UN Security Council weighs eight candidates to succeed Guterres
The UN Security Council held another secret straw poll on Friday among eight candidates vying to become the next UN secretary-general when Antonio Guterres's term ends on December 31, 2026. Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan led after the first round of voting.
The UN Security Council, the organisation's most powerful body, met Friday for another informal straw poll to gauge support among a growing field of candidates hoping to lead the world body. Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan emerged as the front-runner after the first secret vote held last month.
Also in the race are Argentina's Rafael Mariano Grossi, current head of the International Atomic Energy Agency; Chile's former president Michelle Bachelet; Ecuador's former foreign minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa; Guyana's UN ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett; former Ugandan official Olara Otunnu; and Senegal's former president Macky Sall. After the first round, another Ecuadoran diplomat, Ivonne A-Baki, joined the contest.
To be selected, a candidate needs at least nine votes among the council's 15 members, and none of the five veto-wielding permanent members can block them. The council's chosen name must then go to the General Assembly for approval.
The contenders
Grynspan, 70, heads the UN trade body UNCTAD and helped broker the 2022 Black Sea Grain Initiative between Russia and Ukraine. Bachelet, 74, was Chile's first female president and later UN human rights chief, a role in which she drew criticism from China over her reporting on the treatment of Uighurs. Grossi, 65, has led the International Atomic Energy Agency since 2019 and has been central to disputes over Iran's nuclear programme and Russia's occupation of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia plant.
Espinosa, 61, a former UN General Assembly president, favours deeper UN reform and an early-warning system for conflicts. Rodrigues-Birkett, 52, argues the UN must rebuild credibility beyond just peace and security matters. A-Baki, 75, is known for close ties to US President Donald Trump and Gulf states. Sall, 64, the current African Union chair, secured his own country's backing in July despite accusations at home over deadly crackdowns on protesters. Otunnu, 75, served as UN under-secretary-general for children and armed conflict from 1997 to 2005.
