Ahead of the appointment of a new UN leader, members of the global public have an opportunity to submit questions to candidates via a new online portal, available in nine languages.

The portal enables the public to vote on which questions they want put to Secretary-General candidates during two unprecedented hustings debates, convened by 1 for 7 Billion partners, in New York (13 April) and London (3 June).

Participants are invited to rank 12 questions in order of preference, before submitting up to three questions of their own. It has been developed by the United Nations Association – UK and Avaaz – both members of the 1 for 7 Billion Steering Committee – in partnership with Global Citizen.

Vote now - the top ranked questions will be put to candidates

Designed for an international audience, the survey is available in nine languages: English, German, Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

For the past 70 years, the UN Secretary-General has been chosen in secret. This opportunity for citizens around the world to interact with candidates represents a major success for the 1 for 7 Billion campaign, which is calling for a fair, open and inclusive appointment process.

1 for 7 Billion welcomes recent improvements to the appointment process which paved the way for the upcoming General Assembly meetings with candidates (from 12-14 April). Such meetings represent a significant step forward in terms of transparency but will allow limited time for civil society interaction. This initiative builds on these positive developments, increasing the reach of public engagement on this issue to ensure a diverse range of voices are heard.