Portugese prime minister Antonio Costa, left, and president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, third from left, watch as United Nations secretary general designate Antonio Guterres, right, is sworn-in at UN headquarters, 12 December 2016. (Keystone/AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Running for the UN’s top job: a process riddled with pitfalls. In 2015, after decades shrouded in secrecy, the process for choosing the next United Nations’ secretary general was thrown into the open thanks to civil society that campaigned heavily for change. However, power over the final say continues to be wielded by the Security Council behind closed doors.

🇺🇳SHOWTIME. Get the popcorn ready for some late night streaming as candidates vying for the top job at the UN do their show-and-tell at the UN General Assembly this week.

While experts we spoke to say that the four contenders may not reveal much on how they may weather storms in the organisation and in the real, geopolitically complex world, viewers can watch out for the types of questions member states (and civil society) will be asking, even if it’ll be the Security Council, later this year that’ll decide on who wins.

“It is important that the for the full membership of the General Assembly to really speak up about who is the right candidate and for what reasons and skills and qualities, to make it more difficult for any individual, three, or five members to go against the will of the majority,” Rita French, policy and diplomatic engagement director at Article 109, an organisation advocating for the reform of the UN Charter.

Set your alarms for 4pm and then 9pm Geneva time to tune in to the livestream on Tuesday for the interactive dialogues with former UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet and IAEA director Rafael Grossi. At the same times on Wednesday, it’ll be the turn of Unctad secretary general Rebeca Grynspan and former Senegal president Macky Sall.

🔍Read more about who’s in the race

Closer up. If you’re looking for more action, mark your calendars for 9 June, when the candidates will bring their campaigns to the Maison de la Paix in Geneva for a public debate.

Regional issue. According to a rotational system that began to grow roots in the UN system only in the late 1990s, there’s a subtle understanding that if that concept still carries weight, the next SG should be from Latin America, or eastern Europe, where Guterres' term would have gone, had the ‘EEG’ group gotten its turn.

Since the Norwegian Trygve Lie was appointed as the first SG in 1946, Europeans have held the position for roughly 34 non-consecutive years out of the UN's 80-year history.

👥GENEVA HUDDLE. An influential clique of top UN donor countries, known as the Geneva Group, will be meeting next week in the Swiss city.

The group, founded in 1964 by the United States and the United Kingdom when UN membership surged, is the equivalent of the G7, focused on UN budget and governance matters, coordinating policies among its members, numbering at least 16, mostly western nations.

Amid the ongoing financial crisis at the UN, staff across the organisation will be anxiously awaiting the outcome of the discrete group’s gathering where it will strategise the way forward. But little is expected to be known about the outcome of this year’s meeting.

At least two independent UN budget experts will be asked for their insight on the crisis in short briefings to members.

None of the members we reached out to responded to requests for comment.

— Paula Dupraz-Dobias