1 for 8 Billion is coordinating a joint letter to all UN Permanent Representatives asking them to address the historic imbalance by announcing that their state will only consider nominating women candidates for the next Secretary-General selection process.

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.

The report outlines 10 proposals based on improving transparency and inclusivity, addressing undue influence by Member States, and reducing the barriers to civil society participation in General Assembly processes. All proposals enjoy a degree of General Assembly support but need a concerted push to get them over the finish line. 

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.

On 16 June, representatives from the 1 for 7 Billion campaign met with the co-chairs of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the General Assembly (AHWG) to discuss our latest briefing.

1 for 7 Billion has written to all member states calling for progress on outstanding reforms which are needed to strengthen future Secretary-General selection processes.

On 7 May, the President of the General Assembly (PGA), Volkan Bozkır, held an informal dialogue between member states and António Guterres in his capacity as a candidate for the position of Secretary-General for the term beginning in January 2022.

Today, the Forward initiative announced its own “candidate” to stand for the position of UN Secretary-General: Ecuadorian politician, Rosalía Arteaga Serrano. Forward is a civil society initiative that seeks to hold “progressive primaries to find a people-backed candidate to run for Secretary-General”.