Four contenders are competing for the post, with the successful candidate set to assume office at the start of next year and confront mounting challenges facing the United Nations, whose global standing has come under increasing scrutiny.

During two days of hearings, candidates emphasized the need to modernize the 80-year-old body, established after World War Two, as geopolitical tensions and actions by major powers strain the norms underpinning the post-war international order.

Rebeca Grynspan, former vice president of Costa Rica and current head of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, said restoring trust in the institution would be critical, identifying peacemaking as her top priority.

“To defend the United Nations today is to have the courage to change it,” Grynspan said, warning that confidence in the organization was eroding and time to reverse the trend was limited.

Macky Sall, who served as Senegal’s president until 2024, advocated what he described as “rigorous management” reforms aimed at improving coordination across UN agencies and reducing duplication, as pressure mounts to cut costs and demonstrate effectiveness.

“Now is the time to do better with less,” Sall said, outlining his vision for a more efficient and forward-looking institution.The candidates are vying for a five-year term, renewable once, in a process that has drawn fewer applicants compared to 2016, when Guterres was selected from a field of 13 contenders.

Grynspan and Michelle Bachelet are seeking to become the first woman to lead the United Nations, reflecting a broader push for gender representation at the highest levels of global governance.

Bachelet reiterated her support for women’s rights during her hearing, amid opposition from some conservative U.S. lawmakers over her stance on abortion.Also in the race is Rafael Grossi, a career diplomat from Argentina who currently heads the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Grossi said reform efforts were progressing but remained incomplete.While there is no formal requirement, longstanding precedent discourages candidates from the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States to avoid concentration of power, although their support remains decisive in the selection process.

The candidates former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi of Argentina, UN trade and development head Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica, and former Senegalese president Macky Sall are set to participate in hours-long hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday in a process aimed at increasing transparency in the selection of the UN’s top official.

The public dialogues, introduced in 2016, allow member states and non-governmental organizations to question candidates directly. However, the final decision will rest with the 15-member UN Security Council, where the five permanent members the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France hold veto power.

The selection comes at a time when the United Nations faces significant operational strain, including what officials describe as a severe budget shortfall linked to delayed or withheld contributions, particularly from the United States. Washington’s envoy to the UN has indicated that the next secretary-general must align with U.S. priorities, underscoring the geopolitical stakes involved in the appointment.

Bachelet, 74, brings decades of political and diplomatic experience, having served as Chile’s first female president and later as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Her tenure at the rights body drew criticism from some member states, including China, following reports addressing alleged abuses against Uyghur populations.

Grossi, 65, has led the IAEA since 2019 and has played a central role in navigating nuclear-related tensions involving Iran and the conflict in Ukraine, including concerns surrounding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear facility. His candidacy places him under scrutiny from both Western powers and Russia, reflecting the sensitivity of his portfolio.

Grynspan, 70, currently heads the UN Conference on Trade and Development and has been credited with facilitating the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which enabled grain exports amid the Ukraine conflict.

She has emphasized multilateral cooperation and her personal background as the daughter of Holocaust survivors in articulating her commitment to the UN Charter.Sall, 64, stands as the only candidate outside Latin America, a region many member states argue should produce the next secretary-general under informal rotation practices.

His candidacy has faced resistance within Africa, including from segments of the African Union, and criticism related to his handling of political unrest during his presidency.All four candidates have pledged to restore confidence in the United Nations and address divisions among member states, as conflicts and economic pressures test the institution’s capacity to respond effectively.

The hearings are expected to shape diplomatic negotiations in the coming months as Security Council members weigh competing priorities before recommending a candidate to the General Assembly.

Since taking office in January, Trump has upended U.S. foreign policy, slashing foreign aid, imposing tariffs on friend and foe alike and cultivating warmer – if volatile – relations with Russia.

At the same time he has sought, so far with only limited success, to solve some of the world’s most intractable conflicts.

Some 150 heads of state or government are expected to address the chamber this week, including Trump, who is the second scheduled speaker after the session opens at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT).

Trump will speak eight months into a second term marked by severe aid cuts that have sparked humanitarian worries and have raised doubts about the U.N.’s future, prompting U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to try to trim costs and improve efficiency.

White House officials have yet to provide guidance on what Trump will say.

But according to planning documents reviewed by Reuters, the Trump administration plans to call this week for sharply narrowing the right to asylum, seeking to undo the post-World War Two framework around humanitarian protection.

Trump’s more restrictive stance would include requiring asylum-seekers to claim protection in the first country they enter, not a nation of their choosing, a State Department spokesperson said.

Guterres and Trump are expected to meet formally for the first time since Trump returned to office in January.

Trump describes the U.N. as having “great potential” but says it has to get its “act together.” He has maintained the same wary stance on multilateralism that was a hallmark of his first term from 2017 to 2021 and also accused the world body of failing to help him try to broker peace in various conflicts.

Calls For a Palestinian State

The General Assembly takes place as the war between Israel and Hamas approaches its second anniversary on October 7. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due the address the General Assembly on Friday.

Dozens of world leaders gathered on Monday to embrace a Palestinian state, a landmark diplomatic shift that faces fierce resistance from Israel and its close ally the United States.

The most far-right government in Israel’s history has declared there will be no Palestinian state as it pushes on with its fight against militant group Hamas in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed some 1,200 people.

Israel has drawn global condemnation over its military conduct in Gaza, where more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to local health authorities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will also address the General Assembly.