Secretary-General of the United Nations facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Secretary-General of the United Nations
Flag of the United Nations
Emblem of the United Nations
Incumbent António Guterres since 1 January 2017 (2017-01-01)
United Nations Secretariat
Style	His Excellency
Abbreviation	UNSG
Member of	Secretariat General Assembly
Residence	Sutton Place, New York City
Seat	United Nations Headquarters, New York City (international territory)
Nominator	Security Council
Appointer	General Assembly
Term length	Five years, renewable (traditionally limited to two terms)
Constituting instrument	United Nations Charter
Precursor	Secretary-General of the League of Nations
Formation	24 October 1945
First holder	Gladwyn Jebb as acting Secretary-General Trygve Lie as first Secretary-General
Deputy	Deputy Secretary-General
Website	un.org/sg

The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG, SG or SecGen) 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.

The role of the secretary-general and of the secretariat is laid out by Chapter XV (Articles 97 to 101) of the United Nations Charter. However, the office's qualifications, selection process and tenure are open to interpretation; they have been established by custom.

Selection and term of office

The Secretariat Building is a 154-metre-tall (505 ft) skyscraper and the centerpiece of the Headquarters of the United Nations.

The secretary-general is appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. As the recommendation must come from the Security Council, any of the five permanent members of the council can veto a nomination. Most secretaries-general are compromise candidates from middle powers and have little prior fame.

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. 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, although no woman has yet served as secretary-general. All appointees to date have been career diplomats.

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 of Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who was vetoed by the United States in the 1996 selection. There is a customary but unofficial term limit of two full terms, established when China, in the 1981 selection, cast a record 16 vetoes against a third term for Kurt Waldheim. No secretary-general since 1981 has attempted to secure a third term.

The selection process is opaque and is often compared to a papal conclave. Since 1981, the Security Council has voted in secret in a series of straw 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.

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 the president 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".

Powers and duties

The role of the secretary-general is described as combining the functions and responsibilities of an advocate, diplomat, civil servant, and chief executive officer. The UN Charter designates the secretary-general as the "chief administrative officer" of the UN and allows them to perform "such other functions as are entrusted" by other United Nations organs. 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". 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.

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. 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 the United Nations System.

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. 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". Consequently, observers have variably described the office as the "world's most visible bully pulpit" or as the "world's moderator". Examples include Dag Hammarskjöld's promotion of an armistice between the warring parties of Arab-Israel conflict, Javier Perez de Cuellar's negotiation of a ceasefire in the Iran-Iraq War, and U Thant's role in deescalating the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Residence

The official residence of the secretary-general is a townhouse at 3 Sutton Place, Manhattan, in New York City, United States. The townhouse was built for Anne Morgan in 1921 and donated to the United Nations in 1972.

List of secretaries-general

No.	Portrait	Secretary-general (Birth–Death)	Assumed office	Left office	Country of origin	UN Regional Group	Political party	Notes
Acting		Jebb, GladwynGladwyn Jebb (1900–1996)	24 October 1945	2 February 1946	United Kingdom	Western European and Others	Liberal	After World War II, he served as executive secretary of the Preparatory Commission of the United Nations in August 1945, being appointed Acting United Nations secretary-general from October 1945 to February 1946 until the appointment of the first secretary-general, Trygve Lie.
1		Lie, TrygveTrygve Lie (1896–1968)	2 February 1946	10 November 1952	Norway	Western European and Others	Labour	Lie, a foreign minister and former labour leader, was recommended by the Soviet Union to fill the post. After the UN involvement in the Korean 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, and he resigned in 1952.
2		Hammarskjöld, DagDag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961)	10 April 1953	18 September 1961	Sweden	Western European and Others	Independent	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. The Soviet Union was angered by Hammarskjöld's leadership of the UN during the Congo Crisis, and suggested that the position of secretary-general be replaced by a troika, or three-man executive. Facing great opposition from the Western nations, the Soviet Union gave up on its suggestion. Hammarskjöld died in a plane crash in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) in 1961. U.S. president John F. Kennedy called him "the greatest statesman of our century". Hammarskjöld was posthumously awarded the 1961 Nobel Peace Prize.
Acting		Thant, UU Thant (1909–1974)	3 November 1961	30 November 1962	Burma	Asia-Pacific	Independent Formerly a member of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League until 1958	In the process of replacing Hammarskjöld, the developing world insisted on a non-European and non-American secretary-general. U Thant was nominated. However, due to opposition from the French (Thant had chaired a committee on Algerian independence) and the Arabs (Burma supported Israel), Thant was only appointed for the remainder of Hammarskjöld's term. He was the first Asian secretary-general. The following year, on 30 November, Thant was unanimously re-elected to a full term ending on 3 November 1966. At the General Assembly session on 2 December 1966, Thant was reappointed as secretary-general by a unanimous vote of the Security Council. His five-year term ended on 31 December 1971. Thant did not seek a third election. Thant is the only former secretary-general whose home country had not been in the Security Council in his term.
3			30 November 1962	31 December 1971
4		Waldheim, KurtKurt Waldheim (1918–2007)	1 January 1972	31 December 1981	Austria	Western European and Others	People's	Waldheim launched a discreet but effective campaign to become the secretary-general. Despite initial vetoes from China and the United Kingdom, in the third round, Waldheim was selected to become the new secretary-general. In 1976, China initially blocked Waldheim's re-election, but it 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; although the official reasons by the Chinese government for the veto of Waldheim remain unclear, some estimates from the time believe it to be in part due to China's belief that a Third World country should give a nomination, particularly from the Americas; however, there also remained the question of his possible involvement in Nazi war crimes. From 1986 to 1992, Waldheim served as president of Austria, making him the first former secretary-general to rise to the position of head of state. In 1985, it was revealed that a post-World War II UN War Crimes Commission had labeled Waldheim as a suspected war criminal based on his involvement with the Wehrmacht. The files had been stored in the UN archive.
5		Pérez de Cuéllar, JavierJavier Pérez de Cuéllar (1920–2020)	1 January 1982	31 December 1991	Peru	Latin American and Caribbean	Independent Later became a member of the Union for Peru in 1994	Pérez de Cuéllar was selected after a five-week deadlock between the re-election of Waldheim and China's candidate, Salim Ahmed Salim of Tanzania. 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.
6		Boutros-Ghali, BoutrosBoutros Boutros-Ghali (1922–2016)	1 January 1992	31 December 1996	Egypt	African	National Democratic	The 102-member Non-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—a first for the council—and Boutros-Ghali emerged with 11 votes on the fifth round. In 1996, the United States vetoed the re-appointment of Boutros-Ghali, claiming he had failed in implementing necessary reforms to the UN.
7		Annan, KofiKofi Annan (1938–2018)	1 January 1997	31 December 2006	Ghana	African	Independent	On 13 December 1996, the Security Council recommended Annan. He was confirmed four days later by the vote of the General Assembly. He started his second term as secretary-general on 1 January 2002. Kofi Annan and the United Nations were the recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize.
8		Ban Ki-moon (b. 1944)	1 January 2007	31 December 2016	South Korea	Asia-Pacific	Independent	Ban became the first East Asian to be selected as the secretary-general and the second Asian overall after U Thant. He was unanimously elected to a second term by the General Assembly on 21 June 2011. His second term began on 1 January 2012. Prior to his selection, he was the Foreign Minister of South Korea from January 2004 to November 2006.
9		Guterres, AntónioAntónio Guterres (b. 1949)	1 January 2017	Incumbent	Portugal	Western European and Others	Socialist	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 the prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002. He has also been president of the Socialist International (1999–2005) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2005–2015). His second term began on 1 January 2022.

Map showing which nations have had a national serving as secretary-general of the United Nations

Statistics

#	Secretary-General	Born	Age at ascension (first term)	Time in office (total)	Age at retirement (last term)	Lifespan
						Died	Age
–	Jebb, Gladwyn Gladwyn Jebb	25 April 1900	45 years, 182 days 24 October 1945	102 days	45 years, 283 days 2 February 1946	24 October 1996	96 years, 182 days
1	Lie, Trygve Trygve Lie	16 July 1896	49 years, 201 days 2 February 1946	6 years, 283 days	56 years, 117 days 10 November 1952	30 December 1968	72 years, 167 days
2	Hammarskjöld, Dag Dag Hammarskjöld	29 July 1905	47 years, 255 days 10 April 1953	8 years, 162 days	56 years, 51 days 18 September 1961	18 September 1961	56 years, 51 days
3	Thant, U U Thant	22 January 1909	52 years, 285 days 3 November 1961	10 years, 59 days	62 years, 343 days 31 December 1971	25 November 1974	65 years, 307 days
4	Waldheim, Kurt Kurt Waldheim	21 December 1918	53 years, 11 days 1 January 1972	10 years, 0 days	63 years, 10 days 31 December 1981	14 June 2007	88 years, 175 days
5	Pérez de Cuéllar, Javier Javier Pérez de Cuéllar	19 January 1920	61 years, 347 days 1 January 1982	10 years, 0 days	71 years, 346 days 31 December 1991	4 March 2020	100 years, 45 days
6	Boutros-Ghali, Boutros Boutros Boutros-Ghali	14 November 1922	69 years, 48 days 1 January 1992	5 years, 0 days	74 years, 47 days 31 December 1996	16 February 2016	93 years, 94 days
7	Annan, Kofi Kofi Annan	8 April 1938	58 years, 268 days 1 January 1997	10 years, 0 days	68 years, 267 days 31 December 2006	18 August 2018	80 years, 132 days
8	Ban, Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon	13 June 1944	62 years, 202 days 1 January 2007	10 years, 0 days	72 years, 201 days 31 December 2016	2024-12-21(living)	80 years, 191 days
9	Guterres, António António Guterres	30 April 1949	67 years, 246 days 1 January 2017	7 years, 355 days	(incumbent)	2024-12-21(living)	75 years, 235 days

By regional group

See also

In Spanish: Secretaría General de las Naciones Unidas para niños

• Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations