António Guterres

Member of the Jury

António Guterres was recently elected by the UN General Assembly to a five-year term and is the UN refugee agency’s 10th High Commissioner. Before joining UNHCR, Mr. Guterres spent more than 20 years in government and public service. He served as the Portuguese prime minister from 1996 to 2002, during which time he spearheaded the international effort to stop the atrocities in East Timor. As President of the European Council in early 2000, he co-chaired the first EU-Africa summit and led to the adoption of the so-called Lisbon Agenda. He also founded the Portuguese Refugee Council in 1991, and was part of the Council of State of Portugal from 1991 to 2002.

From 1981 to 1983, Mr. Guterres was a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, as well as chairman of the Committee on Demography, Migrations and Refugees. In addition, he has been active in Socialist International, acting as the organisation’s vice-president from 1992 to 1999 before serving as its president until June 2005.
Mr. Guterres was born on April 30, 1949, in Lisbon and was educated at the Instituto Superior Técnico, where he is a guest professor.
He is married and has two children.