“We need our peacekeeping forces to be better equipped, better trained and more aware of needs and the total respect for Human Rights,” Guterres said at a press conference in Beijing.
The future secretary general of the UN called for a “more agile,” and “less bureaucratic,” organisation capable of “preventing dramatic situations,” such as have “recently been seen of violation of the rights of women and children.”
This year the UN’s “blue helmets” were affected by an alleged sexual abuse scandal, including child rape, during peacekeeping missions in the Central African Republic and in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Guterres also said he hoped that the various instruments of the UN “work towards the same objective,” and are subject to “public and independent assessment.”
The former Portuguese Prime Minister, who met on Monday with China’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Wang Yi, praised China’s contribution to the UN.
“Today China is one of the biggest financers of the UN and its actions. At the same time, it is making a very important contribution to peacekeeping and to more initiatives that will be announced soon,” he said.
Guterres is due to take office as secretary general of the UN on 1 January, 2017 for a five-year term.