |
 Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett |
9 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 1 |
 Macky Sall |
6 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
| Candidate received at least one "encouraged" from a veto-wielding P5 member | |
| Candidate received at least one "discouraged" from a veto-wielding P5 member | |
Notes
- This person was nominated by multiple countries.
- Michelle Bachelet was jointly nominated in February 2026 by the governments of Brazil, Mexico and her home country, Chile, during the presidency of Gabriel Boric.[43] However, on 24 March 2026, new Chilean president José Antonio Kast announced that his government would withdraw its support for Bachelet's candidacy.[44]