Secretary-General of the United Nations the appointee's national origin and to gender equality, although no woman has yet served as Secretary-General. The length of the term is discretionary, but all Secretaries-General since 1971 have been appointed to five-year terms. Every Secretary-General since 1961 has been re-selected for a second term, with the exception of Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who was vetoed by the United States in the 1996 selection. There is a term limit of two full terms, established when China cast a record 16 vetoes against Kurt Waldheim's third term in the 1981 selection. No Secretary-General since 1981 has attempted to secure a third term. The
2016 United Nations Secretary-General selection 2016 United Nations Secretary-General selection A United Nations Secretary-General selection was held in October 2016 to choose the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations to succeed Ban Ki-moon from 1 January 2017. Six straw polls were held in the Security Council from 21 July 2016 to 5 October 2016. António Guterres of Portugal led the polling in every round, finishing the last round with 13 'encourage' votes, 0 'discourage' votes, and 2 abstentions. On 6 October 2016, the Security Council unanimously recommended Guterres to the General Assembly, which formally selected him by acclamation on 13 October 2016. The 2016 selection