Former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Guterres was on Monday sworn in as the ninth UN secretary-general, pledging to personally help broker peace in various conflicts and reform the 71-year-old world body to become more effective.
Guterres, 67, is to replace Un Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, 72, of South Korea on Jan. 1. Ban steps down at the end this year after two five-year terms.
Guterres was Portugal’s prime minister from 1995 to 2002 and UN High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to last year.
Photo: EPA
“From the acute crises in Syria, Yemen, South Sudan and elsewhere, to long-running disputes including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we need mediation, arbitration, as well as creative diplomacy,” Guterres said.
“As part of my good offices I am ready to engage personally in conflict resolution where it brings added value,” he told the 193-member UN General Assembly.
Guterres beat out 12 other candidates, seven of whom were women, amid a push for the first woman to be elected.
He said on Monday that he aimed to have gender parity among senior UN leadership within his five year term.
Guterres is expected to name Nigerian Minister of Environment Amina Mohammed as his deputy secretary-general, diplomats said, adding that he is also planning to appoint a woman as his chief of staff before the end of the year.
Before her appointment as environment minister a year ago, Mohammed was Ban’s special adviser on post-2015 development planning — a role that culminated last year with the adoption by the General Assembly of sustainable development goals for the next 15 years.
Guterres is the first former head of government to be elected to run the world body and that experience will be reflected in how he operates, diplomats said.
“He’s looking for a big shake-up, reshuffle,” said a senior UN diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. “He’s looking to create ... a different feeling, with the undersecretary-generals much more part of a collective leadership of the UN.”
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