text: UNITED NATIONS A GeneralAssembly Distr. GENEIlAL A/40/652 24September 1985 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH Fortieth session Agenda item123(a) PERSONNEL QUESTIONS Composition oftheSecretariat Report Ofthesecretary-General CONTENTS Paragraphs Page I.INTRODUCTION •••...•••••••......••••••••••.••••.••••••••••• I I .RECRUITMENT•.••.•••••••..•..••••••.....•••••••.•••.....••• A.Principles qoverninq recruitment .........•.•.......... B.Majorrecruitment stepstaken••...•..•••••...••••..•.• C.Results obtained . Ill.COMPOSITION OFTHESECRETARIAT ••••......••••..•..•••...•.•1 -2 3 -25 3 -11 12-18 19-25 26-33 26 27-29 30-332 2 2 6 8 9 ~. STATISTICAL TABLES•••••...••.•••••••.•..•••••••.•••••....•.•••.....• 21 85-25690 2225a (El I...A/40/652 English Page2 I.INTRODUCTION 1.Theannual report oftheSecretary-General onthecomposition ofthe Secretariat issubmitted inaccordance withanumber ofresolutions oftheGeneral Assembly, themostrecentofwhichareresolutions 33/143 of20December 1978, 35/210of17December 1980,37/235 of21December 1982,38/231of20December 1983 and39/245 of18December 1984. Thisreportpresents totheGeneral Assembly comprehensive information onrecruitment efforts between 1July1984and, 30June1985aswellasonthecomposition ofthestaffoftheUnited Nations Secretariat asat30June1985,ascompared withprevious years. Thisinformation, whichiscontained mainly inthestatistical tables intheannextothereport, permits anassessment ofthedistribution ofthestaffbynationality, sexandtype ofappointment, inthelightoftheprinciples contained intheCharter ofthe United Nations andthegUidelines setforthbytheGeneral Assembly. Separate reports onotherconcerns expressed bytheGeneral Assembly inresolution 39/245 arealsobeingsubmitted atthecurrent session. 2.Substantial progress hasbeenmadethisyeartowards theachievement ofan equitable geographical balance intheSecretariat. Theproportion ofappointments fromunrepresented andunderrepresented MemberStates during thereporting year 1July1984-30 June1985reached 54.6percentoftotalappointments toposts subject togeographical distribution. Theseappointments havehadasignificant impact ontherepresentation ofMemberStates. Forthefirsttime,100Member States arewithin rangeintheSecretariat. Thenumber otunrepresented and underrepresented MemberStates hasdecreased to13and15respectively. Thenumber ofover-represented Member States hasalsodecreased anditnowstands at31. Further details aregiveninparagraphs 19to25helow. 11.RECRUITMENT A.Principles governinq re~ruitment 3.Theprinciples ofefficiency, competence andintegrity, andofrecruitment on aswideageographical basisaspossible, contained inArticle 101,paragraph 3,of theCharter, applytoallthestatfoftheSecretariat oftheUnited Nations as wellastothestatfofthesecretariats ofUnited Nations organs withspecial status inmatters ofappointment. Thesystemofdesirable ranges, however, has heenestablished bytheGeneral Assembly asaguideline torthegeographical distribution ofonlyagroupofstaffintheSecretariat oftheUnited Nations, knownasstaffinIlposts sUbject togeographical distributionll•Thisgroup consists ofstaffoftheSecretariat intheprofessional category andabovewhoare appointed bytheSecretary-General foraminimum termofoneyear. TheGeneral Assembly basrepeatedly requested thatimbalances inthedistribution ofthisgroup ofstaffshould becorrected assoonaspossible andhasprovided specific guidelines onthismatter, mostrecently inresolutions 35/210, 37/235 and39/245. 4. thanExcluded fromgeographical distribution are:staffwithappointments oneyear;staffinpostswithspecial language requirements; staffforless /...A/40/652 English Page3 specifically appointed formission service; staffspecifically appointed for service withtheUnitedNations Environment Programme (UNEP);staffspecifically appointed afterinter-agency consultation topostsfinanced onaninter-agency
analysis: This text appears to be a report on the composition and recruitment of the United Nations Secretariat, focusing on the geographical distribution of staff and the principles governing recruitment. The text does not mention specific economic or environmental issues, but rather provides an overview of the organization's staffing and recruitment practices. Therefore, it is likely that the report is related to the administration and management of the United Nations, rather than a specific sector or field.