The United Nations will choose its next Secretary-General in 2026, and the institution that emerges will look very different from the one that exists today. The multilateral system is fracturing under great-power competition, the UN80 reform is stalled, and the Secretary-General’s office itself has been quietly stripped of authority.
To map what the next leader must actually do, Cepei convened former presidents, diplomats, and global experts in Bogotá, alongside the Igarapé Institute, NYU’s Center on International Cooperation, the Global Cooperation Institute, and the Starling Institute. The takeaways bring a Latin American and Caribbean lens to a global conversation, setting out the qualities, priorities, and political strategy that should define the first 100 and 1,000 days of the next UN Secretary-General.
