Organization of the Secretariat

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The Secretary-General's Bulletin on the Organization of the Secretariat sets out the organizational structure of the Secretariat, the main coordination bodies, and the responsibilities of heads of departments/offices, programme managers and executive offices/administrative units.

Organization of the Secretariat

The current bulletin on the Organization of the Secretariat is ST/SGB/2015/3.

Previous bulletins:

Departments and offices

Current departments and offices

The bulletins for current departments and offices are as follows:

Department Short form Current bulletin Previous bulletins[1] Notes
Executive Office of the Secretary-General EOSG ST/SGB/1998/18 N/A
Department for General Assembly and Conference Management DGACM ST/SGB/2021/3] ST/SGB/2005/9, ST/SGB/1997/6 Renamed from Department of General Assembly and Conference Services
Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs DPPA N/A N/A Established 1 January 2019 as part of peace and security reform
Office for Disarmament Affairs ODA ST/SGB/2008/8 ST/SGB/2004/12, ST/SGB/1998/10
Department of Peace Operations DPO N/A N/A Established 1 January 2019 as part of peace and security reform
Department of Operational Support DOS N/A N/A Established 1 January 2019 as part of management reform
Office of Legal Affairs OLA ST/SGB/2021/1 ST/SGB/2008/13, ST/SGB/2006/12, ST/SGB/1997/8
Department of Economic and Social Affairs DESA ST/SGB/1997/9 N/A
Secretariat of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNCTAD ST/SGB/1998/1 N/A
Secretariat of the United Nations Environment Programme UNEP ST/SGB/2006/13 ST/SGB/1999/21
Secretariat of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme UN-Habitat ST/SGB/2002/14 ST/SGB/1999/22 Renamed from United Nations Centre for Human Settlements on 1 January 2002[2]
Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC ST/SGB/2004/6 ST/SGB/1998/17 Renamed from United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention on 1 October 2002
Secretariat of the Economic Commission for Africa ECA ST/SGB/2005/12 ST/SGB/1998/4
Secretariat of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific ESCAP ST/SGB/2005/11 ST/SGB/2000/12
Secretariat of the Economic Commission for Europe ECE ST/SGB/2008/9 ST/SGB/1998/3
Secretariat of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean ECLAC ST/SGB/2000/5 N/A
Secretariat of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia ESCWA ST/SGB/2010/7 ST/SGB/2002/16, ST/SGB/1999/1
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights OHCHR ST/SGB/1997/10 N/A
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs OCHA ST/SGB/1999/8 N/A Reorganized from the Department of Humanitarian Affairs (DHA) in 1998[3]
Department of Global Communications DGC ST/SGB/1999/10 N/A Renamed from Department of Public Information (DPI) on 1 January 2019
Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance DMSPC N/A N/A Established 1 January 2019 as part of management reform
United Nations Office at Geneva UNOG ST/SGB/2000/4 ST/SGB/1999/14
United Nations Office at Vienna UNOV ST/SGB/2004/5 ST/SGB/1998/16
United Nations Office at Nairobi UNON ST/SGB/2009/3 ST/SGB/2008/7, ST/SGB/2000/13, ST/SGB/1999/20
Office of Internal Oversight Services OIOS ST/SGB/2002/7 ST/SGB/1998/2
Department of Safety and Security DSS ST/SGB/2013/5 ST/SGB/1998/11 (OCSS), section 5 Also referred to as UNDSS
Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States OHRLLS ST/SGB/2020/2 ST/SGB/2007/7
Office of the Special Adviser on Africa OSAA ST/SGB/2003/6 N/A
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict OSRSG CAAC N/A N/A
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict OSRSG SVC N/A N/A
Ethics Office N/A ST/SGB/2005/22 N/A
United Nations Ombudsman and Mediation Services UNOMS ST/SGB/2016/7 ST/SGB/2002/12
Office of Administration of Justice OAJ ST/SGB/2010/3 N/A
United Nations Office for Partnerships UNOP ST/SGB/2009/14 N/A
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction UNDRR N/A N/A Short form was UNISDR until April 2019[4]
Development Coordination Office DCO N/A N/A Established 1 January 2019
Office for Outer Space Affairs UNOOSA ST/SGB/2020/1] N/A

Departments and offices formerly part of the Secretariat

The bulletins for entities no longer considered part of the Secretariat are as follows:

Department Short form Final bulletin Previous bulletins Notes
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East UNRWA ST/SGB/2000/6 N/A
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR ST/SGB/1998/9 N/A

Defunct departments and offices

The bulletins for select defunct departments and offices are as follows:

Department Short form Final bulletin Previous bulletins Notes
Department of Administration and Management DAM ST/SGB/255 Reorganized into Department of Management in 1997
Department of Field Support DFS ST/SGB/2010/2 N/A Reorganized as part of the management reform
Department of Political Affairs DPA ST/SGB/2009/13 and Corr.1 ST/SGB/2000/10, ST/SGB/1998/14, ST/SGB/1997/7 Reorganized as part of peace and security reform
Department of Peacekeeping Operations DPKO ST/SGB/2010/2 ST/SGB/2000/9 Reorganized as part of the peace and security reform
Department of Management DM ST/SGB/2010/9 ST/SGB/2005/8, ST/SGB/2003/15, ST/SGB/1997/11 Reorganized as part of management reform
Department of Management: Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts OPPBA ST/SGB/2003/16 ST/SGB/1998/13
Department of Management: Office of Human Resources Management OHRM ST/SGB/2011/4 ST/SGB/2004/8, ST/SGB/1998/12
Department of Management: Office of Central Support Services OCSS ST/SGB/2013/1 ST/SGB/1998/11
Department of Management: Office of Information and Communications Technology OICT ST/SGB/2016/11 N/A OICT now has dual reporting line to DMSPC and DOS following the management reform
Peacebuilding Support Office PBSO N/A N/A No longer exists as standalone entity; merged into new DPPA as part of peace and security reform
United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace UNOSDP N/A N/A Closed in 2017

Organizational nomenclature

The norms established for organizational nomenclature[5] are as follows:

Level Element Description
1 Department, Secretariat or Office A minimum of 30 posts in the Professional category and above, headed by an Under-Secretary-General. For regional commissions, the title of Executive Secretary is used.[6]
2 Centre A minimum of 20 posts in the Professional category and above, headed by an officer at the D-2 level, and exceptionally at the ASG level. The term is to be used in exceptional circumstances, e.g., as a result of a decision of the General Assembly or other organs.
3 Division A minimum of 15 posts in the Professional category and above, headed by a Director at the D-2 level. (For regional commissions, a minimum of eight posts in the Professional category and above, headed by a Chief at the D-1 level.)
4 Branch/Service A minimum of eight posts in the Professional category and above, headed by an officer at the D-1 level with the title “Head of Branch”. The term “Service” is to be used for elements whose work is essentially of an administrative support or service nature. The terms “Branch/Service” should not be used in the regional commissions.
5 Section A minimum of four posts in the Professional category, headed by a Chief at the P-5 or P-4 level.
6 Unit A minimum of four posts and headed by Chief of Unit. For use of the term, there should be a demonstrated need for a designated supervisor and for recognition outside the department/office.

In cases where an organizational element meets the criterion of number of posts, but the level of the head is above the criteria for that level, more weight should be given to number of posts than to level of head.[7]

See also

Documents

  • A/C.5/32/17 Organizational nomenclature in the Secretariat: Report of the Secretary-General
  • A/C.5/33/6 Organizational nomenclature in the Secretariat: Report of the Secretary-General
  • ST/AI/409, Annex: Guidelines for the preparation of ST/SGB/Organization

References

  1. i.e. those issued after the abolishment of the Organization Manual by ST/SGB/1997/5
  2. General Assembly resolution 56/206
  3. A/51/950 Renewing the United Nations: A Programme for Reform
  4. Memo from CdC to SRSG DRR, dated 8 April 2019
  5. ST/AI/409 Restructuring of Secretariat departments and offices, Appendix IV; although this ST/AI was abolished with the issuance of ST/SGB/1997/5, no new guidance on organizational nomenclature has since been issued.
  6. As noted in paragraph 6 of A/C.5/33/6, “In addition to the use of the terms secretariat, office and centre to designated hierarchical levels 1 and 2 respectively, it was recognized that these terms would have to continue to be used on the basis of established practice (e.g. United Nations Information Centres) or to designate the immediate staff attached to senior officials of the Secretariat or bodies such as functional commissions, boards, committees, etc. The working group recommended, however, and the Secretary-General has agreed that the use of the term “office” in the generic sense should be limited to use only at hierarchical level 3 (division) and above.”
  7. ST/AI/409 Restructuring of Secretariat departments and offices, Appendix IV