UNSC Officially Forwards Guterres to General Assembly as Next UN Chief

New York, 06 Muharram 1438/07 October 2016 (MINA) – UN Security Council adopted Thursday by acclamation the recommendation of the Portuguese Antonio Guterres to be the next Secretary General, forwarding his name to the 193 Member General Assembly for final confirmation.

The Security Councilآ’s resolution 2311 recommended to the General Assembly that Guterres to be appointed Secretary General succeeding Ban Ki-moon, from January 2017 to the end of December 2021, KUNA reported.

Following the sixth secret ballot held by Russian led Security Council, the Former Portuguese Prime Minister Guterres has emerged as the clear favorite to become the next United Nations Secretary-General.

Before heading to the Security Council meeting, the French Representative Francois Delattre told the press that Guterres “is the right leader able to bring the community of nations together.

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He said Antonio Guterres has the leadership skills, political and moral authority to lead the United Nations in these very testing times.

The formal decision taken today by the 15-memeber body came after an invitation by the UN for candidates to be presented with proven leadership and managerial abilities, extensive experience in international relations and strong diplomatic, communication and multilingual skills.

It is for these reasons, the Government of Portugal presented the candidature of Guterres in February 2016, fully agreeing that the position of Secretary General is of the greatest importance, requiring the standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, as well as a firm commitment to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

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His prior posts

The preferred candidate demonstrated in his prior posts his ability to deal with critical and challenging problems threatening world peace and security as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (2005-2015).

During the ten and a half years of his mandate as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) he maintained excellent cooperation-with Member States and developed strong partnerships with civil society and the private sector.

Before joining UNHCR, Guterres spent more than 20 years in government and public service. He was Portugalآ’s Prime Minister from 1995 to 2002, and briefly presided over the European Council in early 2000. He also founded the Portuguese Refugee Council in 1991.

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Guterres was elected to the Portuguese Parliament in 1976 where he served as a member for 17 years. During that time, he chaired the Parliamentary Committee for Economy, Finance and Planning, and later the Parliamentary Committee for Territorial Administration, Municipalities and Environment. He was also leader of his partyآ’s parliamentary group.

He is born in Lisbon in 1949, and graduated from the Instituto Superior Tecnico with a degree in engineering. He speaks Portuguese, English, French and Spanish. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)