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What to expect in the SG candidates’ key public events (last updated: July 24)
With the President of the UN General Assembly’s first set of interactive dialogues in April, candidates for Secretary-General cleared the first formal hurdle of the 2026 race.
But the official track is only part of the story. Candidates are also expected to engage in public events hosted by think tanks and civil society while, beneath the surface, they maneuver to convince governments, funders, and the media of the strength of their candidacy.
Ahead of the Security Council’s straw polls — July 30 — candidates are hitting the road and debate season is in full swing. While public visibility does not always equal success, it shapes global perceptions and can reveal unexpected strengths or vulnerabilities in a candidate’s platform.
Here is your guide to four major debates, plus other moments in the race that are worth watching. Remember that we already have one new candidate in the race: Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett. As the race enters its final stretch ahead of the July 30 straw polls, the PGA will host a public town hall that will put candidates on the same stage, at the end of July.
Read our cheat sheet for everything you need to know about the process of electing a new Secretary-General. And we’ll update this article as we get more details on each debate.
Latest Events
UN Town Hall: The Next Secretary-General
🌐 Website: Selection and Appointment of the Next Secretary-General
📋 Host: UN President of the General Assembly (PGA).
🗓️ Logistics: The debate took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Thursday, July 23.
🎟️How to join: Watch the broadcast here.
💬 Format: The town hall brought candidates together for a group discussion, answering key questions shaped by civil society organizations.
✨ Vibe: Hosted by the PGA, this debate gave civil society organizations a chance to ask candidates questions ahead of the straw polls on July 30. Candidates answered questions on climate change, AI, peace and security, and more. Considered a high-interest event, this town hall engaged with civil society organizations, Member States, UN staff, and interested stakeholders.
Other Rumored and Anticipated Events
Conversations are swirling about additional public events, which would bring candidates into conversation with one another and to interact with the public. Among the events expected to take place is a forum with candidates from the Latin America and Caribbean region.
Past Events
London Calling
🌐 Website: The leader the world needs (updates via the UNA-UK newsletter)
📋 Host: The United Nations Association - UK (UNA-UK), with support from RELX.
🗓️ Logistics: Thursday, May 28 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. The event took place at the Methodist Central Hall Westminster in London.
🎥 Watch the Recap: You can watch a recording of this event here.
💬 Format: Four confirmed candidates — Michelle Bachelet, María Fernanda Espinosa, Rafael Grossi, and Rebeca Grynspan — provided opening statements and sat for a moderated conversation. Macky Sall did not participate in this debate. The evening kicked off with a high-level panel discussion on UN leadership featuring Mark Malloch-Brown (former UN Deputy Secretary-General), Thant Myint-U (writer and historian, and a UN Foundation Senior Fellow), and Margarita Gómez (Executive Director of Southern Voice).
✨ Vibe: UNA-UK ran the first-ever public hustings in 2016, drawing nearly 2,000 people to what was described as “the people’s opportunity to grill candidates.” As part of the 1 for 8 Billion campaign, UNA-UK has used these debates to shine a spotlight on the selection process, demand transparency, and expose any attempts to undermine accountability. The event reached a highly engaged crowd focused on finding the right leader for the “world’s toughest job.”
#NextUNSG Geneva
🌐 Website: The Candidates Debate 2026 – #NextUNSG
📋 Host: GWL Voices, in collaboration with the United Nations Foundation.
🗓️ Logistics: Tuesday, June 9, 2026. The debate took place at the Ivan Pictet Auditorium at the Maison de la Paix in Geneva.
🎥 Watch the Event: You can watch a recording of this event here.
💬 Format: The debate was moderated by journalist Zeinab Badawi. It was designed to bring together the official candidates to present their vision, leadership approach, and priorities, followed by a substantive exchange on the most pressing global challenges. Michelle Bachelet, María Fernanda Espinosa, and Rebeca Grynspan participated in person. Macky Sall provided a video intervention.
✨ Vibe: Positioned as a high-level convening that aimed to foster a neutral, informed conversation on the future of multilateral leadership. This event was a big draw for the “International Geneva” ecosystem, attracting a knowledgeable crowd of ambassadors, UN insiders, NGOs, media, and local students.
Reimagining Multilateralism in Korea
🌐 Website: The 21st Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity
📋 Host: Co-hosted by the Jeju Peace Institute, Ban Ki-moon Foundation for a Better Future, United Nations Foundation, and GWL Voices, as part of the annual Jeju Forum.
🗓️ Logistics: The forum ran from June 24 to 26, 2026, across the Haevichi Hotel & Resort and Jeju Stone Park in Seogwipo, Jeju Island. The candidate debate — officially titled “Reimagining Multilateralism - A Dialogue with UN Secretary General Candidates“ — took place on Thursday, June 25 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. KST.
🎥 Watch the Event: You can watch the livestream here.
💬 Format: Billed a chance for candidates to “present their visions for how they plan to lead the international community and the UN,” five candidates participated in person: Rafael Grossi, Rebeca Grynspan, Macky Sall, María Fernanda Espinosa, and Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett. Michelle Bachelet provided a video message. They laid out their blueprints for leading the UN through unprecedented geopolitical uncertainty.
✨ Vibe: The debate linked to the Jeju Forum’s theme: “reinventing cooperation in a fragmented world,” while shifting the race’s center of gravity to the Asia-Pacific. Candidates’ positions on global security, climate transitions, and AI governance were tested. Sitting right at the end of June, it bookended the candidates’ global tour before they returned to New York as the Security Council’s closed-door voting begins in July.
In Conversation: UNSG Candidate Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett
🌐 Website: In Conversation with UNSG Candidate Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett
📋 Host: United Nations Association–UK (UNA-UK).
🗓️ Logistics: Thursday, July 16 from 12:45 p.m. to 2 p.m. BST (7:45 a.m. to 9 a.m. EDT). The event took place at Whitehall in London, United Kingdom.
🎟️How to join: Register here to attend the event virtually.
💬 Format: This Q&A style conversation gave Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, the latest candidate to enter the race for UN Secretary-General, an opportunity to share her vision for the UN and answer questions sourced from UNA-UK’s global civil society network.
✨ Vibe: In May, UNA-UK hosted a conversation with candidates for the position of UN Secretary-General. With a new candidate in the race, this conversation followed the same format as previous candidate conversations.