Kofi Atta Annan 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 founder and chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation, as well as chairman of The Elders, an international organisation founded by Nelson Mandela.
The United Nations Secretariat 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 agenda for the deliberative and decision-making bodies of the UN, and the implementation of the decision of these bodies. The secretary-general, who is appointed by the General Assembly, is the head of the secretariat.
The secretary-general of the United Nations is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.
Since the late 1990s there have been many calls for reforms of the United Nations (UN). However, there is little clarity or consensus about what reform might mean in practice. Both those who want the UN to play a greater role in world affairs and those who want its role confined to humanitarian work or otherwise reduced use the term "UN reform" to refer to their ideas. The range of opinion extends from those who want to eliminate the UN entirely, to those who want to make it into a full-fledged world government. Secretaries-General have presented numerous ways to implement these new reforms. There have been reform efforts since the creation of the UN and closely associated with each of the Secretaries-General.
Dileep Nair is a Singaporean diplomat and bureaucrat, who was the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services and head of the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services. In that capacity, he oversaw investigations of wrongdoings related to the United Nations in a range of countries including within the headquarters. The Oil-for-food scandal was initially investigated by Dileep Nair's office before turning it over to the investigating body headed by former United States Federal Reserve Chairman, Paul Volcker.
George Mark Malloch Brown, Baron Malloch-Brown is a British diplomat, communications consultant, journalist and former politician serving as president of Open Society Foundations since 2021, having previously served as Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations under Kofi Annan from April to December 2006. A former member of the Labour Party, he served as Minister of State for Africa and the United Nations in the Brown government from 2007 to 2009.
Louise Fréchette is a Canadian diplomat and public servant who served for eight years as United Nations Deputy Secretary-General. She also served a three-year term at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, an international relations and policy think-tank in Waterloo, Ontario, working on a major research project on nuclear energy and the world's security.
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-secretary-general is the third highest rank in the United Nations, after the secretary-general and the deputy secretary-general. The rank is held by the heads of different UN entities, certain high officials of the United Nations Secretariat, and high-level envoys. The United Nations regards the rank as equal to that of a cabinet minister of a member state, and under-secretaries-general have diplomatic immunity under the UN Charter.
Alicia Isabel Adriana Bárcena Ibarra is a Mexican biologist and the current Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico. She was the Secretary of Foreign Affairs from 2023 to 2024 and previously served as the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) from July 2008 to March 2022.
Stéphane Dujarric de la Rivière is a French journalist who has been the Spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres since 2014. He was appointed to this position on 19 February 2014, by the previous secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon. Dujarric had previously served as Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan from 2005 to 2006 and then Deputy Communications Director for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon from 2006 to 2007.
Chapter XV of the United Nations Charter deals with the UN Secretariat. It designates the UN secretary-general as the chief administrative officer of the organization, which includes the staff of ECOSOC, the Trusteeship Council, and other organs. Chapter XV is analogous to Article 6 of the Covenant of the League of Nations.
A United Nations Secretary-General selection was held in 2006 to succeed Kofi Annan, whose second term as Secretary-General of the United Nations ran until 31 December 2006. Seven candidates were officially nominated for the position.
The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) is an Office of the United Nations Secretariat established in January 1998 as the Department for Disarmament Affairs, part of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's plan to reform the UN as presented in his report to the General Assembly in July 1997.
Jean Arnault is a French diplomat who currently serves as United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres' Personal Envoy on Afghanistan and Regional Issues.
Kang Kyung-wha is a South Korean diplomat and politician who served as the first female Foreign Minister of South Korea under President Moon Jae-in from 2017 to 2021 as well as the first woman nominated for and appointed to the position. She is also the first Korean woman to hold a high-level position in the United Nations. Previously, Kang was the first non-exam-taker to become a director-general in the ministry. She is the first South Korean foreign minister to join the official South Korean delegation for the inter-Korean summit as well as to visit Pyongyang. Kang is the current president and CEO of the Asia Society.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1437, adopted unanimously on 11 October 2002, after recalling previous resolutions on Croatia, including resolutions 779 (1992), 981 (1995), 1088 (1996), 1147 (1998), 1183 (1998), 1222 (1999), 1252 (1999), 1285 (2000), 1307 (2000), 1357 (2001), 1362 (2001), 1387 (2002) and 1424 (2002), the council authorised the United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka (UNMOP) to continue monitoring the demilitarisation in the Prevlaka peninsula area of Croatia for a final two months until 15 December 2002.
The Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) campaign was a network of over 300 women's, human rights and social justice groups around the world. The GEAR campaign urged UN Member States and the UN Secretariat to move swiftly forward to create a new UN gender equality entity. GEAR also urges the UN to set up a transparent process now for recruiting the best qualified Under Secretary-General to head this agency. The United Nations must move without further delay to implement changes that it has repeatedly recognized as critical to fulfilling its mandate of working for gender equality as a crucial component of development, human rights, peace, and security.
Ahmad Fawzi is an Egyptian-born media spokesperson, who, for six months in July 2017, worked as Communication Adviser and Chief Spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Refugees. In 2015–2016 he served as interim Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva.
Interventions: A Life in War and Peace is a memoir by former Secretary-General of the United Nations and 2001 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Kofi Annan. The book, published in 2012, focuses on the workings of the United Nations Secretariat and the conditions under which the Secretary General has to make decisions. The book is mainly set in the Post–Cold War era when Annan served as the Deputy Secretary General and then as the Secretary General of the United Nations. It was co-written with his former advisor and speechwriter Nader Mousavizadeh.
Patrick Reginald Dennis Hayford is a Ghanaian retired diplomat, international affairs director and administrator. Hayford served for 40 years as a diplomat in the Ghana Foreign Service including serving as Ghana's Ambassador to South Africa. He also served as the Director of African Affairs in the Executive Office of United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
