October 6, 2005 See also: Analysis of the letter
H.E. Kofi Annan
Secretary-General
United Nations Secretariat
Room S-3800
New York, NY 10017
Excellency,
I have been requested by Member States of the Group of 77 and China to write to you to express their concern regarding the content of public statements being made by senior officials of the Secretariat which the Group considers inappropriate and reflect negatively on the Organization.
The recently adopted Outcome Document of the High Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly reaffirmed the Charter provisions which require the staff of the Secretariat to be politically neutral and to refrain from any action inconsistent with their status as international civil servants responsible only to the Organization.
In this context, I have to draw attention to recent statements that were made in the media concerning the process of the negotiations among Member States and the results achieved in the Outcome Document. Some of the interpretations given on motives and actions of Member States are unfortunate and regrettable.
The Group of 77 and China is constrained to seek clarification as to whether it is now the practice of senior officials of the Secretariat to report directly to national parliaments on actions taken by the membership of the United Nations. Particularly troubling, is where decisions taken by Member States are not interpreted in a positive light and where views are expressed which embraced one position over another.
In the light of these concerns we wish to reaffirm that the Secretariat is accountable to the General Assembly and to individual Member States. Its role is to implement the legislative mandates of the Organization and accordingly, public utterances by Secretariat officials critical of decisions taken by the Assembly are not acceptable.
As the Chief Administrative Officer of the Organization, we urge you to ensure that actions of the staff do not compromise the high standard of professionalism nor the accepted reporting procedures of the Secretariat to the membership of the Organization.
Yours sincerely,
Stafford Neil
Permanent Representative of Jamaica
To the United Nations
Chairman of the Group of 77
