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Next UN secretary general Guterres awarded Portugal's Human Rights Award 2016

Xinhua, December 24, 2016 Adjust font size:

Next United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres was awarded Portugal's Prize for Human Rights 2016 on Friday at the Portuguese parliament in Lisbon.

Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister who served as UN High Commissioner for Refugees, thanked Portugal for the support the country gave him, which he highlighted was "one of the most important factors for the application to succeed."

Guterres also pointed out that the world's human rights agenda was in decline and pointed to the "dramatic situation facing refugees."

He praised the solidarity given by non-profit organizations, including the Portuguese Council for Refugees whom he donated the prize worth 25,000 euros to, and highlighted Portugal's role in human rights.

"Portugal is particularly well suited to place itself at the center of mobilization," he said. "Firstly because Portugal is an example in terms of respecting human rights, at the level of the state and society. And secondly, in the case of refugees, Portugal has had an extremely positive behaviour, representing an important example before Europe's incapacity to mobilize itself to comply with international law."

Guterres was the prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002.

He was the United Nations' tenth High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015. During this time he faced some of most serious displacements in history caused by conflicts in countries like Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, Central African Republic or Yemen.

Guterres, who is married and has two children, will become UN secretary-general on Jan. 1, 2017, following his formal election by the UN General Assembly on Oct. 13, 2016. Endit