Administrative issuance

The General Assembly issues broad legislative directives to the Secretary-General on the management of the United Nations through regulations. Within the framework of the regulations, the Secretary-General issues rules stating the manner in which the regulations will be implemented. Although regulations require approval by the General Assembly, rules are issued by the Secretary-General under his/her own authority, though changes to the rules are communicated to the General Assembly.

Policies subordinate to the regulations and rules can be issued by the Secretary-General through administrative issuances, which can be formally issued in two forms. The Secretary-General promulgates Secretary-General's bulletins (ST/SGB-series) for various reasons, including to communicate decisions on policy. The Secretary-General promulgates instructions applicable to more than one department of the Secretariat, including on the implementation of the regulations and rules, through administrative instructions (ST/AI-series).

Financial Regulations and Rules
The current version of the Financial Regulations and Rules is ST/SGB/2013/4 (1 July 2013).

The United Nations financial regulations and rules (which are often referred to as the "FRRs") are applicable to the Secretariat and a number of the funds and programmes, namely the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Under Regulation 5.8, the General Assembly provided the Secretary-General with the authority to "establish detailed financial rules and procedures in order to ensure effective and efficient financial management and the exercise of economy".

Related documents

 * ST/AI/2016/7 Delegation of authority under the Financial Regulations and Rules:
 * ST/SGB/2015/4 Supplement to the Financial Regulations and Rules containing (a) Financial Rules of UNEP trust funds, (b) Financial Regulations and Rules for UN-Habitat and (c) Financial Rules of the Fund of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme and the Fund of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme.
 * A/AC.96/503/Rev.10 Financial rules for voluntary funds administered by the High Commissioner for Refugees
 * Overview of financial policies and rules on iSeek (requires UN login)
 * Procurement Manual (Rev. 7, 1 July 2013)
 * ST/AI/2015/4 Management of property (4 June 2015)

Previous versions

 * ST/SGB/2003/7 (9 May 2003) and Amend.1 (16 December 2010)
 * ST/SGB/Financial Rules/1/Rev.3 (1 March 1985)
 * ST/SGB/Financial Rules/1/Rev.2 (31 March 1978)
 * ST/SGB/Financial Regulations (2 July 1975)
 * ST/SGB/Financial Rules/1/Rev.1 (31 May 1970) and Amend.1 (27 January 1971)
 * ST/SGB/Financial Rules/1 (1 January 1960)
 * General Assembly resolution 456(V) of 16 November 1950 (Financial Regulations of the United Nations)
 * General Assembly resolution 80(I) of 11 December 1946 (Provisional Financial Regulations of the United Nations)

Regulations and Rules Governing Programme Planning, the Programme Aspects of the Budget, the Monitoring of Implementation and the Methods of Evaluation
Because the formal title is such a mouthful, these are generally referred to by the acronym "PPBME". The current version of the PPBME is ST/SGB/2016/6 (issued 2 May 2016).

Previous versions

 * ST/SGB/2000/8 (issued 19 April 2000)
 * ST/SGB/PPBME Rules/1 (issued March 1987)

Staff Regulations and Staff Rules
The current version of the Staff Regulations and Rules is ST/SGB/2018/1 (1 January 2018).

The Staff Regulations are issued in accordance with Article 101.1 of the United Nations Charter ("The staff shall be appointed by the Secretary-General under regulations established by the General Assembly."). The Secretary-General can issue staff rules and amendments to staff rules to implement the Staff Regulations, which are provisional until after they have been reported to the General Assembly. The General Assembly may direct that a rule or amendment be withdrawn or modified. The rules enter into full force, after taking into account the modifications and/or deletions directed by the General Assembly, on 1 January of the year after the provisional rules were reported to the General Assembly.

The Staff Regulations and Staff Rules apply to the Secretariat and the funds and programmes with the exception of the World Food Programme, to which the Regulations and Rules of the Food and Agriculture Programme apply. Secretariat administrative issuances (ST/SGBs and ST/AIs) implementing the Staff Regulations and Staff Rules only apply to the Secretariat, as each organization using the Staff Regulations and Staff Rules of the United Nations issues its own policies on the implementation of the Regulations and Rules.

Related documents

 * ST/SGB/2015/1 Delegation of authority in the administration of the Staff Regulations and Staff Rules

Previous versions

 * ST/SGB/2017/1 (16 December 2016)
 * ST/SGB/2016/1 (1 July 2016)
 * ST/SGB/2014/1 (1 January 2014)
 * ST/SGB/2013/3 (1 January 2013) and Amend. 1 (12 August 2013)
 * ST/SGB/2011/1 (1 January 2011)
 * ST/SGB/2010/6 (2 September 2010)
 * ST/SGB/2009/7 (21 October 2009)

Prior to 1 July 2009, separate rules governed staff with contracts issued under the separate 100, 200 and 300 series of the Staff Rules, which were unified under resolution 63/250 of 24 December 2008.

Regulations Governing the Status, Basic Rights and Duties of Officials other than Secretariat Officials, and Experts on Mission
The Regulations were issued as ST/SGB/2002/9 (18 June 2002).