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The United Nations Secretariat (french: link=no, Secrétariat des Nations unies) is one of the six principal organs of the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
(UN), The secretariat is the UN's executive arm. The secretariat has an important role in setting the agenda for the deliberative and decision-making bodies of the UN (i.e., the General Assembly, Economic and Social Council, and Security Council), and the implementation of the decision of these bodies. The
secretary-general Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
, who is appointed by the General Assembly, is the head of the secretariat. The mandate of the secretariat is a wide one. Dag Hammarskjöld, the UN's second secretary-general, described its power as follows: "The United Nations is what member nations made it, but within the limits set by government action and government cooperation, much depends on what the secretariat makes it. It has creative capacity. It can introduce new ideas. It can, in proper forms, take initiatives. It can put before member governments findings which will influence their actions". The
United Nations Department of Political Affairs The United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nations (UN) with responsibility for monitoring and assessing global political developments and advising and assisting t ...
, which has a role analogous to a
ministry of foreign affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The enti ...
, is a part of the secretariat. So is the
Department of Peace Operations The Department of Peace Operations (DPO) (French: ''Département des opérations de maintien de la paix'') is a department of the United Nations charged with the planning, preparation, management and direction of UN peacekeeping operations. Pre ...
. The secretariat is the main source of economic and political analysis for the General Assembly and Security Council; it administers operations initiated by UN's deliberative organs, operates political missions, prepares assessments that precede peacekeeping operations, appoints the heads of peacekeeping operations, conducts surveys and research, communicates with non-state actors such as media and non-government organizations, and is responsible for publishing all of the treaties and international agreements.


Secretary-general

The UN 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. The current secretary-general of the UN is
António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Soci ...
.


Organization

The secretariat is divided into offices and departments. The hierarchy within each is as follows: :Office: a minimum of 20 high level professionals under the supervision of a D-2 staff member (division head), or in few cases an assistant secretary-general or under secretary-general :Division: a minimum of 15 high level professionals under the supervision of a D-2 staff member (division head) :Service: a minimum of 8 high level professionals under the supervision of a D-1 (general administrator) staff member :Section: a minimum of 4 professionals under the supervisions of a P-4 (8–12 years experience) or a P-5 (13–17 years experience) staff member :Unit: a minimum of 4 positions under the supervision of a chief


Offices

* Executive Office of the
Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
(EOSG) *
United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services The United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) is an independent office in the United Nations Secretariat whose mandate is to "assist the Secretary-General in fulfilling his internal oversight responsibilities in respect of the r ...
(OIOS) *
United Nations Office of Legal Affairs The United Nations Office of Legal Affairs is a United Nations office currently administered by Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel of the United Nations Miguel de Serpa Soares. History Established in 1946, the United ...
(OLA) * United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA) *
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disaster ...
(OCHA) * United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) *
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nat ...
(OHCHR) *
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...
(UNHCR) *
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC; French: ''Office des Nations unies contre la drogue et le crime'') is a United Nations office that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention by combining the ...
(UNODC) * United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS) * United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)


Departments

*
United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs The United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nations (UN) with responsibility for monitoring and assessing global political developments and advising and assisting t ...
(DPPA) *
United Nations Department of Peace Operations The Department of Peace Operations (DPO) (French: ''Département des opérations de maintien de la paix'') is a department of the United Nations charged with the planning, preparation, management and direction of UN peacekeeping operations. Pre ...
(DPO) *
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) is part of the United Nations Secretariat and is responsible for the follow-up to major United Nations Summits and Conferences, as well as services to the United Nations Ec ...
(DESA) * United Nations Department of Operational Support (DOS) * United Nations Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance (DMSPC)* * United Nations Department of General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM) *
United Nations Department of Global Communications The United Nations Department of Global Communications (DGC) (previously named the United Nations Department of Public Information) is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nations. It is tasked with raising public awareness and support o ...
(DGC) * United Nations Department of Safety and Security (DSS)


Offices away from headquarters

*
United Nations Office at Geneva The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG, french: Office des Nations Unies à Genève) in Geneva, Switzerland, is one of the four major offices of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. The main UNOG ...
(UNOG) * United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) *
United Nations Office at Vienna The United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV) is one of the four major office sites of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. The office complex is located in Vienna, the capital of Austria, and is part of th ...
(UNOV)


UN regional commissions

* Bangkok,
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is one of the five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It was established in order to increase economi ...
* Beirut, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia * Addis Ababa, Economic Commission for Africa * Geneva, Economic Commission for Europe * Santiago, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean


Ranks

*
Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
* Deputy Secretary-General *
Under-Secretary-General An under-secretary-general of the United Nations (USG) is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the secretary-general for a renewable term of four years. Under-s ...
* Assistant Secretary-General * D-2: Principal Director * D-1: Director * P-5: Senior Officer * P-4: First Officer * P-3: Second Officer * P-2: Associate Officer * P-1: Assistant Officer


Staffing

As at 31 December 2018, there are 37,505 people employed from more than 140 countries within the secretariat. Eligibility for civil service is based on a UN-administered examination offered worldwide, in addition to a competitive application process. Qualifications for membership include "the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity", according to the UN Charter. Staff-members are appointed by the secretary-general alone and are assigned to the organs of the UN. Staff members are appointed on a temporary or permanent basis, under the discretion of the secretary-general. During staff recruitment, geographical variety is an especially prominent selection factor in order to accurately reflect the scope of member states present in the UN. The charter states that staff members are responsible "only to the organization" and are prohibited from any action or influence that would suggest affiliation with a government or organization outside the UN. Headquartered in New York, the secretariat functions through duty stations in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva, Nairobi, Santiago and Vienna, in addition to offices all over the world. One study finds the following factors play a role in the selection of staff for the secretariat: a desire to achieve a minimum number of officials from each state; population size; and lo assessment of dues. The most overrepresented states in the secretariat are small, rich democracies. The Nordic states stand out, in particular, when it comes to overrepresentation.


Status of women in the secretariat

Representation of women in the UN, particularly at managerial and decision-making positions at the D-1 level and above, has been a UN General Assembly concern and goal since 1970. Since 1984, the
UN Secretariat The United Nations Secretariat (french: link=no, Secrétariat des Nations unies) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), The secretariat is the UN's executive arm. The secretariat has an important role in setting the a ...
, in order to achieve early gender equality, issued several five-year "action plans", including strategic plans, to improve the status of women in the secretariat. These plans, however, did not have the desired impact, and progress in achieving gender parity remained slow. In December 1994, the UN General Assembly's "disappointment" that its gender equality target were not met urged the secretary-general to prioritize the recruitment and promotion of women to reach to 50/50 representation in D1 and above posts by 2000. In Feb 2004, gender parity target for the secretariat was once again revised to 2015. In 2009, despite the plans, and General Assembly resolutions, the representation of women in the UN secretariat remained well below parity at 29.2 percent.


Representation of women at decision making levels

The representation of women in the UN secretariat, at the D1 level, in 2000, was 30.3 percent. Instead of increasing, in the next decade, the representation of women in the secretariat decreased to 26.7 percentIn December 2011, the representation of women in the secretariat at the D1 level was 27.4 percent, an increase of .6 percent over a two-year period. At the current rate of progress, it is estimated that gender parity at the D-1 to higher levels will be achieved after 102 years. At D2 level The representation of women in 2011 was 24.4 percent


Special measures for the achievement of gender equality

To ensure that the gender equality target mandated by the General Assembly is met, the secretariat, in September 1999, promulgated an administrative instruction (AI) on "Special Measures for the Achievement of Gender Equality" (ST/AI/1999/9) Gender Equality A/I echoes the goals of, and is in conformity with, the mandate of Articles 8 and 101 of the
Charter of the United Nations The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the UN, an intergovernmental organization. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the UN system, including its six principal organs: the ...
, and Article 4 paragraph 1 of the '' Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)''. On 4 September 2012, in his annual reports to the
General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of pres ...
, titled "Improvement of the Status of Women in the United Nations System", Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Ministe ...
stated that the aim of the special measures was to ensure "gender balance in recruitment and promotion". and that special measures would remain in effect until the "goal of gender parity is achieved", and sustained for a period of time." The secretary-general, in his recommendations to the General Assembly, noted that the " United Nations Secretariat, pursuant to the decision of the Policy Committee chaired by the Secretary-General" is to "ensure the effective implementation of special measures for gender equality. These measures include mandatory selection of equally or better-qualified women candidates…"


Reforms

Since its creation, the secretariat has undergone extensive reforms. On 21 March 2005, Secretary-General
Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founde ...
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 is a structured, interactive process where an impartial third party neutral assists disputing parties in resolving conflict through the use of specialized communication and negotiation techniques. All participants in mediation are ...
function. He also asked the General Assembly to
appropriate Appropriate may refer to *Appropriate (play), a play by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Appropriation may refer to: *Appropriation (art) the use of pre-existing objects or images with little or no transformation *Appropriation (law) as a component of gove ...
funds for a one-time staff buyout; to work with him in revising
budget A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environme ...
ary and
human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms includ ...
rules; to grant the secretary-general more managerial authority and flexibility; to strengthen the
Office of Internal Oversight Services The United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) is an independent office in the United Nations Secretariat whose mandate is to "assist the Secretary-General in fulfilling his internal oversight responsibilities in respect of the re ...
; 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".V. Strengthening the United Nations
In Larger Freedom, United Nations


See also

* Dag Hammarskjöld Library *
International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordan ...
* The Four Nations Initiative on reform of governance and management issues in the UN Secretariat * UN Economic and Social Council *
UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
* UN Headquarters *
UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
* UN Trusteeship Council * United Nations Interpretation Service


References


External links

* Records o
the United Nations Executive Office of the Secretary-General
at the United Nations of Archives



in larger freedom, 21 March 2005.
United States Department of State – UN Division

The Four Nations Initiative
{{Authority control United Nations organs Secretariats of international organizations