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![Antonio Guterres has led the UNHCR for a decade and promised to make refugee issues and humanitarian aid priorities should he become secretary-general [Xinhua]](http://thebricspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/253353002_8-e1475685354629.jpg)
Antonio Guterres has led the UNHCR for a decade and promised to make refugee issues and humanitarian aid priorities should he become secretary-general [Xinhua]
Guterres beat out nine other strong candidates, including Bulgaria’s Kristalina Georgieva who is the European commission’s vice-president.
All 15 Security Council ambassadors agreed to formally vote for Guterres on Thursday.
Guterres has been UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for a decade. The Syrian crisis and the ensuing refugee crisis has strained the UNHCR despite his appeals to the world to step in and help people most in need of assistance.
Jeff Crisp of Oxford University’s Refugee Studies Centre and former Head of Policy Development and Evaluation at UNHCR, says Guterres is “widely acknowledged to be one of the most savvy and charismatic leaders within the UN system”.
In preliminary interviews with the candidates, Guterres pledged to continue to work for the world’s desperate and voiceless should he become the UN’s top chief.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies
