Co-Chairs,
I am honoured to take the floor on behalf of the 27 members of the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency (ACT) Group.[1]
We welcome today’s discussion on the implementation of resolution 79/327 with the special focus on the process for the selection and appointment of the Secretary-General and other executive heads. The discussion is especially timely as the selection and appointment process has formally started with the issuance of the Joint Letter of the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Security Council on 25 November 2025; the first candidates have been nominated, and we are moving towards the interactive dialogues with the candidates starting in the week of the 20th of April as announced by the PGA in her letter of 14 January 2026.
The ACT Group appreciates that the Joint Letter of the PGA and the President of the Security Council was issued in accordance with the time limit set in OP42(a) of the resolution 79/327, allowing for a timely start of the process. The group also welcomes the commitment expressed by the Presidents of the two bodies to conduct the process in a structured and timely manner whilst being guided by the principles of transparency and inclusivity.
We welcome the invitation in the Joint Letter for candidates to be presented who have proven leadership and managerial abilities, extensive experience in international relations and strong diplomatic, communication and multilingual skills.
The ACT Group further welcomes the encouragement to Member States in the Joint Letter to strongly consider nominating women as candidates, as reflected in OP42(c) of the resolution 79/327. We appreciate that this call has been reinforced in the PGA’s letter of 14 January 2026 and encourage the PGA as well as the President of the Security Council to continue to do so.
The ACT Group also welcomes the recognition of the importance of the regional diversity in the Joint Letter. Inclusivity requires that all regions of the world have a voice in shaping the strategic direction of the organisation. We, therefore, particularly encourage nominations from the underrepresented regions.
Co-chairs,
The ACT Group is of the position that in order to allow full evaluation of the candidates and their suitability for the role of the Secretary-General at this critical time for the United Nations, all candidates should participate fully in the selection and appointment process and in line with the letter and spirit of the resolution 79/327.
Given that the webcast interactive dialogues are planned to start in the week of 20 April, the ACT Group strongly encourages the presentation of qualified candidates no later than 1 April of 2026 as noted also by the PGA in her letters of 14 January and 4 March 2026. This is important for the proper planning purposes as well as for preparation and meaningful engagement and assessment of candidates’ suitability for the role.
The Group emphasises in this regard the significance of the candidates’ vision statements presented at the time of nomination. We call on candidates to outline in these statements their policy priorities of the future of the United Nations, including with regard to the implementation of the three pillars of the United Nations and UN80 reform.
The ACT Group recalls that OP42(h) calls on candidates to disclose their sources of funding and OP42(i) stipulates that those candidates holding positions in the UN system should consider suspending their work during the campaign. We emphasise that the purpose of these clauses is to avoid conflict of interest, gain an unfair advantage, and ensure transparency to the process. These calls should not be taken as mere formalities and we call on candidates to update their financial disclosures throughout the process.
The ACT group fully supports the independence of the candidates and we encourage all states and candidates to strictly observe and commit to Article 100 of the Charter.
Co-chairs,
With regard to the upcoming webcast interactive dialogues with candidates, we welcome the early announcement by the PGA of the timing of the dialogues as well as their modalities that were circulated yesterday. As these dialogues constitute the primary forum for interaction between the candidates and Member States, early presentation of the candidates together with early information on the timing and modalities of the dialogues is critical for the meaningful assessment of candidates’ suitability for the role.
The ACT Group commends the PGA’s intention to make the dialogues more interactive by encouraging Member States to intervene with short and focused questions rather than statements, increasing the time available to candidates to provide responses. We also encourage allowing supplementary questions based on the candidates’ responses, and having the PGA play a more active moderating role, to avoid the unnecessary duplication of questions and repetitive interventions.
The ACT Group finds it important that the dialogues are structured in a way that allows for a consistent and substantive assessment of candidates’ proven commitment to multilateralism, international law, the principles of the UN Charter and the three pillars of the UN system, ensuring equal assessment of all candidates in line of paragraphs 38 and 40 of the resolution 79/327.
The ACT Group recognises the important role played by civil society in the selection process. In this regard, the ACT group welcomes that the modalities foresee the participation of civil society in the interactive dialogues. Their active, in-person participation with opportunities to pose questions interspersed with those of Member States would greatly benefit the process. The ACT Group also encourages the PGA to initiate a timely additional townhall meeting with all candidates and civil society.
The ACT Group strongly encourages for the PGA to consider ways to assess the level of support for the candidates among the UN membership throughout the process, drawing, inter alia, on lessons learnt from the previous processes. This could be done through advisory votes or other quantifiable mechanisms that indicate which candidates the wider membership may support, not support or have no strong opinion on. These could be held at two key moments: (1) after first full round of informal dialogues, and (2) immediately prior to the Security Council’s deliberations, to foster institutional alignment and transparency.
Before making a final decision on appointment of the next Secretary-General, the General Assembly should hold an additional dialogue with a candidate or candidates recommended by the Security Council. This would allow all Member States an opportunity to engage directly with the recommended candidate(s), seek clarification on priorities and vision, and reinforce accountability, transparency, and the collective ownership of the selection process, rather than a purely formal endorsement
The ACT Group strongly encourages the Security Council to suggest to the General Assembly more than one candidate for its consideration.
Co-chairs,
For the sake of clarity and transparency of the process, the ACT Group encourages the Security Council to clearly outline how it intends to make its recommendation to the General Assembly and to communicate this in a timely manner to all Member States, building on lessons learnt during the 2015/2016 selection process. Particularly, with regard to transparency of the Council’s timeline of consultations and deliberative process. The ACT Group calls for regular public briefings by the Security Council on developments in the nomination process, and open communication on the results of any deliberations.
The decision of the appointment of the next Secretary-General affects all members of the United Nations. According to Article 97 of the UN Charter, the Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. The ACT Group calls on all Member States to take this responsibility seriously and seize the opportunity to engage actively in all aspects of the process.
[1] Austria, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, Gabon, Ghana, Hungary, Ireland, Jordan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Maldives, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Portugal, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay.