The headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, on 27 August, 2014. (Keystone/Salvatore Di Nolfi)

Who wants to lead the WHO? Four candidates jostle for top job as deadline nears. As the nomination deadline nears for the global health body, some candidates may be better placed than others to win support from key member states amid the agency’s geopolitical realignment.

🎧UN General Assembly: reform, rivalries and Trump's shadow. It’s that time of year again when world leaders descend on New York for the United Nations’ annual General Assembly. In this special podcast episode, Dulcie Leimbach, editor-in-chief of PassBlue, and Paula Dupraz-Dobias, journalist at Geneva Solutions, sit down to discuss some of the critical issues at stake for the multilateral organisation. Olivia Ndubuisi produced the podcast.

🗳️UN leadership straw poll still fails to reveal clear front-runner. The ongoing search for the next leader of the United Nations continues after a third straw poll failed to yield a candidate seemingly capable of braving veto-wielding opposition in the Security Council.

🏁ILO CHIEF HOPEFULS TAKE THE PODIUM. On Wednesday, the UN labour agency will hear for the first time from the candidates vying for the role of director general next year.

Incumbent chief Gilbert Houngbo, Spanish labour minister Yolanda Díaz Pérez and Peruvian politician Javier González-Olaechea Franco will take turns to showcase how they will steer the cash-strapped agency and address growing global challenges for workers from AI.

How to follow. The public hearing is scheduled to be livestreamed from Geneva between 1 pm and 5 pm.

What next? The ILO Governing Body will then conduct closed-door hearings on 9 November before voting on 26 November by secret ballot. The next chief will take office in October 2027.

🇨🇭SWISS NEUTRALITY ON THE BALLOT. The Swiss will cast their votes on Sunday on a proposal to restrict the definition of neutrality, one of international Geneva’s underlying foundations. Some argue it would have more or less of an impact on the trust international organisations, like the International Committee of the Red Cross, rely on to operate in the field. (Le Temps)

A recent poll, however, says two-thirds are planning to reject the initiative tabled by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party.

— Michelle Langrand