The ceremony will begin at 10 am. New York time (3 pm Lisbon time), at the UN General Assembly in the presence of the representatives of the 193 UN member states and will be preceded by a tribute to outgoing UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon.

In his inaugural speech the new secretary general, and former Portuguese Prime Minister, is expected to outline the main features of his “governance programme.”

Since he was selected as the new UN secretary genral in October, Guterres has visited the capitals and met with the leaders of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

One of Guterres’ first acts after taking office will be to announce his vice secretary general and his chief of staff, both of which are expected to be women.

Nigeria’s environment minister, Amina Mohammed, is considered the main candidate for the role of vice secretary general.

António Guterres, 67, will begin his five-year term as secretary general on 1 January 2017, three weeks before Donald Trump takes office as President of the United States.