New Poll: Global Public Backs Stronger UN and Wants Bold Leadership from Next Secretary-General

As world leaders arrive in New York for UN General Assembly High-level Week, the United Nations Foundation today released results of a new global poll, which finds that 57% of citizens fear for the future, while nearly 90% believe that not even the most powerful nations should confront turbulent times on their own. The global public wants a reinvigorated UN, under an outward-facing leader, even as 85% have heard little about the race to find a new Secretary-General, the poll shows.

The report, “A Mandate for Renewal: Global Public Opinion on the United Nations and the Selection of the 10th Secretary-General,” analyzes results of a poll conducted in 20 countries home to 56% of the global population. Fielded by GeoPoll, the poll is the first to survey the race to lead the UN and captures the views of 5,000 citizens, including from all 15 members of the UN Security Council, as it votes on candidates for what has been described as the “world’s toughest job.”

“In an increasingly turbulent world, we need a multilateral system that delivers,” said UN Foundation President and CEO Elizabeth Cousens. “A re-energized United Nations is vital to that task, making the upcoming leadership transition possibly the most consequential in the UN’s history. The selection of a new Secretary-General offers a rare opportunity to define why the institution exists, who it serves, and how it can achieve results in a fragmented world.”

With a crowded field and no clear frontrunner, the Secretary-General race is moving into decisive stages, with the Security Council expected to hold straw polls directly before and shortly after UN General Assembly High-level Week.

The survey shows that while a majority of citizens (58%) trust the UN to deliver, public patience is finite. Citizens want a bold, visible leader who can rebuild faith in shared solutions, while six in 10 respondents want the UN to break with 80 years of history and select the first woman Secretary-General.

“While the world still trusts the UN, the global public is eager for change,” said former UN Deputy Secretary-General and UN Foundation Board Member Mark Malloch-Brown. “The next Secretary-General will have an opportunity to connect directly with citizens and show how the UN can turn their expectations into results that matter in their daily lives.”

Key findings from the report include:

• Citizens fear for their future in a turbulent world. Nearly six in 10 respondents (57%) are worried about the future. Older generations are the most pessimistic (64% worried), while young adults (18–34) are the most optimistic (37% hopeful).
• Conflict prevention tops public priorities. When asked to select their top three priorities for global cooperation, more than half of respondents (58%) named preventing and ending armed conflicts. This was followed by reducing poverty and inequality (45%), taking climate action (40%), protecting human rights (35%), and managing the global economy (29%).
• A majority trusts the UN to deliver, but with a North-South divide. Nearly six in 10 respondents (58%) trust the UN and other international institutions to make progress on the challenges that matter to them most, but 39% are skeptical. Trust in institutions’ ability to deliver is higher in the Global South (65%) than the Global North (44%). Only 13% believe the UN is outdated and no longer necessary in the modern world.
• The public wants an outward-facing leader. While demand for renewal of the UN is high, only 17% want the next Secretary-General to focus primarily on internal reform. Instead, citizens want a leader who looks outward: a diplomat (28%) to end wars, a crisis manager (26%) for global emergencies, or a moral voice (25%) to speak out on human rights and existential threats.
• The UN leadership race has yet to break through. Most global citizens (85%) have heard little to nothing about the selection of a new Secretary-General. While official candidates are not entirely unknown (averaging 19% name recognition), they have yet to achieve wider public visibility.
• Demand for a historic first. Six in 10 respondents (61%) say it is important for the next UN Secretary-General to be a woman. Support for a woman leader is highest among women (68%), young adults aged 18–34 (68%), and respondents across the Global South (70%).

NOTES TO EDITORS

Quotes for Additional Reporting:

• Sigrid Kaag, UN Foundation Board Chair and former Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands: “At a time of profound global uncertainty, the United Nations needs leadership with the resolve to act and the courage to adapt. Restoring confidence will not come from institutional rearrangement alone, but from clear priorities, budgetary discipline, and focus on delivering results. This report makes clear what is needed now: an organization refocused on its core principles, and a Secretary-General with the authority and determination to lead.”
• Thant Myint-U, historian and UN Foundation Senior Fellow: “The selection of the next Secretary-General offers an enormous, but fleeting, opportunity to get the world to focus on the future of the UN. As this survey shows, citizens don’t expect miracles, but they do expect the Secretary-General to take risks for peace. If the next leader is irrelevant to wars that threaten us, the decline of the UN may become unstoppable.”
• David Steven, UN Foundation Senior Fellow and contributor to UN Foundation/GeoPoll study: “It is unsurprising that the public is not yet following the race to be Secretary-General. It may have been an obsession for UN insiders for months now, but we are only just entering the window when the world starts to pay attention. It is less interesting which candidate gets the nod from the Security Council than whether the winner has the vision, strategy, and team to hit the ground running. Anyone who leads the UN needs a strong start. They will not have long to make an impression before the world’s attention moves on.”

Resources

Full Report | Press Kit | Guide to the Secretary-General Race

Methodology: Polling was conducted by GeoPoll using a mix of mobile web and computer-assisted telephone interviewing, with a sample size of 250 respondents per country (5,000 overall). Countries polled include the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States); the 10 elected Security Council members serving in 2026 (Bahrain, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Greece, Latvia, Liberia, Pakistan, Panama, and Somalia); and five major powers that do not hold Security Council seats (Brazil, India, Mexico, Nigeria, and South Africa). These countries are home to more than 4.5 billion people, or 56% of the world’s population.

Limitations: The study, which was fielded between September 1 and September 16, 2026, relied on mobile and web access. Results may skew toward more digitally connected populations with higher awareness of global issues. At a global level, findings are robust (carrying an implied margin of error of ±1.4%), as are findings from subgroups for gender, age, or region. As country samples are smaller, between-country results are reported only when they exceed 10 percentage points. Data for within-country subgroups are not reported.

About The UN Foundation

The United Nations Foundation has built novel innovations and partnerships to support the United Nations and help solve global problems at scale for over 25 years. As an independent charitable organization, the Foundation was created to work closely with the United Nations to address humanity’s greatest challenges and drive global progress. Learn more at www.unfoundation.org.