Antonio Guterres

From his early years as Portugal's prime minister to his work as the High Commissioner of the United Nations for Refugees, Guterres has devoted his life to reducing suffering, defending the weak, and upholding human rights for all. He began volunteering in the impoverished neighborhoods of His birthplace was Lisbon.

As the United Nations Secretary-General, these objectives continue to guide his work. He has fought to advance peace, quell animosity, and channel ambition in the face of the world's climate emergency and the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals since taking office in January 2017.

In addition, Guterres has acknowledged that the U.N. has to be more creative and efficient, and he has implemented extensive changes to better leverage new technologies and improve flexibility, accountability, and openness. Also, he is striving for greater geographical representation and gender parity, both of which have seen significant milestones reached well ahead of schedule.

Even though Guterres takes pride in being a In keeping with his multilateralist philosophy, he stresses that "international cooperation can't be taken for granted." "We need to address the actual issues people face in order to demonstrate its value."

1949 saw the birth of Guterres in Lisbon, where he later earned an engineering degree from the Institute Superior Técnico. He speaks English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish with ease. His spouse is Catarina de Almeida Vaz Pinto, Lisbon's deputy mayor for culture. Together, they have two daughters, a stepson, and three grandkids.

Family & Personal Life

In 1972, António Guterres tied the knot with child psychiatrist Luísa. Pedro and Mariana are Guterres and Luísa's two children. Luísa passed away from cancer at a London hospital in 1998.

The former Portuguese State Secretary for Culture, Catarina Marques de Almeida Vaz Pinto, was the woman he married in 2001.

It is a devoted Catholic, Guterres. Father Vítor Melícias, a well-known Franciscan priest and church administrator, gets close to him and confides in him. He got to know Father Melícias when he was a college student and belonged to the "Group of Light," a young Catholic group.

He has stated that "gender parity" is essential at the U.N. Therefore, it is widely anticipated that he will appoint a woman as deputy secretary-general.

U.N. analyst Richard Gowan of the European Council for Foreign Relations stated earlier this year that he had heard from insiders that Mr. Guterres, a Portuguese national, "could provide the U.N. the sort of kick up the backside it needs."

After graduating from the Instituto Superior Tecnico in 1971, he pursued studies in physics and engineering.

But the devout Catholic's enthusiasm in academia lasted only a few years. In 1974, the year Portugal ended its fifty-year dictatorship, he entered the Socialist Party and quickly made the transition to full-time politics.

He was appointed prime minister in 1995, three years after being selected as the Socialist Party's secretary-general, and he held that position until 2002. Speaking English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese with ease, Mr. Guterres subsequently concentrated on his career in international diplomacy, eventually becoming the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 2005.

Under his direction, the UNHCR's Geneva headquarters saw a reduction in workforce, but its ability to respond to global emergencies by stationing more personnel near hotspots increased.

But what people remember most about him is his ceaseless efforts to persuade the richest nations on the planet to assist those escaping violence and natural disasters everywhere.

He stated last year in an article for Time magazine, "We cannot deter people from leaving for their lives." They're going to show up. We get to decide how kindly and skillfully we handle their arrival."

He claimed that his position at the UNHCR had been an outstanding preparation for a secretary-general role prior to his candidature.

"I think we are residing in a world wherein we see an increasing number of new conflicts, while you see tremendous challenge in solving the disputes," he stated.

"There is an apparent absence of capability in the international community to avoid and to solve conflicts."

The 67-year-old man is the father of two kids from his initial marriage, who passed away in 1998. In 2001, he wed once more.

Childhood and Early Life

The Portuguese citizen António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres was born in Lisbon on April 30, 1949. Virgílio Dias Guterres and Ilda Cândida de Oliveira were his parents.He attended Lisbon's "Camões Lyceum," now called "Camões Secondary School." He received the "National Lyceums Award," which is granted to the nation's top student each year, upon graduating from high school in 1965.

He went to the "Instituto Superior Técnico" to study physics and electrical engineering. While attending college, Guterres observed the end of António de Oliveira Salazar's autocratic rule. He later participated in the demonstrations that brought an end to the rule of Salazar's successor, Marcello Caetano, in 1974.

After earning a degree in systems theory and telecommunications signals from the "Instituto Superior Técnico" in 1971, he started working as an assistant professor. However, he left his academic position in 1974 to pursue his interests in politics during Portugal's dictatorship-to-democracy transition.

Due in part to his Catholic faith, Guterres began his career as an opponent of abortion and has since shifted to more liberal views. As President of the United Nations, he has defended women's reproductive & sexual rights in the face of setbacks in countries like the US under Donald Trump. Guterres and de Sousa reunited in May when the former received the Carlos V European Award at Yuste, in the Spanish province of Cáceres. De Sousa praised his friend's tenure as the President of the Portuguese Republic, stating, "He was the most outstanding of us all."

Guterres joined the P.S. in Lisbon at the same time as João Soares, previously the mayor of Lisbon and the son of the party's founders, Mário Soares and Maria Barroso. João Soares backed Guterres as he competed against Lisbon Municipal Chamber President Jorge Sampaio for the party leadership. "I visited Sampaio and explained to him why I support Guterres," Soares told EL PAÍS. He was a lovely man who knew everyone in the country and got along with everyone.He is a quintessential social democrat-cultured, wise, and gifted orator. Unlike others, he never entered the business world.

Though Soares is a big fan of Guterres, he thinks his friend made a mistake with his statement about Israel. "There can be no buts after the Hamas attacks," he declares, going on to mention that the secretary general of the United Nations had advised him to go to Masada. In this ancient place, the Jews chose to kill themselves all before giving themselves over to the forces of Rome.

Career

In 1974, Guterres became a member of the center-left Socialist Party (P.S.) after the military takeover of Portugal (also known as the "Carnation Revolution") restored democracy. Nonetheless, unlike many of the Portuguese socialists of his time, Guterres did not enter politics through strong resistance to the dictatorial Salazar-Caetano administration (1926-1974) but rather from a grounding in Catholic social activism. In 1976, Guterres was chosen to join the Portuguese Parliament, a position he held for 17 years. He presided over the Parliamentary Committees on Economy, Finance, and Planning as well as Territorial Administration, Municipalities, Environment at that time. During his tenure as a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (1981-1983), Guterres was selected to lead the Standing Committee on Demography, Migration, and Refugees.

Once the Socialists lost three straight legislative elections (1985, 1987, and 1991), he was elected secretary-general of the party in 1992. Guterres led Portugal as prime minister from 1995 to 2002 after the Socialists won parliamentary elections on October 1, 1995. Prioritizing social welfare, education, and administrative decentralization were his key policy objectives.

After Indonesia invaded and took control of East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, Guterres made a significant contribution to the country's independence. In his capacity as President of the European Council in 2000, he oversaw the passage of the "Lisbon Agenda," a ten-year plan aimed at increasing the competitiveness of the European economy, and he co-chaired the first meeting between the European Union and Africa.

International stages had always drawn Guterres in. He led Portugal's successful euro-entry campaign during his Prime Minister tenure, which launched an era of economic growth that culminated in the organization of Expo 98 in Lisbon.

Guterres's ability to negotiate gained notoriety after he was elected prime minister in 1995. Four seats separated his socialist government from an absolute majority. He was able to hold a minority government for the entire four-year term, a first for Portuguese politics. In 1999, he was re-elected as prime minister, but he still needed a majority of one seat.

After the P.S. lost the December 2001 local elections, he announced his resignation as prime minister, saying he was leaving to keep the nation out of a political impasse. In 2002, José Manuel Durão Barroso's Social Democratic Party defeated his party.

Serving at Socialist International, the global association of social democratic organizations, for a considerable amount of time, Guterres held the positions of President from 1999 to mid-2005 and vice president from 1992 to 1999.

He served as the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015, during which he managed a significant structural reform of the institution that improved its emergency response capability and cost-effectiveness. During his tenure, UNHCR's activities increased threefold as a result of the adoption of a needs-based budgeting method and a rise in the number of individuals displaced by persecution and violence. During Guterres's term, there were some of the worst displacement crises in recent memory, mainly related to the hostilities in Syria and Iraq but also involving South Sudan, Yemen, and the Central African Republic. He frequently urged Western nations to do more to aid refugees escaping war during that period.

High Commissioner for Refugees

As High Commissioner, Guterres oversaw one of the biggest humanitarian organizations in the world, with over 10,000 employees operating in 126 countries to protect and assist more than sixty million refugees, returnees, displaced individuals, and stateless people at the conclusion of his tenure. During his tenure, the UNHCR undertook a significant organizational reform that included reducing staff and administrative expenses at the Geneva head office. Additionally, the organization expanded its emergency response capabilities amidst the largest displacement crisis since World War II.

During a February 2007 NPR interview, which focused mostly on the situation of Iraqi refugees, Guterres declared that this was one of the biggest Middle East refugee crises since 1948. He gave the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo's refugee crisis as instances of underreported circumstances. In his last years as High Commissioner, he focused primarily on securing foreign assistance for Syrian civil war refugees, referring to the situation as "existential" for host nations like Lebanon and Jordan and characterizing more aid as a "matter of surviving" for the refugees. He was a vocal supporter of Europe taking a more humanitarian and coordinated approach to the Mediterranean migration issue. He started the largest-ever US$5 billion humanitarian endeavor in June 2013 with the goal of helping a total of 10.25 million Syrians that same year.

In 2012, Guterres named the American actress Angelina Jolie as a special envoy to represent UNHCR and himself diplomatically, in what was mostly regarded as a very successful P.R. move. Together, they visited the Maritime Squadron of the Armed Forces of Malta (2015), the Kilis Oncupinar Accommodation Facility in Turkey (2012), the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan (2013). Additionally, they both had joint appearances before the U.N. Security Council (2015).

Early in 2015, the General Assembly decided to extend Guterres' term by six and a half months, to December 31, on the suggestion of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Later, the 98-member UNHCR executive committee (EXCOM) asked Ban to suggest that Guterres' tenure be extended by an additional year in view of the European migrant crisis. Ban rejected the request. After Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, Guterres had the second-longest tenure as High Commissioner in the organization's history when he departed office on December 31, 2015.

Awards & Achievements

On June 9, 2002, the Portuguese government awarded him the Grand Cross (GCC) Military Order of Christ. On February 2, 2016, he was granted the Grand Cross (GCL) of the Portuguese honorary civic award, the award of Liberty (Order of Freedom). Honourable civil orders have also been given to Guterres by other countries, including Spain, Greece, Italy, France, Japan, Belgium, Brazil, Poland, Uruguay, Tunisia, and Mexico.

The Foreign Press Association in Portugal (AIEP) granted him the title of "Personality of the Year" in 2005. He received the prestigious "Freedom Award" from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in 2007.

He shared the 2009 Calouste Gulbenkian International Prize with the Peace Research Institute of the Middle East. Forbes magazine listed him as among "The World's Most Powerful People in 2009" that same year. 2016 saw Guterres receive the "W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award." He was given "The National German Sustainability Award" that same year.

Antonio Guterres Facts

• The 9th Secretary-General of the U.N. is currently Antonio Guterres, a politician and diplomat from Portugal.
• On April 30, 1949, he was born in Lisbon, Portugal.
• With a strong emphasis on humanitarian issues and international cooperation, Guterres has had a noteworthy life in serving the public and international affairs.
• Before taking on the position of Secretary-General, Guterres was the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015, where he oversaw initiatives to solve the worldwide refugee crisis and fought for the rights and protection of those who have been displaced.
  
• From 1995 until 2002, he also held the position of prime minister of Portugal, during which time the nation underwent considerable social and economic changes.
• As Secretary-General, Guterres has given top priority to pressing international issues like gender equality, environmental degradation, sustainable development, and peacekeeping missions.
• He has been a strong proponent of multilateralism, pushing for international cooperation to address global concerns and advance human rights, security, and peace.
• The significance of empathy, compassion, solidarity in addressing intricate global issues and promoting a more equitable and sustainable global community has been underscored by Guterres.
• The Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, which are a set of international objectives meant to end poverty, advance equality, and safeguard the environment by 2030, have benefited greatly from his leadership.
• Because of his exceptional leadership and diplomatic abilities, Guterres has gained the respect and appreciation of many people. He is still working nonstop to use collective action and international collaboration to create a more equitable and peaceful world.

Other Activities

Advisor to the Board, Caixa Geral de Depósitos (2003-2005)

• Member of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) since 2002; Chairperson of the Jury (2004); Member of the Champalimaud Foundation; Member of the Madrid Vision Award Jury Club; Member of the European Regional Innovation Awards
• From 2013 to 2018, a non-executive member of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Friends of Europe boards of trustees.
• President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa named him as a member of the Portuguese Council of State in 2015; he left to take up the position of U.N. Secretary-General.

Conclusion

As a former global prime minister and democratic president, Guterres is a member of the Club of Madrid. Mr. Guterres received his engineering degree from Instituto Superior Técnico after being born in Lisbon in 1949. He speaks English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish with ease.

Following his graduation, Guterres served as a physics lecturer; however, he got more involved in politics as Portugal started its democratic transition. Two years later, in 1974, he was chosen to the Portuguese Parliament after joining the Socialist Party.