UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced his candidacy for a
second, five-year term starting in 2022, diplomatic officials said on Monday,
AFP reported.

Guterres, 71, outlined his goal to China, the US, France, Britain and
Russia during a lunch meeting hosted by the Chinese ambassador to the UN on
Friday, officials said.

Guterres outlined the numerous threats the world faces, referring to the
pandemic and the global economic crisis, during the meeting.

He underscored the need to reconcile “humanity and nature” and
the importance of improved international cooperation on other challenges such
as cybersecurity and terrorism, a diplomat told AFP.

Guterres’s desire to serve a second term has not been met with any
resistance from the permanent Security Council members.

It is a tradition for a UN Secretary-General to serve maximum two terms.
However, when the US elections were pending, diplomats said Guterres was not
planning to seek a second term if US President Donald Trump was reelected.

The outgoing US leader scorned multilateralism in many instances and
assailed UN bodies such as the World Health Organization.

Guterres has faced criticism previously from several non-governmental
groups, saying he has been too quiet on human rights issues.

Guterres has said he has pushed various causes with world leaders behind
the scenes.

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“If Antonio Guterres wants 2nd term as UN chief, he should commit
to implementing his Call to Action on Human Rights,” Louis Charbonneau,
who heads the UN-monitoring wing of Human Rights Watch, said on Twitter.

Guterres, the former prime minister of Portugal and the UN’s former high
commissioner for refugees, will see his first term expire in December.

Over the course of the year, the Security Council and General Assembly
will confirm whether or not Guterres will serve a second term.