Dag Hammarskjöld Library at Uppsala University
Secretary-General
- © United Nations
The United Nations Secretary-General is the head of the Secretariat and, at the same time, represents the whole organization, his role widely considered to be the most influential within the United Nations.
The Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council to serve for a renewable term of five years.
Beside his administrative tasks, the Secretary-General fulfills tasks which are entrusted to him by the Charter or by other principal organs:
- to bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security
- to raise and initiate discussions in the General Assembly and other UN organs
- to offer his mediation services to conflicting parties, and on demand from the Security Council, provide the Council with information as a basis for its own initiatives with regard to a particular conflict
Documentation
The Secretary-General is required to submit an annual report to the General Assembly - a summarized overview
of the work of the Organization. It is issued as no 1 in the documentary series Supplements to the Official Records of the General Assembly, Annual report on the Work of the Organization. A complete collection of these supplements in print will be found in the UN Collection of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, Uppsala, and in the Libraries at UN Headquarters in New York and Geneva.
The report for recent years is posted at the UN official web site, section Documents, Secretariat.
Speeches, reports and press releases, official travel and program, biography and background information can be retrieved from the official web site of the Secretary-General.
Short biographies of the former Secretaries-General can be accessed through the UN official web site, Former Secretaries-General.
The Dag Hammarskjöld Library, Uppsala, holds a Dag Hammarskjöld collection with literature by Dag Hammarskjöld and about him. A survey of this literature is contained in the publication Dag Hammarskjöld 1905-2005 : literature : a list based on the collections of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, Uppsala.
Dag Hammarskjöld Library has compiled a biography online about Dag Hammarskjöld.
Biographies of all Secretaries-General can be accessed from the Dag Hamarskjöld Library, Uppsala, and from the Libraries at UN Headquarters in New York and Geneva.
Official statements by the Secretaries-General are published in the Public Papers of the Secretaries-General of the United Nations.