António Guterres
| His Excellency António Guterres GCC | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 10th United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 15 June 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Ruud Lubbers |
| 114th Prime Minister of Portugal | |
| In office 28 October 1995 – 6 April 2002 | |
| President | Mário Soares Jorge Sampaio |
| Preceded by | Aníbal Cavaco Silva |
| Succeeded by | José Manuel Barroso |
| President of the Socialist International | |
| In office November 1999 – June 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Pierre Mauroy |
| Succeeded by | George Papandreou |
| Secretary-General of the Socialist Party | |
| In office 23 February 1992 – 20 January 2002 | |
| Preceded by | Jorge Sampaio |
| Succeeded by | Ferro Rodrigues |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 23 February 1992 – 28 October 1995 | |
| Prime Minister | Aníbal Cavaco Silva |
| Preceded by | Jorge Sampaio |
| Succeeded by | Fernando Nogueira |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 30 April 1949 Lisbon, Portugal |
| Political party | Socialist Party |
| Spouse(s) | Luísa Amélia Guimarães e Melo (1972–1998, her death) Catarina de Almeida Vaz Pinto (2001–present) |
| Children | Pedro Guimarães e Melo Guterres Mariana Guimarães e Melo Guterres |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres, GCC (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐ̃ˈtɔniu ɡuˈtɛʁɨʃ]; born 30 April 1949) is a former Portuguese politician, prime minister and former President of the Socialist International. He has been serving as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees since June 2005.
Early life
António Guterres was born and raised in Portugal's capital, Lisbon, son of Virgílio Dias Guterres (b. São José, Lisbon, 21 October 1913) and wife Ilda Cândida de Oliveira (b. Fundão, Donas, 12 February 1923). He studied physics and electrical engineering at IST. He graduated in 1971 and started an academic career as Assistant Professor.
Political career
His political career started in 1974, when he joined the Socialist Party. Shortly thereafter, he quit academic life and became a full-time politician. In the period following the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974, which put an end to Caetano's dictatorship, Guterres was closely involved in the organization of the Socialist Party, especially the Lisbon section. Guterres became one of the party leaders and held the following offices:
- Head of Office of the Secretary of State of Industry (1974 and 1975)
- Deputy for Lisbon, and later Castelo Branco in the Portuguese National Parliament (1976–1995), during which he was responsible for several parliamentary commissions
- Leader of the parliamentary bench of the Socialist Party, succeeding Jorge Sampaio (1988)
In 1992, he became president of the Socialist Party and leader of the opposition against Aníbal Cavaco Silva's government. He was also nominated vice-president of the Socialist International in September of the same year.
Following the retirement of Cavaco Silva in 1995, the Socialist Party won the general election and Guterres became Prime Minister of Portugal. With a style markedly different from that of his predecessor, based on dialogue and discussion with all sections of society, Guterres was a popular prime minister in the first years of his government. Portugal was enjoying a solid economic expansion which allowed the Socialists to increase welfare spending and introduce a number of progressive social security initiatives.[1] Also important was the successful staging of Expo´98, which increased Portugal's visibility in the world.
Guterres was re-elected in 1999, and from January to July 2000, he occupied the Presidency of the European Council. This second term in government was not as successful however. Internal party conflicts along with an economic recession and the Hintze Ribeiro disaster damaged his authority and popularity.
In December 2001, following a disastrous result for the Socialist Party in the local elections, Guterres resigned, stating that "I am resigning to prevent the country from falling into a political swamp", and President Jorge Sampaio dissolved the Parliament and called for elections. Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, until then Minister for Social Security, assumed the Socialist Party leadership, but the general election was lost to the Social Democratic Party of José Manuel Durão Barroso, the current President of the European Commission. Guterres retired from Portuguese politics and worked as President of the Socialist International until 2005.
Guterres is a member of the Club of Madrid,[2] an independent non-profit organization composed of democratic former Presidents and Prime Ministers from 57 different countries, and which works to strengthen democratic institutions and leadership.
Work as High Commissioner for Refugees
In May 2005 Guterres was elected High Commissioner for Refugees by the UN General Assembly. As High Commissioner, he heads one of the world's largest humanitarian organizations with more than 9,000 staff working in 123 countries providing protection and assistance to over 46 million refugees, returnees, internally displaced people and stateless persons. Some 88 per cent of UNHCR staff work in the field. The organization's 2015 budget is over USD 6.8 billion.
In a 16 February 2007 NPR interview devoted mainly to the plight of Iraqi refugees, he said that this was one of the greatest refugee crisis in the Middle East since 1948. Among poorly publicized refugee crises, he cited those in the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[3] More recently, he has been working to secure international aid for the refugees of the Syrian civil war, calling the refugee crisis an "existential" one for host countries (such as Lebanon and Jordan), and describing additional aid as a "matter of survival" for the refugees.[4]
Other activities
- Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Advisor to the Board (2003-2005)[5]
- Friends of Europe, Member of the Board of Trustees
Personal life
In 1972, Guterres married Luísa Amélia Guimarães e Melo (b. Porto, 1 September 1946), with whom he had two children, Pedro Guimarães e Melo Guterres (b. 1977) and Mariana Guimarães e Melo de Oliveira Guterres (b. 1985). His wife died of cancer at the Royal Free Hospital in London on 28 January 1998.
In 2001, he married his second wife Catarina de Almeida Vaz Pinto, born on 15 June 1960. He has a stepson, natural son of his second wife by José Carlos da Costa Ramos, named Francisco Vaz Pinto da Costa Ramos, born on 20 May 1998.
Distinctions[6]
- Grand Cross of the Order of Christ (Portugal, 2002)
- Great Ribbon of the Order of Leopold ( Belgium, 2000)
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Southern Cross ( Brazil, 1996)
- United Koll Order of the Southern Cross (Brazil, 2002)
- Grand Cross of the Order of Merit ( Chile, 2001)
- Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit ( France, 2002)
- Grand Cross of the Order of Honour ( Greece, 2000)
- Koll of the Order of Isabel the Catholic ( Spain, 2002)
- Great Ribbon of the Order of the Rising Sun ( Japan, 2002)
- Ribbon of the Order of the Aztec Eagle ( Mexico, 1999)
- Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Polish Republic (1997)
- Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise First Class ( Ukraine, 2002)
- Medal Oriental Republic of Uruguay (1998)
- Great Ribbon of the Order of the Republic ( Tunisia, 2002)
- Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and the class of the Great Koll ( Italy, 2002)
References
- ↑ http://www.issa.int/Observatory/Country-Profiles/Regions/Europe/Portugal/Reforms2
- ↑ The Club of Madrid is an independent non-profit organization composed of democratic former Presidents and Prime Ministers from 57 different countries. It constitutes the world´s largest forum of former Heads of State and Government, who have come together to respond to a growing demand for support among leaders in democratic leadership, governance, crisis and post-crisis situations. All lines of work share the common goal of building functional and inclusive societies, where the leadership experience of the members is most valuable.
- ↑ Interview with António Guterres, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, 16 February 2007, Weekend Edition-Saturday, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7466089
- ↑ Alrababa'h, Ala'; Jarrar, Ghazi (18 August 2013). "Syrian Refugees: Time To Do The Right Thing". Sharnoff's Global Views. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
- ↑ António Guterres Club of Madrid.
- ↑ "http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/António_Guterres".
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| Assembly seats | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Title jointly held |
Member of the Assembly of the Republic from Lisbon 1976–1991 |
Succeeded by Title jointly held |
| Member of the Assembly of the Republic from Castelo Branco 1991–2002 | ||
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Pierre Mauroy |
President of the Socialist International 1999–2005 |
Succeeded by George A. Papandreou |
| Preceded by Jorge Sampaio |
General Secretary of the Socialist Party 1992–2002 |
Succeeded by Ferro Rodrigues |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Aníbal Cavaco Silva |
Prime Minister of Portugal 1995–2002 |
Succeeded by Durão Barroso |
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