The fact that none of the 15 members of the United Nations Security Council opposed the candidacy of Mr Antonio Guterres as the next UN secretary general is an indication of the respect that he has earned in his years with the organisation.

Indeed, people who keep abreast of international affairs will recall that earlier this year Mr Anibal Cavaco Silva, the former Portuguese president, was reported by Agence France Press as saying that the legacy Mr Guterres left at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which he headed from 2005 to 2015, meant that “today he is a respected voice and all the world listens to him”.

Mr Guterres, the former prime minister of Portugal, was confirmed in the position yesterday after a formal vote and is scheduled to take over from Mr Ban Ki-moon early next year.

According to Ms Samantha Power, the United States representative to the UN, the secret ballot process on Wednesday was remarkably uncontroversial.

“In the end, there was just a candidate whose experience, vision, and versatility across a range of areas proved compelling,” she said. “People united around a person who impressed throughout the process.”

That, we believe, is most important, because Mr Guterres is going into the chair at a time when the world is weighted by conflicts and a refugee crisis that has overwhelmed governments in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In fact, the UNHCR’s Global Trends 2015 data show that 65.3 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes worldwide. They include 21.3 million refugees, more than half of whom are not yet 18 years old.

The refugee agency also reported a total of 10 million stateless people — people who have been denied a nationality and access to basic rights including education, health care, employment, and freedom of movement.

Equally frightening is the UNHCR’s pronouncement that “34,000 people are forcibly displaced every day as a result of conflict or persecution”.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that only a few countries are accommodating refugees. In fact, just this week Amnesty International accused wealthy countries of leaving poorer nations to bear the brunt of the crisis as only 10 countries — all of which are in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia — are hosting more than half the world’s refugees.

According to the rights group, inadequate conditions in the main countries of shelter are pushing many refugees to embark on dangerous journeys to Europe and Australia.

People who know Mr Guterres have said that he is highly skilled in the art of diplomacy. He will need all that skill to deal with this dilemma, as well as with protracted conflicts in the Middle East, Africa and parts of Europe.

The position of UN secretary general is said to be regarded as the most impossible job in the world. Our hope is that Mr Guterres will not only succeed, but that the world’s leaders and diplomats will fully support his efforts to make our planet a better place.