The Office of the Director-General, headed by a Chef de Cabinet, provides support and advice to the Director-General in the exercise of his mandate (ST/SGB/2000/4). The core functions of the Office of the Director-General, which consists of five parts – cabinet; political, external and inter-agency affairs; legal liaison; protocol liaison; NGO liaison – are as follows:
- Monitoring the implementation of the work plan of the Office, advising the Director-General on departmental policies and managerial issues and coordinating the Director-General’s activities;
- Maintaining liaison with permanent missions, academic institutions and non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council and facilitating their participation in United Nations activities;
- Carrying out protocol and liaison functions with the authorities of the host country and advising and assisting the Geneva Diplomatic Committee in its work;
- Arranging consultations among heads of specialized agencies, United Nations programmes at Geneva and the Director-General, and providing briefings and services to these entities;
- Coordinating electronic information dissemination, in particular via the Internet, to the permanent missions, intergovernmental organizations and the public;
- Advising the Director-General on issues pertaining to cooperation with regional organizations, undertaking in-depth analyses on regional and international security and political issues;
- Representing the Legal Counsel at Geneva, assisting the Director-General on all legal matters, and liaising with the host country and other authorities concerning privileges and immunities and other questions affecting United Nations agreements.
