Switzerland - IOM warmly welcomes the appointment of  António Guterres as the new Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Mr Guterres will succeed the current UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who leaves office at the end of this year, having led the UN since January 2007.

IOM Director General William Lacy Swing said: “I warmly congratulate António Guterres on his appointment as Secretary-General. He is ideally qualified to lead the UN at a time when it faces huge challenges, not least the multiple crises that have triggered mass migration on an unprecedented scale.”

“Over the past decade he has served as an outstanding United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, working in close collaboration with IOM – a longstanding partner. We look forward to continuing that close relationship in his new role as Secretary-General.”  

Mr Guterres, 67, has spent more than 30 years in government and public service, including serving as the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002.

He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In 2005, he was elected as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees by the UN General Assembly, serving for a decade until 2015.

For more information please contact Leonard Doyle at IOM HQ in Geneva. Email: ldoyle@iom.int, Tel. +41.792857123.