S/PV.10067 Security Council

I would like to warmly welcome the high-level representatives present in the Chamber. Their presence today underscores the importance of the subject matter under discussion. In accordance with rule 37 of the Council's provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representatives of Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Grenada, Guatemala, Iceland, India, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to participate in this meeting. In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the following briefers to participate in this meeting: His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Elder Emeritus, and Ms. Anjali K. Dayal, Associate Professor of International Politics, Fordham University. In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I also invite the following to participate in this meeting: His Excellency Mr. Stavros Lambrinidis, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, and the representative of the Sovereign Order of Malta. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2025/788, a letter dated 1 December 2025 from the Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, transmitting a concept paper on the item under consideration. I now give the floor to Mr. Ban Ki-moon. Mr. Ban Ki-moon: Coming back to the United Nations feels like coming back home. I am speaking today not only as a former Secretary-General but also as an emeritus member of The Elders, the group of independent global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela, who worked for peace, justice, human rights and a sustainable planet. I extend my special gratitude to His Excellency Mr. Samuel Žbogar, President of the Security Council for the month of December and Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations, for inviting me to speak today in this always inspiring Chamber. It has now been nine years since I left New York and the post of Secretary- General. At that time, I felt a deep sense of fulfilment that the Paris Agreement had entered into force. The Paris Agreement was a triumph of human intellect and a significant historical example demonstrating the efficacy and victory of multilateralism. Global leaders came together to address a truly global issue. That was one of the rare moments when the whole of 193 Member States and two observer States — the Holy See and the State of Palestine — joined hands. The adoption of such a resolution was truly a great success for humanity and for the world. The adoption of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals was another historic moment when all Member States of the United Nations and the people of the whole world came together. Those are two very important achievements for which I am still proud to have served as the Secretary-General. However, I departed the United Nations with both a sense of accomplishment and a heavy heart. That was a result of major political turmoil driven by terror perpetrated by Da’esh, as well as the bloody Syrian civil war and the ensuing refugee crisis, Brexit and rising global populism, geopolitical tensions surrounding Russia and North Korea's fourth nuclear test and human rights violations. Compared to back then, the international situation now appears to have deteriorated even further across multiple fronts. For that, I communicate my sincere sympathy to my successor, Secretary-General António Guterres. This deeply disappointing situation is characterized by confrontation rather than cooperation among major Powers. It is marked by the illegal invasion of the sovereign State of Ukraine by a permanent member of the Security Council, conflict and mass civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip, the weakening of international cooperation and the erosion of multilateralism despite the escalating global climate crisis. This, in turn, has become a crisis for the United Nations. The United Nations is the pre-eminent universal institution that fosters international cooperation within the current sovereign-State-centred international community, pursuing the common security and prosperity of humanity. The governance of the United Nations is an outcome of compromise among its Member States. The United Nations and its architecture are only as strong as its 193 Member States want it to be. As humanity’s universal body, the United Nations holds both hopes and inherent limits. We are now trying to do our utmost to realize the vision of the United Nations under certain limits. To overcome such limits, our efforts should therefore include change and vital reform of the United Nations. In this light, I am of the view that United Nations leadership must more confidently reassert its active political role in diplomacy for peace, including mediating and settling crises. Member States must support this role and guard against situations in which only powerful countries dictate political settlements. And this needs to start here — in the Council and in the Chamber. Let me avail myself of this opportunity to make a humble suggestion based on my 10 years of experience at the United Nations. The next Secretary-General should be empowered by a single, seven-year term. Two five-year terms leave the Secretary- General overly dependent on the Council’s permanent members for an extension. This is a convention, not a Charter requirement, and the General Assembly holds the power to set the terms of the appointment itself. Whoever is chosen as the next Secretary-General needs renewed commitment from all Member States to support and enable the Secretary-General’s unique role in helping to resolve conflicts. Even though I do not agree with Secretaries-General of the United Nations often being called “secular Popes”, they do have moral authority. But they also have to hold actual power in order to mediate between two conflicting parties and to more actively intervene in cases of serious breaches of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, such as atrocity crimes. Let us be clear-eyed in the Chamber here today: The current crisis at the United Nations stems from multiple causes, but the Security Council’s ongoing failure to properly function constitutes the most egregious cause. Indeed, if we are to truly promote leadership for peace, we must fundamentally reform and reinvigorate the way the Council operates. It must be made fit for purpose for the twenty-first century world, rather than that of the twentieth century. The Council has long been plagued by divisions and disruptive tactics. But the irresponsible way many States now disregard their obligations today is especially concerning. In particular, some permanent members of the Council regularly undermine the Organization’s universal peace and security mandate through their use of the veto to shield themselves, their allies and their proxies from accountability. Without concrete reforms to curb the arbitrary use and misuse of veto power by permanent members, the Organization’s sense of helplessness will not be overcome. Civilians will remain unprotected in conflict. Impunity will still reign. Council reform is difficult yet urgent and possible. Without it, the United Nations risks lurching towards either collapse or irrelevance. Let us not succumb to passivity nor pessimism. The Security Council’s successful expansion in 1965, which was driven by the General Assembly, shows us a way forward. Only one of the permanent members voted for the reform, but once the world had spoken, all five then undertook the ratifications needed for the change to enter into force. If the veto cannot be fully eliminated in the short term, efforts to actually limit its use should be strongly supported. A reformed model, which would serve the global community as a whole, would gain key widespread support. I take this opportunity to encourage those engaged in protracted intergovernmental negotiations on Council reform to swiftly submit a consolidated model, as called for in the 2024 Pact for the Future. The path of each for themselves is no different from the path of mutual destruction. It leads to nowhere. Sustainable development is about pursuing a shared destiny for all people and our planet. This sense of responsibility must begin with the representatives of each nation gathered right here. Please allow me to conclude by citing a quote for our reflection from the seventeenth century English poet John Donne: “No man is an island... Each man’s death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.” I count on the Council’s leadership being guided by global vision and global leadership.

I thank Mr. Ban Ki-moon for his briefing. I now give the floor to Ms. Dayal. Ms. Dayal: I would like to thank Slovenia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations for inviting me to address the Security Council today. It is an honour to speak to the Council as it discusses what kind of person it wants to lead the United Nations in the years ahead. I was asked to speak to the Council because I wrote a briefing for Friedrich- Ebert-Stiftung over the summer about the political context of the next Secretary- General’s selection. But of course, the Council is the political context — the Council does not need me to tell it that the United Nations Member States are deeply divided on the purpose of this institution, that Member States disagree on the future direction of the world and that Member States do not all have the same belief in the core principles of the Charter of the United Nations. The Council also does not need me to tell it that the funding crisis unfolding at the United Nations right now will result not just in shrinking the Organization, but also in less of the work that only the United Nations can do at scale — fewer babies vaccinated around the world, less aid to disaster zones, less food to civilians trapped in conflict, fewer landmines removed from fields where children play — even though all of this work remains vital. The next Secretary-General, whoever it is, will lead an organization of greatly reduced capacity, in a world where we are told international cooperation is less possible because there is simply less appetite for it. And, of course, that story is perfectly compatible with the one we so often hear about the Chamber as a place of gridlock and strife. And yet everyone is still here. There are 80 speakers inscribed on today’s list, right? Everyone is still meeting and still agreeing from time to time, because at least on some issues, or at least in some part, some of the time, we still believe in the value of international cooperation. In my field of international relations, we say that international cooperation becomes possible when one gives greater weight to the future than to the short-term benefits that one can extract from others today. And an organization like the United Nations helps sustain that cooperation, making it easier for Member States to commit to shared goals and to the common purpose of human flourishing. So, in meaningful ways, this is also a chamber built on hope. The framers of the United Nations did not hope that they might end war because they were naive, or because they did not know any better. They built this institution because they were battle-hardened, weary of war and mass death. They saw the worst things that people could do to each other, and they wagered that there must be a better way to remake international order than constant warfare. As Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, “the United Nations became humanity’s last great hope to replace the battlefield with the conference room”. The Secretary-General’s job is to staff the conference room, and to help make the agreements Member States strike there real. To some extent, the founders’ bet has paid off. Today we know, more than ever, that a world of pure competition is simply not survivable. In an interconnected, nuclear world, anyone who thinks that they can hold power by force alone is betting on ruling a world of ashes. Indeed, we know that no one country, individually, has the capacity or political will to solve the crises that we face, but if we leave them unaddressed, we will collectively bear the costs of a less safe, more sick and more impoverished world. In that context, it becomes even more important to find a Secretary-General who knows that their explicit charge is to weigh future human dignity and flourishing more heavily than the narrower interests that necessarily occupy national leaders. There is not much material power in the Office of the Secretary-General. There is not much funding and not much formal authority, especially compared to Member States. But what the Office has, as we just heard, is the power of ideas and narrative — a unique universal moral authority to argue for peace, security and the common good of people — and the ability to mobilize the international civil service towards the goals that Member States set for it. Even in past periods of great division, the Council has managed to select a candidate who can advance the cause of peace. Two of the nine men who served in the role were selected at particularly contentious moments in the cold war. Forty-three years ago, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar became Secretary-General in the sixteenth ballot, after a six-week deadlock; his own obituary described him as everybody’s last choice for the job. But in his two terms, he went on to help end the war between Iran and Iraq, to broker an end to the conflicts in Cambodia, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador, to oversee Namibia’s independence and to help shepherd the United Nations through the end of the cold war. Twenty years earlier, U Thant succeeded to the position after Dag Hammarskjöld’s sudden death. Although both the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics critiqued moments of his tenure, his quiet diplomacy still played an important role in ending the Cuban missile crisis peacefully. And he headed the Organization at the start of the smallpox eradication campaign, which, together with the campaign against polio, is one of the great achievements of any era of human history. Perhaps the single most important characteristic for any Secretary-General to be selected is someone who, both by disposition and by position, weighs the value of tomorrow more than they weigh today’s advantages and who recognizes their charge as being the charge of humanity, and who knows their power lies in helping us tie our ambitions today to future flourishing, to making the conference room always more attractive than the battlefield. I thank everyone for their time and for the opportunity to speak before the Council. I wish the United Nations luck ahead as Member States try to find a Secretary-General worthy of the people they represent.

I thank Ms. Dayal for her briefing. I now give the floor to those Council members who wish to make statements.

I would like to thank Slovenia for convening this important open debate and welcome the contributions of former United Nations Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon and Ms. Anjali K. Dayal, Associate Professor of International Politics. I also acknowledge the presence of members of The Elders — His Excellency Mr. Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, former President of Colombia; His Excellency Mr. Ernesto Zedillo, former President of Mexico — and other high-level officials in this meeting. As we gather here today, the world is at a pivotal crossroads. The circumstances that have brought us to this juncture will shape our collective future, either by steering us to meaningful, transformative progress or, if left unaddressed, by leading us down a path of further instability and crisis. How we meet this critical moment, including the decisions we take, will determine our collective global fate. Will we grasp the opportunity for positive change or be bystanders as the very principles that have underpinned and sustained global peace and stability are further eroded? We all will agree that the United Nations, in its eightieth year, continues to address some of the most pressing issues facing humanity. As the President rightly said in his concept note for this meeting (see S/2025/788), there is no genuine alternative to the United Nations. Yet the growing calls for us to reimagine and renew multilateralism are a recognition that we, the Member States of the United Nations, are failing to live up to our collective responsibility to advance the principles and purposes of the Organization. Epitomizing this failure is the marked decline in respect for the foundational principles of international law. The very fabric of the international legal order, meticulously woven over decades, is under threat, due to the deliberate actions and decisions of some who are entrusted with the responsibility to uphold it. Consequently, the United Nations, an institution established to foster peace, security and justice among nations, is itself under considerable threat. When the United Nations was created, it was envisioned as an organization dedicated to the peaceful resolution of disputes and the promotion of justice and human rights. Article 2 of the Charter of the United Nations declares unequivocally that all Member States shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means, in such a manner that international peace, security and justice are not endangered. This fundamental principle is being ignored today, and “might makes right” appears to be taking its place, where winning the moment taking precedence over the weighty responsibility of securing enduring outcomes, pursuing lasting stability and safeguarding the well-being of future generations. This is not what Guyana envisioned when it joined the United Nations in 1966. We took comfort in the belief that the shared commitment among Member States to the Charter would serve as our collective compass in uncertain times. We believe then, as we do today, that multilateralism and international law are the safest refuge for all States, especially small States facing global challenges and national threats. Today, as we witness the departure from these foundational ideals, we are even more resolute in our commitment to the vision that inspired us as a new nation nearly six decades ago. We believe that, at this critical juncture, we can collectively rise to the occasion, as the chorus in these halls and in the overwhelming majority of our countries is that the United Nations has delivered — and can still deliver — on its founding mission. It is against this backdrop and with the United Nations set to appoint a new Secretary-General next year that there is, understandably, the call for strong and decisive leadership to meet the challenges of today. Indeed, much has been said in recent months about the right qualities of an effective Secretary-General, a role that involves more than just representation, but which also requires the ability to act proactively and decisively in mitigating crises. But the appointment of even the best qualified and most skilful Secretary-General will not be a panacea in itself. The more important consideration is the extent to which Member States are prepared to support and empower the Secretary-General in order to lead effectively. It goes without saying that the Secretary-General has the potential to leverage the full resources and capabilities of the United Nations system to strengthen conflict prevention and resolution efforts around the globe. However, a crucial element in being able to do so effectively lies in the ability of both the Secretary-General and Member States, including members of the Council, to work collectively in a manner that allows the Organization to respond in a robust and coordinated manner to existing and emerging threats. Against the backdrop of growing instability and a financial crisis affecting all aspects of the work of the United Nations, it is more important than ever for Member States and the leadership of the United Nations to adopt a collaborative approach — one that allows us to marshal resources in a manner that maximizes their impact and ensures they are used wisely. At the same time, we must seek innovative solutions that reinforce the Organization’s ability to fulfil its mandate. Only through collective and concerted action can we hope to navigate these turbulent times and restore faith in the multilateral system. Of particular importance is the need for close coordination and ongoing communication between the Secretary-General and the Security Council. Last September, at the initiative of Slovenia, the Security Council adopted a presidential statement on leadership for peace (S/PRST/2024/5), in which it acknowledged the complexity of challenges and threats to international peace and security. It emphasized the importance of a comprehensive approach to sustaining peace. Such an approach must continue to guide the work of the Secretary-General and the Security Council, as well as the relationship between them. Each has a unique set of tools available to them, to mitigate and prevent the outbreak of armed conflict and to respond to crises. Yet, the political will and the ability to utilize them in a mutually reinforcing and empowering manner are what are needed to address complex situations and to fulfil the mandate enshrined in the Charter. As the General Assembly, upon the recommendation of the Security Council, prepares to appoint a new Secretary-General, it is our expectation that the new Secretary-General will command global respect, be balanced and principled and demonstrate an unwavering commitment to the cause of peace. The new Secretary- General must also inspire and remain true to duty, displaying partiality only to the United Nations Charter. These are the qualities that Guyana believes are needed in the world’s first diplomat and global Chief Executive Officer to lead the Organization towards meaningful and transformative progress. The Council therefore has an important responsibility to elect the best candidate from Latin America and the Caribbean, mindful that in the 80 years of the Organization’s existence, there has never been a woman elected to this position. As for us Member States, it is our collective responsibility — nay duty — to invest in the Office of the Secretary-General the trust and support needed for them to effectively carry out their mandate.

Let me thank the former Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his insightful briefing. I also thank Ms. Dayal. As we look towards the selection of the next Secretary-General, the role of civil society will be critical. I therefore thank them for their reflections and recommendations. Eighty years ago, in the wake of unimaginable devastation, world leaders made a defining choice to anchor our future in multilateralism. It was a choice to build peace, freedom and social progress through cooperation. From that conviction, the United Nations was born. Across the decades, the Organization has shown what principled and courageous leadership is and what it can achieve. Dag Hammarskjöld forged the foundation of modern peace operations with the first United Nations peacekeeping force. U Thant demonstrated diplomacy at its finest, helping to defuse the Cuban missile crisis, as we just heard from Ms. Dayal. Kofi Annan charted a new path for humanity through the Millennium Development Goals. And Ban Ki-moon played a central role in mobilizing support for the Paris Agreement. Secretary-General António Guterres has carried forward this legacy, guiding the United Nations through perhaps its most challenging period, marked by the climate crisis and unprecedented levels of armed conflict. His steadfast commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and reform initiatives has been vital in strengthening the Organization. These examples remind us that global leadership is not theoretical. It is real, and it is measured in lives saved, livelihoods sustained and futures secured. The next Secretary-General will assume office at a moment when the United Nations and the very principles it embodies are under unprecedented strain. The person who steers us through these turbulent times therefore matters profoundly. For Denmark, we seek a leader who is principled, ambitious and forward-leaning — a general as much as a secretary; one who can inspire trust in a divided world, with the public, with Member States and with parties to conflict alike; one who acts decisively and preventively in the face of growing tensions; one who acts as a guardian of international law and a clear and undeterred voice for the international rule of law. This is the essence of diplomacy and is, indeed, demanded of the world’s top diplomat. We also need a Secretary-General who holds a clear vision for the Organization and stands ready to reform and adapt it to changing realities. As we seek to identify the most capable individual, we wholeheartedly welcome and encourage Member States to nominate female candidates. Around this table, we have a special responsibility to maintain international peace and security. But the Security Council itself is only one piece of a broader whole. To be effective, we need all parts of the United Nations system, especially the Secretary-General and the Secretariat, to work in lockstep, using all the tools and resources at our disposal. Concretely, we encourage a more proactive use of Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations to empower the Secretary-General to bring early warning and prevention matters to our attention. We also underline the importance of the good offices of the Secretary-General and their representatives around the world. This instrument should be used in a bold manner, even when the risk of failure seems high. Peace operations remain one of the Organization’s most effective and flexible responses, protecting those who cannot protect themselves and supporting the foundations for lasting peace, often under challenging conditions. We support the ongoing reform efforts of this indispensable tool to ensure its continued relevance in addressing the conflicts of today and tomorrow. Denmark encourages qualified candidates to step forward in a timely manner, to participate fully and transparently in the processes of both the Security Council and the General Assembly and to engage meaningfully with civil society. In closing, let us demonstrate that leadership for peace is more than a slogan. Let us select and appoint a leader with vision, courage, determination and an unwavering commitment to the Charter. Denmark looks forward to participating fully and actively to this end.

We wish to thank the Slovenian presidency for convening this timely open debate on leadership for peace. We express our appreciation to His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon for his insightful reflections drawing on his exceptional experience and journey as Secretary-General of the Organization. We also thank Ms. Anjali Dayal, Associate Professor of International Politics at Fordham University, for her valuable contributions. We also welcome and appreciate the presence of former Presidents Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and Juan Manuel Santos Calderón of Colombia. It is an honor to have them in the Chamber today. The current international landscape is marked by expanding conflicts, the deterioration of respect for international law and a lag in our development commitments. Added to this are profound transformations: accelerated technological change, the impact of climate change on conflict and global vulnerabilities that no State can face alone. In this scenario, the function of the Secretary-General, described decades ago as the most impossible job in the world, makes the ability of the Secretary-General to find coordinating mechanisms and formulas to achieve consensus among the various actors in conflict even more essential. Panama, as a founding member of the United Nations, recognizes the essential function of the Secretary-General and the value of the Secretary-General’s leadership in promoting and building peace. The work of the Secretary-General not only reaffirms the validity of multilateralism but strengthens the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. Throughout the 80 years of the Organization’s existence, Secretaries-General have had to face humanitarian crises, prolonged conflicts, growing inequalities, technological transformations and global threats that evolve faster than our capacity to respond. Many of these challenges have been addressed with vision, determination and the indispensable backing of Member States so that the Secretary-General can effectively discharge the mandate in a constantly transforming international environment. I wish to highlight in particular the Sustainable Development Goals as an achievement amid these challenges, mentioned by His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon as one of the achievements under his administration and leadership as Secretary- General. In this regard, the interaction between the Secretary-General and the Security Council constitutes a central axis to reinforce the collective capacity to face threats to international peace and security. This collaboration must allow for coordinated responses. It also facilitates mediation and provides a preventive focus that the world urgently demands, provided that we Member States listen to the Secretary-General and act as we must. Panama believes that the timely use of Article 99 of the Charter is an essential tool to bring to the attention of the Council situations that threaten peace, directing the immediate attention of the international community for the purpose of preventing and avoiding the prolongation of crises. However, the leadership of the Secretary- General can only be effective if States demonstrate political will and support for the work of the Secretary-General, as well as support for the professionals who sustain the United Nations system with truthful and reliable information. The veto, as was mentioned during the briefing of former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, debilitates this purpose and detracts from the Organization’s credibility. The next Secretary-General must embody qualities commensurate with the growing complexity of the international landscape: impartiality that grants authority to the exercise of good offices, a strategic preventive vision, management capacity that strengthens the structures of the system and competencies that allow the Secretary-General to guide the United Nations in the digital era amid growing polarization and populism. The institutional resilience demonstrated by the United Nations during these 80 years has been possible thanks to the constant evolution of its mechanisms, the vision of its Secretaries-General and the commitment of States to the values embodied in the Charter. We must guarantee that, with the selection of the next Secretary-General, we will prevent greater financial cuts to a system that continues to save millions of lives amid humanitarian crises with devastating effects. Panama believes in an effective and coherent multilateralism that serves all States equally —big or small, rich or poor — one that protects us from the scourge of war and one in which peace serves to catalyse development and eradicate poverty. In this historical context in which we will participate in this selection process, I can state with confidence that the Panamanian Government will continue propelling the United Nations towards success, based on principles, utilizing our voice in the choice of the best candidate from the region of Latin America and the Caribbean.

At the outset, I would like to express my gratitude to the Slovenian presidency for convening this timely open debate on leadership for peace. We thank His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon and Professor Anjali Dayal for their insightful reflections on the evolution of leadership within our Organization. Today we meet against a backdrop of unprecedented fragility. The world is witnessing the highest number of armed conflicts since the founding of the United Nations. From the devastating war in Gaza to the protracted crisis in many parts of the world, the erosion of international law and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations is palpable. As the first Secretary-General, Trygve Lie, famously said, the job of the Secretary-General is the most impossible job on Earth. In this polarized environment, the role of the United Nations, and specifically of the Secretary-General, is more vital than ever. As we embark on the process to appoint the next Secretary-General, my delegation wishes to highlight three critical dimensions of the leadership we need. First, we must prioritize independence and moral courage. While we welcome the start of the selection process, we believe that the qualities of the next Secretary- General must go beyond administrative competence. The next Secretary-General must possess the courage to bring to the Council’s attention any matter threatening international peace and security, even when doing so is politically sensitive. We believe that the authority under Article 99 of the Charter is a duty of conscience, not just a procedural tool. The Secretary-General must act as an honest broker and a bridge-builder, balancing the complex diplomatic demands of the office with the need to assertively advocate for international norms. Secondly, leadership for peace requires true inclusivity and representation. The legitimacy of the United Nations rests on its ability to reflect the world it represents. We note that the joint letter from the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Security Council (S/2025/765) encourages Member States to give strong consideration to the nomination of women as candidates. After 80 years, it is time for the Organization to demonstrate that leadership is a responsibility shared equally by all. Furthermore, we must address the historical injustice of underrepresentation. A truly universal Organization must ensure that the perspectives of the global South, in particular Africa, are integrated into the highest levels of decision-making. As outlined in the Ezulwini Consensus, we cannot claim to uphold the Charter while maintaining structures that perpetuate inequality. Thirdly, the selection process must be transparent, structured and timely. We believe that the Security Council should adhere to a timeline that allows for genuine engagement, ensuring that the General Assembly is not merely a spectator but an active participant in this consequential decision. The deliberations of the Security Council must not occur in a vacuum; they must be responsive to the wider membership of the United Nations. Effective leadership also requires the Council to empower the Secretary- General. Even a visionary leader cannot succeed if this body remains divided; we must move from stalemate to action. This includes deepening the cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations. In conclusion, there is no genuine alternative to the United Nations. For nations of the global South and Africa, multilateralism is the shield of our sovereignty and the hope of our peoples. We must use this selection process to renew our trust in the Organization. We must choose a leader who will not only manage the Secretariat but will also stand as the world’s moral compass, dedicated to the “We the peoples” who look to the Chamber for peace — a leader who will champion the dignity and worth of every human person, saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war, as we envisioned 80 years ago.

I thank you, Mr. President, for convening this open debate. I welcome and thank Mr. Ban Ki-moon personally and as a member of The Elders, as well as Ms. Anjali Dayal, for their insightful and inspiring briefings. The Secretary-General is one of the global leaders most exposed to the upheavals of his time, as noted today by the Permanent Representative of Denmark. Trygve Lie was confronted with the Korean War. Dag Hammarskjöld faced the crisis in the Congo, where he paid with his life for his commitment. For U Thant, it was the culmination of the cold war and the Cuban missile crisis. Javier Pérez de Cuéllar witnessed the end of the bipolarization of the world and the rebirth of the Security Council. Boutros Boutros-Ghali drew conclusions from this with his agendas for peace, development and democratization, but he faced the genocides of Srebrenica and Rwanda. Kofi Annan understood the importance of globalization and the need to steer it towards the common good through the Millennium Development Goals. The 11 September 2001 attacks and the Iraq war defined his term. Mr. Ban Ki-moon promoted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which remains our road map, but he witnessed rising tensions stemming from new unilateralist trends. And for nearly 10 years, António Guterres has been a watchful guardian of a world aware of its limitations, a world that aspires to reform of global governance, a world that wonders about the future of the Charter of the United Nations, which some nations claim to be free to disregard. The first and most pressing challenge that any Secretary-General must address is peace and security. Exercising the full prerogatives conferred upon him by the Charter, in particular Article 99, the Secretary-General plays an autonomous role in alerting the Security Council, establishing facts, and promoting good offices, mediation, conflict prevention and peacebuilding. That is why the Franco-Mexican initiative to limit the use of the veto in cases of mass atrocities proposes to entrust the Secretary-General with a role in identifying situations where the exercise of the veto could be subject to collective and voluntary restrictions. The Secretary-General is also the embodiment of an international order based on the rule of law, the guarantor of the common good for humanity. As depositary of treaties, under Article 102 of the Charter, providing the International Court of Justice with information that may shed light on a legal question before it, and as defender of human rights, especially at a time when their universal and indivisible nature is being challenged, he presides over the construction of a system based on international law and multilateralism. The world also expects the Secretary-General to be a compass on global issues. Whether the issue is climate change — the Paris Agreement was mentioned earlier — health or the ocean, it is incumbent upon him to inspire and guide the formulation and implementation of agreements concluded by States. His scope in this domain continues to expand, as are people’s aspirations. Finally, the next Secretary-General must be accountable for the Organization’s effectiveness and must serve as the steward of the United Nations system as a whole. This requires an ability to strengthen a culture of efficiency, accountability and sound management by taking up the UN80 Initiative. Our Organization must show that it is able to adapt and take action in close proximity to populations that expect sustainable development, in a tight budgetary context. This task will require determination, courage and ambition. In conclusion, it is because the Secretary‑General serves as that moral voice, the guardian of the principles of the Charter, a pragmatic mediator, a visionary authority on global issues, and a responsible administrator that France will pay the utmost attention to the selection of the person to be entrusted with that responsibility. This choice must be made in accordance with Article 97 of the Charter and resolution 79/327, recently adopted by consensus. As for the desired profile, it will not be easy to find a person who, like António Guterres, has the ability to understand reality in order to move towards the ideal. In this search for a rare individual for a difficult function, France reiterates its wish to consider as many female candidates as possible.

I welcome His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Elder Emeritus and former Secretary-General of the United Nations, whose presence is a reminder of the weight of responsibility carried by the leadership of the Organization. Moreover, I thank Professor Dayal for her remarks. I also commend Slovenia for reviving the discussion on leadership for peace, building on last year's high-level week debate and the subsequent presidential statement (S/PRST/2024/5). At that debate, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece, Mr. Georgios Gerapetritis, stressed that the Charter of the United Nations must remain our compass, and that renewed leadership is essential to safeguard the peaceful settlement of disputes (see S/PV.9732 (Resumption 2)). Today I wish to expand on those remarks and outline Greece’s expectations of the leadership that the United Nations — and particularly the Secretary-General — must demonstrate in this challenging era. The role of the Secretary-General, as defined in the United Nations Charter, encompasses a broad and flexible set of instruments for the pursuit of peace: good offices, mediation, facilitation, preventive diplomacy and, where appropriate, arbitration. The Charter provides a firm basis for a proactive and engaged Secretary- General. We strongly support the Secretary-General’s use of these tools, which strengthens the Organization’s mediation and conflict-prevention capacities. Special political missions and peace operations also illustrate how leadership shared between the Secretary-General and the Security Council can avert, mitigate and help end armed conflicts. These missions must be grounded in coherent mandates, adequate resources and close coordination with the Council. In this context, Greece commends the Secretary-General’s invocation of Article 99, regarding the crisis in Gaza — the first such invocation since 1989 — which called attention to the dire humanitarian situation and pressed the Council to prevent an even greater catastrophe. This was a historic example of principled, Charter-based leadership at a moment of profound urgency. The next Secretary-General must also carry forward the UN80 reform process — an ambitious effort to make the Organization more efficient, responsive and sustainable. This will require navigating conditions of constrained liquidity at a time when conflict needs are expanding worldwide. Hard choices and careful prioritization will be unavoidable. But they must be guided by a commitment to effectiveness, accountability and coherence across the three pillars of the Organization’s work. The next Secretary-General will assume office at a transformative moment for the multilateral system. As highlighted in Slovenia’s concept note (see S/2025/788), the United Nations faces a convergence of crises: armed conflicts, climate-induced insecurity, global inequalities, food insecurity, destabilizing technologies and new risks that transcend borders. Meeting these challenges demands principled, adaptive and courageous leadership. Greece identifies three essential expectations in that regard. First, the next Secretary-General must lead and implement the UN80 reform agenda, ensuring the Organization is fit for purpose. This includes improving mandate design, strengthening financial sustainability, overcoming fragmentation and enhancing the Organization’s ability to deliver across peace, development and human rights. Secondly, the Secretary-General must remain a steadfast defender of the United Nations Charter, international law and human rights. At a time when multilateralism is being questioned and revisionist narratives are gaining ground, the United Nations must reaffirm its foundational principles. The peaceful settlement of disputes must be elevated, not eroded. Thirdly, prevention must become central to United Nations action. Earlier and more systematic political, humanitarian, developmental and human rights-based engagement is vital. Enhanced cooperation with regional organizations, stronger engagement with civil society, women and youth and better use of early-warning and data-driven analysis will significantly strengthen the preventive capacity of the United Nations. Next year, the United Nations will launch the selection process for its next Secretary-General. Greece’s views are principled and long-standing. The process must be open, inclusive, transparent and merit-based, guided by the relevant revitalization resolution (General Assembly resolution 70/305). We welcome the joint letter of the Presidents of the General Assembly and the Security Council (S/2025/765) reaffirming these commitments. Greece also firmly believes that the time has come for a woman to be considered for this highest international responsibility. At the same time, the process must ensure fair geographical representation reflecting the universality of the United Nations. Ultimately, leadership for peace is a shared responsibility. No Secretary-General can succeed without a Security Council united in its defence of the Charter and committed to peace. For Greece, a country deeply committed to multilateralism, a strong and trusted partnership between the Council and the Secretary-General is indispensable. The next Secretary-General must help steer the international community through turbulent seas. But it is the Council that must provide the wind. The Charter guides us; peace unites us. Greece will remain a steadfast partner in this collective endeavour.

I would like to thank our briefers for sharing their thoughts with us today. As President Trump said during high-level week, the United Nations has tremendous potential, but right now it is not coming close to living up to it. The United Nations has become a bloated bureaucracy weighed down by its own inefficiency, excessive spending and lack of accountability. It is now a forum for divisive ideologies that undermine national sovereignty and stir controversy rather than bring Member States together to address issues of common concern. Under President Trump’s bold leadership, the United States has done more in just one year to forge peace around the world than the United Nations has done in many years. The next Secretary-General must bring the United Nations back to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. The Secretary-General’s responsibility is to ensure that the United Nations serves Member States rather than have Member States beholden to an unaccountable bureaucracy. As the chief administrative officer, we expect the next Secretary-General to respect State sovereignty, guarantee fiscal responsibility, cut wasteful spending and ensure efficiency in internal United Nations operations. The United Nations Charter is clear that the Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. To effectively fulfil that responsibility, the United States continues to push for the Security Council to focus on its core peace and security functions and avoid divisive distractions. We encourage other Council members to continue to do the same. The United States will continue to reject initiatives that fall outside or attempt to redefine the core purposes of the Charter. As the largest contributor to the budget of the United Nations throughout its existence, we will prioritize a strong return on our investment, and we urge other countries to do the same as well. This is a critical moment for the United Nations. Effective leadership is essential to implement needed reforms. The next Secretary-General will achieve success by ensuring that the United Nations is focused, effective, relevant and efficient. The United States looks forward to welcoming a Secretary-General with a vision of recommitting the United Nations to its founding purpose of maintaining international peace and security. In discussing international peace and security, we would be remiss to not mention the horrific terrorist attack that occurred in Sydney on the first night of Hanukkah yesterday. As we mourn the victims, we must all do more to combat global antisemitism. Finally, the next Secretary-General must bring the United Nations back to basics and help achieve the bold vision of peace and prosperity to which we all committed 80 years ago.

China welcomes Slovenia's initiative to convene this open debate on leadership for peace, and thanks former Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon and Associate Professor Dayal for their briefings. The two world wars of the past century inflicted immense suffering upon the peoples of all countries. The United Nations was born amid the aspiration to turn swords into ploughshares, opening a new chapter in humanity's pursuit of peace and development. For the past 80 years, generation after generation has been working tirelessly for peace and speaking out for justice. As we stand at the starting point of the next 80 years, confronted with a world marked by transformation and turbulence, the questions before us are clear: where is the world headed? Where is peace to be found? China believes that four points are essential in that regard. First, we must uphold fairness and justice and lay a solid foundation for lasting peace. Militarism and fascism once brought unprecedented catastrophes to humanity. Erroneous remarks and acts to whitewash or overturn the history of aggression challenge the bottom line of human conscience and undermine hard-won peace. We must uphold a correct view of the history of the Second World War, safeguard its victorious outcomes and defend the post-war international order. We must adhere to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations; uphold the sovereign equality of all States, large or small; oppose unilateralism, hegemonism and power politics; advance the democratization of international relations; and enhance the representation and voice of developing countries in international affairs. Secondly, we must remain committed to political solutions as an effective pathway to peace. Peace is achieved not through force, but through negotiations. All conflicts should be ended at the negotiating table. In addressing conflicts and disputes, we must promote dialogue for peace, encourage consultation and negotiation, and help all parties build mutual trust, manage differences and forge consensus. We must respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries and accommodate the legitimate concerns of all parties. Major countries, in particular, should demonstrate commitment and play a constructive role, refrain from employing double standards or imposing their will on others, and certainly avoid fuelling conflicts for narrow self-interests. Thirdly, we must prioritize development and address the root causes of conflicts and wars. Without development, peace cannot be sustainable and conflicts cannot be truly resolved. We should uphold the concept of development as a driver of peace, support conflict-affected countries in enhancing their self-driven development capacity, thereby improving people's livelihoods and well-being, narrowing wealth gaps and strengthening education, employment, public services and other safeguards in order to enable them to pursue development paths suited to their national conditions and eliminate the breeding grounds for violence. The international community must place development at the centre of the multilateral agenda, continuously step up resource mobilization and investment, and resolutely implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Fourthly, we must uphold multilateralism and strengthen international synergy in safeguarding peace. The international system, with the United Nations at its core, has underpinned global peace and development. The more uncertain the future, the more we must practice true multilateralism, uphold the role and authority of the United Nations and ensure that the Security Council fulfils its primary responsibility — the maintenance of international peace and security. Regional organizations such as the African Union, the League of Arab States and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization should leverage their respective strengths and enhance coordination and cooperation with the United Nations. At China’s initiative, the Group of Friends of Global Governance was recently established to uphold multilateralism, jointly address global challenges and promote a more just and equitable global governance system. The Group is an open and inclusive platform, and we welcome the participation of more like-minded partners. Leadership for peace begins with cherishing peace and upholding justice. This year marks the eightieth anniversary of the victory of the Chinese people’s war of resistance against Japanese aggression and the worldwide anti-fascist war. At a time when the international community is jointly reflecting on history and planning for the future, it is outrageous that Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has gone against the trend by claiming that the so-called survival-threatening situation for Japan is linked to Taiwan of China and by implying and threatening that Japan would militarily intervene in the Taiwan question. This constitutes a blatant interference in China’s internal affairs, openly contravenes the commitments made by Japan, as a defeated State of the Second World War, to China and to the international community and directly challenges the victorious outcomes of the Second World War and the post- war international order. It also violates the basic norms governing international relations, based on the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and poses serious risks to peace in Asia and worldwide. The lessons of the Second World War are still fresh. Eighty years ago, Japanese militarists expanded armaments under the pretext of a so-called survival-threatening situation and launched external aggression in the name of self-defence, bringing profound catastrophe to China, the Asia and the whole world. Eighty years on, we must never allow the resurgence of militarism or fascism. China once again urges Japanese leadership to withdraw these erroneous remarks, earnestly reflect on and repent for its wrongdoings and refrain from continuing down the wrong path. Here, I wish to clearly point out that Japan’s return of Taiwan, which it had unlawfully seized, to China constitutes an important component of the post-war international order. Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of China. This is an ironclad fact jointly affirmed in political and legal terms. The unconditional surrender announced by Japan in 1945 and the ceremony to accept surrender in Taiwan, province of the China theatre, held by the Chinese Government, provide clear proof. So do international legal instruments and relevant bilateral political documents, including the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation, the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, General Assembly resolution 2758 (XXVI), the relevant legal opinions of the United Nations, the Joint Communique of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China. Traditional Chinese culture has long upheld the values of peace and harmonious coexistence as paramount. For thousands of years, peace has been embedded in the blood of the Chinese nation and the DNA of the Chinese people. On issues of peace and security, China has the best record among major countries. President Xi Jinping has put forward the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative, charting a blueprint for a world of universal security and shared prosperity. China will continue to work with all countries, guided by the implementation of these four Global Initiatives, to actively promote the building of a community with a shared future for humankind and to contribute to the cause of world peace and development.

I thank you, Mr. President, for convening this important debate. I thank former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Associate Professor Dayal for their thoughtful briefings. We are particularly honoured to hear His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon reflect on his time as Secretary-General and to be joined by former Presidents Santos Calderón and Zedillo, representing The Elders. Global conflict remains at a historic high. Complex and interconnected challenges, including persistent levels of poverty, the climate and nature crises, the rollback of human rights and an increasingly difficult global economic context, show no signs of abating. They are compounding geopolitical instability. And within conflict, sexual and gender-based violence, including violence against women and girls, is one of the worst forms of atrocity. The United Nations is central to efforts to confront these threats. It remains unique among multilateral organizations in its ability to convene States and strengthen global cooperation to lift people out of poverty, eliminate disease, respond to natural disasters, uphold human rights and prevent conflict. It will be the responsibility of the next Secretary-General to confront and address these challenges head-on. The next Secretary-General will also inherit the important work begun by Secretary-General Guterres, through the UN80 process, of overseeing vital change within the Organization to make it more efficient, effective and coherent. To achieve a more effective United Nations, responsive to the challenges of the twenty-first century, the United Kingdom supports an ambitious UN80 agenda. We want to see a United Nations refocused on its core priorities: maintaining peace and security, delivering humanitarian and development assistance and protecting human rights. This should include an expansion of the use of the Secretary-General’s good offices for conflict mediation, including in protracted crises such as the Sudan. As our briefers have said, the Secretary-General’s good offices function has advanced and can continue to advance global peacemaking efforts through mediation and the facilitation of peace talks. The Security Council’s role — and its responsibility for international peace and security — is as important now as it has ever been. The United Kingdom believes that a reformed Council, with membership expanded in both the permanent and non-permanent categories, would better enable the United Nations to rise to the challenges the world is facing. Such are the demands of the role of Secretary-General that we must undertake a merit-based process to find the most qualified candidate, the person best equipped to lead the United Nations over the coming years. We strongly encourage the nomination of female candidates. The United Kingdom looks forward to playing its part in the process and to working with the current and future Secretaries-General in our shared pursuit of preventing and ending global conflict.

We are grateful to former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for participating in the open debate. We have listened attentively to the briefing delivered by Ms. Dayal, a representative of academia. A discussion on leadership for peace cannot be conducted without an analysis of the development of contemporary international relations. This concept is increasingly being invoked not to strengthen peace, but rather to justify unilateralism, coercive pressure and interference in the internal affairs of sovereign States. A true leader in global affairs is not one who seeks to ensure its own dominance at the expense of the weaker and more vulnerable, nor one who invents their own rules and imposes them as universal norms of the international community. The only legitimate basis for leadership in matters of peace and security remains the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, as well as the collective responsibility of States to respect them fully, in their entirety and interconnectedness. Therefore, during our presidency of the Security Council in October, it was fundamentally important for us to reaffirm these established truths in the Council’s presidential statement commemorating the anniversary of the United Nations (S/PRST/2025/7). In its 80-year history, the United Nations has come a long way, having truly played a leading role in the decolonization process. As a result, more than 80 former colonies gained independence. The United Nations has actively contributed to the establishment and codification of international law. Its foremost tasks have been conducting peacekeeping operations, providing humanitarian relief and promoting sustainable development. These efforts have garnered worldwide recognition of the Organization, which has become the very embodiment of the international community’s desire to come to the aid of those in dire need. Most importantly, it has thus far succeeded in sparing humanity from a repeat of the horrors of a world war. Nonetheless, the current state of global affairs is a cause for grave concern. Instead of turning the page of history and moving ahead with the creation of a truly equitable system of international relations after the end of the cold war, in accordance with the Charter, the collective West has assumed the mantle of world leader, gendarme and judge, dividing the world into “us” and “them”, “democracies” and “autocracies” and into a group of “chosen ones” and “violators” of the order it had imposed. In practice, however, the promotion of such an approach, which first manifested itself in the bombing of Yugoslavia, has always resulted in tragedy for millions, whose hopes of justice and a bright future have been dashed, and in new hotbeds of instability. Now, in a bid to preserve their waning influence and scupper the development of international relations on the basis of genuine multilateralism, a number of Western politicians are prepared to condemn the world to fresh suffering and are seeking to impose their ideological interpretations of international law. As a result, these gross violations of the Charter of the United Nations are gravely undermining the authority of the United Nations and are largely why, despite its tremendous potential, it often fails to meet the international community’s expectations. In part, this is attributable to the unfettered imposition of peripheral tasks that are divorced from real life on United Nations agencies and field missions. While armed conflicts rage on the African continent and in other regions of the world, United Nations officials are forced to adapt to the national priorities of Western donors, squandering resources and wasting efforts on them. However, when confronted with theoretical seminars on climate change or statistical studies on the percentage of women or young people involved in a political process, the communities in host countries, who expect genuine assistance from the United Nations to make life in their countries immediately better and safer, are becoming increasingly disillusioned by our Organization. It is undoubtedly high time for the United Nations to resume its Charter-based functions and turn its attention to countries in need, while attentively heeding their needs, rather than imposing solutions that are alien to them. What is more, the harmful practice of politicizing human rights issues and adopting a bloc approach to the relevant issues continues unabated within the Organization. Those responsible for such initiatives are not only squandering the United Nations potential, but are also deepening the divide among Member States, thereby exacerbating geopolitical tensions. Under the circumstances, calls for reform of the United Nations sound entirely sensible. However, restoring trust in the United Nations can be achieved only through good-faith negotiations, the implementation of intergovernmental decisions and the adaptation of the United Nations system to changing realities, with Member States taking the lead. That is why the UN80 Initiative must be implemented subject to strict national oversight and in full compliance with the resolutions and the decisions of United Nations bodies. It is vitally important to ensure that the prerogatives of the Security Council are not called into question under the pretext of the Initiative. After all, it is the Security Council that, in accordance with the Charter, bears primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. It is only by adhering to the principles of the Charter in their entirety that we can transition smoothly to genuine and effective multilateralism, which will benefit all nations. We point to the important role of the Secretary-General in enhancing the work of the United Nations. The work of the Secretary-General must be performed strictly within the parameters of the United Nations Charter, in particular Article 100 on the observance of the principles of neutrality and impartiality. We expect to see a firm commitment to this principle from the future head of the Secretariat, who will be appointed next year upon the recommendation of the Security Council. For our part, we confirm our intention to play an active part in the upcoming selection process, which must lead to the selection of the worthiest candidate for this position of responsibility. The proclaimed lofty goals of strengthening the multilateral world order must be underpinned by concrete measures to restore professional diplomacy, a culture of dialogue and the ability to listen and — equally important — the ability to hear, and to develop crisis communication channels. At the same time, it is necessary to issue a firm rebuff to those who are now overtly promoting a scenario of inevitable military confrontation between NATO countries and Russia by eschewing dialogue and any serious discussion of ways out of the European security crisis, which the countries in the Alliance caused. That is the only way to guarantee a peaceful future for generations to come. The quest for a diplomatic solution to the accumulated problems, as opposed to hateful rhetoric, is precisely where true leadership in the name of peace — in which all inhabitants of the Earth have an interest — will materialize.

We commend the Slovenian presidency for convening this important debate, and we are privileged to see former Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon among us today; I am grateful for his briefing and clarity of thought, as always. We could agree with much of what he has said about the multitude of challenges and the best ways of addressing them. Cooperation, diplomacy, respect for international law, compliance with global agreements and obligations and inclusive reform are key words in that regard. And let me also thank Ms. Dayal for her presentation. This is a time of exceptional global turbulence. Conflicts are raging, with devastating humanitarian consequences. Violations of the Charter of the United Nations and international law are becoming disturbingly routine. Geopolitical rivalries, foreign occupation, terrorism, hate speech and widening inequalities are undermining global stability. At the same time, the combined shocks of debt distress, climate emergencies and slowing growth have reversed hard-won development gains, particularly affecting the global South. Confidence in multilateral institutions is eroding, and the international order we inherited is under serious stress. At such a moment, principled leadership is indispensable. It requires responsibility, vision, political courage, moral clarity and fidelity to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. Peace cannot be sustained through the selective application of international law or through silence in the face of violations. Leadership for peace must be anchored in prevention, dialogue, cooperation and effective multilateralism, including the full use of regional arrangements under Chapter VIII. The Pact for the Future (General Assembly resolution 79/1) reaffirmed our collective commitment to multilateralism and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Yet words alone will not deliver peace. More than 100 developing countries face a growing Sustainable Development Goals financing gap. Failure to address this gap will deepen instability and conflict. Leadership demands urgent action through concessional finance, debt relief and the fulfilment of long-standing development commitments. Leadership for peace also requires a strong and proactive Secretary-General. Article 99 of the Charter must be used as an early preventive tool, not as a last resort. Pakistan appreciates the clear, bold and principled positions taken by Secretary- General António Guterres. Independence, integrity and sound judgment are some of the qualities Member States would also look for in the next Secretary-General, who would be expected to strengthen all three pillars of the United Nations equally and exercise good offices proactively and without fear or favour. While demanding such high standards of the Secretary-General, Member States must also live up to their own obligations under the Charter and its purposes and principles, in particular those under Article 25, whereby all Member States “agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council”. We cannot tie the hands of the Secretary-General, violate Security Council resolutions and sideline the United Nations and then expect the Secretary-General and the United Nations to deliver. In line with its responsibility under the Charter, the Security Council itself must demonstrate leadership through consistency and credibility. That entails greater focus on conflict prevention, addressing the root causes of conflict and strengthening and making more effective use of the peacekeeping and peacebuilding capacities of the United Nations. Resolution 2788 (2025) reaffirmed the primacy of the peaceful settlement of disputes. These tools must be actively employed to resolve festering conflicts and long-standing disputes without selectivity or double standards. There should be full use of the International Court of Justice. The Council must help to secure compliance with the rulings of the International Court of Justice and consider extending the Court’s jurisdiction to all issues on the Council’s agenda. Pakistan seeks peace and stability in South Asia, but peace cannot be a unilateral pursuit. Jammu and Kashmir remains one of the oldest unresolved disputes on the Council’s agenda. It requires a just settlement, in accordance with the United Nations Charter, the relevant Security Council resolutions and the will of the Kashmiri people — something that India continues to violate and deny. India’s unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty 1960 between the Government of India, the Government of Pakistan and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which was a rare and enduring example of successful diplomacy, is yet another blatant breach of international obligations that undermines regional stability and endangers the lives and livelihoods of millions in our region. The Security Council must treat all disputes on its agenda with equal seriousness. When dialogue is rejected or the Secretary-General’s good offices are blocked, bilateralism cannot serve as an excuse for inaction. The Council has a clear responsibility to uphold international law and ensure the implementation of its own resolutions. From Gaza and other conflicts in the Middle East to Ukraine, to the Sudan and to other situations in Africa, peace can be realized only with willing parties demonstrating leadership and readiness to comply with international law. Our collective desire for a more effective and fit-for-purpose United Nations also requires visionary and responsible leadership. Sovereign equality, democracy, representation and accountability are the principles that underpin such reform. And in our view, the answer lies in revitalizing the role of the General Assembly on one hand and addressing the fundamental issues confronting the Security Council on the other hand, including the use of the veto, as pointed out by Mr. Ban Ki-moon. Experience tells us that adding new individual permanent members — hypothetically, that is — will only entrench paralysis and exacerbate this problem. It is beside the fact that this demand is unfeasible and, consequently, constitutes the biggest roadblock to reform. The Uniting for Consensus proposal offers a practical, inclusive and achievable model based on elected seats that provide for rotation, enhanced regional and cross-regional representation and better accountability to the general membership. Reform for all, privilege for none: that is our motto. No nation can secure peace alone. It is a collective endeavour, requiring leadership, cooperation and genuine multilateralism. Pakistan will continue to work with all Member States to uphold the United Nations Charter, advance justice and the rule of law and stand for a vibrant multilateral system that delivers peace, dignity and shared prosperity for all.

Sierra Leone congratulates and commends Slovenia for convening this important open debate on leadership for peace. By bringing the wider membership to the table on a critical and timely topic, Slovenia has demonstrated the very leadership that we seek to advance. I thank former Secretary- General and Elder Emeritus, His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon, and Associate Professor Anjali K. Dayal for their insightful and thought-provoking briefings. I agree with the view of the former Secretary-General, His Excellency Ban Ki- moon, on the urgent need for structural reform of the Security Council. I can only add that this must include redressing the historical injustice against Africa and include permanent seats for Africa. Leadership for peace is a choice between law and force, dialogue and domination. History shows the cost when that choice is abandoned. In the 1930s, narrow interests and a reckless arms race weakened collective security. National ambitions overran the League of Nations, and the world descended into the Second World War. President Harry Truman warned in 1945 that without an effective global organization “the entire world will have to remain an armed camp” and be “doomed to deadly conflict”. Yet, out of those lessons emerged new leadership. At Dumbarton Oaks and in San Francisco, States chose collective security grounded in international law, not sheer power. They built an Organization to maintain international peace and security, foster friendly relations and harmonize the actions of nations, binding themselves, through the Charter, to settle disputes by peaceful means and to uphold justice. That choice was leadership, the rule of law over that of might makes right. It also delivered enduring advances for peace and human dignity: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the decolonization process that affirmed self- determination and the stand against apartheid in South Africa. More recently, the international community has recognized the peace-development nexus, captured in the reminder of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that there can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development. Leadership for peace is inseparable from justice. And we must be candid: we cannot speak credibly about leadership for peace while an entire people continue to have their inalienable rights denied after three quarters of a century. Leadership worthy of its name must include justice and freedom for the Palestinian people, the protection of civilians and a just and lasting political solution consistent with international law and the relevant United Nations resolutions. Emperor Haile Selassie reminded this Organization that until basic injustices are remedied, “the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship… will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained”. Unaddressed grievances do not fade; they deepen insecurity. Peace through law therefore demands prevention, good offices and the courage to engage early. History offers exemplars of such leadership, among them President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a strong advocate for the United Nations who assured the Assembly of its wisdom, courage and faith, which can bring lasting peace for all nations; and leaders, including Kwame Nkrumah and others, who championed national independence and pan-African unity as a path to peace. After his release, Nelson Mandela embodied peace through reconciliation, and he taught that education and equality are crucial for peace. Outside the trappings of Government, Martin Luther King Jr. led a nonviolent struggle, reminding that true peace requires justice; Mother Teresa served the poorest of the poor without discrimination; and Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai linked sustainability and justice, observing that sustainable development, democracy and peace are indivisible. These examples, from different contexts, offer one lesson: principled leadership can change the course of events and widen the space for peace. Leadership for peace is not only exercised from global centres. It must be recognized, and reinforced, when it emerges from the regions. Too often, African leadership and African agency have not been met with a commensurate global response. In West Africa, the Economic Community of West African States has repeatedly sounded the alarm on unconstitutional changes of Government and the expanding threat of terrorism, and has looked to the Council for principled, united backing. Too often, the Council’s response has been mixed and, recently, a loud silence, at a moment at which clarity and solidarity were needed to defend constitutional order and deter a contagion. We have seen how regional leadership can shift trajectories towards peace, as we noted in the September 2024 debate (S/PV.9732), such as President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço’s efforts to advance dialogue through the Luanda process; President William Samoei Ruto’s and Kenya’s willingness to support peace and security efforts beyond the Africa region in Haiti; and Sierra Leone’s own engagement, through President Julius Maada Bio’s regional responsibilities, on the twin threats of terrorism and unconstitutional changes of Government in West Africa and the Sahel. These experiences reaffirm a simple truth: regional initiatives anchored either in dialogue, solidarity and constitutional legitimacy should be reinforced, not diluted, nor displaced by moving to other venues when regional arrangements are actively carrying the burden. Zooming out more broadly, today again we see troubling echoes of the failings that once doomed collective security: retreats from multilateralism, selective respect for rules and the re-emergence of peace through strength, rather than peace through law. Conflicts rage, agreements are disregarded and civilians are targeted. When unilateralism replaces cooperation, the credibility of the international law-based order erodes, and the risk of wider conflagration grows. Sierra Leone therefore calls for renewed commitment to peace through law, underpinned by leadership at every level, in the Council, across the membership, within regional organizations and within the Secretariat. This brings us to a central focus of this debate, the Secretary-General. As we look ahead to the selection of the next Secretary-General, the Council should foster a relationship that enables early, candid and action-oriented engagement, in which early warnings are taken seriously and the Secretary-General is given the political space to play the chief mediator role, deploy good offices proactively and help to mobilize diplomacy before crises spiral. In this regard, Sierra Leone commends Secretary-General António Guterres for moral clarity in humanitarian crises and crises of peace, for addressing the triple planetary crisis and for reform efforts aimed at preparing the Organization for the future. This includes the UN80 Initiative and the New Agenda for Peace, which helped to pave the way for the Pact for the Future. But the Secretary-General’s leadership is only as strong as the backing of Member States. Commitments must be matched with political will, by strengthening prevention and peacebuilding, implementing Pact commitments in good faith and meeting financial obligations to sustain a resilient United Nations at a time of deep fiscal strain. Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations remains a vital instrument for preventive diplomacy. Its careful but resolute use is essential when credible risks of escalation, atrocity crimes, or regional destabilization emerge, especially when political divisions threaten to impede timely action. The next Secretary-General must indeed have the courage to speak up early, and the Council must have the discipline to listen and to act. The qualities we expect of the next Secretary-General must match the gravity of the moment: integrity, independence, inclusivity and moral courage; the capacity to mediate across deep divides; the ability to manage a complex institution under fiscal strain; and the vision to guide the United Nations amid climate impact, technological disruptions and shifting geopolitical dynamics. We therefore support an inclusive and robust selection process, including meaningful engagement by candidates, as appropriate, in the agreed processes contained in the General Assembly’s revitalization resolution as an element of accountability and legitimacy. In closing, as the United Nations marks its eightieth anniversary, there is no alternative to multilateralism. Our task, therefore, is to strengthen the system we have, with a Secretary-General empowered to lead, a Security Council willing to act and a membership ready to uphold shared responsibilities and to advance leadership for peace, rooted in law, guided by justice and responsive to the voices and efforts of all regions.

I commend Slovenia for convening this timely open debate, especially as we approach the selection of the next Secretary-General of the United Nations. I also thank former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for sharing his wealth of experience and powerful reflections, as well as Professor Anjali Dayal for her thoughtful insights. Today’s international security environment is challenging, with rising tensions, long-running conflicts and increasingly complex threats that do not lend themselves to simple solutions. In this context, expectations placed on the United Nations, and on the Security Council in particular, continue to grow, even as political realities often limit collective action. Against this backdrop, the leadership of the Secretary-General remains essential. Allow me to make four points. First, the leadership of the Secretary-General rests on the careful exercise of judgment, discretion and a clear sense of stewardship, based on moral authority. At a time at which international consensus is hard to achieve, the role of the Secretary- General is not only relevant, but indispensable: to remind the international community of the wider consequences of inaction and the responsibilities under the Charter of the United Nations. Leadership in this sense is not about confrontation, but about moral persuasion. As former Secretary-General Ban often reminds us, “[T]he power of the United Nations is not military or economic; it is moral”. Secondly, and closely linked to my first point, the authority and role of the Secretary-General under Article 99 of the Charter should receive greater recognition in connection with the Security Council’s primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. When divisions within the Council lead to delayed or limited action, the authority given to the Secretary-General under Article 99 becomes especially important. Article 99 should not be seen only as an exceptional procedural tool, but as a means of political judgment and early warning, allowing the Secretary-General to draw the Council’s attention to emerging or overlooked risks before they turn into full-scale crises. Importantly, the value of Article 99 does not depend only on whether the parties concerned have requested United Nations involvement. Its preventive role may be most clear precisely when no such request is made, when silence, denial, or inaction risks allowing situations to worsen beyond repair. In such cases, a timely use of Article 99 can help to ensure that threats to peace and security are neither ignored nor endlessly postponed, even amid disagreement or gridlock within the Council. As elected members of the Security Council, the elected 10 (E10) have a particular responsibility in this regard. Reflecting the broader membership, the E10 can play a constructive role in ensuring that early warning and preventive signals raised by the Secretary-General receive serious attention, even when consensus is difficult to reach. Thirdly, for the Secretary-General to carry out his or her responsibility effectively, an enabling environment fostered among Member States is essential. Such support does not require uniform views nor unconditional approval of every statement or initiative of the Secretary-General. Rather, it means preserving the institutional space in which the Secretary-General can act independently, in good faith and without undue political pressure. A shared understanding that principled engagement, even when politically sensitive, is a core part of the Secretary-General’s mandate is vital to maintaining the credibility and effectiveness of the Office. Lastly, for such leadership to produce real results, the Organization itself must remain fit for purpose. The efforts to improve coherence, agility and efficiency across the United Nations system, as suggested in the UN80 Initiative, especially in the areas of prevention and early action, can strengthen the Secretary-General’s ability to respond before crises escalate. As we approach the selection of the next Secretary- General, it is therefore important that expectations placed on the Office are matched by the institutional tools and support needed to lead effectively. As a country that has benefited greatly from the United Nations and as a firm supporter of multilateralism, the Republic of Korea will continue to work with all Member States — both within the Council and beyond — to strengthen the role of the Secretary-General and the effectiveness of the United Nations in maintaining international peace and security.

I wish at the outset to thank the Slovenian presidency for convening this important and timely open debate. I also thank Mr. Ban Ki-moon and Ms. Anjali Dayal for their remarks. Today’s discussion comes at a watershed moment when leadership for peace is urgently needed. As multilateralism is being seriously tested, strong and lucid leadership is essential — leadership rooted in shared tenets and collective commitment, leadership that advances our agenda for peace and leadership that turns international initiatives into real and concrete action. True leadership for peace is not an abstract slogan; it is a responsibility shared by all Member States. In this regard, allow me to highlight three main points. First, leadership for peace is mainly about providing the space, the means and the conducive conditions for those acting on behalf of the international community. For the United Nations to deliver, we, as Member States, must uphold the principles of international law, including the Charter of the United Nations. We must also demonstrate the political will to avoid double standards, narrow interests and selective adherence to international law. Nor can we expect leadership while we are bogged down in endless administrative and financial debates, instead of engaging in substantive discussions around peace efforts and the long-term vision to sustain them. Secondly, adaptation is a key requirement for leadership. We must face reality and critically question whether the system we created and expanded throughout the past decades is still fit for purpose. The evolving nature of conflicts has significantly strained our Organization and exposed its limitations. In fact, we have created important tools and mechanisms for the maintenance of international peace and security. Yet today, many are showing their limitations, and some are becoming burdensome and require urgent adaptation and review. The adaptation and review of these tools need to be undertaken coherently and synergistically across all United Nations processes and organs. By way of illustration, while the General Assembly — the organ that reflects the collective will of the entire international community — requested a review of all forms of United Nations peace operations, which has yet to be finalized, the Security Council continues to shape realities on the ground by setting mandates that are not necessarily in the spirit that was envisioned by the Pact for the Future (General Assembly resolution 79/1). Leadership for peace therefore cannot thrive when processes diverge from the consensus of the wider United Nations membership on essential peace and security issues. Leadership for peace also requires full recognition of the role of the General Assembly as the most representative United Nations organ, in particular when the Council is unable or unwilling to deliver. Thirdly, leadership must be grounded in regional ownership of peace and security initiatives. The power of partnerships with regional organizations is real and effective. Partnerships are not optional or marginal. They are essential for the legitimacy of our collective actions. We must therefore move beyond mere declarations. Partnerships, in particular with the African Union — a strategic political partner — have to be given real responsibility, genuine political weight and adequate resources. Empowering regional actors will only bolster the meaning of leadership for the peace we want to achieve. We are witnessing a growing trend of sidelining the United Nations in various peace processes. While we value the efforts deployed by different partners, it is important to flag that any endorsement of peace initiatives by the Council implies a role for the United Nations. This role cannot be auxiliary. Only by understanding this will we be able to have the leadership for which we are aiming. It is also essential that our Organization remain focused on core missions. We cannot keep multiplying and nurturing overlapping mandates and structures, leading to a weakening of the United Nations presence and an erosion of leadership. Algeria remains a strong defender of multilateralism, with the belief that leadership for peace is possible, but only when Member States are united behind a common noble objective and purpose.

I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the representative of Slovenia. I, too, want to thank former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Ms. Dayal for contributing to our discussions today. We welcome members of the Elders, Presidents Santos and Zedillo, to the Chamber. We appreciate the cooperation and support that the Elders have been providing to our delegation over the past two years. It is hardly news that the world today is in an era defined by mounting global challenges, power transition and a state of disorder — and by very fragile peace. At such times, there is no other way but for the United Nations to evolve boldly and decisively. Slovenia is confident in the ability of the United Nations to take action, as a cornerstone of effective multilateralism. Slovenia believes in this Organization, for which there is no alternative. We wish to see a truly representative, agile United Nations, deeply connected to lived global realities. It should embody not only the aspirations of its Charter, but also the urgency of today’s interconnected crises. We need a United Nations that is effective at addressing global threats and capable of acting swiftly and decisively, particularly on prevention. The United Nations should be open to out-of-the-box solutions, but not to out-of-the-Charter ones. We need a United Nations that is the guardian of international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law, and that ensures accountability for violations thereof. The global public continues to turn to the United Nations with hope and expectations of solutions; that brings with it a responsibility to act. The convening power of the United Nations is unmatched. No bilateral cooperation and no group of countries can replace it. For the United Nations to fulfil this role, it must continuously adapt, and it must also be supported by adequate political backing and financial resources. No reform can succeed if Member States do not meet their financial obligations. We need a United Nations that is transparent, accountable and results-driven, as public trust is fundamental, and connection to local communities is key. It also needs to be more inclusive and legitimate. Decision-making structures, such as the Council, reflect neither the political nor the demographic landscape of today’s world. Slovenia has always held the institution of the United Nations Secretary-General in the highest esteem. We have strongly supported them in their demanding mandates. As we are entering the final year of Secretary-General Guterres’ term, we take our shared responsibility to select the best candidate to lead the United Nations in the next period with the utmost seriousness. We, not the candidates’ campaigns, should drive the selection process. The new Secretary-General should not be the person who wants the job the most or who has the loudest campaign, but rather the one whom we believe represents the best fit. The selected Secretary-General should demonstrate as much respect for the membership of the General Assembly as for that of the Security Council. The Secretary-General carries significant moral authority. They must serve as a global diplomat, as an independent and impartial advocate of peace, development and human rights and as the main engine of institutional reform. They must be able to find their own path and must not be too restricted by tasks given by Member States. They must be able to de-escalate tensions and mediate conflicts — a global convener, an honest broker, a peacemaker. This requires exceptional diplomatic skill, neutrality and political courage. It requires investing in field work and effectively using the network of special and personal envoys and Article 99 of the Charter. What benefits the United Nations benefits the Member States. Therefore, we want a Secretary-General who consistently places this Organization and its integrity first, always acting in its best interest, and who regularly takes the initiative. At the same time, we need a manager who understands complex systems and who recognizes that the United Nations cannot be run like a for-profit company. It must be someone who sees the United Nations as an integrated whole that operates in synergy, decisively and rapidly; who gives full attention to all three pillars of this Organization; and who is uniquely positioned to continue advancing reforms, particularly on the coherence and efficiency of the United Nations system. It goes without saying that we need to ensure that the most qualified individual is chosen for the role. At the same time, we cannot ignore the fact that women account for half of the world’s population. Yet, this Organization has never had a female Secretary-General. The United Nations is an active promoter of global gender equality and women’s empowerment. Having a female Secretary-General is not just about symbolism; it is about credibility. In conclusion, we believe that we have the duty to choose a Secretary-General who has proven through their past work that they can act independently and impartially and who will place peace, development and human rights and dignity at the forefront. Slovenia is ready to work with every Member State that believes in a stronger Organization and in empowering the next Secretary-General, for let us be clear: even the best candidate cannot succeed alone. Leadership without backing is leadership without power. We need a movement to build the support that real leadership requires; we need an alliance for peace. I now resume my functions as President of the Council. I give the floor to the representative of Kyrgyzstan.

First of all, we would like to thank the President of the Security Council in December, Slovenia, for convening the open debate and for its continued leadership in advancing the agenda of leadership for peace. Leadership for peace in Central Asia means practical, people-centred cooperation that prevents conflict, protects civilians and builds durable stability through inclusive governance, sustainable development and an unwavering commitment to international law. Leadership for peace begins with cooperation. The Security Council, the General Assembly, regional organizations and the wider United Nations membership must work in greater synergy. The United Nations stands as the premier platform for fostering such leadership. It is here that we collectively can cultivate the values and strategies necessary to prevent conflicts, resolve disputes and promote sustainable development. Kyrgyzstan urges all Member States to uphold the core principles of the Charter of the United Nations, strengthen diplomatic engagement and invest in peacebuilding initiatives that empower local communities. At such a moment, we reaffirm that there is no alternative to the United Nations. The Organization’s authority, legitimacy and universality remain crucial for safeguarding international peace and security. However, in order for the United Nations to remain relevant and credible, it must continue to adapt, strengthen preventive diplomacy and reinforce the centrality of the Charter. Kyrgyzstan attaches great importance to conflict prevention, peacebuilding and addressing root causes, including climate vulnerability, water stress, social inequality and development gaps. Kyrgyzstan is committed to promoting peace, stability and dialogue and recognizes that leadership for peace begins with the principles of multilateralism, respect for sovereignty and the unwavering pursuit of dialogue over conflict. Our country, located at the crossroads of continents, has experienced the profound impact of conflict and the transformative power of peacebuilding efforts. We strongly believe that leadership for peace requires courage, vision and commitment to justice and inclusivity. For Kyrgyzstan, leadership for peace begins at home and within our region. We attach the highest importance to the peaceful settlement of disputes and to diplomacy as our first and strongest tool. We are pleased to highlight the significant progress achieved by Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in the peaceful resolution of border issues, guided by dialogue, mutual respect and a shared commitment to regional stability. Today, together with our brothers from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as other countries of Central Asia, we are ready to share our positive model for the prevention of border issues in an exclusively peaceful and diplomatic way. We look forward to seeing you, Mr. President, at the Peacebuilding Commission meeting this afternoon.

I wish to remind all speakers to limit their statements to no more than three minutes in order to enable the Council to carry out its work expeditiously. The flashing light on the microphone will prompt speakers to bring their remarks to a close after three minutes. I now give the floor to the representative of Germany.

We thank Slovenia for organizing this open debate. We are grateful to His Excellency, former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and Associate Professor Anjali Dayal for their insightful briefings. Germany aligns itself with the statement to be delivered by the representative of the European Union. The title for this open debate is an excellent choice. Leadership for peace is the most concise job description for the position of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. We, as United Nations Member States, have to define our expectations regarding the next Secretary-General. We need to listen to civil society. We support the President of the General Assembly in guiding us through this process and ensuring that the entire membership of the United Nations has a say, because we are selecting the Secretary-General for all of us. The Charter of the United Nations, the revitalization resolution and the joint letter give us thoughtful guidance and leave room for more. I would like to highlight three points. First, convictions matter. The next Secretary-General has to stand for peace, development and human rights. We need an adamant reformer who will continue and complete the reforms initiated by the UN80 Initiative and who will follow up on the 56 actions of the Pact for the Future on which the United Nations membership agreed; someone who is committed to modernizing the United Nations, jointly with Member States. Secondly, skills matter. Mediation and negotiation skills that can be employed to end even the most violent and long-running conflicts are obvious prerequisites. We are looking for an outstanding fundraiser, communicator and chief administrator. Thirdly, process matters. Transparency and inclusivity remain important. We look forward to timely open hearings, ensuring that Member States, civil society and the public have opportunities to participate. In 2016 we saw that these dialogues can be a game changer, for the better. We all agreed in the Pact for the Future that it is regrettable that there has never been a woman Secretary-General. Together, we can change this, and this is not contrary to a merit-based process. We reinforce the encouragement to consider nominating women as candidates. In conclusion, Germany will stay committed in this process. We stand ready to support leadership for peace and assume responsibility, as a candidate for the Security Council in 2027–2028. We are building on our leadership role in peacebuilding as current Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission and as a main supporter of the peacebuilding architecture review.

I now give the floor to the representative of Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan appreciates Slovenia for convening this timely and important debate. We thank today’s briefers and extend particular appreciation to former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, whose reflections, including at the Astana International Forum earlier this year, underscore the fact that steady and forward-looking leadership is essential in navigating today’s fractured landscape. As my President, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, stressed at the eightieth session of the General Assembly, State leaders have a responsibility to move toward making peace. A failure of the current generation of leaders to act is not an option, because future generations will pay a much greater price. As the United Nations marks its eightieth year, its founding principles remain indispensable. The next Secretary-General will take office at a pivotal moment for the future of multilateralism. Confidence in collective security has eroded amid violations of international law, weakened arms control frameworks, intensifying rivalries and unprecedented humanitarian crises. At the same time, transboundary risks, from climate stress and water scarcity to biological threats, artificial intelligence and financial volatility, demand cooperation as no State can face them alone. Effective leadership must, therefore, prioritize prevention, sustained diplomacy, strengthened resilience and partnerships with regional organizations that bring credibility and practical experience. The coming selection of the next Secretary-General must be merit-based and grounded in clear professional criteria. The United Nations now requires a leader who upholds State sovereignty and the Charter of the United Nations and who is a crisis- tested manager and credible reformer. He or she should be able to bridge geopolitical divides and engage effectively with all Member States and remain committed to the priorities of developing, landlocked and climate-affected regions, including Central Asia. Such qualities are essential to rebuild trust and preserve the United Nations’ role as the central coordinator of global cooperation. While the Council recommends, appointment rests with the General Assembly, whose enhanced transparency reflects the expectations of the full membership. The next Secretary-General must, therefore, embody these broader aspirations and work closely with the President of the General Assembly to strengthen system-wide coherence. In periods of polarization, responsible middle Powers play a stabilizing role by expanding diplomatic space, reducing tensions and enabling constructive compromise. Kazakhstan has demonstrated such credible leadership through its long- standing commitment to dialogue, preventive diplomacy, nuclear disarmament, regional cooperation and mediation, qualities that make us a reliable partner for any Secretary-General seeking to strengthen the United Nations. As the selection process begins, Kazakhstan welcomes substantive engagement with all prospective candidates. We have to exchange views, share regional perspectives and contribute to shaping a results-oriented vision for a stronger United Nations, while working with all Council members and the wider membership to ensure that our collective leadership meets the expectations of the peoples we serve.

I now give the floor to the representative of Switzerland.

I thank you, Mr. President, for bringing us together around the topic of leadership, and all the briefers for their important briefings. I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the members of the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency (ACT) Group. The leadership of the United Nations must combine ethical standards, global vision, institutional competence and diplomatic skill. It is and must remain a leadership for humankind. The United Nations Secretary-General is a steward of global trust, a guardian of international solidarity and a catalyst for collective action. When thinking about the next Secretary-General, the moment calls for an independent, internationally recognized, high-level political leader, with the following qualities. First, the Secretary-General must have an uncompromising and proven commitment to international law, including the Charter of the United Nations and its purposes and principles, across all three pillars: development, human rights and peace and security. Secondly, the Secretary-General must have a strategic vision for, and the courage to engage in, conflict prevention, peacebuilding and sustaining peace, especially at a time of too many conflicts and too little appetite for compromise. Thirdly, the Secretary-General must have a proven commitment to multilateralism and dedication to restoring trust in it by rebuilding confidence among populations who are losing faith in global institutions. Fourthly, the Secretary-General must have proven strong political leadership experience at the international level and the ability to engage discreetly when circumstances demand but equally to be prepared to speak with clarity and conviction when the principles of the Charter are at stake. Fifthly, the Secretary-General must demonstrate a commitment to full independence and courage, including to the proactive use of Article 99 by drawing the Council’s attention to emerging threats to international peace and security without hesitation or fear. Lastly, the Secretary-General must engage with staff. This is crucial not only in a period of fiscal strain but also as United Nations personnel — the Organization’s biggest treasure — face heightened risk and unprecedented operational pressures. And let us be clear: the leadership we require does not rest solely on one individual. It must extend to the Secretary-General’s wider leadership team — a team that is a result of the selection of the most capable, diverse, principled and forward- thinking individuals. No Secretary-General, however gifted, can meet today’s challenges without the strongest possible senior leadership around them. In this regard, we refer to Article 100, paragraph 1, of the United Nations Charter and action 45, paragraph (d), of the Pact for the Future (General Assembly resolution 79/1). Because the role of the Secretary-General requires such extraordinary qualities, the selection process must be equally exceptional and well thought-through and be a process that is transparent, inclusive and robust. Allow me to make the following points in that regard. First, in terms of transparency and meaningful, inclusive engagement, the ACT Group continues to underline the need for an open, inclusive, rigorous and timely process. We encourage the early presentation of qualified candidates, ideally by no later than 1 April, so as to allow proper evaluation and meaningful interaction between candidates and Member States. We also call for clarity on the timeline and modalities of the General Assembly hearings. These dialogues must be genuinely interactive, allow follow-up questions and avoid duplication. We repeat our call for civil society’s meaningful involvement in the process and for early clarity on the Council’s intended deliberative process. This includes full transparency around any straw polls, both in terms of their timing and their results, so that all can understand how the Council’s preferences are formed and how the process is moving forward. We also urge a timely conclusion of the Council’s consideration in order to allow the General Assembly to conclude a meaningful appointment process by 26 October, at the latest. This is also important to allow the next Secretary-General sufficient time to prepare. Secondly, when it comes to legitimacy, under Article 97 the responsibility to appoint the Secretary-General lies with all Member States. To strengthen alignment between the General Assembly and the Council, the ACT Group encourages mechanisms such as advisory votes or similar tools, which enable the wider membership to express preferences through the process. We reiterate our long- standing call for the Security Council to recommend more than one candidate to the General Assembly, thereby enhancing both legitimacy and transparency. Thirdly, as regards diversity and equality, we welcome the fact that the joint letter from the President of the Security Council and the President of the General Assembly (S/2025/765) encourages Member States to strongly consider nominating women candidates. We also underscore the importance of regional rotation and express our support for nominations from underrepresented regions. The world expects — indeed, requires — a Secretary-General who can lead with integrity and courage, who can mobilize collective action and who can help to rebuild trust in multilateralism. A selection process worthy of that responsibility is not merely procedural; it is foundational to identifying the leader the world needs. The ACT Group remains convinced that only through a rigorous, transparent and inclusive process can Member States appoint the next Secretary-General to guide the United Nations through this consequential moment.

I now give the floor to the representative of Austria.

Austria aligns itself with the statement delivered just now on behalf of the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency Group. Let me begin by thanking you, Mr. President, and thanking Slovenia for placing leadership for peace at the centre of this month’s presidency. It is a choice that reflects much-needed clarity. While expressing my sincere appreciation for Secretary-General António Guterres, allow me to offer three reflections on the leadership that the United Nations requires from the next Secretary-General, which are partly based on a round table Austria hosted with the International Peace Institute last month. First, we need leadership that acts early and prioritizes prevention. Prevention is not a buzzword. It is hard work and often savvy diplomacy that save lives. Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations provides an important framework for the Secretary-General to hold a mirror up to the Council, even when Member States would prefer to look away. The Secretariat is not a passive body for implementing decisions; it is there to guide and inform the work of the Council. Let me quote Article 99: “The Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his [or her] opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.” That is an obligation of the new Secretary-General. When working on prevention, the Secretary-General should therefore engage the Council through horizon-scanning, refuse to be intimidated by political pressure, recognize Article 99 as a vital tool and use it in a consistent manner. Secondly, we need leadership in order to maintain the United Nations as a credible mediator. The United Nations must reclaim its core comparative advantage: the ability to convene, mediate and de-escalate where others cannot. Secretaries- General have done so through either quiet diplomacy or public advocacy. But it is important that they do so. That includes engaging with all actors, including those with whose policies we may profoundly disagree. I think this is the most important point. Thirdly, we need leadership that mobilizes partnerships. The United Nations of tomorrow cannot navigate global crises alone. As the concept note (see S/2025/788) rightly highlights, regional organizations from the African Union to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to the League of Arab States, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Vienna are indispensable partners for peace. The next Secretary-General must therefore build such partnerships in a systematic way. There is no alternative to the United Nations, but there are many ways in which it can fail. The next Secretary-General must therefore be more than an administrator. He or she must be a political leader, a bridge-builder, a champion of prevention and a guardian of the Charter. Let me also strongly emphasize that no woman has ever been at the helm of the Organization and let me underline the principle of regional rotation. Both issues need to be key considerations in the selection of the next Secretary-General. Let me close by saying that a leader — the next Secretary-General — needs to create the space for such roles but also needs that space and acceptance to come especially from the members of the Council. We look forward to engaging constructively in the discussions ahead.

I now give the floor to the representative of Portugal.

Portugal thanks Slovenia for convening this open debate on leadership for peace and takes this occasion to warmly congratulate Slovenia on its sustained engagement and constructive approach during its mandate as an elected member of the Council. We would like also to align ourselves with the statement just delivered by Switzerland, on behalf of the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency Group, as well as with the statement to be delivered by the representative of the European Union. At a time of persistent conflicts and growing instability, leadership is not optional; it is essential. Therefore, the question before us is not whether leadership matters; it is what kind of leadership the United Nations and the Council now require. Portugal would like to highlight three dimensions in that regard. First, leadership is required at an institutional level. Leadership for peace starts with a strong relationship between the Secretary-General and the Security Council. It requires trust. It requires regular and substantive political dialogue, and it requires a shared commitment to prevention, good offices and political solutions. The Secretary- General’s authority under Article 99, allowing him or her to alert the Council to any issues threatening international peace and security, is central to this relationship. It is not a procedural formality. It is a core feature of the Charter of the United Nations and a crucial political tool to induce action. When used with judgment and responsibility, it strengthens the Council’s ability to act early and coherently. Institutional leadership also depends on the wider membership. The Secretary- General cannot act alone. Predictable financing, political backing for mediation and sustained engagement by Member States are indispensable. Secondly, there is a need for leadership grounded in the Charter and international law. For Portugal, leadership for peace must be firmly anchored in the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. The Council’s credibility depends on its ability to uphold international law. It depends on respecting Articles 1 and 2 of the Charter, and it depends on supporting political pathways out of conflict. As our Prime Minister recalled in this Chamber a year ago, the Council’s added value lies in prevention, in de-escalation and in creating space for negotiation (see S/PV.9732 Resumption 1). When the Council delivers on this responsibility, it reinforces trust in multilateralism, and it demonstrates that collective security can still produce results. Thirdly, what is needed is leadership as a personal responsibility. Institutions do matter, but leadership is ultimately shaped by people. As we enter a new selection process, the qualities of the next Secretary-General will be decisive. Portugal believes that this role requires independence of judgment, moral authority and the ability to conduct dialogue, engage with all Member States and build bridges in a deeply polarized international environment. Courage to uphold the Charter will be essential, as will political sensitivity to the root causes of instability and an inclusive leadership style that values regional perspective, women and youth, and evidence-based decision-making. Investing in leadership development is therefore part of the solution. Portugal is pleased to be hosting a leadership training in Lisbon this week for members of the senior women talent pipeline. This is a concrete contribution to a more representative and prepared United Nations. In conclusion, leadership is measured by results: more stability, more diplomacy, fewer conflicts and less human suffering — in a nutshell, more space for real and sustainable political solutions. As a candidate for the Security Council for the 2027–2028 term, Portugal remains fully committed to strengthening the effectiveness, credibility and responsibility of the Council and of this fundamental Organization as a whole.

I now give the floor to the representative of Ukraine.

Ukraine commends the initiative of the presidency of Slovenia to hold this timely debate. Today’s discussion on leadership for peace takes place at a crucial moment, one in which we, the United Nations, face one of the gravest challenges. Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine is not only an unbearable tragedy for millions of Ukrainians; it is a direct assault on humankind as a whole. Therefore, it is actually in Ukraine that leadership for peace is being tested every single day. Almost four years into this brutal war, Russia continues to indiscriminately target civilians and critical infrastructure, commit horrendous atrocities, weaponize food and energy issues, make nuclear threats and dismantle the international legal order that underpins global stability. Moreover, Russia continues to abuse its veto power not only to block the Council from fulfilling its core mandate, but also to shield itself from accountability. How can we overcome this deadly gridlock? Breaking this vicious cycle inevitably brings the role of the Secretary-General to the forefront when the Security Council is paralysed. If someone were to ask me which human quality should matter most in a Secretary-General, whom we will elect next year, I would name just one: courage — not only the courage to call things by their proper names, not only to condemn aggression and fearlessly defend the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, but above all the courage to act, to show initiative, to move beyond the comfort of mandates and to step forward when leadership is truly needed. From the very beginning, the job of the Secretary-General was defined not merely by procedures, but by personal bravery. Dag Hammarskjöld understood this truth when he went to the Congo in 1961, convinced that true leadership requires physical presence in the middle of a conflict for successful mediation. For this courageous stance, he had to pay the highest price. More than 60 years later, at the start of Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine, António Guterres faced a different but no less difficult test, that of leading our Organization at a moment when the Security Council was cynically blocked by the Russian Federation. His personal engagement for the Black Sea Initiative on the safe transportation of grain and foodstuffs from Ukrainian ports deserved respect. As we look ahead to the selection of the new Secretary-General, Ukraine believes that his or her role must go far beyond the guardianship of the Charter and its principles. We expect a Secretary-General who will not limit himself to condemning aggression in words alone, but who will be prepared to act, even when such engagement is unwelcome to one of the parties. Yes, words of condemnation do matter, but they are not sufficient. What is required is fearlessness to act both decisively and creatively. What we often observe is that peaceful initiatives take place far from this Organization, while the United Nations is reduced to the role of bystander or observer. Mediation, peace efforts and the search for an end to wars must originate here, within these United Nations walls, mainly through the initiative and courage of the Secretary-General himself. At the same time, we expect the Secretary- General to clearly address all those Member States that choose to abstain, hiding behind claims of illusory neutrality. In situations of blatant aggression, abstentions weaken international law and, in practice, benefit only the perpetrator. As Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, once said, neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. In conclusion, I wish to refer to the philosopher Aristotle. He wrote that “courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others”. Let us be guided by this ancient wisdom.

I now give the floor to the representative of Luxembourg.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Benelux countries: Belgium, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and my own country, Luxembourg. We align ourselves with the statement to be delivered on behalf of the European Union. We thank Slovenia for convening this timely debate and the briefers for sharing their insights. Immense challenges confront the world today, from conflicts to poverty and inequality, from climate change to the erosion of the rule of law and the pushback against human rights. People affected by these challenges look to the United Nations for leadership and solutions. As the Organization’s leader, the Secretary-General plays a critical role in addressing these challenges. As the process leading to the selection and appointment of the next Secretary- General has officially started, the Benelux countries wish to highlight three points. First, on the process itself, in order to safeguard the legitimacy and credibility of the appointment, the process should be conducted in full accordance with General Assembly resolution 79/327 and should build on the good practices established in 2015–2016. Enhancing transparency in the Council’s deliberations and reinforcing the role of the General Assembly will foster trust and ensure that the next Secretary- General enjoys the support of the entire United Nations membership. Enhancing inclusivity is equally important. It is therefore essential to actively involve civil society throughout the process. Secondly, on the qualities required, the position of Secretary-General requires the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, along with a firm commitment to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. Moral authority, dedication to multilateralism and international law, independence, courage, leadership and management skills, as well as multilingual skills, are also essential. Bearing in mind that no woman has ever held the position, we strongly encourage Member States to nominate women as candidates. Thirdly, the next Secretary-General should have strategic vision, drive structural reform and modernize United Nations management systems, strengthen accountability, ensure financial integrity and champion all three pillars of the United Nations: peace and security, development and human rights. He or she should make full use of his or her good offices and act as a mediator where necessary. Like many delegations before us, we also emphasize the continued relevance of Article 99 of the Charter, which empowers the Secretary-General to bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security. The Benelux countries look forward to participating in assessing the candidates who aspire to lead the United Nations and uphold its purposes and principles in a very challenging context.

I now give the floor to the representative of Australia.

The topic of today’s debate, leadership for peace, is deeply personal for the people of Australia at this time, and I want to take this opportunity to reflect on these issues. On Sunday 14 December, Australia suffered a devastating terrorist attack at a Chanukah celebration at Bondi Beach: a targeted assault on Jewish Australians on the first day of Chanukah, at an iconic Australian location, at which people from all over the world were congregating in peace. Sixteen people have been confirmed dead, and dozens were wounded. Chanukah should be a celebration of peace and light vanquishing darkness. Instead, all Australians are grieving today, as we extend our deepest condolences to everyone who lost someone they love. On behalf of the Australian Government, I thank the Member States and the Secretary-General for their many messages of condolence and solidarity. Their support matters greatly. As Australia’s Prime Minister has said, this was an act of evil, antisemitic terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation. An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian and our way of life. There is no place for this vile antisemitism in Australia or anywhere in the world. The Australian Government has acted to combat antisemitism in Australia. We have funded improved security at Jewish community sites and established special operation Avalite, a joint agency operation comprising police and security agencies, to thwart antisemitic crimes. We have appointed Australia’s first Special Envoy to combat antisemitism, and we have sanctioned the white supremacist network Terrorgram and passed the toughest laws Australia has ever had against hate crimes. Australia will not be divided by hate or violence. Australia’s strength lies in our unity and our diversity. Our multicultural society is a source of pride and resilience. We are a country in which leadership for peace is exemplified in the actions of everyday Australians, Australians like Ahmed al-Ahmed, a 43-year-old father of two. Originally from Syria, Ahmed has made his home in Australia for nearly 20 years. And yesterday in Bondi, in the face of unimaginable terror, he ran towards one of the attackers, tackling him and disarming him, and saving countless lives. His father said he was not thinking about the background of the people he was saving. Especially here in Australia, there is no difference between one citizen and another. Ahmed is the best of Australia. He is now undergoing surgery in hospital, and we hope for his full recovery, as we do for all the wounded. Australia remains firmly committed to working with the United Nations and our international partners to eradicate antisemitism and all forms of racism, hatred and intolerance. We look forward to working with the next Secretary-General to respond to these challenges, to prevent and resolve conflict and to help to deliver a more effective United Nations and a more peaceful world.

I now give the floor to the representative of Chile.

I would like to begin by expressing our sincere condolences to the Australian Government, to the country as a whole, to the families who are suffering today from the loss of their loved ones after the attack this weekend and to the Jewish community that has suffered this horrific attack. Chile thanks Slovenia for convening this debate, which coincides with the formal start of the selection process for the next Secretary-General. We also appreciate the contributions made by former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Anjali Dayal. The United Nations remains the forum in which States project their aspirations to build a shared future. However, today we face a turning point marked by deep tensions, the erosion of trust, geopolitical competition and a fragmentation of the international consensus. In this scenario, it is essential to strengthen international cooperation and collectively reflect on the type of leadership that the Organization requires in order to strengthen the multilateral architecture and improve people’s lives. The current environment demands leadership with strong principles, determination and strategic vision. Leadership for peace must anticipate crises, actively promote diplomacy and address the structural causes of instability. For Chile, the future Secretary-General must exercise his or her mandate with autonomy, conviction and adherence to the Charter of the United Nations, making full use of preventive powers, including Article 99, when international peace and security are threatened. This leadership must be based on human rights, substantive equality and the meaningful participation of women and young people in peace processes. In a context of growing conflict, it is necessary to strengthen the mediating role of the Secretary-General, and his or her presence on the ground is key to increasing the relevance and credibility of the United Nations on the international stage. Pursuant to the Organization’s mandate, the United Nations has played a crucial role in mediating inter- and intra-State conflicts at all stages, before they escalate into armed violence after the outbreak of conflict and during the implementation of peace agreements. Therefore, the Secretary-General and his or her representatives, through their good offices and mediation efforts, embody the United Nations’ ability to act preventively, impartially and in close contact with local realities. Strengthening this role, particularly through a greater presence and direct leadership in the field, will enable the Organization to respond more effectively to contemporary crises and reaffirm its role as a key player in the prevention and peaceful resolution of conflicts. The Secretary-General’s leadership requires the full support of the membership, the fulfilment of financial obligations, robust preventive diplomacy and the avoidance of the political exploitation of multilateral mechanisms. It also requires integrating the concerns of the North and the South, strengthening the credibility of the system through inclusive and sustainable solutions. In this regard, Chile stresses the importance of an effective relationship between the Secretary-General and the Security Council, based on strict adherence to the Charter and international law as an essential condition for the maintenance of international peace and security. Strengthening multilateralism also requires progress in institutional renewal. The UN80 Initiative is a historic opportunity to modernize the United Nations and balance its three founding pillars. This renewal must result in a more agile, transparent and results-oriented Organization. Its success will depend on broad alliances between Member States, United Nations bodies, regional organizations, civil society, academia and the private sector, supported by evidence and a commitment to inclusion and diversity. Chile wishes to highlight an undeniable reality. In eight decades, no woman has ever held the position of Secretary-General. This historical gap is inconsistent with the principles of equality and diversity that the Organization promotes. For Chile, the time has come for this leadership to more fully reflect the international community. A female Secretary-General would contribute the crucial experience and perspectives of the world’s women, thereby bolstering the legitimacy, the efficiency and the inclusive vision that stewardship of the multilateral system demands. Lastly, we are convinced that reinvigorated leadership will enable the United Nations to continue effectively fulfilling its mandate of preventing conflict, safeguarding human rights and supporting Member States in building more resilient and fairer societies — leadership that strengthens a United Nations that is more close- knit, more inclusive and more efficient for the sake of peace.

I now give the floor to the representative of Liechtenstein.

As the year comes to an end, we wish to thank you, Mr. President, and the other members leaving the Council at the end of this month — Algeria, Guyana, the Republic of Korea and Sierra Leone — for their important work in the service of the wider membership and international law over the past two years, and we wish them and their teams a well-deserved rest. As ever, the Charter of the United Nations is the basis for our reflections on the topic at hand. The term “leadership” is actually not found in the United Nations Charter. Nonetheless, it provides important guidance for us to draw from. First, the Charter requires us Member States to work with each other as sovereign equals. We all have agreed to develop friendly relations, to unite our strength and to achieve international cooperation. Secondly, the Charter asks us Member States to restrain ourselves, to practice tolerance and, perhaps most importantly, to refrain from the threat or use of force in our international relations. Lastly, the Charter calls on us to support the United Nations in carrying out its mandate and to give the United Nations every assistance by, among other measures, reaffirming faith in fundamental human rights. For us, as members of the Organization, leadership for peace therefore means fulfilling our obligations and working towards their fulfilment by the membership as a whole. These parameters should also inform our discussions about who should be the next leader of our Organization, now that the process of selection and appointment of the Secretary-General has been formally launched. The Secretary-General must work together with the membership in pursuit of peace and in fulfilment of the obligations that Member States have collectively undertaken. At a time of deep political division in the Council, leadership by the Secretary-General is needed more than ever. We must look not for a servant of the powerful but for an advocate for the purposes and principles of the Charter, for international law, for genuine multilateralism and for those whose lives and livelihoods depend on our collective fidelity to these principles. In practice, this means listening to those who are most affected by our action and inaction — especially that of the Council — and displaying a proactive mindset with respect to good offices and mediation, in line with the spirit of Article 99 of the United Nations Charter. It means speaking truth and speaking law to power, in particular to the members of the Council, on whom the membership has conferred primary responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security. It also means leading the Organization in enforcing the prohibition of the illegal use of force in service of the rule of law, such as through disarmament and the promotion of the comprehensive notion of security that we have jointly developed in past years, including in the areas of human and climate security. This is the expectation for which we must advocate. This is the leadership for which we, as Member States, must give active political support. Liechtenstein, as one of the smallest members of this Organization — smaller in population than any that has served on the Council — we are keenly aware that multilateralism, as the principle to which we subscribed when joining the United Nations, is indeed indispensable to our ability to safeguard our own sovereignty. As we move into the new year, Liechtenstein reaffirms its commitment to peace and its commitment to all those who have taken on the obligations — inside and outside of the Chamber — to work together for peace, to practice restraint in the service of peace and to unite in the service of the Organization and of its founding Charter.

I now give the floor to the representative of South Africa.

We congratulate Slovenia on assuming the presidency of the Council for the month of December 2025. South Africa welcomes this timely debate, which will focus on the leadership role of the Secretary-General during a period of uncertainty and global upheaval, when the multilateral system is under significant strain. This global shake-up is largely characterized by wanton disregard for international law, a deficit of trust among nations, erosion of the spirit of cooperation and the inability of the institution, especially the Security Council, to act when required. We therefore appreciate Slovenia’s leadership on this issue, building on the Council’s presidential statement issued in 2024 (S/PRST/2024/5). In these trying times, we expect all Member States to rally in support of the implementation of the Charter of the United Nations, which ensures the equality, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all Member States and has acted as a bulwark against the excesses of power and the growing phenomenon of might makes right. Notwithstanding these challenges, we commend Secretary-General Guterres’s attempts at renewing and strengthening this institution so that it can respond in a timely manner to those who need it the most and confront the challenges brought by increasing conflicts, which continue unabated owing to unequal treatment in the international legal system and unilateralism, as evidenced by the imposition of coercive economic and trade measures. At times like this, our collective action is required to build a just and more humane world. The successor to the current Secretary-General will therefore need courage and a bold vision to ensure that this institution is ready for the challenges that lie ahead and is fit for purpose to continue implementing its current mandate. The foundations set by the current Secretary- General, which culminated in the Pact for the Future (General Assembly resolution 79/1), will be paramount. The pillars underpinning the United Nations, namely peace and security, human rights and development, should be strengthened and viewed as mutually reinforcing. This is important in view of the ongoing efforts to undermine the development agenda as encapsulated in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — an agenda adopted by consensus by the international community through the United Nations. The pivotal role of the Secretary-General in the maintenance of international peace and security can be illustrated through Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations, which stipulates that the Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which, in his or her opinion, may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security. The article just quoted refers to the Secretary-General as “he”, which is an unfortunate foreshadowing of the fact that there has never been a female Secretary- General. While South Africa welcomes the adoption of General Assembly resolution 79/327, which resulted in the amendment of the Assembly’s rules of procedure to be more gender representative, South Africa would strongly consider supporting the nomination and appointment of a female candidate — a competent leader who will bring bold and innovative solutions to ensure the relevance of the United Nations in future. We therefore welcome the fact that the joint letter issued by the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Security Council (S/2025/765), inviting nominations for next Secretary-General, encourages Member States to strongly consider nominating women as candidates. South Africa would also wish to emphasize the importance of regional diversity and geographical representation in the selection and appointment of the Secretary- General and would encourage the current practice of regional rotation. We especially encourage the appointment of a Secretary-General from the developing world who can remain impartial while articulating the interests of the most vulnerable and respecting and advancing the interests of developed countries. We commend Secretary-General Guterres for his bravery and steadfastness, for example, in speaking out against the genocide being committed in Gaza. While we acknowledge improvements to the selection and appointment of the Secretary-General, driven by the General Assembly revitalization process, much more still needs to be done. Article 97 of the Charter is clear that the appointment of the Secretary-General is made by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. The ultimate authority therefore resides with the General Assembly, and this needs to be recognized — and not merely as a rubber stamp. The Security Council could therefore consider recommending more than one candidate for the General Assembly to consider. Nevertheless, South Africa welcomes the adoption of General Assembly resolution 79/327, which gives further guidance on the selection and appointment of the Secretary-General, including on disclosure of their sources of funding at the time of nomination. We also welcome transparency in the process of selection and appointment and note with regret that no woman has ever been appointed to the position of Secretary-General. As a beneficiary of the effectiveness of multilateralism and international solidarity, South Africa is ready to extend its support as part of collective action to ensure a multilateral system that works in accordance with international law and unwavering solidarity with those who need it most. Leadership for peace, therefore, would accept the norms and standards developed through the United Nations over decades to build a just and fair world and ensure respect and implementation of the Organization’s decisions. As I conclude, I reaffirm South Africa’s commitment to a rules-based international system based on international law, with the United Nations at its core.

I now give the floor to the representative of Guatemala.

We thank Slovenia for convening this important debate. We also thank the briefers for their valuable contributions. At a time when we are facing prolonged conflicts, devastating humanitarian crises and unprecedented challenges in Ukraine, the Sudan, Haiti and, of course, the Gaza Strip, the role of the United Nations has never been more decisive or more important. This Organization, established 80 years ago with the firm resolve to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, is capable of meeting this moment, and its purposes and principles must remain the standard that guides us. The weakening of the international rules-based international order and violations of international law and human rights, which, sadly, are perpetrated with impunity, constitute a grave threat. We must not allow a return to the law of “might makes right”; this reality should not lead us to scepticism but should instead spur us into action. The United Nations remains the only truly universal forum with mechanisms to prevent and resolve conflicts and with invaluable experience in mediation, peacebuilding, peacekeeping and the imposition of sanctions. We must therefore continue to give multilateralism a chance, strengthen leadership for peace, rebuild mutual trust and reaffirm our compliance with the Charter of the United Nations. There is no real alternative to this Organization, but there is a responsibility to make it more adaptable, representative and effective. In this context, the profile of the next Secretary-General takes on exceptional importance. That person must continue the efforts of current Secretary-General António Guterres to reform the Organization at a time of budgetary restrictions and greater demand for leadership, inclusion and strategic vision. Convinced of the need to promote a more inclusive representative international system, we affirm that the time has come for a person from the Latin American and Caribbean region to take on this role. This aspiration, backed by all the member States of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and by the Ibero-American countries, upholds the principle of geographical balance and strengthens diversity in the Organization’s leadership. A person from the region will significantly strengthen the United Nations capacity to tackle global contemporary challenges, fulfil the demand by the world’s peoples for peace, development and justice, ensure the preservation and strengthening of multilateralism and international law and ensure that all regions of the world have a voice in the Organization’s strategic direction. We live in difficult times, times that demand honesty, integrity and commitment on the part of all Member States. Leadership for peace is essential to confront the destabilizing effects of conflict and the existential threats that affect all of humankind: climate crisis, nuclear proliferation and the risk of pandemics. When the world looks to the United Nations for leadership in the face of those threats, it first looks to the Security Council, which has long been in need of reform. The Council should be an organ capable of dealing with the world that we live in now, not a relic from 1945. To build on the momentum generated by the Pact for the Future, we advocate for the launch of a reform and negotiation process to build a more representative and effective Council. The General Assembly must have a central role in all that, as it did in the only substantive reform of the Council, which was approved in 1965.

I now give the floor to Mr. Lambrinidis. Mr. Lambrinidis: As we meet today, the rules-based international order enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, which embodies a universal set of principles and legal commitments to ensure peace, human rights, development and dignity for all and to which all nations have subscribed, is experiencing unprecedented turmoil. This turmoil does not come from outside. It comes from within. The United Nations is us. When polarization gets weaponized and geopolitical conflicts intensify, this happens on our watch, and it affects us all. Violations of the United Nations Charter, of international law and of core humanitarian principles have repercussions far beyond borders. But the United Nations as an organization is not helpless to react. The Secretary- General has a distinct mission in contributing to conflict prevention, ensuring effective peacekeeping and supporting peacebuilding and sustainable peace. The Secretary-General can also act as the voice of the vulnerable and, most importantly, serve as principal guardian of universal standards, international law and the United Nations Charter. The UN80 Initiative is a clear demonstration of how the Secretary- General can propose and pursue a vision that should shape an efficient, coordinated and responsive United Nations adapted to rapidly changing realities. We need to design an Organization that delivers results better and equally across its three pillars. The European Union (EU) remains fully engaged in supporting these efforts. Very soon, we will select the next Secretary-General. The EU welcomes steps towards more inclusivity and transparency, as mandated in General Assembly resolution 79/327. We look forward to the candidates’ vision statements and to participating in the informal dialogues of the General Assembly. In the common pursuit of peace, the Secretary-General has an important role to engage stakeholders in dialogue. The Secretary-General and the Security Council can and must complement each other. This partnership must embody the principles of inclusivity and cooperation, engaging regional organizations, civil society and affected communities in dialogue and action. In conclusion, the European Union remains a steadfast supporter of the Secretary-General in navigating these challenges. We cannot afford — none of us can — to abandon the foundational values of the United Nations to revisionist narratives and subversive actions. And we most certainly cannot take the achievements of the past eight decades for granted. Peace under the United Nations Charter is not a given. Peace is a choice, and it should be our choice every day, because ultimately, the United Nations is us.

I now give the floor to the Permanent Observer of the Sovereign Order of Malta. Mr. Horan: We wish to thank His Excellency Ban Ki-moon and Ms. Anjali Dayal for their briefings. We also thank the Republic of Slovenia for convening this first formal open debate dedicated to the qualities required of the next Secretary- General. As we consider the future, we must begin with a simple premise: leadership for peace must be grounded in humanitarian principles, not political ones. As the Sovereign Order of Malta has often underlined, no issue ever reaches the Council without having a profound humanitarian dimension. The Sovereign Order of Malta is among the few voices at the United Nations to be tasked exclusively with speaking for the sick, the poor and the dispossessed. Moral and principled leadership is indispensable to global peace. The Republic of Sierra Leone rightly noted that the Council’s deliberations are being increasingly clouded by geopolitical rivalry, turning the Council from a forum for diplomacy into a battleground for national interests. In this climate, the next Secretary-General must embody principled humanitarian leadership, rising above rivalry, restoring confidence in multilateralism and guiding the Council towards its central purpose: peace and international security. The time we are living in demands such leadership. There have never been so many conflicts — international, regional and domestic — unfolding simultaneously. Humanitarian crises are erupting everywhere. The number of displaced persons soared to 123 million last year. Last year was also the deadliest ever for humanitarian workers, with 308 killed in the line of duty, and for journalists, with 126 deaths. Climate-related disasters, from expanding desertification to increasingly extreme weather events, continue to intensify and, as always, the most vulnerable bear the greatest burden. Our multilateral system faces rising instability, proliferating armed conflicts, financial shortfalls and widespread disregard for international law. From Gaza to Ukraine to the Sudan and beyond, we witness an erosion of the norms meant to protect human dignity. Recent briefings to the Council show that grave violations of international humanitarian law are becoming the norm rather than the exception. At such a moment, the qualities of global leadership matter profoundly. As the late Pope Francis reminded us, for leadership there is only one road — that of service. This principle should guide the ethical compass of the next Secretary-General and of the Council, as it navigates a world in urgent need of principled and humane leadership. Since 1945, the United Nations has remained steadfast in its mission to maintain international peace and security. It has built the most comprehensive body of international law in history, brokered ceasefires and provided a platform for diplomacy. Today, a united Council advances peace through 11 peacekeeping operations across three continents; through resolutions sustaining humanitarian assistance; through landmark decisions, such as resolution 2719 (2023), supporting African Union-led peace operations; and through frameworks elevating the roles of women and youth in peace and security. These achievements demonstrate that peace is attainable when leadership is principled, service-oriented and humane, signifying both the relevance and the necessity of the United Nations. In selecting the next Secretary-General, we seek a leader distinguished by compassion, merit and humanitarian experience, whose guidance is rooted in principle rather than political calculation. True leadership for peace must now reverse the trend of weakening multilateralism. The legal framework already exists. What is required is the courage to uphold and enforce it. Leadership means enforcing the rules designed to prevent and prosecute unlawful acts and ensuring they are respected. The world looks to the United Nations for leadership, and it looks to the Council. This is a moment to demonstrate relevance, unity and fidelity to the Charter. In closing, the Sovereign Order of Malta therefore calls for a Secretary-General who embodies such leadership, grounded in humanity, guided by principle and courageous enough to bridge divides where politics alone cannot.

There are still a number of speakers remaining on my list for this meeting. I intend, with the concurrence of the members of the Council, to suspend the meeting until 3 p.m. The meeting was suspended at 1.15 p.m.