STATEMENT
Turning Up the Heat: Visions, Character and Courage - A UN Secretary-General for “We the Peoples"
STATEMENT BY MGCY COORDINATION TEAM on the 2026 Election of the UN Secretary-General
Every Secretary-General inherits a promise made in the UN Charter in 1945. The Charter was born from the memory of two world wars and a shared resolve "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”.
That vision has kept the hope of peace alive through eight decades of change.
Peace and security, human rights and sustainable development rise or fall together, and that is why the world still needs a United Nations of hope.
The Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY) Coordination Team welcomes the steps taken toward a more open and inclusive selection, including the public interactive dialogues with candidates.
On 16 October, the Security Council held its sixth straw poll, the first with colour-coded ballots, and the selection continues. We highlight that selection of the next Secretary-General is not simply a choice of an individual, but a collective choice about the substantive priorities and direction advanced by the SG and the Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG).
We call upon all candidates for UN Secretary General to commit to:
1. Advancing all commitments across the pillars of the UN: sustainable development, human rights, and peace & security, while ensuring cross-pillars complementarity and coherence, with a focus on implementing the 2030 Agenda, the Pact for the Future and other intergovernmental commitments.
The next SG will lead from 2027 to 2031, through the final chapter of the 2030 Agenda and into the next post-2030 framework. These years call for vision as well as ambition.
2. Mainstreaming humanitarian affairs as a dedicated fourth pillar of the UN while ensuring enhanced funding for the Human Rights pillar.
3. Carrying forward meaningful UN reforms, including those initiated or unfinished under UN80 and the Our Common Agenda.
4. Carrying out comprehensive reform and revolution of the international financial architecture (IFA), including addressing unsustainable debt, cost of capital, and corporate capture.
5. Leading the process on artificial intelligence (AI) governance and addressing further emerging issues and technological change, such as deep-sea resource extraction, outer space affairs.
6. Upholding international law consistently, protecting civilians including human rights defenders and students, and supporting accountability for violations, regardless of the political or economic power of those responsible.
7. Sustaining ongoing progress, implementation and policy frameworks in the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).
9. Ensuring meaningful engagement of children and youth and all major groups and other stakeholders in the UN across the inception, design, implementation and follow-up.
Furthermore, on the process of the Secretary General selection, we highlight that:
1. The principle of universality should be reflected in how decisions are made, ensuring that all Member States have a meaningful voice in shaping the organisation’s leadership and direction.
2. The General Assembly and the Security Council, and their respective Presidencies, MUST ensure that the selection process concludes by the end of the year, allowing for an orderly transition and continuity of leadership.
We encourage all members of the Security Council to work towards consensus in good faith, with transparency and in close consultation with the General Assembly and the wider membership.
Prolonged uncertainty should not leave the UN in limbo or undermine its ability to deliver on its mandates and commitments.
MGCY Coordination Team looks forward to working with the Security Council, the General Assembly and whoever is entrusted with this office. We also invite candidates to engage in dialogue with the youth constituency.
The founders of the United Nations built it for generations they would never meet. Today, those generations are here - do not let them down.