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
1996 United Nations Secretary-General selection negative vote being a French veto. On 13 December 1996, France dropped its veto against Annan. The Security Council adopted Resolution 1090 by acclamation, recommending Kofi Annan to be the next Secretary-General of the United Nations. On 17 December 1996, the General Assembly adopted Resolution A/51/L.66, appointing Kofi Annan as Secretary-General for a term ending 31 December 2001. Kofi Annan ran unopposed for re-selection in 2001. Due to Boutros-Ghali's non-reelection, a second Annan term would give Africa the office of Secretary-General for three consecutive terms. In 2001, the Asia-Pacific Group agreed to a third term for Africa in return for