The former Prime Minister of Portugal, António Guterres, was sworn in on Monday December 12th as Secretary General of the United Nations, its ninth leader in the organisation’s 71-year history.
The former head of the UN’s refugee programme was confirmed as the choice as the new Secretary General by the UN General Assembly in October and officially takes over from Ban Ki-moon on Jan 1st next year.
In a complex and long-winded selection process, Guterres’ experience as the head of the UN refugee programme between 2005 and 2015 stood him in good stead as he rose to be the preferred choice from the 13 initial candidates under consideration by the council.
The General Assembly president John Ashe commented, “We have every confidence he will lead our organisation with wisdom and rectitude.”
South Korea’s Ban Ki-moon had served two five-year terms and the 193-member General Assembly members paid tribute to him before ended the meeting with a standing ovation.
The selection of a new secretary general normally is decided in camera by a handful of key member countries but this year the process included public discussion with each candidate.
The head of the UN’s remit includes promoting sustainable development, working for worldwide peace, protecting human rights and dealing with humanitarian disasters.
Gutteres said he had three strategic priorities for his term of office: working for peace, supporting sustainable development and the organisation’s internal management, adding that:
"Greater conceptual clarity and a shared understanding of the objectives of peace keeping should point the way to urgent reforms. We must create a peace continuum from conflict resolution to peace keeping, building peace and development."
