NEW YORK, United States — Uganda’s bid for the United Nations’ top diplomatic job entered a decisive international phase on Wednesday as Ambassador Olara Otunnu faced Member States and civil society at the UN headquarters in New York, pitching himself as a reformer capable of restoring the organisation’s moral authority in an increasingly fractured world.
The 75-year-old veteran diplomat appeared before the General Assembly on August 19 for an informal interactive dialogue, a process designed to allow Member States and civil society to scrutinise candidates seeking to succeed Secretary-General António Guterres, whose second and final term ends on December 31, 2026. The UN’s official media service published images of Otunnu during the dialogue.
Otunnu’s appearance marked a major moment in Uganda’s campaign after his nomination on July 24. He is one of eight candidates now in the race, following the entry of Ecuadorian diplomat Ivonne A-Baki.
During the dialogue, Otunnu called for a profound renewal of the UN, arguing that the organisation cannot afford to continue with “business as usual” amid wars, geopolitical divisions, institutional inefficiencies and growing pressure on multilateralism.
Reuters reported that Otunnu invoked the Prayer of St Francis, calling on the UN to bridge global divisions and restore its moral leadership. He argued that the Secretary-General’s greatest instrument is not military or economic power but moral authority derived from the UN Charter and the confidence of Member States and peoples around the world.
A UN insider
Otunnu is seeking the position from a rare vantage point: he has spent much of his career inside the UN system and was involved in some of its most important diplomatic processes.
He served as Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1980 to 1985. During that period, he became President of the Security Council in 1981, Vice-President of the General Assembly from 1982 to 1983 and Chairman of the UN Commission on Human Rights in 1983–1984.
His role in the Security Council produced what has become one of his most enduring institutional legacies. In 1981, Otunnu helped develop the informal “straw poll” approach used to gauge support for candidates for UN Secretary-General. The mechanism, often referred to as the “Otunnu Formula”, remains part of the selection process and has helped diplomats assess candidates before formal decisions are made.
More than four decades later, Otunnu finds himself on the other side of the process — competing for the position whose selection mechanism he helped shape.
His most prominent UN assignment came in 1997 when then Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed him Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.
Otunnu served in the position until 2005, making the protection of children caught in armed conflicts a central issue on the international peace and security agenda.
His tenure helped strengthen international mechanisms for monitoring violations against children in war, including the identification and listing of parties that recruit or use children in armed conflict. He also pushed child protection higher on the Security Council’s agenda.
The record gives his current campaign an important selling point: Otunnu is not proposing to reform an institution he only knows from the outside. He is seeking to lead an organisation in which he has previously served at its highest levels.
Otunnu faces a competitive field that includes Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Ecuador’s María Fernanda Espinosa, Guyana’s Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Senegal’s Macky Sall and Ecuador’s newly nominated Ivonne A-Baki.
Five of the eight candidates are women, while several bring extensive experience in diplomacy, international development, human rights and global governance.
Grynspan, the UN Trade and Development Secretary-General, emerged as the early leader in the first Security Council straw poll, while Rodrigues-Birkett and Grossi also registered strong support. Otunnu received fewer votes in the initial round, making his New York campaign particularly important as he seeks to change perceptions among diplomats.
The contest is ultimately decided through the Security Council. A candidate must secure at least nine of the Council’s 15 votes and avoid a veto from any of the five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — before the General Assembly can appoint the Secretary-General.
For Uganda, therefore, Otunnu’s candidature is more than a diplomatic experiment. It is an attempt to place an African voice with four decades of international experience at the centre of a global institution searching for relevance, credibility and unity.
And Otunnu’s message in New York was unmistakable: if the UN is to help repair a divided world, it must first rediscover the moral authority and reforming spirit that gave birth to it.
