The world needs a strong, credible UN more than at any point in a generation. Gender equality is not a side issue in that fight. It is one of the clearest tests of whether the institution can still turn its founding promise into practice. As the UN considers the selection of its next Secretary-General, we are calling on every candidate to make five practical commitments to advance gender equality across the whole UN system, and to say publicly where they stand.
The open letter: the full text of the call to candidates, including the five commitments in detail. The letter has been sent directly to candidates on 8 July. [Read the letter →]
Evidence brief: the documented gaps behind each commitment across the UN system. [Read the brief →]
Candidate profiles: where each candidate for Secretary-General stands, and their public record on gender equality. [See how the candidates score →]
Our signatories and partners: the organisations and individuals carrying this call forward. [See who has signed →]
Why now
The next Secretary-General will take office under acute pressure: a coordinated global rollback on women’s rights, shrinking civic space for feminist movements, the silencing of public commitment to intersectional gender justice, and a funding crisis that has fallen disproportionately on gender equality programmes.
The Security Council straw poll process is expected to begin in late July 2026. The weeks before it are the most consequential window to hold candidates to account.
What this is about
The UN is choosing its tenth Secretary-General. Whoever takes office will shape whether the institution can still deliver on peace and security, development, humanitarian response, climate action and human rights, or whether it slips into inertia at the moment the world needs it most.
The open letter has been shared directly with each candidate. We are asking each candidate to respond publicly on whether they stand with the commitments the letter outlines and how they will advance gender equality, not as a peripheral commitment, but as a defining one.
This call focuses on how the UN works: its systems, its policies, its budgets, its incentives. The purpose is not institutional reform for its own sake. It is a United Nations that delivers better outcomes for everyone, everywhere.
What we are asking
Measure it. Every UN agency must report sex-disaggregated data as standard, without exception. You cannot manage what you do not measure.
Analyse it. Gender analysis must inform every UN initiative before it launches, not after. Retrofitting gender onto programmes designed without it does not work.
Centre it. Feminist voices must shape every UN process, not as guests, but as architects. Consultation is not the same as power.
Fund it. Gender equality needs dedicated resources in every UN budget. Mainstreaming without money is just words.
Institutionalise it. Gender equality must be a condition of leadership across the UN system, built in, not bolted on. What is optional will be skipped.
Join the call
You can sign in your personal capacity, or on behalf of your institution.
Global 50/50 is an independent think tank holding the world’s most powerful institutions to account on gender. Global 50/50 informs, inspires and incites action for gender justice through rigorous evidence, accountability, and strengthening movements for change.
To learn more about the campaign or to engage with us generally on advancing gender equality in global health, contact us at: info@global5050.org.