Secretary-General of the United Nations the appointee's national origin and to gender equality, although no woman has yet served as Secretary-General. The length of the term is discretionary, but all Secretaries-General since 1971 have been appointed to five-year terms. Every Secretary-General since 1961 has been re-selected for a second term, with the exception of Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who was vetoed by the United States in the 1996 selection. There is a term limit of two full terms, established when China cast a record 16 vetoes against Kurt Waldheim's third term in the 1981 selection. No Secretary-General since 1981 has attempted to secure a third term. The
Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations The Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations is the deputy to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The office was created to handle many of the administrative responsibilities of the Secretary-General, help manage Secretariat operations, and ensure coherence of activities and programmes. The post was formally established by the General Assembly at the end of 1997. Amina J. Mohammed of Nigeria was named Deputy Secretary-General by then Secretary-General-designate António Guterres. Mohammed assumed the office the same day as Guterres began his term, on 1 January 2017. Responsibilities generally delegated by the Secretary-General to the