United Nations (UN)Appoints Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres as Secretary General Thursday Oct 13,2016

The 193-member United Nations General Assembly unanimously appointed former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres (67)on Thursday Oct 13,2016 as the ninth secretary-general of the world body for five years beginning Jan. 1, 2017.

Antonio Guterres(67)will replace Ban Ki-moon(72)of South Korea

Ban Ki-moon will step down at the end of 2016 after serving two terms.

Antonio Guterres was Portugal's prime minister from 1995 to 2002 and U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015.

"He is perhaps best known where it counts most: on the front lines of armed conflict and humanitarian suffering," Ban Ki-moon told the General Assembly after Guterres was appointed. "I have long valued his advice, and long admired his spirit of service."

"His political instincts are those of the United Nations: cooperation for the common good, and shared responsibility for people and the planet," he said. "He recognizes the crucial importance of women's empowerment, from peace tables to the halls of this house."

Antonio Guterres (front) gestures after he was appointed as the new UN Secretary-General at the UN headquarters in New York, Oct. 13, 2016.

The five-year term for the secretary-general designate will start on Jan. 1, 2017 and end on Dec. 31, 2021, according to the resolution.

Antonio Guterres, a 67-year-old politician, served as UN High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015. Before joining the UN refugee agency, Guterres spent more than 20 years in government and public service. He was the prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002.

On his appointment, Antonio Guterres said he felt gratitude and humility as well as a profound sense of responsibility, while adding that "he is fully aware of the challenges the UN faces and the limitations surrounding the secretary-general."

"The dramatic problems of today's complex world can only inspire a humble approach - one in which the Secretary-General alone neither has all the answers, nor seeks to impose his views," said Guterres.

"One in which the secretary-general makes his good offices available, working as a convener, a mediator, a bridge-builder and an honest broker to help find solutions that benefit everyone involved," he added.

Antonio Guterres expressed his gratefulness to the General Assembly and the Security Council for entrusting him with the position "in a remarkable demonstration of consensus and unity" and for the transparency and openness of the selection process.

The incumbent UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said to the Assembly that Guterres not only brings "deep and solid political experience" and has acted as a lifeline for millions upon millions of people forced from homes over the past decade.

Note

United Nations (UN)Secretary Generals

1)Trygve Lie(Norway) - Term of Office 1946-52

2)Dag Hammarskjold(Sweden) - Term of Office 1953-61

3)U-Thant(Myanmar) -  Term of Office 1961-71

4)Kurt Waldheim(Austria) -  Term of Office 1972-81

5)Javier Perez de Cuellar(Peru) - Term of Office 1982-91

6)Boutros Boutros Ghali(Egypt) -  Term of Office 1992-96

7)Kofi Annan(Ghana) -  Term of Office 1997-2006

8)Ban-Ki-moon(South Korea) -  Term of Office 2006 -16