Fifty Years at the Table: What Small Nations Need from the Next UN Secretary-General

Credit: ShutterstockOpinion by James Alix Michel (victoria, seychelles)Wednesday, October 28, 2026Inter Press Service VICTORIA, Seychelles, October 28 (IPS) - On 21 September 1976, less than three months after independence, Seychelles took its seat in the General Assembly of the United Nations. We became the 145th member of the Organisation. For a young nation of scattered islands in the Indian Ocean, with a small population and no army to speak of, it was far more than a ceremony. It was a promise that, in the family of nations, size would not decide whose voice was heard. Fifty years later, I still believe in that promise. But I also know that it has never been kept automatically. It has to be renewed by every generation of leaders, and it now faces one of its hardest tests.On 24 October, the United Nations marked its 81st anniversary. In his final United Nations Day message as Secretary-General, António Guterres reminded the world that the UN is not only an organisation but an idea: that humanity’s future depends on our ability to work together to advance peace, development and human rights.Those words land at a sobering moment. Wars continue in several regions, often with civil...