Two Women Among Top Contenders for Next UN Secretary General

By: WE Staff | Tuesday, 7 April 2026

• There are two women amongst the four nominees for the upcoming Secretary General position at the United Nations
• The nomination process will commence from this month onwards
• There is an increasing demand to choose the first female UN Secretary General

As of now, there have been two female candidates in the history of the UN's position of Secretary-General, with discussions about the concept of a woman becoming Secretary-General occurring after an 80-year period following the UN's creation.

Four of these candidates will be able to travel to UN Headquarters (NYC) to participate in face-to-face discussions with member states in order to answer questions from member states in relation to the duties of the UN Secretary-General; this event is sponsored by the Office of the President of the General Assembly (PGA).

Antonio Guterres has been the current Secretary-General since January 1, 2017 and will finish his current term in December 2026; therefore, his-term-in-office will end with a succession of Secretaries-General that have extended over 80 years.

In addition to the name of Remedios, there are three other candidates for the position of Secretary-General that were put forward: (1) Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; (2) Rebeca Grynspan, current Secretary-General of UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), former Vice-President of Costa Rica; (3) Raphael Grossi, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and (4) Macky Sall, former President of Senegal.

Michelle has been proposed for the position by Brazil and Mexico; Grynspan by Costa Rica; Grossi by Argentina; and Sall by Burundi.

The UN Secretary-General is selected by the 193-member General Assembly on the recommendation of the United Nations Security Council in which China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States are the five permanent members that have veto powers.

As indicated by a UN General Assembly resolution passed last September, the world body had not so far seen any woman as its Secretary-General, and the resolution called upon member nations to propose women candidates for this office.

Several civil societies and advocacy organizations too have emphasized transparency and inclusiveness in the nomination process, even proposing that priority be given to women candidates.