(VOVworld)- UN Secretary-General-designate Antonio Guterres has vowed to reform the UN system to better support global efforts to maintain world peace, promote development and combat climate change. Guterres, a former Portuguese Prime Minister, made the promise after he was sworn in as the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations whose five-year term will begin on Jan. 1, 2017.
New UN Chief vows to reform UN |
At a meeting with ambassadors and officials after the swearing-in ceremony on Monday, Mr. Guterres promised a management reform to make the United Nations "nimble, efficient, and effective," and to "focus more on delivery and less on process; more on people and less on bureaucracy." The new UN Chief highlighted the UN’s priority of addressing the root problems of challenges facing the UN’s three main pillars: peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights.
67-year old Guterres’ career has covered a lot of ground. He graduated as a physic engineer and is fluent in Portuguese, English, Spanish, and French. During his term as the Portuguese Prime Minister from 1995-2002, he contributed greatly to financial reform in Portugal. Following the defeat of hí Socialist Party in 2001, he resigned to pursue a diplomatic career. Three years later, he was elected UN High Commissioner for Refugee. He had this post for nearly a decade and his tireless efforts helped refugees who were forced flee their homes by poverty, conflict, and natural disasters.
In the next five years, the new UN Secretary General will face a lot of challenges. He needs to create a consensus at a certain extent at the UN Security Council to cope with the 6-year-long civil war in Syria, deal with the conflict in eastern Ukraine, find solutions to North Korea’s nuclear program, and respond to climate change, environmental problems, migrations, and border control.