THE SECRETARIAT

The Secretariat is one of the six principal  organs of the United Nations, the others being; the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council and the International Court of Justice. It came into being on February  1, 1946, when the first Secretary-General of the UN was appointed by the Assembly. The Secretariat . provides se 'ces to the legislative organs of the UN, namely, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council an the Trusteeship Council, including their subsidiary bodies. The legislative organs adopt resolutions  and action programmes for the betterment of many aspects of life, such as peaceful settlement of disputes between states, achievement of independence, right to self-determination and other human rights of all peoples of the world, improvement of socioeconomic conditions in all countries, international cooperation in providing relief to victims of conflict and natural disasters and adoption of regulations for safeguarding of the environment, exploitation of marine resources and promotion of activities in outer space The resolution; and action programmes are the outcome of deliberations of representatives of member states in those organs and subsidiary bodies. The Secretariat provides the services that facilitate those deliberations and carries out that part of the work programme which is assigned to it. The work of the secretariat is carried out by the staff of the UN who are appointed by the Secretary-General. The resources it requires for carrying out the UN programme of work are provided by the member states. The Secretariat is located at the Headquarters of the UN in New York. It has branch offices at Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi. It also includes  the regional commission’s secretariats at Addis Ababa, Baghdad, Bangkok, Geneva and Santiago. Its broad functions in various fields with which the United Nations is concerned, with some variations from field to field, are as follows: 

•  Producing reports and other documents containing information, analyses, historical background, research findings, policy suggestions, etc. ., that facilitate the deliberations and decision-making by the legislative organs and their subsidiary bodies; 
• Providing secretariat services to the legislative organs and their subsidiary bodies (e.g., providing secretaries for committees, councils and commissions; assisting in planning the work of the sessions, in conducting the proceedings and in drafting reports);
• Providing meeting services (interpretation, verbatim reporting and precis-writing services) to the legislative organs, in accordance with the policies adopted by the General Assembly;
•  Providing editorial, translation and documents reproduction services for the issuance of United Nations documents in the different working languages, in accordance with the policies adopted by the General Assembly; 

• Conducting studies and providing information that answer to the priority needs of Governments of member countries, particularly of the developing countries, in meeting challenges in various fields;
• Producing statistical publications, information bulletins and analytical work which the General Assembly has decided should be issued by the United Nations in the field concerned,
• Organising conferences, expert group meetings and seminars on topics of concern to the international community, as authorised by the legislative organs. (h)Providing technical assistance to the developing countries, i.e., providing experts, resources and/ or materials to countries, offering training opportunities to officials of countries by way of fellowships to universities and other institutes and inviting them to seminars organised by the United Nations;

• Undertaking or servicing missions to countries, areas or locations as authorised by the General Assembly or the Security Council.
• Arranging for dissemination to the public, of information on United Nations activities and decisions; 
• Providing the programme planning, financial, personnel, legal, management and general services that are essential for the rational selection of work items and allocating resources among them and for the effective, economic and efficient performance of the services and functions of the Secretariat, within the legal framework of regulations, rules and policies adopted by the General Assembly.