António Guterres sworn in as next UN Secretary-General

pulse-ghana admin 18:35 - 13 December 2016

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At a formal ceremony at UN headquarters in New York, Guterres was sworn in by Peter Thomson, the president of the 71st Assembly of the United Nations.

At a formal ceremony at the UN headquarters in New York, Guterres was sworn in by Peter Thomson, the president of the 71st Assembly of the United Nations.

At the swearing-in ceremony, he said; "

Guterres, however, formally takes over from South Korea’s Ban Ki-moon in January 1, 2017 as the ninth leader of the club of sovereign nations. He beat five other candidates, including Helen Clark (former Prime Minister of New Zealand) and Irina Bokova (the director-general of the UN’s cultural and scientific organisation, UNESCO) in the rigorous selection process.

Guterres was prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and is the former head of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

He becomes the fourth European to hold one of the world’s powerful positions. Former holders of the office include Ghana's Kofi Annan and Sweden's Dag Hammarskjöld.