The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Antonio Guterres

  • Mohammed’s UN appointment good for Africa – FG

    The Federal Government has expressed optimism that the appointment of the Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed, as United Nations Deputy Secretary-General would facilitate the development of the African continent.

    The UN Secretary-General-designate, Antonio Guterres, on December 15 picked Mohammed and two other women to serve in his incoming administration at the UN, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, told the NAN Correspondent New York that Guterres was “development-friendly” as a UN refugee chief.

    Onyeama also said Mohammed’s appointment was an excellent choice as she was one of the “prime movers of the Sustainable Development Goals.”

    “Yes, we are very optimistic that he (incoming Secretary-General Antonio Guterres) is going to give a very high level of priority to issues of development, which is the greatest concern to Africa,” the minister told NAN.

    “He, of course, had previously served as the High Commissioner for Refugees and in that capacity, he did a lot of excellent work and was very supportive in helping African countries address the refugee crisis on the continent.

    “And so we are so very much looking forward to working with him and believe that he is very development-friendly in his approach.

    “And his appointment of a Nigerian as the Deputy Secretary-General, and a Nigerian who was one of the prime movers of the Sustainable Development Goals, is a clear proof that he is determined to not only engage with Africa and other developing countries, on development issues.

    “But he is also keen that Africans themselves should be also driving that process and that the UN will give them all the necessary support for that.”

  • Portugal’s Antonio Guterres set to become next UN chief

    Portugal’s Antonio Guterres set to become next UN chief

    Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres is set to become the next head of the United Nations after he emerged on Wednesday as the favoured candidate among UN Security Council members.

    Guterres, also former head of the UN refugee agency, had been in the lead during five previous straw polls and got no vetoes in the latest poll to find a replacement for South Korea’s Ban Ki-moon.

    He got 13 encouraging votes and two abstentions from the 15-member council.

    None of the permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia or the U.S. — signaled an intention to cast a veto against Guterres in a formal vote.

    “Today, after our sixth straw poll, we have a clear favourite and his name is Antonio Guterres,’’ Vitaly Churkin, Russian ambassador to the UN, told reporters, with ambassadors representing all members of council standing next to him.

    The council will take a formal vote later Thursday and will then send its recommendation to the UN General Assembly, which will make the final decision in a vote seen as a formality.

    The secretary general oversees all of the operations of the 193-member UN, acting as its chief administrator and top envoy in global trouble spots.

    According to Matthew Rycroft, British ambassador to the UN, it is an important day for the Security Council coming together, uniting behind Antonio Guterres.

    “Guterres will make a very strong, effective secretary general of the UN at a crucial time for the world and for this organisation,’’ Rycroft said.

    Samantha Power, U.S. ambassador to the UN, said that the breakthrough was Guterres performance and experience.

    “In the end, there was just a candidate whose experience, vision, and versatility across a range of areas proved compelling,’’ Power told newsmen.

    The two officials said Guterres would make a statement in Lisbon after the formal vote.

    All of the other nine candidates in the race for next chief got vetoes, a diplomat said on the condition of anonymity, since the straw poll was secret.

    EU Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, who entered the race just recently, received five encouraging and eight discouraging votes, including two vetoes from permanent members.

    Two countries expressed no opinion on her candidacy.

    However current UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who has held the post for the last 10 years, is stepping down at the end of the year as his second term comes to an end.

  • Syrian refugees reach one million

    Syrian refugees reach one million

    The number of Syrian refugees who have fled the conflict has reached one million, the United Nations has said.

    The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said the number of people seeking haven in neighbouring countries had jumped since the beginning of the year.

    Half of the refugees were children, the UN said, most under the age of 11 and often traumatised by their experiences.

    BBC reports that the largest numbers of refugees were seeking shelter in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt.

    “Syria is spiralling towards full-scale disaster,” the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said in a statement, warning that the international humanitarian response capacity was “dangerously stretched.”

    “This tragedy has to be stopped,” he added, warning that the influx of people had also stretched the resources of Syria’s neighbours.

    Many of those who have fled conflict now live in difficult conditions, with poor sanitation and insufficient resources to cope with the harsh winters.

    In Lebanon, for example, the influx of almost a third of a million refugees since last February had swollen the country’s population by 10 per cent.

    Turkey, providing a temporary home for some 184,000 refugees, has spent more than $600m (459m euros; £396m) setting up 17 refugee camps, and was building new ones to meet the increasing need, the UN said.

    “These countries should not only be recognised for their unstinting commitment to keeping their borders open for Syrian refugees, they should be massively supported as well,” Mr. Guterres said.