Uganda has nominated Ambassador Olara Otunnu for the position of United Nations secretary-general as the country seeks support for his bid to lead the global body.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the nomination in a statement issued on July 26, 2026.
Permanent Secretary Vincent Bagiire Waiswa said the government had formally submitted Otunnu’s candidature to succeed António Guterres, whose term ends on December 31, 2026.
The government cited Otunnu’s more than four decades of service in international diplomacy, government, academia and civil society.
Otunnu served as UN under-secretary-general and the first special representative of the secretary-general for children and armed conflict from 1998 to 2005.
During his tenure, he placed the protection of children affected by war on the UN Security Council agenda. He also helped establish the monitoring and reporting system under Security Council Resolution 1612.
The system, adopted in 2005, tracks grave violations against children in armed conflict and remains in operation.
Otunnu previously served as Uganda’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations from 1980 to 1985.
He was president of the UN Security Council in December 1981. During that period, he introduced the straw-balloting system for selecting the UN secretary-general.
The procedure became known as the “Otunnu Formula” and has guided subsequent elections for the position.
Otunnu also served as Uganda’s minister of foreign affairs from 1985 to 1986. He was a member of the Uganda National Consultative Council during the transitional period after the fall of Idi Amin.
He later served as president of the International Peace Academy, now the International Peace Institute, from 1990 to 1998.
Otunnu has also held academic positions at Albany Law School, the American University in Paris and the Institut Français des Relations Internationales.
His international awards include the Sydney Peace Prize, the German Africa Prize and the Harvard Law School Alumni Association Award.
In recent years, he has co-led Roco Paco, a community peacebuilding initiative, with Chief Justice Emeritus Alfonse Chigamoy Owiny-Dollo.
The initiative supports healing and reconstruction in northern Uganda following more than two decades of conflict.
Otunnu holds a bachelor’s degree in jurisprudence from Oxford University and a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School. He speaks English, French and Luo.
The government said his experience in the UN Secretariat, the Security Council, government, academia and community peacebuilding makes him suitable for the role. It called on UN member states to support his candidature.
