This combination of pictures created on July 22, 2026 shows, from L/R starting clockwise in upper L, Chile's former president Michelle Bachelet in Santiago on December 22, 2025, Costa Rican economist Rebeca Grynspan, in Paris on April 29, 2026, former Senegalese President Macky Sall in Cape Town on February 27, 2025, former Ecuadorian foreign minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa in New York City on May 13, 2026, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi, in Tokyo on June 26, 2026, and former Guyana Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett in Paramaribo, Surinam, on August 30, 2013.
Six candidates for the position of United Nations Secretary-General will debate on July 23, 2026, in the General Assembly Hall, one week before the formal start of the selection process. Photo: AFP
The six candidates for United Nations secretary-general will debate on Thursday in the symbolic General Assembly Hall, one week before the formal start of a selection process crucial to an organisation in deep crisis.
With the campaign lacking a clear favourite and struggling to generate real enthusiasm, the hopefuls will face 90 minutes of questions from diplomats, UN employees and civil society representatives at an event starting at 5:00 pm (2100 GMT) and broadcast by Bloomberg.
