New York [US], November 9 (ANI): The process to elect the next (tenth) Secretary-General of the United Nations is on. There are 11 candidates in the fray and the post is to be filled by January of next year.
“The tenth Secretary-General of the United Nations will take office in January 2027. Feridun Hadi Sinirlioglu of Tรผrkiye is now the eighth candidate in the running for the role. Learn more about the candidates and the selection process,” The United Nations in India posted on X on Monday.
Eleven nominations have been received so far. These include:
-Ivonne A-Baki (nominated 17 August 2026)
-Michelle Bachelet Jeria (nominated 2 February 2026; withdrawn 21 September 2026)
-Marรญa Fernanda Espinosa Garcรฉs (nominated 11 May 2026)
-Virginia Gamba (nominated 11 March 2026; withdrawn 25 March 2026)
-Rafael Mariano Grossi (nominated 26 November 2025)
-Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis (nominated 3 March 2026)
-Lana Zaki Nusseibeh (nominated 21 October 2026)
-Olara Otunnu (nominated 24 July 2026)
-Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett (nominated 15 June 2026)
-Macky Sall (nominated 2 March 2026; withdrawn 20 October 2026)
-Feridun Hadi Sinirlioฤlu (nominated 1 November 2026)
According to the UN website, the process of appointing and selecting the next Secretary-General is based on General Assembly resolutions and will be guided by the principles of transparency and inclusivity.
“On 5 September 2025 the General Assembly adopted resolution 79/327 on the Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly, which sets out the process for the selection and appointment in line with Article 97 of the Charter of the United Nations. Resolution 79/327 builds on previous related resolutions, which introduced significant improvements to the selection and appointment process of the Secretary-General,” noted the UN portal.
“Within the process:ย A joint letter of the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Security Council initiates the process.ย Candidates are nominated by a Member State or groups of Member States and provide a vision statement, curriculum vitae and campaign financing disclosures.
The President of the General Assembly convenes webcast interactive dialogues with all candidates.ย The President of the General Assembly engages closely, in a transparent and inclusive manner, with Member States.ย Initiation of the process
A joint letter of the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Security Council addressed to Member States, published on 25 November 2025, formally initiated the selection process.
“The joint letter, also published as A/80/544-S/2025/765, invites nominations from Member States and outlines the principles of the selection process and notional events.
“The President of the General Assembly informed Member States about the Joint Letter and the coordination with the President of the Security Council in a separate letter,” it added.
As far as nomination of candidates is concerned, “The President of the General Assembly and the President of the Security Council jointly inform Member States as candidatures are being submitted. They maintain and regularly update a public list of candidates, including the name, nominating State(s), vision statement, curriculum vitae and campaign financing disclosures. The joint letters from the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Security Council serve to jointly inform Member States and forward the original communications received from Member States having nominated candidates,” the UN website stated.
The serving, ninth UN Secretary-General is Antรณnio Guterres. He was preceded by Ban Ki-moon, Kofi Annan, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Javier Pรฉrez de Cuรฉllar, Kurt Waldheim, U Thant, ย Dag Hammarskjรถld and Trygve Lie. (ANI)