NEW YORK, 09 June 2021, (TON): The United Nations Security Council backed Secretary General Antonio Guterres for a second term, recommending that the 193-member General Assembly appoint him for another five years from Jan 1 of next year.

Council president for this month, Estonia’s UN Ambassador Sven Jrgenson, said that the General Assembly was likely to meet to make the appointment on June 18.

Guterres said in a statement “I am very grateful to the members of the council for the trust they have placed in me. I would be deeply humbled if the General Assembly were to entrust me with the responsibilities of a second mandate.”

Guterres succeeded Ban Ki-moon in Jan 2017, just weeks before US president Donald Trump took office. Much of Guterres’s first term was focused on placating Trump, who questioned the value of the United Nations and multilateralism.

Guterres was prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and then head of the UN refugee agency from 2005 to 2015. As secretary-general, he has been a cheerleader for climate action, Covid vaccines for all and digital cooperation.