Portugal’s former prime minister Antonio Guterres was officially nominated by the UN Security Council on Thursday to succeed Ban Ki-moon as the next United Nations secretary-general.
The 15-member council unanimously adopted a resolution formally presenting Guterres as their choice during a closed-door session.
The UN General Assembly’s 193 member-states are now expected to approve Guterres as Ban’s successor at a vote expected to take place next week.
Guterres is a self-described man of action who earned his stripes as the world body’s refugee chief, tirelessly pressing rich nations to do more.
An engineer by training and fervent Catholic, Guterres, 67, fought unflaggingly for migrants’ rights for over a decade as UN High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015.
He repeatedly warned that millions of refugees fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan would turn to Europe if nations like Turkey and Jordan did not receive more help to cope.
“When people say they cannot receive Syrian refugees because they are Muslims, those that say it are supporting terrorist organisations and allowing them to be much more effective in recruiting people,” he said in December just before he stepped down as UN refugee chief.
Guterres’ two terms at the helm of the UN agency were also marked by a reform of its internal structures which reduced the number of staff at its Geneva headquarters by a third.
The overhaul boosted the agency’s capacity to respond to international crisis by deploying more staff closer to hotspots.
Former Portuguese president Anibal Cavaco Silva said earlier this year that Guterres had “left a legacy” at the refugee agency “that means today he is a respected voice and all the world listens to him.”
‘On the ground’
Frequently also touted as a possible candidate for president of Portugal, the Socialist Guterres said he has declined to run because he would rather “play ball” than be “a referee”.
“I like action, being on the ground, I like things that force me to permanently intervene,” he added in an interview with Portuguese public television RTP in January.
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