<br/><br/>New UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today called for a "whole new approach" to prevent war, in his first address to the Security Council since taking office.<br/><br/>Guterres took over from Ban Ki-moon on January 1 with a promise to shake up the world body and boost efforts to tackle global crises, from the carnage in Syria to the bloodshed in South Sudan.<br/><br/>The former Portuguese prime minister and head of the UN refugee agency told a council debate on conflict prevention, that too much time and resources were being spent on responding to crises rather than preventing them. He said people are paying too high a price, and hence a whole new approach is needed.'<br/><br/>Guterres is expected to have a more hands-on approach than his predecessor Ban who left most of the mediation efforts to his special envoys.<br/><br/>The new UN chief is confronted with a deeply divided Security Council that has been unable to take decisive action to end the war in Syria, now in its sixth year.'<br/><br/>Later this week, Guterres will make his first foray abroad as UN chief, heading to Geneva to shore up Cyprus peace talks.<br/><br/>He returns to Geneva next week to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose support for the United Nations has been steadily growing. <br/>'''''<br/>