The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was appointed for a second-five year-term on Friday, 18^th June, by the 193-member U.N. General Assembly. The ceremony took place at the United Nations General Assembly, in New York, and was attended by the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. António Guterres will stay at the head of the UN until the end of 2026.

The former Portuguese Prime Minister and former UN High Commissioner for Refugees, who has been UN Secretary General since January 2017, was re-elected on 8th June.

“I will give it my all to ensure the blossoming of trust between and among nations large and small, to build bridges, and to engage relentlessly in confidence building,” said engineer António Guterres at the General Assembly after taking the oath of office.

The UN secretary-general also highlighted “COVID-19 vaccines must be an absolute world priority” and the urgency of a fairer and more inclusive global socio-economic system, and a “fair, green and sustainable recovery”.

He recalled the suffering of women around the world and stressed that COVID-19 has worsened gender inequality.  Engineer António Guterres called for greater participation of young people, women and civil society in decision-making processes around the world, mainly in defence of gender equality.

As priorities for the “international system”, the Técnico alumnus pointed out “prevention and preparation” towards the great global challenges: “the increase of conflicts, the possibility of future pandemics and other existential risks”.

According to the former UN High Commissioner for Refugees, climate change, biodiversity loss and escalating pollution are other global challenges ahead, along with “the decline of human rights, lawlessness in cyberspace and the growing digital divide”.

The 2nd term officially starts on January 1, 2022.

A politician and a humanist

António Guterres graduated in Electrical Engineering in 1971 from Instituto Superior Técnico, with a final grade point average of 19 (out of 20) and won the national award for best student of the year.

He began to engage on social causes when he was still a student. First, in JUC-Juventude Universitária Católica, and then in CASU-Centro de Ação Social Universitária, where he was confronted with the 1967 Portugal floods.

In October 1971 he became a Técnico faculty member where he remained until the beginning of his political career, in November 1975, lecturing Telecommunication Systems and Signal Theory. In 2003, after being General Secretary of the Socialist Party and Prime Minister, he returned to Técnico as a Visiting Full Professor.

Engineer António Guterres was prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002. The Técnico alumnus was member of the Portuguese Council of State from 1991 to 2002, and member of the Portuguese Parliament for 17 years. He was elected for the first time in 1976 and he was responsible for several portfolios, such as Economy, Finance, Planning, Territorial Administration and Environment.

As president of the European Council, in 2000, António Guterres led the adoption of the Lisbon Agenda for growth and jobs, and co-chaired the first European Union-Africa summit. He was a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 1981 to 1983, where he chaired the Committee on Demography, Migration and Refugees. He is a founding member of the Portuguese Refugees Council, created in 1991.

He served as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015, heading one of the world’s foremost humanitarian organizations during some of the most serious displacement crises in decades. The number of people displaced by conflict and persecution rose from 38 million in 2005 to over 60 million in 2015.

In January 2017, António Guterres became UN Secretary General. His first term was marked by numerous challenges and milestones such as the UN Global Compact for Climate and Migration. Both were approved by a large majority in the United Nations General Assembly.

The end of his 1st term is marked by the first summit between presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, and also by the US return to the Paris Agreement.

*Photo by Eskinder Debebe / UN Photo