UN candidacy: Macky Sall withdraws in favor of Latin America

From Marrakech, former Senegalese president Macky Sall announced on October 17, 2026, that he was withdrawing his candidacy for UN secretary-general. He said informal ballots had favored a candidate from Latin America and the Caribbean, possibly a woman, and that he hoped his decision would help produce a consensus candidate in the Security Council. Sall thanked Burundi's President Évariste Ndayishimiye, who sponsored his candidacy, Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who supported it, as well as his campaign team and other supporters.