Staff Member: Assembly and Security Council

staff member: He takes over from Ban Ki-moon on Jan. 1, according to Brandon Sun. Guterres, 67, performed well in answering questions before assembly members and his executive experience as prime minister and as the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in 2005-2015 propelled him to first place among 13 candidates vying for the job in informal polls in the Security Council. The former U.N. refugee chief was elected to the top job by acclamation in the General Assembly in October. After the sixth poll, the council nominated him by acclamation and his name was sent to the assembly for final approval. It benefits no one if it takes nine months to deploy a staff member to the field, he said. After being sworn in by General Assembly President Peter Thomson, Guterres addressed the 193 member nations, saying the U.N. must work to simplify, decentralize and make more flexible its sprawling bureaucracy. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.