The campaign of Uganda’s candidate for United Nations Secretary-General, Ambassador Olara Otunnu, has released a profile highlighting what it describes as more than four decades of consensus-building and innovative leadership at the UN and beyond.

Titled “Consensus Builder & Innovative Leader,” the profile sets out Otunnu’s record of resolving diplomatic deadlocks, developing institutional mechanisms and advancing reforms. It argues that the UN’s challenge is not a lack of reform proposals, but the resolve to implement and sustain them.

The document highlights Otunnu’s role in 1981, when he was President of the UN Security Council. According to the campaign, he devised the straw-balloting method during a deadlock over the succession to then Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim. The procedure has continued to inform the Council’s selection of Secretaries-General.

The profile also points to Otunnu’s work during the 1983 dispute over Grenada’s representation at the UN General Assembly. As chair of the Assembly’s Credentials Committee, he negotiated a solution that allowed proceedings to continue without requiring opposing governments to abandon their positions.

Children’s protection and Northern Uganda

The campaign identifies Otunnu’s work as the UN’s inaugural Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, from 1999 to 2005, as another example of his institutional leadership.

The profile says he advocated placing the protection of children affected by war on the Security Council’s peace and security agenda. It credits his work with helping establish the monitoring and reporting mechanism for grave violations against children in armed conflict, formalised through Security Council Resolution 1612 in 2005.

It also highlights Otunnu’s work in Northern Uganda, where he co-founded and leads Rocco Paco, a non-political, nonpartisan community movement focused on rebuilding communities affected by war and displacement.

Campaign puts reform and consensus at the centre

The profile argues that the next Secretary-General must combine consensus-building, innovative leadership and the determination to implement agreed reforms. It says reform should return the UN to the three pillars of the Charter: peace and security, human rights, and sustainable development.

It also acknowledges that the Secretary-General cannot compel member states to agree or impose institutional changes, stressing that mandates and budgets remain the responsibility of governments.

Otunnu’s campaign says his leadership would focus on impartial mediation to help end major conflicts, bringing the UN closer to communities affected by its decisions, and making reforms deliver tangible results.

The profile concludes that the Security Council has an opportunity to choose a leader capable of building consensus, proposing innovative solutions and delivering a United Nations focused on service and impact.