Appointment of new UN Secretary General encouraging but he has a long road ahead

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, NEW YORK – World Vision congratulates Mr António Guterres on his appointment, confirmed yesterday, as the next United Nations Secretary-General. 

Mr Guterres’ focus on tackling inequality and exclusion resonates strongly with World Vision’s approach to development, and we will cheer him on as he uses the UN’s resources to “connect the dots” between peace, development and human rights.

We hope, once he takes up his post on January 1, 2017, Mr Guterres will deliver his pledge to help the world’s most vulnerable people – those who are furthest behind, the uncounted, those for whom the Millennium Development Goals were just unmet promises. Children are the highest number among these, due to violence, poverty, inequality, malnutrition, discrimination and lack of health and education. The Sustainable Development Goals represent an opportunity for the life they deserve to live in full and healthy, and Agenda 2030 must invest in and deliver for children.

World Vision is encouraged that Mr Guterres recognises the particular and urgent needs of the most vulnerable disadvantaged. We hope that he will further recognise the need for action for the more than one billion children affected by violence every year, by establishing a specific initiative dedicated to ending all forms of violence against them.