{"id":79848,"date":"2016-10-14T10:23:01","date_gmt":"2016-10-14T08:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/south-africa-congratulates-mr-gutteres-for-his-appointment-as-the-next-secretary-general-of-the-un\/"},"modified":"2016-10-14T10:23:01","modified_gmt":"2016-10-14T08:23:01","slug":"south-africa-congratulates-mr-gutteres-for-his-appointment-as-the-next-secretary-general-of-the-un","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/south-africa-congratulates-mr-gutteres-for-his-appointment-as-the-next-secretary-general-of-the-un\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa congratulates Mr Gutteres for his appointment as the next Secretary-General of the UN"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Africa congratulates Mr Gutteres for his appointment as the next Secretary-General of the UN<\/a>: <\/p>\n

The South African Government extends its warm congratulations to Mr António Gutteres from Portugal following his appointment by the United Nations General Assembly as the organisation’s 9th Secretary-General. Mr Gutteres will serve a five-year term from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2021.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Mr. Guterres brings with him a wealth of experience. He served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

South Africa believes it was due to the concerted efforts by the membership of the General Assembly to regain its Charter-mandated role in the selection and appointment of the Secretary-General that enabled the appointment of such an exceptional candidate.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In his vision statement to the General Assembly, Mr Gutteres highlighted a number of priority issues that are aligned with South Africa’s foreign policy objectives, including:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n