Antonio Guterres [File Photo: baidu.com]

Antonio Guterres has officially assumed his position as Secretary-General of the United Nations.

A former Prime Minister of Portugal, he also served as UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

CRI's Guan Chao has more.

A new five year chapter for the United Nations opened on the first day of the new year, with the accession Antonio Guterres as the new Secretary-General of the United Nations.

In a speech to mark the New Year, he called on the international community to strive for peace in 2017.

"Peace must be our goal and our guide, and all that we strived for as a UN family. Dignity and hope, progress and prosperity depends on peace. But peace depends on us. I appeal to you all to join me in committing to peace, today and every day. Let us make the year 2017 a year for peace."

Before his appointment as the UN Secretary-General, Guterres was Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, and then worked as a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015.

During those 10 years, Guterres witnessed the most vulnerable people suffering in refugee camps and on battlefields in large numbers.

In his speech, he noted that millions of people are currently caught up in conflict, suffering massively in wars with no end in sight.

"Civilians are pounded with deadly force. Women, children, and men are killed and injured, forced from their homes, dispossessed in destitute. Even hospitals and convoys are targeted. No one wins these wars, everyone loses. Trillions of dollars are spent destroying societies and economies, fueling cycles of mistrust and fear that can last for generations. And more regions are destabilized and the new threat of global terrorism affects us all."

Guterres is calling on citizens, governments and leaders to overcome differences and commit to peace.

"On this New Year's Day, I ask all of you to join me in making one shared New Year's resolution: let us resolve to put peace first. Let us make the year 2017, a year in which we all, citizens, governments, and leaders strive to overcome our differences from solidarity and compassion in our daily lives, to dialogue and respect across political divides, from ceasefire on the battlefield, to compromise at negotiation table to reach political solutions."

Guterres was named by the UN Security Council as a nominee for UN Secretary-General earlier in October. The nomination was then approved without objection at the General Assembly in the same month.

In his inaugural speech he pledged to press ahead with further reform of the United Nations.

For CRI, This is Guan Chao.