UN re-elects Antonio Guterres as secretary-general

Antonio Guterres re-elected as UN Secretary-General for a second five-year term. His term will start from January 1, 2022. He was appointed as the head of the United Nations by the 193-member United Nations General Assembly.

President of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly Volkan Bozkir announced that Mr. Guterres “has been appointed by acclamation Secretary-General of the United Nations for the second term of office beginning on January 1, 2022 and ending on December 31, 2026.” Mr. Bozkir then administered the oath of office to 72-year-old Guterres at the podium of the UN General Assembly hall.

Guterres was the only candidate nominated by a U.N. member state, his home country Portugal where he previously served as prime minister, and the country’s current president was in the assembly chamber to watch the event.

Guterres pledged to "give it my all to ensure the blossoming of trust between and among nations, large and small, to build bridges and to engage relentlessly in confidence building" — and to "seek to inspire hope that we can turn things around, that the impossible is possible."

Guterres said the world is facing "a number of dramatic fragilities," singling out the pandemic, climate change, lawlessness in cyberspace and the geopolitical divide, and stressing that this must be addressed by bringing together the world's nations and strengthening multilateralism.

This year, seven individuals submitted applications to be secretary-general without backing from any government, including most recently former Ecuadorian President Rosalia Arteaga.