(Photos) António Guterres and Amina Mohammed assume office at United Nations

Amina Mohammed, Nigeria’s Minister of Environment on Tuesday assumed office as the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations at its New York Headquarters.

Amina Mohammed was on ground to receive the new Secretary-General, António Guterres who also assumed office on Tuesday.

Gutierrez called for teamwork in his inaugural speech to staff telling them that it is not enough to “do the right thing, we need to earn the right to do the right thing.”

“It is very important for us to recognise our achievements, but we also need to recognise our shortcomings, to recognise our failures and where we are not able to deliver as we should,” he said.

Mr. Guterres’ first day at UN Headquarters as Secretary General began with the laying of a wreath at the Memorial Wall in the Visitors’ Lobby.

Shortly after taking office two days ago, he made an appeal for peace. “Let us make 2017 a year in which we all – citizens, governments, leaders – strive to overcome our differences,” Mr. Guterres said Sunday morning, urging people to share his New Year’s resolution: “Let us resolve to put peace first.”

He will serve for a five-year period until 31 December 2021.

António Guterres was Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015. He succeeds Ban Ki-moon who served as the Secretary-General from 2007 until 31 December 2016.

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