UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres declares willingness to serve second five-year term

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres officially declared that he is seeking a second five-year term on Monday, January 11. His current term ends on December 31. According to AP reports, in a letter to General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir, Guterres said, "It would be my honor to continue to serve the organisation in pursuing its purposes and fulfilling its noble objectives." 

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Guterres seeks second term

"I am available to serve a second term as secretary-general of the United Nations if that will be the will of member states", wrote Guterres who was elected by a 193 member assembly to succeed Ban Ki-moon after a transparent race in October 2016. He took office on January 1, 2017. Various diplomats say that Guterres was waiting for the results of the US Presidential elections. Also, reports suggest that he would not have sought a second term if Trump would have won. 

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres was responding to a letter from Bozkir asking his "intentions regarding a second mandate." He also added that Guterres informed the five permanent members of the Security Council on Friday, January 8. 

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Guterres talks about pandemic

In a separate development, Guterres had warned that the year 2021 could be ‘bleakest and darkest’ from a humanitarian perspective. He said that the pandemic in the year 2020 exposed the ‘gloomiest’ picture of the world. Speaking at an online event related to the Nobel Prize celebrations from New York, the UN chief stressed that the countries across the globe battled "long-term fragilities, inequalities and injustices", as the pandemic pushed economies to recession never witnessed in eight-long-decades, shutting businesses, leading to extreme poverty. 

"The social and economic impact of the pandemic is enormous, and growing," said Guterres. "No vaccine can undo the damage that has already been done," he said in a virtual address. Guterres added that the countries have depicted a "fragmented and chaotic" response to the crisis, adding that a robust joint response from the communities internationally lacked to a great extent. Stressing on the issue of vaccine nationality, Guterres said, "We cannot let the same thing happen for access to new COVID-19 vaccines, which must be a global public good." He made an appeal for global governance, and said it must be realised that solidarity was not only a moral imperative; it is in everyone’s interests. 

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(Image Credits: ANI)