UN elects Guterres; Amina Mohammed reappointed

19 Jun UN elects Guterres; Amina Mohammed reappointed

The U.N. General Assembly unanimously elected Antonio Guterres to a second term as secretary-general on Friday for another five years at the helm of the 193-member organization.

Ambassadors in the assembly chamber burst into applause as Assembly President Volkan Bozkir announced Guterres’ re-election by “acclamation,” without a vote.

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.

Immediately after his re-election, Guterres took the oath of office and delivered an address urging U.N. member nations “to do everything we can to overcome current geostrategic divides and dysfunctional power relations.”

Guterres appointed Nigeria’s Amina Mohammed to serve as Deputy Secretary-general for a second term, shortly after the UN General Assembly re-appointed him for a second term.

Speaking with journalists after taking the oath of office for a second term, Guterres said he had extended an offer to Mohammed to continue in office.

“After being elected, I have the pleasure to invite the deputy secretary-general to remain in my second mandate and I hope she will accept,” Guterres said.

Mohammed, who was standing behind Guterres at the press briefing, responded with the comment: “absolute honour”.

She had also served as the special adviser to Ban Ki-moon on post-2015 development planning, which focused on the 2030 agenda for sustainable development goals. Mohammed is a diplomat and politician who is serving as the fifth Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations.