Serving United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres secured his second term as The United Nations General Assembly unanimously elected him again as the secretary-general on Friday. He is appointed for another five years term UN announced.
Guterres, the only candidate for the U.N.’s top post, said he was “humbled and energized” by the support of the world’s nations and said the “driving theme” of his second term will be “prevention in all its aspects — from conflicts, climate change, pandemics to poverty and inequality.”
Ambassadors in the assembly chamber burst into applause as Assembly President Volkan Bozkir announced Guterres’ re-election by “acclamation,” without a vote. Just before the announcement, Estonia’s U.N. Ambassador Sven Jurgenson, the current Security Council president, read a resolution adopted by the 15-member council recommending Guterres for a second term.
Under the U.N. Charter, following the recommendation of the Security Council the appointment was made by the General Assembly. The council said this year it would only consider applicants backed by a U.N. member state and Guterres was the only candidate nominated by a U.N. member, his home country Portugal where he previously served as prime minister. The country’s current president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, was in the assembly chamber to watch the event.
Immediately after his re-election, Guterres took the oath of office and delivered an address urging U.N. member nations “to do everything we can to overcome current geostrategic divides and dysfunctional power relations.”
“There are too many asymmetries and paradoxes,” he said. “They need to be addressed head-on.”
“What we are living through today in terms of mistrust is, I hope, an aberration,” the U.N. chief said, “but it cannot become the norm.”
Antonio Guterres unanimously re-elected as UN General Secretary
