Guterres vows to 'engage personally' in resolving disputes

Asserting that the UN must focus more on delivery and less on process, newly-sworn in UN chief Antonio Guterres has pledged to "engage personally" in helping resolve long-standing disputes and reforming the 71- year-old world body to meet the current global challenges.
Guterres, Portugal's Prime Minister from 1995 to 2002 and former UN High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015, became the ninth UN Secretary-General after he was administered the oath of office by General Assembly President Peter Thomson here yesterday in a special session of the 193-member world body.
Guterres succeeds Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who steps down at the end of this month after leading the global organisation for the past 10 years. He was elected to the top job in October and takes over from Ban on January 1.

Giving a clarion call that the UN "must be ready to change," Guterres pledged to reposition development at the centre of the organisation's work and ensure that the UN can change to effectively meet the myriad challenges facing the international community.
"The United Nations needs to be nimble, efficient and effective. It must focus more on delivery and less on process; more on people and less on bureaucracy...The scale of the challenges we face requires us to work together on a deep and continued process of UN reform," Guterres said after taking the oath of office.
He said globalisation and technological progress have also contributed to growing inequalities, countries are battling youth unemployment and globalisation has also broadened the reach of organised crime and trafficking, deepening the divide between people and political establishments.

"In some countries, we have seen growing instability, social unrest -- even violence and conflict. A little bit everywhere, voters now tend to reject the status quo, and whatever government proposal is put to a referendum. Many have lost confidence not only in their governments, but in global institutions -- including the United Nations," he said.

Guterres said, in the current global enviorment, fear is driving the decisions of many people around the world.
"We must understand their anxieties and meet their needs, without losing sight of our universal values. It is time to reconstruct relations between people and leaders -- national and international; time for leaders to listen and show that they care, about their own people and about the global stability and solidarity on which we all depend. And it is time for the United Nations to do the same: to recognise its shortcomings and to reform the way it works," he said.

"This organisation is the cornerstone of multilateralism, and has contributed to decades of relative peace. But, the challenges are now surpassing our ability to respond. The United Nations must be ready to change," he said.
"Where prevention fails, we must do more to resolve
conflicts. From acute crises in Syria, Yemen, South Sudan and elsewhere to long-running disputes including the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts, we need mediation, arbitration as well as creative diplomacy. As part of my good offices, I am ready to engage personally in conflict resolution where it brings added value, recognising the lead role of member states," Guterres said.

At the onset of his remarks at the swearing-in-ceremony, he paid a tribute to Ban for his "principled leadership (that) helped to chart the future of the UN -- through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, through (his) commitment to peace and security, through (his) initiative to put human rights at the heart of (UN's) work."
Guterres highlighted three strategic priorities for the organisation -- working for peace, supporting sustainable development, and reforming its internal management.
Noting that often the UN is tasked with peacekeeping in places where there is no peace to keep, he said that a greater conceptual clarity and a shared understanding of the scope of peacekeeping was needed so as to pave the way for urgent reforms.

"Inspired by the new concept of sustaining peace, it is time for us all to engage in a comprehensive reform of the UN strategy, operational set-up and structures for peace and security," he said.
"The UN system has not yet done enough to prevent and respond to the appalling crimes of sexual violence and exploitation committed under the UN flag against those we are supposed to protect," Guterres said as he emphasised on the need to do more to prevent and respond to the sexual violence and exploitation committed by those serving under the UN flag against those they are supposed to protect.

"I will work closely with member states on structural, legal and operational measures to make the zero-tolerance policy...A reality," he asserted, adding that, "we must ensure transparency and accountability -- and offer protection and effective remedies to the victims."
On the second key element of the reform agenda, concerning the UN support to member states in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Guterres said development will form the centre of the UN's work, and that he will engage in a comprehensive reform of the UN development system -- both at headquarters and at country levels.
"This must involve leadership, coordination, delivery and accountability. We will build on the outcome of the recent discussions among member states," he said, underlining the need to bring humanitarian and development spheres closer together from the very beginning of a crisis.

"Humanitarian response, sustainable development and sustaining peace are three sides of the same triangle," he added.
On management reforms, Guterres underlined the need to build on existing efforts and to implement recent reform initiatives.
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"It benefits no one if it takes nine months to deploy a staff member to the field," Guterres said, underlining the need to foster a culture of accountability and effective protection for whistleblowers, as well as to better communicate the work of the UN, so that people understand it better.
"We need a substantial reform of our communications strategy, upgrading our tools and platforms to reach people around the world," he said.

Emphasising the need for gender empowerment and equality in the UN as well as across the globe, Guterres also pledged to respect gender parity from the start in all appointments to the Senior Management Group (SMG) and the Chief Executives Board (CEB), stressing, "By the end of my mandate, we should reach full gender parity at the Under-Secretary-General and Assistant Secretary-General levels, including special representatives and special envoys."
Guterres said while the world is getting better connected, fragmentations within societies are increasing, and that more and more people are living within their own bubbles, unable to appreciate their links with the whole human family.

"In the end, it comes down to values, as was said so many times today. We want the world our children inherit to be defined by the values enshrined in the UN Charter: peace, justice, respect, human rights, tolerance and solidarity," he said.
"The threats to these values are most often based on fear. Our duty to the peoples we serve is to work together to move from fear of each other, to trust in each other," he said.
Guterres, was appointed after the culmination of an historic process member states set in motion late last year.
The selection of a new UN Secretary-General, traditionally decided behind closed-doors by a few powerful countries, for the first time in history, involved public discussions with each candidate vying for the leadership position.
The General Assembly lauded Ban for his "never-tiring service to humanity" over the past decade.
Ban said, "serving as Secretary-General of this great Organisation, has been a great privilege for me of a lifetime."
Recalling his childhood, he said, "After the Korean War, UN aid fed us. UN textbooks taught us. UN global solidarity showed us we were not alone. For me, the power of the United Nations was never abstract or academic."
He said he has seen the power of international cooperation in taking on most pressing challenges and has seen the UN open its doors wider than ever to civil society and many partners to help transform the world.
Ban said his 10-year tenure was filled with challenges, including the worst financial collapse since the Great Depression, eruptions of conflict and uprisings for freedom and record numbers of people fleeing war, persecution and poverty.
But "day by day, brick by brick, we built stronger foundations for peace and progress," he said, but added that still, so many problems have proven intractable -- none more than the bloodshed in Syria and the upheaval it spawned.
"Even as I prepare to leave, my heart will stay as it has since I was a child -- right here with the United Nations," he said.