The UN General Assembly on Thursday appointed Antonio Guterres as the new secretary-general of the United Nations, AFP reported.
The 193 member states adopted by consensus a resolution formally naming the former prime minister of Portugal as UN chief for a five-year term, beginning January 1.
Guterres was last week approved unanimously for the position by the UN Security Council. He will replace Ban Ki-moon, who will step down after two five-year terms.
Guterres was greeted by loud applause as he entered the packed hall following the vote and told the assembly he was "fully aware of the challenges the UN faces and the limitations of the secretary-general", according to AFP.
He pledged to work as a "convener, a mediator, a bridge-builder and an honest broker" to confront global crises.
On Syria, the most pressing crisis on the UN agenda, Guterres said it was time for world powers to overcome divisions over ending the war, just as the key players were gearing up for a new round of talks at the weekend.
"Whatever divisions might exist, now it's more important to unite," Guterres told reporters after the vote. "It's high time to fight for peace."
The first former head of government to become UN chief also called for determined action to confront terrorists and populists who "reinforce each other" in their extremism.
"We must make sure that we are able to break these alliances between all those terrorist groups or violent extremists on one side, and the expression of populism and xenophobia on the other side," he said, according to AFP.
Israel’s UN Ambassador, Danny Danon, congratulated Guterres on his appointment.
“I congratulate Mr. Guterres on his election and I wish him the best of luck in this important position,” Danon said.
“On a day when UN agencies have again chosen to slander Israel and UNESCO adopted a resolution which attempts to sever the historical connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem, I expect the new Secretary General to be a fair leader. We hope that he will end the obsession with Israel, and will work together with us against the anti-Semitic and anti-Israel forces in the UN,” added the Israeli Ambassador.
U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power praised Guterres as "supremely qualified" to be secretary-general and stressed he was chosen at a time when the world looks to the United Nations to "do more than it has ever done before."
She called on him to act as a peacemaker, a reformer and an advocate and declared that he brings "both head and heart" to what has been described as the most impossible job in the world.