Former Portuguese PM Antonio Guterres thanked the Security Council of the UN for nominating him as Secretary General of the organisation and promised to take on the huge challenges facing the world which is gripped by different conflicts.

“I have only two words to describe what I feel at the moment: gratitude and humility,” said Guterres in a short statement in the Portuguese capital Lisbon, which he repeated in different languages.

He applauded the work of the current Secretary General – Ban Ki-moon from South Korea – whose mandate comes to an end at the end of the year.

“I feel humility when I think of the huge challenges that await us, the terrifying complexity of the contemporary world. But humility is needed in order to serve the most vulnerable ones, the victims of conflicts, of terrorism, of human rights violations, of poverty and injustice in this world,” said 67-year old Guterres.

“I was moved when I saw that the Security Council is capable of taking a decision in unity and consensus, and of doing so quickly,” underlined Guterres. He thanked the Security Council and the member-states for nominating him via an open and transparent procedure.

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