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Did you know that #UNHCR was once part of the Secretariat? The Secretariat is doing some housecleaning by abolishing some obsolete bulletins. Among those on the chopping block is the SGB on the organization of UNHCR. (1/thread)
https://undocs.org/st/sgb/2020/3
https://undocs.org/st/sgb/2020/3
This thread will probably only interest those who have ever wondered about the distinction between all of the different boxes on the #UN system chart. To everyone else, apologies in advance! (2/x)
As established, #UNHCR was intended to operate with a degree of independence, be financed through the regular budget and receive policy directives from the UN. (3/x)
https://undocs.org/a/res/319(IV)
https://undocs.org/a/res/319(IV)
Still, as late as 1998, UNHCR was considered a Secretariat entity.
https://undocs.org/st/sgb/1998/9
But by 2015, it was no longer considered part of the Secretariat.
https://undocs.org/st/sgb/2015/3
What changed?
(4/x)
https://undocs.org/st/sgb/1998/9
But by 2015, it was no longer considered part of the Secretariat.
https://undocs.org/st/sgb/2015/3
What changed?
(4/x)
There doesn't seem to be a single decision that changed its status. Instead, increased delegation of authority from the SG over the decades along with a distinct culture and identity cemented acceptance of its status as being autonomous and separate from the Secretariat. (5/x)
So what is UNHCR if it's not part of the Secretariat? We often use the shorthand of "agencies, funds and programmes" to refer to everything in the UN system outside of the Secretariat. But not all non-Secretariat entities are agencies, funds or programmes. (6/x)
Specialized agencies are legally *not* part of the UN but coordinate their work at the intergovernmental level through ECOSOC (articles 57 & 63 of the Charter) and at the inter-Secretariat level through the CEB. Many specialized agencies pre-date the UN. (7/x)
There are also related orgs that are also legally separate from the UN but also coordinate at the inter-Secretariat level through the CEB. Crucially, they do not coordinate through ECOSOC, so they are not technically specialized agencies. Think IAEA and IOM. (8/x)
UNCHR is clearly part of the UN, so it's not a specialized agency or related org. It's a subsidiary organ (articles 7 and 22 of the Charter) but it's also neither a fund nor a programme (9/x)
https://legal.un.org/repertory/art7/english/rep_orig_vol1_art7.pdf
https://legal.un.org/repertory/art7/english/rep_orig_vol1_art7.pdf
In the absence of a better label, the best we can do is to lump UNHCR into the category of "other entities". It's not alone here—UNRWA (whose bulletin has also been abolished) and UN-Women also fall into this category. #nowyouknow (end)
