Center for Human Rights and Policy Studies (CHRIPS) and Saferworld

Summary

Grossi aspires to lead from the front as a trusted mediator who can reassert the UN’s role in resolving conflicts. He engages less on UN institutional tools and capacities for prevention.

Profile

Grossi places the prevention of war and conflict resolution at the center of his vision for the role of Secretary-General. He has criticized the UN’s absence in recent conflicts, and has argued that the Secretary-General must reconnect with the principle of impartiality and become a trusted interlocutor  for the UN to regain a central role in crisis response. He has highlighted his experience as Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, including as a high-level mediator in the Iran and Ukraine conflicts, working with colleagues in the midst of war to prevent further catastrophic consequences.

He has noted that preventive diplomacy is essential, but his statements focus more squarely on his aspirations to being a key, visible figure in resolving and mediating crises that have already erupted. He has emphasized action over rhetoric and has committed to being proactive in his attempts to build bridges, but has not offered any policy or reform proposals on prevention.

While his statements as a candidate highlight his experience in technical and issue-specific mediation, they have not covered the UN’s wider institutional mandate, which includes a diverse range of conflicts, actors, tools and thematic areas. In response to questions, he has acknowledged concerns such as hybrid threats and transnational organized crime, but has not proposed specific initiatives to address them.

He has emphasized the importance of dialogue between the Secretary-General and Security Council and has acknowledged the relationship between development and the cost of war and the need to respond to emerging threats, but has not proposed any specific reforms nor initiatives. He also has not identified links between the Secretary General’s prevention role and the UN’s peace operations or peacebuilding efforts. His vision statement and opening statement at the General Assembly dialogues focus more on “war” than on “peace.”

Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Peacebuilding (CCCPA) and International Peace Institute (IPI)

Summary

Grossi has rarely addressed peacekeeping, but in response to questions, he acknowledged Resolution 2719 and called for renewed dialogue on financing. He has not addressed peacebuilding.

Profile

Grossi’s career has produced few opportunities for him to formally address peacekeeping or peacebuilding. His vision statement frames international peace and security as the “first pillar” of the UN’s shared architecture but does not mention peace operations or peacebuilding.

In response to member state questions at the General Assembly dialogues, Grossi provided his most detailed remarks on peace operations. On partnerships, he recognized Security Council Resolution 2719 as “concrete guidance in terms of allocating resources for peacekeeping operations” while acknowledging implementation gaps and identifying the third-year review as a chance to revisit partnerships with donors and countries in conflict. He also called for greater interaction between continents and communities on peacekeeping, particularly between Africa and other regions.

When asked how he would ensure peacekeeper safety and security in the context of recent UNIFIL casualties in southern Lebanon, Grossi said he would “give enormous priority to this” but seemed to limit his diagnosis of the problem to inadequate funding. As a solution, he called for “a renewed dialogue at the level of member states” to gauge willingness and capacity to fund peacekeeping, drawing on his experience negotiating with member states over nuclear safeguards budgets.

On the changing nature of conflict, Grossi has noted the challenges posed by new technologies and non-state actors, characterizing the means to address these on the ground as “an area where we should enhance our work… by using the talent that we have in the system.”

His experience at the International Atomic Energy Agency—including leading the Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhia, which has involved localized ceasefires, a demilitarized protection zone and continuous monitoring—demonstrates experience with field-level activities, though these fall outside the domain of peace operations.

Grossi has not engaged substantively with peacebuilding as a distinct policy area and has not discussed the UN peacebuilding architecture.

ODI Global

Summary

Grossi believes the UN and the Secretary-General must engage in active diplomacy and deploy impartial expertise to respond to humanitarian crises. He has not offered specific proposals to enhance UN humanitarian action.

Profile

Grossi supports the tenets of the UN Charter as they relate to humanitarian action. He frames humanitarian response as a necessary UN function while criticizing the organization for not doing more to resolve conflicts. He believes the UN has been absent in many conflicts and has called for a more proactive response to humanitarian crises, moving from platitudes to active diplomacy and the deployment of impartial expertise.

He has emphasized the importance of negotiation and impartiality, and has an active ‘boots on the ground’ approach to leadership, valuing UN presence and action at the front lines of conflict over verbal declarations. He believes it is important for the Secretary-General to build credibility and political capital by visiting crisis-affected countries, including conflict zones, as he has done in his current role as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. He has also stated that human rights law and humanitarian law are essential and deserve the full attention of the future Secretary-General.

Grossi has not, however, offered specific proposals for improving humanitarian action or addressing impediments to humanitarian response. When asked during the General Assembly dialogues about escalating threats to peacekeepers and humanitarian workers in conflict zones, he said he intends to prioritize this issue; however, in terms of solutions, his response focused on the need to address inadequate member state funding for peacekeeping.

Grossi has spoken broadly about UN reform by identifying the UN80 reform initiative as a “first step,” but has not commented on the Humanitarian Reset, humanitarian-specific aspects of UN80 or other humanitarian reform initiatives.

Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and Southern Voice

Summary

Grossi prioritizes implementation and delivery of existing commitments over redesigning global frameworks or addressing structural drivers of inequality. He calls for safeguarding development resources and stronger coordination with international financial institutions.

Profile

Grossi’s approach to development emphasizes implementation, system effectiveness and coordination. He frames the core UN challenge not as a lack of global commitments but as a failure to deliver on existing ones. His priority is not to redesign instruments, such as the 2030 Agenda or the Pact for the Future, but to implement them more effectively. This suggests limited focus on shaping future global development frameworks if he is appointed Secretary-General.

On financing for development, Grossi underscores the gap between political commitments and practical results. He emphasizes that development priorities should not become a casualty of declining international assistance or broader financial constraints. He calls for a more constructive and coordinated relationship between the UN and international financial institutions, but he does not propose specific reforms to the international financial architecture or detail how systemic inequalities in financing should be addressed.

He has emphasized delivery at the country level, including alignment with national realities, stronger UN country teams and reduced fragmentation. He has argued that development strategies must reflect different national contexts but has not engaged with how UN funding models and donor preferences shape development priorities. More broadly, he does not address how decision-making power over development priorities and financing norms should be distributed within the international system.

Grossi also links development to stability, treating peace and security as enabling conditions. He has made few references to technology and has not articulated a position on artificial intelligence or its implications for inequality.

His approach reflects his experience leading a technical international organization, with a focus on operational delivery and practical problem-solving. It prioritizes improving how the system functions, rather than addressing the structural drivers of inequality within it.

Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) and GQUAL Campaign

Summary

Grossi commits to upholding the UN Charter and international law. He frames human rights as integrated into other pillars, focusing on conflict contexts. He emphasizes accountability and equality, without supporting additional resources or committing to parity.

Profile

Grossi has committed to upholding the UN Charter. He has framed international law—including international humanitarian and human rights law—as a “guide for responsible engagement” and human dignity as a foundation of peace.

He has recognized the three UN pillars and called for an integrated approach. He has suggested integrating human rights into other pillars, describing it as an “ingredient,” and supported a UN80 reform proposal for a systemwide Human Rights Group which would promote integration. Grossi has not proposed measures to strengthen human rights mechanisms, but referred to accountability across institutions and highlighted the Human Rights Council and Special Procedures. He has not indicated support for increasing resources to human rights, expressing confidence in the ability to operate effectively despite “apparent imbalance.”

His references to human rights have focused mostly on violations arising from conflict, with less attention to their preventive dimension. When asked how he would protect UN personnel in conflicts, he did not provide specific measures, referring instead to his close relationship with IAEA’s staff and expecting high standards of conduct.

Grossi has called for strengthening responses to discrimination and violence, women’s rights, youth participation and defense of civic space, but without specific proposals. When asked about gender equality, he has emphasized protecting women and girls and addressing sexual abuse in field operations, but has not elaborated on broader strategies or addressed the Women, Peace and Security agenda, even when asked. He has not addressed other human rights issues or affected populations.

He has highlighted achieving gender parity and geographical balance in the IAEA and argued that equal opportunity is not a matter of “image or political correctness” but leads to better outcomes. He has stated that parity and geographical balance are “very important” for his leadership team, but has not explicitly committed to them as criteria.

CIVICUS and Transparency, Accountability and Participation (TAP) Network

Summary

Grossi focuses on gender parity in staffing and improved communications with youth, without engaging substantively on gender frameworks or WPS and YPS agendas. He has not offered proposals to address anti-gender backlash or restrictions on civic space.

Profile

Grossi has called for the UN to go beyond declarations and strengthen its presence on the ground to enhance women’s rights and youth participation and to defend civic space. However, he has not outlined specific mechanisms to protect civic space or address growing restrictions on civil society engagement.

His framing of gender-related issues focuses mainly on organizational inclusion and representation, without addressing broader political dimensions of anti-gender pushback, such as reproductive justice, intersectional gender rights or coordinated resistance to gender equality norms at local, national and multilateral levels.

Notably, the word “gender” does not appear in his vision statement. When asked during the General Assembly interactive dialogues about transformative gender equality and the political backlash against the term, Grossi acknowledged that the issue is substantive and not merely terminological, but largely pointed to existing achievements of the Human Rights Council, UN field operations and efforts on conflict-related sexual violence rather than proposing new frameworks or accountability measures.

On youth, he recognizes that the UN is not currently among young people’s priorities, but he does not present structural reforms to improve its relevance other than by improving how the UN communicates. He does not mention the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) or the Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agendas in either his vision statement or his statements at the General Assembly dialogues.

As Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Grossi increased women’s representation at the agency from 28 percent to 53 percent within five years and achieved parity at senior levels. He has framed women’s representation not as symbolic but as a matter of institutional effectiveness, arguing that equal opportunity for men and women produces better outcomes and should be a defining feature of a modern United Nations.

Plataforma CIPÓ and SHE Changes Climate

Summary

Grossi avoids proactive mentions of climate. He frames the issue mainly around energy, particularly nuclear energy. He recognizes SIDS’ vulnerabilities and acknowledges that current climate finance, including for loss and damage, remains far below needs.

Profile

Grossi’s campaign engagement on climate has been limited. His vision statement and his opening remarks at the General Assembly dialogues do not explicitly mention climate change. Instead, he refers more generally to development cooperation delivering benefits, including access to food, energy security and environment. His vision statement recognizes that the UN must strengthen its engagement with international financial institutions in support of development, but without explicitly linking this to climate action.The vision statement makes no reference to climate finance or broader structural reforms for climate action.

In response to direct questions on climate change during the General Assembly dialogues, Grossi has primarily framed the issue around energy. He stated that climate ambition is already at the heart of his current mission and called for “a reinvigorated dialogue on energy matters from the UN,” adding that there is “a bit of a deficit” in this area. He stressed the need to engage industry and the energy producers in addressing climate impacts, while recognizing the vulnerabilities of small island developing states.

In response to questions from the African Group about climate finance, he has referred to the Loss and Damage Fund as an achievement of a recent COP, but said that pledged resources remain “quite meager” compared with estimated needs and that agreements on paper do not automatically translate into concrete solutions. He has not detailed concrete actions to address this mismatch. When asked how he would prioritize existential threats such as climate change, Grossi has said that the UN should not rank one crisis above another.

Grossi’s career includes relevant climate-related projects. Under his leadership, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has launched “NUTEC Plastics” and “Atoms for Net Zero,” while his CV states that he has promoted financing for nuclear energy and its peaceful uses through partnerships with international financial institutions.

Article 109

Summary

Grossi emphasizes leadership style and technical changes over ambitious political reform. He commits to “right-sizing” the UN. He appears hesitant to publicly call out serious violations of the UN Charter.

Profile

For Grossi, the UN is “nowhere near the place it should be” – but he sees restoring trust in multilateralism as a matter of making the UN more efficient and delivering on peace and security, rather than proactively driving foundational reforms.

His reform vision focuses on a change in leadership style and being a “boots on the ground” Secretary-General, rather than through institutional reform. His reform agenda is largely framed as an extension of UN80. He has emphasized technical “right-sizing” reforms, building on his modernization agenda at the International Atomic Energy Agency. Experts foresee that he would not be afraid to be disruptive in delivering his reform agenda, though more likely to challenge the UN system rather than the major powers.

Grossi shows limited appetite to use the agenda-setting powers of the Secretary-General; for example, he has downplayed the role of Article 99 (empowering the Secretary-General to bring to the Security Council’s attention any matter they believe threatens international peace and security) in favor of constant dialogue with the Security Council. He appears to perceive the role of Secretary-General as an administrator and implementer in service of member states. When asked whether he would seek to drive change by, for example, strengthening the General Assembly or the international courts, Grossi refused to be drawn in, similarly expressing little appetite to push for Security Council reform.

Mediating conflicts is a priority for Grossi. He promises to be present on the front lines of conflict, favouring private diplomacy over issuing declarations or condemnations. When pressed, he has been unwilling to call out serious violations of international law. However, he has asserted that he would "live by the oath to defend the UN Charter."

Grossi has not stepped down from existing UN duties while campaigning to be Secretary-General, as recommended by the General Assembly.