1 for 8 Billion has written to all member states asking them to seize the last opportunity to implement reforms in the General Assembly before the Secretary-General selection process begins later this year.

The discussion paper was circulated as a primer for the meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the General Assembly on 20 February 2025 - the last scheduled UN discussion on the matter ahead of the next race. Following this, states will negotiate a new General Assembly resolution, co-facilitated by Ambassador Mathu Joyini and Ambassador Cornel Feruță, the Permanent Representatives of South Africa and Romania respectively. 1 for 8 Billion is calling for states to adopt wide-ranging reforms in support of a fair, open and inclusive process.

A summary of the recommendations is available below. The full briefing can be downloaded here.

The 1 for 8 Billion campaign urges Member States to:

Reassert the General Assembly’s primacy in the process. The UN Charter states that the SG is “appointed by the General Assembly” (GA). While the appointment is made on the basis of a Security Council recommendation, it is clear the Assembly is in the driving seat. At a time of profound concern about the ability of the Council to discharge its duties, and of its permanent members to recommend a candidate who will serve the entire UN membership, it is vital that the Assembly seize this opportunity to assert its role and act in the interests of all the world’s people.

Unequivocally endorse the appointment of a woman SG. As Member States prepare to mark the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration – which called on states to “develop mechanisms to nominate women candidates to senior posts in the UN” – it is evident that good intentions are not enough. Decades of resolutions encouraging the nomination of women and noting that no woman has held the post have been followed by the appointment of men. The only way to ensure a woman is appointed is to only nominate women.

Adopt robust language that signals the Assembly’s intention to follow – and enhance – the process followed in 2015-16. This should include:

Setting a timeline that provides sufficient time for candidates to engage with Member States and other stakeholders, for candidates’ vision statements and records to be scrutinised, and for potential multiple rounds of deliberation in both the Security Council and General Assembly. This means initiating the race as close as possible to the beginning of the 80th GA session.

Asking the President of the 80th session of the General Assembly to consult with Member States, UN officials, former candidates, civil society, youth, media and others to develop a more substantive process of interacting with candidates, noting the value of: closed and open meetings, meetings with single and multiple candidates, issue-specific dialogues and dialogues with different stakeholders;

Requesting that all candidates agree to submit vision statements; be vetted; disclose expenditure associated with their campaigns; and participate fully in opportunities for engagement organised by the President of the General Assembly;

Stating that the Assembly is prepared to appoint a candidate if the Council is unable to agree, or to reject a candidate if the wider membership does not consider they meet the criteria. There is precedent for this: in 1950, when the Council was unable to agree on a recommendation, the Assembly moved to a vote and extended the term of Trygve Lie.

Encouraging the possibility of states or groups of states working together to jointly nominate candidates in the spirit of cooperation.

Consider seriously the holding of ‘straw polls’ in the General Assembly to indicate which candidates the wider membership may ‘encourage’, ‘discourage’ or have no strong opinion on. Holding polls in the General Assembly, as well as the Security Council, would help ensure alignment between the two principal organs, and the complementary roles they are assigned in the UN Charter. The outcomes of straw polls or any other deliberative mechanism must be made public. During the last appointment process, near-instantaneous leaks of the results by delegates highlighted the frustration (and futility) of attempting to keep the process closed.

Ask the Security Council to develop a shortlist of two or more candidates to recommend to the Assembly. The UN Charter states only that the appointment is made on the recommendation of the Security Council. The practice of putting forward just one candidate originates from a 1946 General Assembly resolution that simply notes this “would be desirable”. The General Assembly does not need to stick with this eight-decade-old resolution and could ask the Council to be presented with a genuine choice, instead of a de facto decision to rubberstamp.

Agree to hold a secret ballot vote when deciding whether or not to appoint a candidate recommended by the Security Council. The same 1946 resolution sets out the option of voting by secret ballot in either the Council or Assembly to make the appointment. This has been used in past Secretary-General appointments (for Trygve Lie and Dag Hammarskjöld) and is currently used for other senior appointments such as the President of the General Assembly.

Given the number of detailed considerations and outstanding elements, discuss adopting a standalone resolution on the appointment and/or tasking the PGA80 to lead an informal process to address them. Outstanding issues range from practical arrangements to enhance the informal dialogues with candidates – building on the learnings identified by Member States – to key questions such as the possibility of appointing the SG for a single, longer term. As the forthcoming meeting represents the last scheduled opportunity to address these matters before the next process starts, Member States should take steps to ensure there is a way forward.

Set a date for discussing action on three important, related issues:

Despite successive General Assembly resolutions on merit-based appointments, some states, in particular permanent members of the Security Council, continue to have de facto ‘monopolies’ of key posts. In light of the persistence of these monopolies, the General Assembly should make time to discuss this issue and adopt concrete actions.

While much attention has been paid to gender parity in the UN system (and rightly so), there is also a need to collect and publish UN-wide data disaggregated by race to facilitate regular assessments of the racial composition of its personnel at all job levels, including senior leadership positions, and initiate action, such as racially-sensitive UN-wide recruitment, promotion, internship and young professionals processes.

The need to agree a process in case a Secretary-General is unable or unwilling to continue their term, covering interim arrangements and the appointment of a successor.

The full briefing can be downloaded here.

Image: Ad Hoc Working Group (AHWG) on the Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly meets on 23 January 2025 (UNWEBTV)