Ten candidates vying for the position of UN Secretary-General will take part in the first ever televised debate on Tuesday 12 July, broadcast by Al Jazeera.
Worldwide audiences will be given an unprecedented opportunity to watch the debate live, as candidates set out their visions for a stronger United Nations, capable of addressing the world's most pressing issues - from civil wars and terrorism, to climate change and forced migration.
Titled 'Leading the United Nations: A Global Town Hall with UN Secretary-General Candidates', the debate will be broadcast by Al Jazeera Media Network in partnership with the President of the UN General Assembly, H.E. Mogens Lykketoft.
The 10 candidates taking part in the debate are: Irina Bokova (Bulgaria), Helen Clark (New Zealand), Christiana Figueres (Costa Rica), Natalia Gherman (Moldova), António Guterres (Portugal), Vuk Jeremić (Serbia), Susana Malcorra (Argentina), Igor Lukšić (Montenegro), Vesna Pusić (Croatia) and Danilo Türk (Slovenia).
Al Jazeera English correspondent Mike Hanna will present the 30-minute pre-debate show, beginning at 18:00 EDT. The candidates will then be divided into two groups and take part in two consecutive debates, moderated by Al Jazeera’s James Bays and Folly Bah Thibault in front of a live audience at the General Assembly, including diplomats civil society, and UN staff, among others.
As a campaign that has been calling for a more inclusive process to select the next UN leader, 1 for 7 Billion welcomes this debate, which signifies another important step towards engagement of the wider UN membership - and the global public - in a selection process that will affect the lives of seven billion people.
Click here for more details about the Town Hall debate
Today's event will be followed by a head-to-head debate between newly-announced candidate Christiana Figueres, Vuk Jeremić and Danilo Türk on 13 July organised by the United Nations Association - UK (co-founder of 1 for 7 Billion), in partnership with Global Citizen and the CUNY Graduate Center.
Entirely led by civil society, this event will put questions from the Secretary-General's most important constituency - the world's seven billion people - front and centre. (Please note that further participants may be announced later today.)
Both events will be broadcast live on the 1 for 7 Billion website.