Al Jazeera Media Network airs first ever live broadcast of global town hall debate with UN Secretary-General candidates on various platforms

Published on: 13 Jul 2016

Al Jazeera Media Network (Al Jazeera), in partnership with the President of the UN General Assembly, H.E. Mogens Lykketoft, has broadcast the first ever internationally televised live UN Secretary-General candidates debate titled: “Leading the United Nations: A Global Town Hall with UN Secretary-General Candidates.”

An hour-long highlights programme of this debate, which was moderated by Al Jazeera’s James Bays and Folly Bah Thibault, can be seen at the following times on Al Jazeera English:

Wednesday July 13th at 1200GMT and 2000GMT
Thursday July 14th at 0100GMT

As the international broadcasting partner for this event, Al Jazeera broadcast the debate across its global platforms on Al Jazeera English, Al Jazeera Arabic, Al Jazeera Mubashar, and Al Jazeera Balkans, as well as on Al Jazeera English’s digital platforms, including live streaming on YouTube. Al Jazeera’s live feed of the debate has been offered to UN Television and other media carriers. The live feed has been streamed around the world through approximately 30 news channels and newswires, as well as through the European Broadcast Union’s global distribution footprint.

Ten candidates for the position of the next UN Secretary-General took part in the debate. The candidates were split into two groups and participated in separate, consecutive debates. The first group comprised the Deputy Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, Vesna Pusić; António Guterres, the former Portuguese Prime Minister who also served as a UN High Commissioner for Refugees; Susana Malcorra, the current Foreign Minister of Argentina; Vuk Jeremic, the former Serbian Foreign Minister; and Natalia Gherman, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova.

Candidates participating in the second debate included Helen Clark, the former New Zealand Prime Minister and current Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP); Danilo Turk, the former President of Slovenia; Christiana Figueres, the former Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); Igor Lukšić, the Montenegrin Foreign Minister; and Irina Bokova, who is serving as the current Director-General of UNESCO and is originally from Bulgaria.

In connection with this significant event, Al Jazeera has launched a site dedicated to coverage and commentary on the UN debate. The site is accessible at www.aljazeera.com/UNdebate.