U.N. General Secretary
| Secretary-General of the United Nations |
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| United Nations Secretariat | |
| Style | His Excellency |
| Status |
Chief administrative officer Head of an organ |
| Member of |
Secretariat General Assembly |
| Residence | United Nations Headquarters |
| Seat | New York City, New York, United States |
| Nominator | Security Council |
| Appointer | General Assembly |
| Term length | five years, renewable (traditionally limited to two terms) |
| Constituting instrument | United Nations Charter |
| Inaugural holder |
Gladwyn Jebb as acting Secretary-General (24 October 1945) Trygve Lie as first Secretary-General (2 February 1946) |
| Formation | 24. October 1945 |
| Deputy | Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations |
| Website | un.org/sg |
The Secretary-General of the United Nations (UNSG or just SG) is the head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General serves as the chief administrative officer of the United Nations. The role of the United Nations Secretariat, and of the Secretary-General in particular, is laid out by Chapter XV (Articles 97 to 101) of the United Nations Charter.
As of 2018, the Secretary-General is António Guterres, appointed by the General Assembly on 13 October 2016.
The Secretary-General was envisioned by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a "world moderator", but the vague definition provided by the United Nations Charter left much room for interpretation. The Secretary-General is the "chief administrative officer" of the UN (Article 97) "in all meetings of the General Assembly, of the Security Council, of the Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Council, and shall perform other functions as are entrusted to him by these organs" (Article 98). They are also responsible for making an annual report to the General Assembly. They may notify the Security Council on matters which "in their opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security".
Other than these few guidelines, little else is dictated by the Charter. Interpretation of the Charter has varied between Secretaries-General, with some being much more active than others. The Secretary-General, along with the Secretariat, is given the prerogative to exhibit no allegiance to any state but to only the United Nations organization; decisions must be made without regard to the state of origin.
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Wikipedia