Antonio Guterres chosen again as UN Secretary General for second five-year term

In News

UN General Assembly on 18th June appointed Antonio Guterres as the UN Secretary-General for a second term beginning January 1, 2022 and ending on December 31, 2026.

About

On June 8, the 15-nation Council had held a closed meeting where it accepted by applause the resolution that recommended Mr. Guterres’ name to the General Assembly for a second five-year term as Secretary General from January 1, 2022-December 31, 2026.

India supported for re-election of Mr. Guterres as UN Chief and welcomed the adoption of the resolution recommending his name.

As mentioned in the UN Charter, the Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. Each Secretary-General has the option of a second term if they can gather sufficient support from Member States.

Mr. Guterres was appointed as the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations on January 1, 2017 and his first term will end on December 31, 2021.

There has been no woman Secretary General in the UN’s 75-year history and Mr. Guterres’ re-election will mean that any chance of having a female lead can come only after 2026.

Mr. Guterres was elected after a reformed selection process that included a public informal dialogue session in the General Assembly, involving civil society representatives, so as to include transparency and inclusivity.

In his vision statement 'Restoring trust and inspiring hope’, Mr. Guterres said that the essentials for the next five years include organising a large and enduring response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences in the short-term, trying everything in the search for peace and security, making peace with nature and climate action, boosting the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and advocating for a more equitable world, ensuring the centrality of human rights, taking gender equality to the next level, focusing on people, rising to the challenge of digital transformation, advancing multilateralism and the common agenda, embarking on a ‘United Nations 2.0’ and rekindling shared commitment to enduring values.