Today the UN General Assembly made significant progress on 1 for 8 Billion’s campaign to boost transparency and inclusivity in UN appointment processes. The resolution also consolidated previous reforms and good practices.

Negotiations kicked off this month on the biennial General Assembly resolution focusing on the selection and appointment of the Secretary-General and other executive heads. This opportunity to improve appointment processes at the UN must be seized. This article outlines a series of reform proposals which merit consideration in these negotiations.

On 9 February 2023, states in the General Assembly expressed strong support for the reforms that transformed the SG selection process in 2016 while expressing a desire to further strengthen the process. Many states also expressed a desire to improve issues relating to the appointment of other executive heads.

Today, the General Assembly adopted a resolution which makes significant progress on institutionalising crucial gains to the UN Secretary-General selection process achieved in 2015/16, as well as some headway on outstanding issues identified by 1 for 7 Billion.