Acceso usuarios
C.-A. Fleischhauer
The media focus on the General Secretary of the United Nations is as important as the number of articles of the UN Charter dealing with this position is limited. His appointment is discussed in a very rudimentary manner leaving many questions unanswered. The member states have been able to find practical and acceptable solutions to the problems that have appeared. They have thus expressed their interest for a General Secretary who should be able to work without being continually involved in conflicts about the legitimacy of his election. The administrative tasks of the General Secretary – as well as all his exclusively international tasks for that matter – are also presented in a very rudimentary and general manner in the Charter. He, nevertheless, plays an important role in the preparation and the implementation of almost all the resolutions and decisions of the various agencies and sub-agencies of the United Nations. On the other hand, the role of Article 99 of the Charter is often overestimated. Even without this Article, the General Secretary would not be a purely administrative position and Article 99 does not give him, in practice, an explicitly political responsibility. His responsibilities for the management of the staff are clearly established in the founding texts, but here again in a very general fashion. The role of the General Secretary is extremely important for the smooth operation of the Organization in all its spheres of competence. Despite Article 99, this role is highly political and very difficult to perform.
L’attention portée au Secrétaire général des Nations unies par les médias est aussi grande que le nombre des articles de la Charte qui s’occupent de lui est réduit. Sa nomination y est traitée d’une façon rudimentaire laissant beaucoup de questions ouvertes. Les États membres ont été capables de trouver des solutions pratiques et acceptables pour les problèmes qui ont surgi. Les tâches administratives du Secrétaire général – comme d’ailleurs toutes ses tâches de caractère exclusivement international – sont également circonscrites dans la Charte d’une façon générale. Il joue cependant un rôle dans la préparation et l’exécution de la presque totalité des résolutions et décisions des organes et sous-organes des Nations unies. Le rôle du Secrétaire général est extrêmement important pour le bon fonctionnement de l’organisation dans tous les secteurs de sa compétence. Indépendamment de l’article 99, ce rôle est hautement politique et très difficile à remplir.
