As the United Nations prepares to select a new leader to succeed incumbent Secretary-General António Guterres in 2027, four early candidates took center stage this week at public hearings with UN member states and civil society groups, all pledging to embrace sweeping institutional reforms to reverse the global body’s declining credibility and restore its central role in international cooperation.
Founded in the aftermath of World War II to prevent catastrophic global conflict and advance shared development, the UN has faced growing criticism in recent years over eroding authority and public trust. Deepening geopolitical rifts between major powers have strained the organization’s ability to respond to global crises, while its sprawling institutional structure has led to calls for cost-cutting and greater efficiency, putting pressure on the 193-member body to prove its ongoing relevance in a shifting world order.
Among the candidates is Rebeca Grynspan, 70, a former vice-president of Costa Rica and current head of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), who identified UN peacekeeping operations as her top priority if selected. She sounded the alarm over falling global confidence in the organization, urging bold, decisive action to update its structures. “Defending the United Nations today means having the courage to change it,” Grynspan stated during her hearing.
She is joined on the candidate list by another former regional leader, 74-year-old Michelle Bachelet, ex-president of Chile and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. If either candidate wins, they will make history as the first woman to lead the UN. Bachelet used her hearing to emphasize her longstanding commitment to advancing gender equality and women’s rights globally, though her candidacy has drawn backlash from conservative U.S. politicians over her public support for abortion access.
Former Senegalese President Macky Sall, 64, is also in the race, campaigning on a platform of rigorous institutional management. Sall has pledged to streamline coordination across the UN’s dozens of independent agencies and eliminate redundant work practices. “This is the moment to deliver better performance with fewer resources,” he argued, outlining a vision of a revitalized UN whose most impactful work still lies ahead.
The fourth early candidate is Rafael Grossi, 65, an Argentine diplomat who has served as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, for six years. Grossi framed ongoing institutional reform efforts as a necessary starting point for the organization, but stressed that significant work remains to address the UN’s structural challenges.
The winning candidate will secure a five-year term, with an option to renew for a second five-year term. Compared to the 2016 selection cycle that ultimately elevated Guterres from a field of 13 contenders, the current candidate pool is far smaller at this early stage, though the door remains open for new contenders to join the race in the coming months.
By longstanding convention, the secretary-general role is not filled by a national of the UN Security Council’s five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States — a rule designed to prevent an unhealthy concentration of power among the world’s major nuclear-armed states. Even so, the backing of these permanent powers remains a critical factor in the complex, closed-door selection process, which requires Security Council endorsement before a candidate is confirmed by the General Assembly.
Against a backdrop of overlapping global crises, from intensifying armed conflicts to accelerating climate change and widening global inequality, the next UN secretary-general will face one of the most daunting leadership jobs in the world: rebuilding public and multilateral trust in the UN, and reasserting the organization’s place as the central platform for collective global problem-solving.