Kampala, Uganda | URN | The Government of Uganda has officially nominated veteran diplomat and former United Nations Under-Secretary-General Ambassador Olara Otunnu for the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations, describing him as a distinguished international civil servant with more than four decades of experience in diplomacy, peacebuilding and global governance.
In a press statement issued by Bagiire Vincent Waiswa, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday July 26, 2026, the government said Otunnu’s experience at the highest levels of the UN system, national government, academia and civil society makes him well suited to lead the world body when the term of the current Secretary-General, António Guterres, expires this December 31.
Otunnu served as the first UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict from 1998 to 2005 at the rank of Under-Secretary-General. During his tenure under Secretary-General Kofi Annan, he was among the highest-ranking African officials in the UN Secretariat, second only to Annan himself in the organization’s executive leadership. The government says he transformed the newly established office into one of the UN’s most influential mandates by placing the protection of children affected by armed conflict firmly on the agenda of the Security Council.
His tenure also saw the creation of the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism on grave violations against children in armed conflict under UN Security Council Resolution 1612 (2005), a framework that continues to guide international efforts to protect children in conflict zones.
Before joining the UN Secretariat, Otunnu served as Uganda’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1980 and 1985. In December 1981, while serving as President of the UN Security Council, he introduced the informal straw-balloting procedure for selecting the UN Secretary-General, a process that later became known as the “Otunnu Formula” and has since been used in every Secretary-General selection.
At the national level, Otunnu served as Uganda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1985 and 1986 and was a member of the Uganda National Consultative Council during the country’s transition following the fall of Idi Amin.
Following the completion of his UN assignment in 2005, Otunnu continued his work in international peace and policy. He had earlier served as President of the International Peace Academy, now the International Peace Institute, from 1990 to 1998, and later held academic appointments at Albany Law School, the American University in Paris and the Institut Français des Relations Internationales. In recent years, he has co-led the Roco Paco peacebuilding initiative alongside retired Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo to promote reconciliation in northern Uganda.
The government noted that Otunnu has received several international recognitions for his work, including the Sydney Peace Prize, the German Africa Prize and the Harvard Law School Alumni Association Award. It added that his combined experience in the UN Secretariat, Security Council, national government and grassroots peacebuilding uniquely qualifies him to lead the organization during a period of growing global challenges.
Uganda has called on all UN member states to support Otunnu’s candidature. He becomes the seventh candidate in the race to succeed Guterres. The selection process has already featured public dialogues with candidates, while the Security Council is expected to begin a series of confidential straw polls before recommending one candidate to the General Assembly for appointment.
Beyond his international accomplishments, Ambassador Olara Otunnu has had a distinguished career in Uganda’s public life. Born in Gulu District in northern Uganda, he studied law at Makerere where he was Guiold President before fleeing Idi Amin and joinng Oxford University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Jurisprudence, before earning a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Harvard Law School.
After years in international service, Otunnu returned to Uganda and joined active politics, becoming president of the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) in 2010. He contested the 2011 presidential election on the UPC ticket, campaigning on constitutionalism, national reconciliation, good governance and economic transformation. Although unsuccessful, his candidature marked a significant attempt to revive the country’s oldest political party and reintroduce issue-based politics in Uganda’s democracy.
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