The Security Council's first straw polls in the race for the next UN Secretary-General are expected in the last week of July. Two weeks before that date, President Macky Sall's vision can be read pillar by pillar. After conflict prevention comes the second: renewing and revitalising multilateralism.

Its centrepiece is Security Council reform. In the official vision statement filed with the United Nations in March, President Macky Sall commits to working towards a realistic, consensus-based reform of the Council, one that strengthens its representativeness and legitimacy while preserving its capacity to act.

The candidate wants that reform to be realistic, on an issue debated for decades, and consensus-based, built with the permanent members as well as with the wider membership. It must also make the Council more representative: its format is largely inherited from 1945, in a world that has changed.

Beyond the Council, the pillar calls for a reinvigorated General Assembly with a rationalised agenda and for a stronger coordinating role for ECOSOC on development activities. It also seeks closer cooperation between the UN and regional organisations on conflict prevention and resolution in particular.

To carry this through, President Macky Sall pledges to be a bridge-builder between member states, civil society and the private sector. The challenges he names are old ones such as peace and security or migration, and new ones such as cross-border health threats and the rapid rise of technologies like artificial intelligence. His vision keeps the fight against violence targeting women and girls and their empowerment, along with support for youth, at the heart of the international agenda.

The calendar gives this pillar its urgency. According to the Security Council Report, Council members are continuing their private consultations with candidates, opened on 30 June, ahead of the first straw polls. Six candidates are competing to succeed António Guterres, whose term ends on 31 December 2026.

Among them, President Macky Sall is the only declared African candidate. No African has led the Organisation since Kofi Annan left office at the end of 2006. His central argument is a reformed, streamlined and modernised UN that delivers results governments can defend before their citizens.

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