Guterres takes reins at UN, facing monumental task

Former Portuguese Prime Minister António Guterres assumed his new responsibilities as the Secretary General of the United Nations on the 1 January 2017 for a five year term.

Having been formally appointed by the UN General Assembly on 13 October 2016, Mr. Guterres, aged 67, will serve for a five-year period from 1 January 2017 today to 31 December 2021. He was Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Portugal’s António Guterres to be new UN chief http://www.europeansources.info/record/portugals-antonio-guterres-to-be-new-un-chief/

United Nations: UN News Centre: News, 01.01.17: New UN chief Guterres pledges to make 2017 'a year for peace' http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=55899

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