Appointment of the Secretary-General

In carrying out the duties specified in Regulation 201 of the General Regulations, the Secretary-General shall comply with any directives issued by the Executive Council or, in accordance with Regulation 9, by the President of the Organization.

In addition to his duties under other Regulations of the Organization, the duties of the Secretary-General shall be:

1. To direct the work of the Secretariat
2. To promote maximum compliance of Members of the Organization with the decisions of the Organization;
3. To direct correspondence and maintain liaison with the President and Vice-Presidents of the Organization, presidents of associations and commissions, and with Members of the Organization, Permanent Representatives, States or territories which are not Members of the Organization, international organizations and others, and to act as representative in negotiations with all these authorities
4. To arrange for the nomination of representatives of the Organization on subsidiary bodies of other international organizations or to attend meetings of these international organizations and to issue the necessary credentials and guidance to such representatives; due consideration should be given to the provisions of Regulation 54
5. To act as the channel for communications (notifications, invitations, etc.) between the Organization and its Members, between constituent bodies and other organizations and, when appropriate, between constituent bodies
6. To ensure that, in the fields concerning him, the president of a constituent body is kept fully advised of the activities and recommendations of other constituent bodies and of other international organizations
7. To maintain liaison and to collaborate as necessary with the Secretariats of other international organizations
8. To designate a representative of the Secretary-General and other staff of the Secretariat, as necessary, to attend each session of a constituent body to assist the president in conducting the work of the session

When in the appointment of the Secretary-General it is necessary to choose between two or more persons the following procedures shall be used:

(a) Each principal delegate, or his alternate, of the Members represented in Congress shall be asked to indicate the candidate he prefers by writing the candidate’s name on the voting slip. All candidates who fail to receive a vote and the candidate who receives the smallest number of votes shall be struck from the list of candidates. In the event of two or more candidates receiving the smallest number of votes, a separate vote of preference shall be taken and the candidate who receives the least number of votes shall be eliminated from the list and the other(s) retained. If in this separate vote of preference more than one candidate receives the smallest number of votes, all these candidates shall be eliminated from the list

(b) The procedures described in paragraph (a) shall then be repeated with the reduced list of candidates

(c) This procedure shall continue until one candidate (the “preferred candidate”) remains on the list

(d) A proposal shall then be submitted to Congress that the preferred candidate be declared appointed. Such a proposal shall be supported by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast for and against in order to be adopted

(e) If, at any stage during the voting procedure described in paragraphs (a) to (c) above, a candidate receives a two-thirds majority of the votes cast for and against, he shall be declared appointed and no further votes shall be taken

(f) In the event of the two final candidates in the indication-of-preference procedure receiving the same number of votes, a further vote shall take place

(g) In the event that the proposal described in paragraph (d) is not supported by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast for and against, a further vote shall take place

(h) In the event of the further votes described in paragraphs (f) and (g) being indecisive, Congress shall decide whether further voting shall take place, whether a new procedure shall be followed, or whether its decision shall be withheld.