Membership
The activities of the Secretariat are performed by a staff of 44,000 civil servants from around the world under the leadership of the Secretary-General. Eligibility for civil service is based on a UN-administered examination offered worldwide, in addition to a competitive application process. Qualifications for membership include "the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity", according to the UN Charter. Staff-members are appointed by the Secretary-General alone and are assigned to the organs of the United Nations. Staff members are appointed on a temporary or permanent basis, under the discretion of the Secretary-General. During staff recruitment, geographical variety is an especially prominent selection factor in order to accurately reflect the scope of member states present in the UN.
While the Secretariat seeks to represent UN membership fairly through diverse geographical representation, staff members are foremost international officials. The charter states that staff members are responsible "only to the organization" and are prohibited from any action or influence that would suggest affiliation with a government or organization outside the UN.
Headquartered in New York, the Secretariat functions through duty stations in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva, Nairobi, Santiago and Vienna, in addition to offices all over the world.
Read more about this topic: United Nations Secretariat
Famous quotes containing the word membership:
“The two real political parties in America are the Winners and the Losers. The people don’t acknowledge this. They claim membership in two imaginary parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, instead.”
—Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (b. 1922)