A new United Nations secretary-general will be elected this year for a five-year term starting on January 1, 2027. When Guterres was chosen in 2016 to be recommended to the General Assembly, it took six straw polls for the Security Council to reach agreement. The United Nations has been working to improve the transparency of the historically opaque selection process. The core annual United Nations budget is $3.45 billion, while the peacekeeping budget is $5.4 billion. Since the power to authorize military force or sanctions rests with the Security Council, the U.N. chief has little more than a ‌bully pulpit.

Source: The Hindu March 03, 2026 17:12 UTC