‘Save humanity’: Four figures vie for UN leadership amid global instability

Four candidates are vying for the role of UN Secretary-General, a position facing unprecedented global instability and budget crisis. The contenders include Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan, and Senegal’s Macky Sall.

Each candidate will face grilling by 193 member states and NGOs for three hours on Tuesday and Wednesday. This is only the second time the UN has held a public Q&A session to boost transparency.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council hold ultimate power over who leads the global organization, wielding vetoes. US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the UN, Mike Waltz, has warned that the next chief must align with “American values and interests.”

All four candidates pledge to grow trust in the divided organization, which faces financial Armageddon due to Washington’s refusal to pay its bills.

Michelle Bachelet, a Chilean socialist who was brutally tortured by Augusto Pinochet’s regime, served as her country’s first woman president. She also held the UN rights chief position, alienating some countries like China over alleged Uyghur abuses.

Rafael Grossi, 65, has led the International Atomic Energy Agency since 2019, handling sensitive situations involving Iran’s nuclear program and Russia’s occupation of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. His handling of these situations has drawn close scrutiny from both the US and Russia.

Rebeca Grynspan, less well-known than her opponents, leads UNCTAD and brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative between Moscow and Kyiv to allow grain exports following Russia’s invasion. She emphasizes her personal story as a Holocaust survivor in her pitch to world leaders.

Macky Sall, 64, is the only candidate not from Latin America but was proposed by Burundi, the current chair of the African Union. He stresses the link between peace and development in his pitch to lead the UN, emphasizing that peace can never be sustainable if development is undermined by poverty, inequality, exclusion, and climate vulnerability.