Binish Thomas (Special Correspondent)
António Guterres’s second term ends on 31 December 2026. His successor takes office in January 2027. Here is how he and the UN handled each crisis.
The verdict first :
The UN under Guterres was strong at humanitarian work, aid, and sounding alarms. It was weak at stopping wars.
That weakness comes mainly from the Security Council, where the US, Russia and China can veto action, and less from the Secretary-General himself.
Guterres has no army and no power to order anyone. His tools are speeches, mediation, aid and moral pressure.
COVID-19 (2020–22) :
• Guterres called early for a global ceasefire so the world could fight the virus. The Security Council passed a resolution on it in mid-2020, but fighters in Yemen, Syria and elsewhere largely ignored it.
• He pushed hard on vaccine equity and criticised rich countries for hoarding doses. The COVAX programme still fell short of its targets, and Africa waited far longer for vaccines.
• Health response was the WHO’s job, not the Secretary-General’s, and the WHO was criticised for slow early warnings and for deferring to China.
On the Wuhan lab question:
Guterres has avoided taking a position, and that is unlikely to be fear. The UN has no investigative power, and he consistently deferred to the WHO.
Meanwhile, the virus’s origin is still unresolved. From my background knowledge (not checked in this search), some US intelligence agencies lean toward a lab leak with low confidence, while many scientists favour a natural spillover, and WHO advisers said China never shared enough data.
A Secretary-General who needs China’s cooperation has little incentive to make accusations he cannot prove.
Ebola :
The big West Africa outbreak (2014–16) happened under his predecessor, Ban Ki-moon.
Under Guterres, the UN handled the DRC outbreaks (2018–20 and later flare-ups) through the WHO and peacekeepers.
Armed groups made the response dangerous and slow, but the outbreaks were eventually contained.
Russia–Ukraine war :
Guterres condemned the invasion as a violation of the UN Charter and visited Moscow and Kyiv in 2022. His best result was the 2022 Black Sea grain deal, negotiated with Turkey.
It helped food prices, but Russia quit it in 2023. Russia’s veto means the Security Council cannot act on Ukraine at all.
Israel–Hamas and Gaza :
Guterres used the rarely invoked Article 99 in December 2023 to formally warn the Security Council. UN agencies, especially UNRWA, were central to aid in Gaza but faced bans and funding cuts. The pattern is the usual one: loud warnings, limited power.
US–Iran war and the oil shock :
This is the crisis he is facing now. The war between Iran and the US-Israel coalition closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which over 20% of the world’s oil trade passes.
Brent crude peaked near $118 in late March 2026, fell to around $70 by July, then rebounded.
Prices are still swinging this month. Brent topped $105 on 8 October on reports that Trump is weighing a return to major combat operations.
The G7 and the IEA agreed to release 100 million barrels from reserves, which is the kind of response that came from governments, not the UN.
Guterres’s role has been diplomatic. He told journalists in Islamabad on 6 October to end the conflict, return to diplomacy and restore navigation rights under international law, and the UN has appointed an envoy for peace efforts.
Pakistan is playing a mediating role. As with other recent conflicts, the UN has been present but not decisive.
Was he successful? :
Credits:
• Kept the UN alive and relevant through a decade of great-power conflict.
• Led climate diplomacy, the Sustainable Development Goals and the UN80 reform effort.
• Spoke out when others stayed quiet, even at the price of attacks from Israel, Russia and others.
Criticisms:
• Wars he spoke against, in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran, were not stopped.
• Critics say he was too cautious on China and on Covid origins, and too slow to push internal reform.
• The UN faces a funding crisis, worsened by US aid cuts.
