In six days, on Thursday 23 July, the candidates for United Nations Secretary-General will appear together before member states and civil society. The Town Hall, held from 5:00 to 6:30 pm New York time in the General Assembly Hall at the invitation of its President, Annalena Baerbock, opens the final stretch before the straw polls. The moment calls for a refresher: how, concretely, is the UN's chief chosen?

The current process dates from 2015. With resolution 69/321, the General Assembly ended decades of closed-door bargaining: candidacies made public, written vision statements, hearings open to all 193 member states. The 2016 selection, which brought António Guterres to the head of the Organization, was the first of this era of transparency. The 2026 race follows that path: the six declared candidates have filed their visions, faced their public hearings, and have been answering the Security Council members' private consultations since 30 June.

Then come the straw polls, expected from the last week of July. The mechanics are simple: the fifteen Council members receive one ballot per candidate and tick "encourage", "discourage" or "no opinion". These informal rounds, repeated as often as needed, map the balance of forces without deciding anything; in 2016, six were required. In the decisive rounds, the ballots of the five permanent members are distinguished from those of the ten elected members: a candidate must convince both colleges at once, since the final recommendation requires at least nine votes and no veto.

The Council then forwards its recommendation to the General Assembly, which makes the appointment. The announced calendar aims for the autumn, with the new Secretary-General taking office on 1 January 2027.

It is this demanding, methodical process that has shaped President Macky Sall's approach since the consultations opened: listening to every member of the Council, elected and permanent alike, with the same seriousness. Next Thursday, before the member states, he will present the three pillars of his vision: an integrated approach to peace and development, a renewed multilateralism faithful to the Charter, and a streamlined Organization that does more with less.

The full vision statement is available at www.mackysall.net.