With the Security Council's first straw polls 18 days away, the race for the next UN Secretary-General is entering its substantive phase. Private consultations with the candidates, opened in New York on 30 June, continue this week; the candidates' projects are moving to the fore.
President Macky Sall's official vision statement, filed with the United Nations in March 2026, carries a programmatic title: rebuilding multilateralism for a better world. Its starting diagnosis is direct and treats the current crisis as systemic. The Organization faces growing distrust, even as its potential remains immense.
Its answer rests on three pillars. The first links peace, security and development in an integrated vision, with prevention as the priority and better coordination between peace operations, development agencies and humanitarian bodies. The second aims to renew multilateralism, including a realistic, consensus-based reform of the Security Council that strengthens its representativeness and legitimacy while preserving its capacity to act. As for the third, it addresses UN governance, guided by three requirements: streamline, simplify, optimise.
The candidate presents himself as a facilitator and bridge-builder among member states, civil society and the private sector. He proposes predictable, disciplined management focused on results. His candidacy starts from a simple premise, that trust is built through consistency, fairness and efficiency.
This approach draws on four decades in public service, including twelve years as Head of State of Senegal. To these add the chairmanship of the African Union in 2022 and a constant practice of dialogue between North and South.
The calendar is now set. After July's private consultations, Security Council members will hold their first straw polls in the last week of the month, ahead of a recommendation to the General Assembly in the autumn. The next Secretary-General's term begins on 1 January 2027.
Among the six official candidacies in the race, President Macky Sall's stands out for the pragmatism of its vision. That vision describes a United Nations that uses its resources wisely and delivers results that governments can defend before their citizens.
The full vision statement is available at www.mackysall.net.