UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected to visit New Zealand later this month. Photo / AP
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected to visit New Zealand later this month. Photo / AP
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected to visit New Zealand this month and will visit Christchurch to pay his respects to the victims of the March terror attack.
He will also meet Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who is expected to formally announce the visit next week.
Guterres, who wonthe top job at the UN ahead of former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and started his term at the beginning of 2017, has been outspoken in his support for New Zealand's response to the March 15 attack.
Mourners lay flowers on a wall at the Botanical Gardens in Christchurch. Photo / AP
He has also warned about the potential perils of social media in spreading harmful content, an issue Ardern has taken a close interest in and the reason she will travel to Paris later this month for the Christchurch Call summit.
The day after the March 15 attacks, Guterres said he was shocked and appalled at what had happened and urgently called for work to counter Islamophobia and eliminate intolerance and violent extremism.
A week later, he paid tribute to the "leadership, love and community from the people of New Zealand" during an address at the Islamic Cultural Centre in New York.
"We are still reeling from last Friday's terrorist attack in New Zealand. At the same time, we have come to learn so many inspiring stories about the victims," Guterres said in his address.
"I was deeply moved by the words of a worshipper as he saw a stranger walk into the Christchurch mosque. He did not realise that this stranger was a terrorist, and the worshipper's words to him were of welcome and love. 'Hello, brother,' he said.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres greets people before a Security Council meeting on sexual violence at United Nations headquarters last month. Photo / AP
Duke of Cambridge, Prince William is seen with Mayor Leanne Dalziel, (left) during a visit to Christchurch. Photo / Pool
"This is the spirit deeply embedded in Islam, a religion I so much respect – a faith of love, compassion, forgiveness, mercy and grace."
He said the attack was not surprising because of the "ever-rising anti-Muslim hatred, anti-Semitism, hate speech and bigotry" around the world.
Guterres, who was Prime Minister of Portugal, said hate speech was "spreading like wildfire," whether via social media or public discourse, and it was "our duty to find the cure."
He announced a UN action plan for the safeguarding of religious sites, declaring that "mosques and all places of prayer and contemplation should be safe havens, not sites of terror".
"People everywhere must be allowed to observe and practice their faith in peace."
Ardern and Guterres met in 2018 in New York at the UN General Assembly meeting, where climate change dominated their discussion.
Guterres' predecessor at the UN, Ban Ki-moon, came to New Zealand in 2014, and former Secretary-General Kofi Annan visited New Zealand in 2000.
