The current Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, is the eighth occupant of the Organization's 70-year history. He took office in January 2007 and will be ending his 10-year tenure on 31 December 2016.

On Thursday, Christiana Figueres, of Costa Rica, went before the General Assembly to present her vision statement, which addresses the challenges and opportunities facing the UN and the next Secretary-General, and to answer questions from the audience.  Figueres was formerly the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a post she had held since 2010.

The informal briefings, mandated by the Assembly, began in April, when the initial nine candidates, presented their views to the global community in open dialogues. Two candidates put forward by their respective governments later in the spring were heard in were heard in early June.

On Thursday’s informal hearings come just after the UN on Tuesday held its first-ever globally televised and webcast townhall-style debate in the General Assembly Hall, where 10 of the 12 confirmed candidates, including  Figueres, took questions from diplomats and the public at large. The two candidates unable to attend the event in New York were invited to send video messages to be used in the event.