أمين عام الأمم المتحدة(Arabic) 联合国秘书长(Chinese) Secrétaire Général des Nations Unies(French) Secretario General de las Naciones Unidas(Spanish) Генеральный секретарь ООН(Russian)
The role of the secretary-general and of the secretariat is laid out byChapter XV (Articles 97 to 101) of theUnited Nations Charter. However, the office's qualifications, selection process and tenure are open to interpretation; they have been established by custom.[1]
Unofficial qualifications for the job have been set by precedent in previous selections. The appointee may not be a citizen of any of the Security Council's five permanent members.[2] The General Assembly resolution 51/241 in 1997 stated that, in the appointment of "the best candidate", due regard should be given to regional (continental) rotation of the appointee's national origin and to gender equality,[3]: 5 although no woman has yet served as secretary-general. All appointees to date have beencareer diplomats.[4]
The length of the term is discretionary, but all secretaries-general since 1971 have been appointed to five-year terms. Every secretary-general since 1961 has been re-selected for a second term, with the exception ofBoutros Boutros-Ghali, who wasvetoed by the United States in the1996 selection. While the position does not have a formalterm limit,[5] incumbent secretary-generals have avoided seeking a third term since the1981 selection, when China cast a record 16 vetoes against a third term forKurt Waldheim.
The selection process is opaque and is often compared to apapal conclave.[6][7] Since 1981, the Security Council has voted in secret in a series ofstraw polls; it then submits the winning candidate to the General Assembly for ratification. No candidate has ever been rejected by the General Assembly, and only once,in 1950, has a candidate been voted upon despite a UNSC veto.[8]
In 2016, the General Assembly and the Security Council sought nominations and conducted public debates for the first time. However, the Security Council voted in private and followed the same process as previous selections, leading thepresident of the General Assembly to complain that it "does not live up to the expectations of the membership and the new standard of openness and transparency".[9]
The UN Charter designates the secretary-general as the "chief administrative officer" of the UN, and gives the secretary-general the power to make employment decisions about Secretariat staff. The Charter also empowers the secretary-general to inform the Security Council of "any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security", and allows the secretary-general to perform "such other functions as are entrusted" by other United Nations organs. These provisions have been interpreted as providing broad leeway for officeholders to serve a variety of roles as suited to their preferences, skill set, or circumstances.[4] The UN describes the role of the secretary-general as combining the functions and responsibilities of an advocate, diplomat, civil servant, and chief executive officer.[10]
The secretary-general's routine duties include overseeing the activities and duties of the secretariat; attending sessions with United Nations bodies; consulting with world leaders, government officials, and other stakeholders; and travelling the world to engage with global constituents and bring attention to certain international issues.[10] The secretary-general publishes an annual report on the work of the UN, which includes an assessment of its activities and an outline future priorities. The secretary-general is also the chairman of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB), a body composed of the heads of all UN funds, programmes, and specialised agencies, which meets twice a year to discuss substantive and management issues facing theUnited Nations System.[10]
Many of the secretary-general's powers are informal and left open to individual interpretation; some appointees have opted for more activist roles, while others have been more technocratic or administrative.[4] The secretary-general is often reliant upon the use of their "good offices", described as "steps taken publicly and in private, drawing upon his independence, impartiality and integrity, to prevent international disputes from arising, escalating or spreading".[10] Consequently, observers have variably described the office as the "world's most visiblebully pulpit" or as the "world's moderator".[11][4] Examples includeDag Hammarskjöld's promotion of an armistice between the warring parties ofArab-Israel conflict,Javier Perez de Cuellar's negotiation of a ceasefire in theIran-Iraq War, andU Thant's role in deescalating theCuban Missile Crisis.[4]
The official residence of the secretary-general is a townhouse at 3Sutton Place, Manhattan, in New York City, United States. The townhouse was built forAnne Morgan in 1921 and donated to the United Nations in 1972.[12]
Jebb served as executive secretary of the Preparatory Commission of the United Nations in August 1945 and was appointed Acting United Nations secretary-general until the appointment of the first secretary-general.[14]
Lie, a foreign minister and former labour leader, was recommended by the Soviet Union to fill the post. After the UN involvement in theKorean War, the Soviet Union vetoed Lie's reappointment in 1951. The United States circumvented the Soviet Union's veto and recommended reappointment directly to the General Assembly. Lie was reappointed by a vote of 46 to 5, with eight abstentions. The Soviet Union remained hostile to Lie; he resigned in 1952.[16]
After a series of candidates were vetoed, Hammarskjöld emerged as an option that was acceptable to the Security Council. He was re-elected unanimously to a second term in 1957. Angered by Hammarskjöld's leadership during theCongo Crisis, the Soviet Union suggested replacing the position of secretary-general by atroika. Facing great opposition from the Western nations, the Soviet Union gave up on its suggestion. Hammarskjölddied in a plane crash inNorthern Rhodesia (nowZambia) in 1961.[16] U.S. presidentJohn F. Kennedy called him "the greatest statesman of our century".[18] Hammarskjöld was posthumously awarded the 1961Nobel Peace Prize.
Following Hammarskjöld's death, the developing world insisted on a non-European secretary-general;[20] U Thant was unanimously recommended but due to opposition from the French (Thant had chaired a committee onAlgerian independence) and the Arabs (Burma supportedIsrael), Thant was only appointed for the remainder of Hammarskjöld's term (1 year and 5 months, until 10 April 1963). The following year, on 30 November, Thant was unanimously re-elected and his partial term was promoted to a full 5-year term ending on 3 November 1966. On 2 December 1966, Thant was again unanimously re-elected, and appointed by a General Assembly session to a 5-year-and-2-month term aligned with the calendar year. Thant did not seek a third election.[16] Thant was the first Asian secretary-general.
Waldheim launched a discreet but effective campaign to become the secretary-general. Despite initial vetoes from China and the United Kingdom, Waldheim was elected in the third round. In 1976, China initially blocked Waldheim's re-election but relented on the second ballot. In 1981, Waldheim's re-election for a third term was blocked by China, which vetoed his selection through 15 rounds.[22] From 1986 to 1992, Waldheim served aspresident of Austria. In 1985, it was revealed that a post-World War IIUN War Crimes Commission had labeled Waldheim as a suspectedwar criminal based on his involvement with theWehrmacht.[16]
Pérez de Cuéllar was selected after a five-week deadlock between the re-election of Waldheim and China's candidate,Salim Ahmed Salim ofTanzania. Pérez de Cuéllar, a Peruvian diplomat who a decade earlier had served as President of the UN Security Council during his time as Peruvian ambassador to the UN, was a compromise candidate. He became the first and thus far only secretary-general from the Americas. He was re-elected unanimously in 1986.[16]
The 102-memberNon-Aligned Movement insisted that the next secretary-general come from Africa. With a majority in the General Assembly and the support of China, the "Non-Aligned Movement had the votes necessary to block any unfavorable candidate". The Security Council conducted five anonymous straw polls and Boutros-Ghali emerged with 11 votes on the fifth round. In 1996, the United States vetoed the re-appointment of Boutros-Ghali due to political fallout over theBattle of Mogadishu.[16]
On 13 December 1996, the Security Council recommended Annan.[26][27] He was confirmed four days later by the vote of the General Assembly.[28] Annan and the UN were the recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize.
Ban was Foreign Minister ofSouth Korea[30] and became the first East Asian to be selected as the secretary-general.[30] He was unanimously elected to a second term on 21 June 2011.[31]
Guterres is the first former head of government to become secretary-general, and the first secretary-general born after the establishment of the United Nations. He was theprime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002. He has also been president of theSocialist International (1999–2005) andUnited Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2005–2015). Since August 2024, Guterres also holds East-Timorese citizenship.[33][34][35]
Map showing which nations have had a national serving as secretary-general of the United Nations
^"A Well-Read Secretary General".The New York Times. 13 December 1981.With a figurative puff of white smoke, the United Nations Security Council finally selected a new Secretary-General – a seasoned and soft-spoken diplomat from Peru, Javier Perez de Cuellar.
^Barrett, George (13 October 1950). "Position of U.N. Chief Aide is Thrust Into Uncertainty".The New York Times. p. 1.
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