NEW YORK, 24th July, 2026 (WAM) -- Six candidates vying to succeed UN Secretary-General António Guterres outlined their priorities on Thursday in a televised-style debate before the UN General Assembly.
The candidates answered questions on challenges facing the United Nations, including Security Council deadlock, financial pressures and the growing number of international crises.
The declared candidates are Rafael Grossi, the Argentine head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), former Senegalese president Macky Sall, Costa Rican diplomat Rebeca Grynspan, Guyana's UN Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet and former UN General Assembly president Maria Fernanda Espinosa of Ecuador.
Diplomats and UN observers have yet to identify a clear frontrunner, and additional candidates can still enter the race.
The UN Security Council will first recommend a candidate, with its five permanent members - China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States - each able to block a nomination with a veto. The General Assembly then votes to confirm the recommendation, a step that is typically regarded as a formality.
Guterres, of Portugal, steps down at the end of the year after serving the maximum of two terms.
The Security Council is due to hold its first informal straw poll later this month.