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United Nations Secretariat

 
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United Nations Secretariat
 
 
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The United Nations Secretariat is one of the principal organs of the United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
 and it is headed by the United Nations Secretary-General
United Nations Secretary-General

The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the United Nations....
, assisted by a staff of international civil servants worldwide. It provides studies, information, and facilities needed by United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
 bodies for their meetings. It also carries out tasks as directed by the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, the UN Economic and Social Council, and other U.N.






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The United Nations Secretariat is one of the principal organs of the United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
 and it is headed by the United Nations Secretary-General
United Nations Secretary-General

The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the United Nations....
, assisted by a staff of international civil servants worldwide. It provides studies, information, and facilities needed by United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
 bodies for their meetings. It also carries out tasks as directed by the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, the UN Economic and Social Council, and other U.N. bodies. The United Nations Charter
United Nations Charter

The United Nations Charter is the treaty that forms and establishes the international organization called the United Nations. It was signed at the United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco, California, United States, on June 26, 1945, by 50 of the 51 original member countries ....
 provides that the staff be chosen by application of the "highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity," with due regard for the importance of recruiting on a wide geographical basis.

The Charter provides that the staff shall not seek or receive instructions from any authority other than the UN. Each UN member country
United Nations member states

This article lists the member states of the United Nations . There are currently 192 UN member states, and each of them is a member of the United Nations General Assembly....
 is enjoined to respect the international character of the Secretariat and not seek to influence its staff. The Secretary-General alone is responsible for staff selection.

The Secretary-General's duties include helping resolve international disputes, administering peacekeeping operations, organizing international conferences, gathering information on the implementation of Security Council decisions, and consulting with member governments regarding various initiatives. Key Secretariat offices in this area include the Office of the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. The Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter that, in his or her opinion, may threaten international peace and security.

On 21 March 2005, Secretary-General Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan

Kofi Atta Annan, Order of St Michael and St George is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh United Nations Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1 January 1997 to 1 January 2007....
 proposed several reforms for the Secretariat. He announced his intentions to appoint a Scientific Adviser, create a peacebuilding support office, establish a cabinet-style decision-making mechanism, and strengthen the mediation
Mediation

Mediation, a form of alternative dispute resolution or "appropriate dispute resolution", aims to assist two disputants in reaching an agreement....
 function. He also asked the General Assembly to appropriate
Appropriation

Appropriation is the act of taking possession of or assigning purpose to properties or ideas and is important in many topics, including:*Appropriation in relation to the spread of knowledge...
 funds for a one-time staff buyout; to work with him in revising budget
Budget

Budget generally refers to a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more good ....
ary and human resources
Human resources

Human resources is a term with which organizations describe the combination of traditionally administrative personnel functions with performance, Employee Relations and Resource planning....
 rules; to grant the Secretary-General more managerial authority and flexibility; to strengthen the Office of Internal Oversight Services; and "to review all mandates older than five years to see whether the activities concerned are still genuinely needed or whether the resources assigned to them can be reallocated in response to new and emerging challenges" .

Organization


  • United Nations Office of the Secretary-General
  • United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services
    United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services

    The United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services is a United Nations organ whose primary purpose is to perform world-wide audit, investigation, inspection, programme monitoring, evaluation and consulting services to the United Nations Secretariat and the rest of the United Nations System....
  • United Nations Office of Legal Affairs
    United Nations Office of Legal Affairs

    The United Nations Office of Legal Affairs is a United Nations agency, established in 1946, that performs several key functions in the area of international law....
  • United Nations Department of Political Affairs
    United Nations Department of Political Affairs

    The United Nations Department of Political Affairs , is a department of the United Nations Secretariat of the United Nations, was established in 1992, whose focal point is Peace Building....
  • United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs
  • United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations
    Department of Peacekeeping Operations

    The Department of Peacekeeping Operations is a department of the United Nations which is charged with the planning, preparation, management and direction of UN peacekeeping operations....
  • United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
  • United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
    United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

    The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs is part of the United Nations Secretariat and is responsible for the follow-up to the major United Nations Summits and Conferences, as well as services to the Economic and Social Council and the Second and Third Committees of the United Nations General Assembly....
  • United Nations Department of General Assembly and Conference Management
  • United Nations Department of Safety and Security
    Department for Safety and Security

    The Department for Safety and Security is a department of the United Nations, dealing with the security and safety of its staff worldwide.Among other things, the Department decides on security phases and establishes the mechanisms for the processing of Security clearance....
  • United Nations Department of Public Information
  • United Nations Department of Management
  • United Nations Office of the Iraq
    Iraq

    Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
     Programme
  • United Nations Office of the United Nations Security Coordinator
  • United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States
  • United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
    United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

    The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is a United Nations agency that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention by combining the United Nations International Drug Control Programme and the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division in the United Nations Office at Vienna, then renamed in 200...
  • United Nations Office at Geneva
    United Nations Office at Geneva

    The United Nations Office at Geneva is the second-biggest of the four major office sites of the United Nations . It is located in the Palais des Nations building constructed for the League of Nations between 1929 and 1938 at Geneva in Switzerland, and expanded in the early 1950s and late 1960s....
  • United Nations Office at Vienna
    United Nations Office at Vienna

    The United Nations Office at Vienna is one of the four major United Nations office sites where several different UN agencies have a joint presence....
  • United Nations Office at Nairobi
    United Nations Office at Nairobi

    The United Nations Office at Nairobi is one of the four major United Nations office sites where several different UN agencies have a joint presence....


Secretaries-General

Main article: United Nations Secretary-General
United Nations Secretary-General

The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the United Nations....


  • Trygve Lie
    Trygve Lie

    Trygve Halvdan Lie was a Norway politician. From 1946 to 1952 he was the first elected United Nations Secretary-General of the United Nations....
    , Norway
    Norway

    Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
     (1945-1953)
  • Dag Hammarskjöld
    Dag Hammarskjöld

    Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskj?ld was a Swedish diplomat, Christian mystic, and the second United Nations Secretary-General of the United Nations....
    , Sweden
    Sweden

    Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
     (1953-1961)
  • U Thant
    U Thant

    U Thant was a Burma diplomat and the third United Nations Secretary General of the United Nations, from 1961 to 1971. He was chosen for the post when his predecessor Dag Hammarskj?ld was killed in an aviation accidents and incidents in September 1961....
    , Burma (1961-1971)
  • Kurt Waldheim
    Kurt Waldheim

    Kurt Josef Waldheim was an Austrian diplomat and politician. Waldheim was Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981, and President of Austria from 1986 to 1992....
    , Austria
    Austria

    Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west....
     (1972-1981)
  • Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
    Javier Pérez de Cuéllar

    Javier P?rez de Cu?llar y de la Guerra is a Peruvian diplomat who served as the fifth United Nations Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1 1982 to December 31 1991....
    , Peru
    Peru

    Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
     (1982-1991)
  • Boutros Boutros-Ghali
    Boutros Boutros-Ghali

    Boutros Boutros-Ghali is an Egyptian diplomat who was the sixth United Nations Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1992 to January 1997....
    , Egypt
    Egypt

    Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
     (1992-1996)
  • Kofi Annan
    Kofi Annan

    Kofi Atta Annan, Order of St Michael and St George is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh United Nations Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1 January 1997 to 1 January 2007....
    , Ghana
    Ghana

    The Republic of Ghana is a country in West Africa. It borders C?te d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south....
     (1997-2006)
  • Ban Ki-moon
    Ban Ki-moon

    Ban Ki-moon is the current Secretary-General of the United Nations of the United Nations.Before becoming Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and in the United Nations....
    , South Korea
    South Korea

    South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea , ), often referred to as Korea and the "names of Korea#Revival of the names", is a Semi-presidential system republic in East Asia, located in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula....
     (2007-incumbent)


See also

  • UN General Assembly
  • UN Security Council
  • UN Economic and Social Council
  • UN Trusteeship Council
  • International Court of Justice
    International Court of Justice

    The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands....
  • UN Headquarters
  • United Nations Interpretation Service
    United Nations Interpretation Service

    The United Nations Interpretation Service is a part of the of the United Nations's . Its core function is to provide interpretation from and into Arabic language, Chinese language, English language, French language, Russian language and Spanish language for meetings held at UN Headquarters, and those at other locations which the department...
  • The Four Nations Initiative on reform of governance and management issues in the UN Secretariat
    Four Nations Initiative

    The Four Nations Initiative, also known by the acronym 4NI, is a cooperation project started in 2005 as an initiative by Chile, South Africa, Sweden and Thailand....


External links

  • Annan, Kofi: , In Larger Freedom, 21 March 2005.