Candidates and speculation

The 1 for 7 Billion campaign fought hard for a selection process geared to find the best person for the job, irrespective of gender, region or background.

During the process, we wrote to all official candidates, urging them to commit to making the process as open as possible; to present publicly their vision and objectives; to refrain from reserving key senior positions for certain member states; and to participate actively in hearings with states and civil society. We also encouraged candidates to commit to serve a single, non-renewable term of office. Any responses to our letter have been published on this page.

The 1 for 7 Billion campaign did not endorse or take a position on individual candidates but listed those confirmed by the President of the General Assembly and prospective candidates named in the press. We strived to provide objective information about the candidates' remarks, such as our summary of the General Assembly's informal dialogues with candidates in April 2016, or links to major events with candidates.

Secretary-General

After the most open recruitment process in the UN's history, António Guterres took office as UN Secretary-General on 1 January 2017.

UN Photo/Mark Garten

António Guterres

State: Portugal

Position: Former UN High Commissioner for Refugees and former Prime Minister of Portugal

Candidacy announced by the President of the General Assembly on 29 February 2016

View António Guterres's CV

View António Guterres's Vision Statement

View António Guterres's Informal Dialogue with the General Assembly

View 1 for 7 Billion's Live Commentary from the Informal Dialogue

View António Guterres at the "Global Townhall" with Candidates

View António Guterres at UNA-UK's 3 June Candidate Debate

Candidate's campaign tools: website

Confirmed candidates

The following list comprises official candidacies that were announced by the President of the General Assembly.

UN Photo/Mark Garten	Irina Bokova State: Bulgaria Position: Director-General of UNESCO Candidacy announced by the President of the General Assembly on 11 February 2016 View Irina Bokova's CV View Irina Bokova's Vision Statement View Irina Bokova's Informal Dialogue with the General Assembly View 1 for 7 Billion's Live Commentary from the Informal Dialogue View Irina Bokova at the "Global Townhall" with Candidates

UN Photo/Rick Bajornas	Helen Clark State: New Zealand Position: Administrator of the UNDP, former Prime Minister of New Zealand Candidacy announced by the President of the General Assembly on 4 April 2016 View Helen Clark's CV View Helen Clark's Vision Statement View Helen Clark's Informal Dialogue with the General Assembly View 1 for 7 Billion's Live Commentary from the Informal Dialogue View Helen Clark at the "Global Townhall" with Candidates View Helen Clark's reply to 1 for 7 Billion's letter Candidate's campaign tools: website \| twitter \| facebook
UN Photo/Rick Bajornas	Kristalina Georgieva State: Bulgaria Position: European Commission Vice President for Budget and Human Resources Candidacy announced by the President of the General Assembly on 29 September 2016 View Kristalina Georgieva's CV View Kristalina Georgieva's Vision Statement Candidate's campaign tools: twitter
UN Photo/Amanda Voisard	Natalia Gherman State: Moldova Position: Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Moldova Candidacy announced by the President of the General Assembly on 19 February 2016 View Natalia Gherman's CV View Natalia Gherman's Vision Statement View Natalia Gherman's Informal Dialogue with the General Assembly View 1 for 7 Billion's Live Commentary from the Informal Dialogue View Natalia Gherman at the "Global Townhall" with Candidates View Natalia Gherman at UNA-UK's 13 April Candidate Debate Candidate's campaign tools: twitter

UN Photo/Mark Garten	António Guterres State: Portugal Position: Former UN High Commissioner for Refugees and former Prime Minister of Portugal Candidacy announced by the President of the General Assembly on 29 February 2016 View António Guterres's CV View António Guterres's Vision Statement View António Guterres's Informal Dialogue with the General Assembly View 1 for 7 Billion's Live Commentary from the Informal Dialogue View António Guterres at the "Global Townhall" with Candidates View António Guterres at UNA-UK's 3 June Candidate Debate Candidate's campaign tools: website

UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras	Vuk Jeremić State: Serbia Position: President of the Centre for International Relations and Sustainable Development, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Candidacy announced by the President of the General Assembly on 12 April 2016 View Vuk Jeremić's CV View Vuk Jeremić's Vision Statement View Vuk Jeremić's Informal Dialogue with the General Assembly View 1 for 7 Billion's Live Commentary from the Informal Dialogue View Vuk Jeremić at the "Global Townhall" with Candidates View Vuk Jeremić at UNA-UK's 13 July Candidate Debate View Vuk Jeremić at UNA-UK's 3 June Candidate Debate Candidate's campaign tools: twitter

UN Photo/Evan Schneider	Srgjan Kerim State: Macedonia Position: Former Foreign Minister and former President of the United Nations General Assembly Candidacy announced by the President of the General Assembly on 15 December 2015 View Srgjan Kerim's CV View Srgjan Kerim's Vision Statement View Srgjan Kerim's Informal Dialogue with the General Assembly View 1 for 7 Billion's Live Commentary from the Informal Dialogue Candidate's campaign tools: website \| linked in

UN Photo/Kim Haughton	Miroslav Lajčák State: Slovakia Position: Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Candidacy announced by the President of the General Assembly on 27 May 2016 View Miroslav Lajčák's CV View Miroslav Lajčák's Vision Statement View Miroslav Lajčák's Informal Dialogue with the General Assembly View 1 for 7 Billion's Live Commentary from the Informal Dialogue Candidate's campaign tools: twitter

UN Photo/Rick Majornas	Susana Malcorra State: Argentina Position: Minister of Foreign Affairs Candidacy announced by the President of the General Assembly on 23 May 2016 View Susana Malcorra's CV View Susana Malcorra's Vision Statement View Susana Malcorra's Informal Dialogue with the General Assembly View 1 for 7 Billion's Live Commentary from the Informal Dialogue View Susana Malcorra at the "Global Townhall" with Candidates Candidate's campaign tools: website \|twitter

UN Photo/Devra Berkowitz	Danilo Türk State: Slovenia Position: Chair of the Global Fairness Initiative, former President of Slovenia Candidacy announced by the President of the General Assembly on 9 February 2016 View Danilo Türk's CV View Danilo Türk's Vision Statement View Danilo Türk's Informal Dialogue with the General Assembly View 1 for 7 Billion's Live Commentary from the Informal Dialogue View Danilo Türk at the "Global Townhall" with Candidates View Danilo Türk at UNA-UK's 13 July Candidate Debate View Danilo Türk at UNA-UK's 13 April Candidate Debate Candidate's campaign tools: twitter

Withdrawn

The following list comprises individuals who have previously been confirmed by the President of the General Assembly as official candidates for Secretary-General, but who have since withdrawn from the selection process.


UN Photo/Rick Bajornas	Christiana Figueres State: Costa Rica Position: Former Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Candidacy announced by the President of the General Assembly on 7 July 2016 Candidacy withdrawn on 12 September 2016 View Christiana Figueres's CV View Christiana Figueres's Vision Statement View Christiana Figueres's Informal Dialogue with the General Assembly View 1 for 7 Billion's Live Commentary from the Informal Dialogue View Christiana Figueres at the "Global Townhall" with Candidates View Christiana Figueres at UNA-UK's 13 July Candidate Debate Candidate's campaign tools: website \| twitter
UN Photo/Evan Schneider	Igor Lukšić State: Montenegro Position: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Candidacy announced by the President of the General Assembly on 15 January 2016 Candidacy withdrawn on 23 August 2016 View Igor Lukšić's CV View Igor Lukšić's Vision Statement View Igor Lukšić's Informal Dialogue with the General Assembly View 1 for 7 Billion's Live Commentary from the Informal Dialogue View Igor Lukšić at the "Global Townhall" with Candidates View Igor Lukšić at UNA-UK's 3 June Candidate Debate View Igor Lukšić at UNA-UK's 13 April Candidate Debate View Igor Lukšić's reply to 1 for 7 Billion's letter Candidate's campaign tools: twitter

UN Photo/Rick Bajornas	Vesna Pusić State: Croatia Position: Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Candidacy announced by the President of the General Assembly on 14 January 2016 Candidacy withdrawn on 4 August 2016 View Vesna Pusić's CV View Vesna Pusić's Vision Statement View Vesna Pusić's Informal Dialogue with the General Assembly View 1 for 7 Billion's Live Commentary from the Informal Dialogue View Vesna Pusić at the "Global Townhall" with Candidates View Vesna Pusić at UNA-UK's 13 April Candidate Debate View Vesna Pusić's reply to 1 for 7 Billion's letter Candidate's campaign tools: website \| twitter \| facebook \| instagram

Prospective candidates named in the press and elsewhere

The following comprises a list of individuals whose candidacies (as far as we are aware) have not been officially acknowledged by the President of the General Assembly. It has been collated objectively using online news articles. Those listed should not be considered as potential candidates beyond the realms of speculation and hearsay.

UN Photo/Marco Castro	János Áder State: Hungary Position: President Source: click here for further information

UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe	Michelle Bachelet State: Chile Position: President of Chile, former Head of UN Women Source: click here for further information

UN Photo/Devra Berkowitz	Alicia Bárcena Ibarra State: Mexico Position: United Nations Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean Source: click here for further information

UN Photo/Rick Bajornas	José Manuel Barroso State: Portugal Position: Former President of the European Commission Source: click here for further information

UN Photo/Marco Castro	Carl Bildt State: Sweden Position: Foreign Minister Source: click here for further information

UN Photo/Michelle Poiré	Mircea Geoană State: Romania Position: Former President of the Senate Source: click here for further information


UN Photo/Ryan Brown	Dalia Grybauskaitė State: Lithuania Position: President Source: click here for further information

UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras	Rebeca Grynspan State: Costa Rica Position: Secretary General of SEGIB, Ibero-American Secretary General, former UN Under-Secretary-General Source: click here for further information

UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe	María Ángela Holguín State: Colombia Position: Foreign Minister Source: click here for further information

UN Photo/Ryan Brown	Ján Kubiš State: Slovakia Position: Head of UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), SRSG Source: click here for further information


UN Photo/Aliza Eliazarov	Angela Merkel State: Germany Position: Chancellor Source: click here for further information

UN Photo/Mark Garten	Amina Mohammed State: Nigeria Position: UN Secretary-General's Special Advisor on post-2015 Development Planning Source: click here for further information

UN Photo/Ryan Brown	Romano Prodi State: Italy Position: Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Sahel, former Prime Minister of Italy Source: click here for further information

UN Photo/Rick Bajornas	Dilma Rousseff State: Brazil Position: President Source: click here for further information

UN Photo/Mark Garten	Kevin Rudd State: Australia Position: Former Prime Minister Source: click here for further information

UN Photo/Rick Bajornas	Radek Sikorski State: Poland Position: Marshal of the Sejm, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Source: click here for further information

UN Photo/Mark Garten	Alexander Stubb State: Finland Position: Prime Minister Source: click here for further information

Please note, this page does not represent an official or definitive list of candidates for the position of UN Secretary-General and should be considered for information purposes only. Whilst we review this page regularly, we are unable to guarantee that the information is accurate and up to date. Names on this page are listed in alphabetical order.

Candidates and speculation

Secretary-General

António Guterres

Confirmed candidates

Irina Bokova

Helen Clark

Kristalina Georgieva

Natalia Gherman

António Guterres

Vuk Jeremić

Srgjan Kerim

Miroslav Lajčák

Susana Malcorra

Danilo Türk

Withdrawn

Christiana Figueres

Igor Lukšić

Vesna Pusić

Prospective candidates named in the press and elsewhere

János Áder

Michelle Bachelet

Alicia Bárcena Ibarra

José Manuel Barroso

Carl Bildt

Mircea Geoană

Dalia Grybauskaitė

Rebeca Grynspan

María Ángela Holguín

Ján Kubiš

Angela Merkel

Amina Mohammed

Romano Prodi

Dilma Rousseff

Kevin Rudd

Radek Sikorski

Alexander Stubb