Portuguese Faces at the UN

PORTUGUESE FACES AT THE UN

Inresponse to the UN’s “Shapingour Future Together”challenge, the Ministryof Foreign Affairs and the Ministryof Education have jointly implemented a series of initiatives to mark the 75th anniversary of the UN’s foundation and the 65th anniversary of Portugal’s accession, with the aim of promoting knowledge about the structure and the activity of this global organisation, as well as highlighting the remarkable actions of some of the Portuguese who have worked in it.

Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo

1st Cycle of Basic Education | João de Deus Pre-School and Primary School, Olivais – Lisbon Madalena Carvalho | Martim Ahamad

The first Portuguese woman to become Prime Minister, Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo (1930-2004) had an important, albeit understated, career in the service of the United Nations (UN).

An activist for social justice, she worked as an adviser to Marcello Caetano’s government andwas part ofthe Portuguese delegation to the UN General Assembly, where shemade five speeches on social issues in 1971 andthe following year. She was appointed Portuguese Ambassador to theUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in1975. The following year, she was elected to the institution’s Executive Board.

In 1983, after having led the 5th Provisional Government of Portugal between August 1979 andJanuary 1980, shebecame a board member of the United Nations University, having been nominated by the UN Secretary-General, the UNESCO Director-General and the Holy See. In 1989, the UN General Assembly elected her forits Commission on Science and Technology for Development. From1990 to 1992, she was special adviser to the Rector of the United Nations University.

Jorge Sampaio

2nd Cycle of Basic Education | António Nobre School Cluster, Porto Francisco Gomes

A few months after completing his second mandateas President of the Portuguese Republic, Jorge Sampaio (1939-2021) was appointed, in 2006, Special Envoy to Stop Tuberculosis by the then United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. Selected for a mandate of two years, but eventually serving six, JorgeSampaio’s initial missionwas to eradicate the disease, mobilising local communities and world powers to dealwith a crisis felt mainly in Africanand Asian countries. His work was honoured in 2013 by the World Health Organization, in recognition of his commitment to the mission and the results achieved. Shortly after assuming this role, in April 2007, the new Secretary-General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon,appointed him as High Representative for the Allianceof Civilizations, an entity created by Kofi Annan to ease the tension between the West and the Islamic world. He held this position until 2013.

Two years later, he received the first UnitedNations Nelson Mandela Prize, awarded every five years, for his dedication to serving humanity, promoting reconciliation and social cohesion and community development as guided by the purposes and principles of the UN.

Diogo Freitas do Amaral

3rd Cycle of Basic Education | Francisco de Holanda School Cluster, Guimarães Eya Ben Nasrallah

When he was elected President of the UnitedNations General Assemblyin 1995, Diogo Freitasdo Amaral (1941-2019) was already a veteran politician and someone with extensive experience in international politics.He had been Portugal’s Minister of Foreign Affairstwice, although both times for relatively shortperiods. First, between January 1980 and January 1981, as a member of the government led by Francisco Sá Carneiro, in which he was DeputyPrime Minister. Then, betweenMarch 2005 and July 2006,in the government headedby José Sócrates. In 1995, Freitas do Amaral was nominated as the Portuguese candidate to lead the 50th session of the UN GeneralAssembly, which was highly symbolic as it coincided with the 50th anniversary of that body’s foundation in 1945. He was praised for the value he placed on the position, beingthe first assembly president to remainin New York for the entireyear of the term. In his opening speech, he emphasised freedom, justice, development and human solidarity as “magnificent values worth livingand working for”.

António Guterres

Secondary Education | Viriato Secondary School, Viseu Luís Bouça

Former Prime Minister of Portugal between 1995 and 2002, António Guterres (1949) served as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) from June 2005 to December2015. He was chosen by the then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annandue to his vast knowledge of the subject, having been one of the foundersof the Portuguese Councilfor Refugees in 1991. His mandate was marked bystructural reforms with in the organisation and the expansion of operations aroundthe world. He divided his attention between multiple conflicts, but at the start of his mandatehe paid particular attention to thosefleeing war in Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The final years were dominated by the war in Syria, having launched the biggest initiative in the institution’s history to support refugees. Elected in October 2016, he became Secretary-General of the United Nations on 1 January 2017. Advocate of solidarity in international cooperation, he has focused his work on themes such as climate action, peace promotion, the fight against famine and poverty, gender equality and Human Rights and Sustainable Development promotion. In June 2021, the UN General Assembly confirmed his second mandate, to end in 2026.