All UN Secretaries General are appointed by the UN General Assembly who is advised by the Security Council. António Guterres became the 9th UN Secretary General on 1 January 2017, the “Chief Administrative Officer” of the United Nations, and effectively the leader and spokesperson for the organization. The “UNSG” generally serves a 5-year term which can be renewed. No candidates from the UN Security Council’s five permanent members (USA, China, Russia, UK, France) can be considered.
| António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres | since 2017 | Portugal | Former prime minister of Portugal. On his first day in office Guterres said: “Let us resolve to put peace first“ | ||
| Ban Ki-moon | 2007-2016 | South Korea | Critics questioned his expertise and attitude to human rights. Made the Paris Agreement legally binding in under a year. | ||
| Kofi Annan | 1997-2006 | Ghana | Received the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. Critics accused him of failure in Rwanda in 1994. Chairman of “The Elders”, founded by Nelson Mandela, to work for peace, human rights and solutions to poverty, climate change and HIV/AIDS. | ||
| Boutros Boutros Ghali | 1992-1996 | Eygpt | His re-election was vetoed by the United States. | ||
| Javier Pérez de Cuéllar | 1982-1991 | Peru | Mediated in the Falklands War, Cyprus conflict and Namibian independence. | ||
| Kurt Waldheim | 1971-1981 | Austria | Denied a 3rd term through China’s veto. Controversial on account of his National Socialist past. | ||
| Sithu U Thant | 1961-1971 | Burma | Burmese students snatched his coffin prior to burial prompting a harsh response by the military. | ||
| Dag Hammarskjöld | 1953-1961 | Sweden | Died on 18 September 1961 in a mysterious plane crash in Zambia. | ||
| Trygve H. Lie | 1946-1952 | Norway | He was re-elected in 1951 against the will of Russia, but later resigned. | ||
| Baron Gladwyn Jebb(Acting UN Secretary General) |
1945-1946 | Great Britain | Baron Jebb was acting UN Secretary General between 24 October 1945 and 1 February 1946 | ||
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