Forward, a global political movement, launched an international political campaign aimed at challenging the process of selecting the UN secretary-general to make it more inclusive, insisting on both the need for a female leader and more of the public's involvement.
The movement is trying to fight global challenges such as climate change and the rise of extremism by establishing "coherent political force" working to solve them within elected bodies.
In its attempt to finding the most relevant secretary-general, the movement ran primaries aimed at finding a non-male, people-backed candidate to run for the position this year and replace the incumbent, António Guterres, who has held the post since 2017. Guterres announced earlier that he will be seeking a second five-year term.
Forward maintains that there is a need for a female leader and more popular involvement in the selection process. Moreover, the movement is now trying to register as many voters as possible as well as potential candidates.
"In the midst of accelerating global trends, the world needs strong global leadership backed by democratic will. Legitimacy goes hand in hand with representation, and the United Nations is in dire need of both," said Colombe Cahen-Salvador and Andrea Venzon, co-founders of the initiative.
Through this project, Forward intends to give a voice and a say to those longing to see a more transparent, inclusive and effective United Nations and to ultimately reverse people's trust in the international organization.
According to the United Nations Charter, the appointment of a secretary-general is made by the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Security Council, which in effect means that any of the five permanent members - the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Russia and France - can veto the nominee. Each secretary-general has the option of a second term, provided they can muster enough support from Member States.