United Nations: The Secretariat and the Secretary-General

All UN administrative functions are handled by the Secretariat, with the secretary-general at its head. The charter does not prescribe a term for the secretary-general, but a five-year term has become standard. Trygve Lie, the first secretary-general, was succeeded by Dag Hammarskjöld (1953–61), who served until his death. U Thant, acting secretary-general, was elected secretary-general (1962), was reelected in 1966, and served through 1971. Succeeding secretaries-general were: Kurt Waldheim (1972–81); Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (1982–91), Boutros Boutros-Ghali (1992–96), Kofi Annan (1997–2006), Ban Ki-Moon (2007–2016), and António Guterres (2017–). (See also the table entitled United Nations Secretaries-General.) The secretary-general transcends a merely administrative role by his authority to bring situations to the attention of various UN organs, by his position as an impartial party in effecting conciliation, and especially by his power to “perform such … functions as are entrusted to him” by other UN organs. Also strengthening the office of secretary-general is the large Secretariat staff, which is recruited on a wide geographic basis and is required to work exclusively in the interests of the organization.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Diminished UN Influence and Its Uncertain Revival
• Effects of a Growing Membership
• Expanding Role of the Secretary-General
• Growing Activity of the Assembly
• Original Vision and Cold War Realities
• Origins
• The Security Council
• The General Assembly
• The Secretariat and the Secretary-General
• Organization and Principles
• Bibliography

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