The debate was convened by Sweden in its capacity as the President of the Council for the month of January 2017.

In his address, the UN chief is expected to underline the need for new, strengthened efforts to build and sustain peace across the board, from prevention, conflict resolution and peacekeeping to peacebuilding and long-term and sustainable development.

Guterres, who took office on 1 January, is also expected to brief the 15-member Council on his initiatives to rebalance the UN Secretariat’s approach to peace and security and to increase its capacity to integrate all pillars of the global organization – peace and security, human rights, and development.