Former SI President António Guterres to become next UN Secretary General

06 October 2016

The Socialist International Women (SIW) would like to congratulate António Guterres on being chosen as the next Secretary-General of the United Nations. This position is a true recognition of his work, experience and strong advocacy for human rights, freedom, democracy, justice and peace.

António Guterres served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and President of our fraternal organisation, the Socialist International (SI) from 1999 to 2005. He was also Vice-President of SI between 1992 and 1999. Recently Guterres served as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a position which he held from 2005 to 2015.

With the conflict in Syria, the surge in terrorism attacks, and the world refugee crisis, the task of the next Secretary-General will be a challenging one, but SIW is certain that Mr Guterres’ political capability, strong ideals, and excellent diplomatic and communication skills, will inspire leaders, governments, and people all over the world to choose peace instead of violence.

We also trust that Mr Guterres will make gender equality a priority of his work. It is women and girls who suffer the most from conflict, violence and poverty. True gender equality cannot be a reality when conflict and violence is still so widespread.

SIW take this opportunity to affirm its commitment to working with the UN in solidarity and in cooperation to support its work on attaining global peace and wish Mr Guterres all the very best in his new mandate as UN Chief.

 

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