Uganda nominates Olara Otunnu for UN Secretary-General

What the report says

The Independent Uganda, citing URN, reported that Uganda has formally put forward veteran diplomat Olara Otunnu as a candidate for United Nations Secretary-General. The nomination was announced in a July 26, 2026 statement by Bagiire Vincent Waiswa, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The government presented Otunnu as an experienced figure in diplomacy, peacebuilding and international governance, arguing that he is qualified to succeed António Guterres when his term ends on December 31.

Otunnu previously served as the first UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict from 1998 to 2005, holding the rank of Under-Secretary-General. The government credited his tenure with strengthening the UN’s focus on children affected by war, including work linked to the monitoring and reporting framework created under Security Council Resolution 1612 in 2005. Earlier, he was Uganda’s ambassador and permanent representative to the UN from 1980 to 1985 and served as Security Council president in 1981, when he introduced the informal straw-polling approach for selecting a Secretary-General.

The report also outlined Otunnu’s roles in Uganda and beyond, including service as foreign affairs minister in 1985-86, leadership of the International Peace Academy, academic appointments, and recent involvement in the Roco Paco peacebuilding initiative in northern Uganda. He later led the Uganda People’s Congress and ran for president in 2011.

Uganda has asked UN member states to back his bid. According to the report, Otunnu is the seventh candidate in the race, with the Security Council expected to use confidential straw polls before recommending a nominee to the General Assembly.