New UN chief vows to work as 'convener, bridge-builder'

Newly-appointed UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres vowed to work as a "convener" and "bridge-builder" to help find solutions to the world's pressing challenges, underscoring that human dignity, gender equality and fighting the alliance of violent extremists and expressions of xenophobia will be among his priorities.

Guterres was unanimously appointed by the 193-member UN General Assembly as the successor to Ban Ki-moon and will assume his new role for a five-year term beginning January 1, 2017.

"I am fully aware of the challenges the UN faces and the limitations surrounding the Secretary-General," Guterres said in his first address to the General Assembly following his appointment as the 9th Secretary General of the UN.

He said the dramatic problems of today's complex world can only inspire a "humble approach - one in which the Secretary-General alone neither has all the answers, nor seeks to impose his views; one in which the Secretary-General makes his good offices available, working as a convener, a mediator, a bridge-builder and an honest broker to help find solutions that benefit everyone involved".

Guterres underscored the importance of diversity in meeting the challenges of the world.

He called on the international community to ensure that "we are able to break the alliance between all the terrorist groups and violent extremists on one side and the expressions of populism and xenophobia on the other side".

"These two reinforce each other and we must be able to fight both of them with determination," he said.

Having worked as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees for 10 years, Guterres said he has witnessed "first hand" the suffering of the most vulnerable people on earth.

"I have visited war zones and refugee camps where one might legitimately ask: what has happened to the 'dignity and worth of the human person'," he said.

The immunity among people of the world to the plight of those most socially and economically underprivileged has underscored that he has the "acute responsibility" to make human dignity the core of his work.

He also noted that gender equality will be a focus area of his work as the UN chief.

"I have long been aware of the hurdles women face in society, in the family and in the workplace just because of their gender. I have witnessed the violence they are subject to during conflict, or while fleeing it, just because they are women," he said adding that the protection and the empowerment of women and gender parity in the organisation "are and will continue to be a priority commitment for me".