Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres was sworn in on Monday as the ninth United Nations 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, was a socialist Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995-2002 and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005-December 2015.
He was appointed by the General Assembly on October 13. After months of competition with candidates from a variety of countries, the Security Council unanimously endorsed Guterres, recommending him to the General assembly for approval. He takes over from Ban Ki-moon on Jan. 1.
Diplomats said Guterres is expected to shortly name Nigeria’s environment minister Amina Mohammed as his deputy secretary-general. He is also planning to appoint a woman as his chief of staff before the end of the year, diplomats said.
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.
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