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Democratizing the UN
Insights from the 1 for 8 Billion campaign
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1 for 8 Billion is a global civil society campaign dedicated to making the selection of the UN Secretary-General more transparent, inclusive, and merit-based. As the 2026 race unfolds, the campaign provides resources, tracking tools, and policy platforms to help give “all governments and people a chance to shape the process; not only the most powerful.” All 1 for 8 Billion resources can be found here.
Key resources and trackers include:
The Ultimate Guide to the Secretary-General Selection Process (published in November 2025 and since updated)
This guide outlines the key rules and basics of the Secretary-General selection process.
Enhancing UN Leadership: Requirements for an Effective Secretary-General (December 2025)
This briefing draws on a consultation with partners and supporters to identify both formal criteria for the role and a proposed “person specification” for the role based on these formal requirements. The campaign makes recommendations for how vision statements and candidate hearings should be structured and assessed by Member States.
1 for 8 Billion’s Core Policy Platform (2016)
This foundational document comes from 1 for 8 Billion’s originating 2016 campaign, 1 for 7 Billion. It outlines 10 demands for reforming the Secretary-General selection process. Key proposals include instituting a single, nonrenewable term to insulate the Secretary-General from reelection pressures (see also the tracker of support for this proposal), defining clear selection criteria (see further commentary), and ending the backroom monopoly held by the Security Council’s five permanent members.
Women’s Leadership Can Renew the UN: A call to action from Madrid (February 2026)
This update details a call from partner GWL Voices’ Dialogue in Madrid for a gender-equal international system. It highlights the global mobilization efforts underway to appoint a woman to lead the UN for the first time.
Tracking Member State support for a feminist woman Secretary-General (Ongoing Resource)
This tool monitors which Member States have formally committed to supporting a female candidate for the 2026 race. It acts as an interactive accountability mechanism, allowing civil society to see whether Member States are matching their public rhetoric on gender equality with concrete, diplomatic commitments.