Note to Mr. Lopes LETTERS FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

Transcription

1 Note to Mr. Lopes LETTERS FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL it li i 0 E 8 r- K OCT At- 13, \o^ i CE OF THE SEC:-.;, nic^nerai. fj B 1. Thank you for your note of 6 October on the preparation of congratulatory letters for the Secretary-General's signature. 2. DPA is committed to ensuring the timely submission of draft letters to EOSG. Until now, we have operated on the basis of the 2003 EOSG guidelines on this subject (attached for ease of reference), according to which letters were submitted to EOSG on the date the new Head of State or Government took office. This practice was based on numerous past experiences when last-minute developments had rendered congratulatory letters inappropriate or obsolete. 3. We take note of your 6 October 2006 request that, in future, congratulatory letters should be submitted ahead of that time. We propose a 48-hour advance submission as a rule. However, we would strongly caution against any signed letter being automatically dispatched on the due date without prior verification with DPA. 4. Following your confirmation that we may proceed according to the suggestions outlined hi paragraph 3 above, we will inform DPA staff. Ibrahim Gambari 9 October 2006 cc: Mr. Malloch Brown v/" Ms. Barcena r*\ [q irl 1 { ] J [ w,*-r. ^ i w "<r!p.. rp r- i'5 OCT 1 1 ty! S "- i i _._ - ^ 1 j t J ^. Lm\aX

2 UNITED NATIONS WmV NATIONS UNIES >^±5p/ INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM TO:. DATE: 1 August 2003 A: All Heads of Departments, Funds and Programmes FROM: DE: SUBJECT: S. Iqbal Riza, Chef de Cabinet Guidelines for preparing letters for the Secretary-General's signature 1. As you are aware, letters addressed to Heads of State or Government must be signed by the Secretary-General. Please find attached updated guidelines for preparing such letters, which supersede those of 26 August It is essential that you ensure that letters for the Secretary-General's signature are submitted in accordance with the following guidelines, so that clearance by the EOSG is not delayed and time is not lost in sending letters back to departments for revisions. I would appreciate it if Heads of Departments, Funds and Programmes could ensure that this memorandum is distributed as widely as possible, so that all staff involved in producing letters for the Secretary-General are aware of the proper procedures and formats for such letters. 3. While, in general, the quality of letters received for the Secretary-General's signature is high, there are errors that recur, and slow the process down. Please ask your staff to pay particular attention to the following issues : a) Using correct and up to date names and titles of officials, consistent with the Protocol and Liaison Services list of Heads of State/Government and Foreign Ministers; b) Including transmittal letters along with substantive letters; c) Not using abbreviations; d) Ensuring that words such as Secretary-General, United Nations (and others identified in the guidelines) are not divided at the end of lines. 4. These guidelines, rather than the Correspondence Manual, should be considered the primary guide for preparing the Secretary-General's correspondence. The Correspondence Manual, while a valuable and important guide for style, spelling and protocol rules, is intended as a guide for general correspondence. 5. A consistent high quality in the Secretary-General's letters could be maintained if each Department designated two or three senior, experienced staff in the General Service category to be responsible for a final review of such letters before they are sent to EOSG. Thank you.

3 A. Guidelines for Letters from the Secretary-General 1. Letters in response to major events: When a major event occurs which requires an official reaction from the Secretary-General, the relevant department should immediately prepare a letter to the government concerned for the Secretary-General's signature. Examples of such events are appointment/election of a new Head of State or Government., illness or death of a Head of State or Government, significant ceremonial occasions, disasters or accidents. If the letter from the Secretary-General refers to an incoming letter, the incoming letter should be included in the folder. 2. Format: The format for letters signed by the Secretary-General is attached. It is the responsibility of the substantive department to ensure that names and titles of officials are consistent with the Protocol Unit's updated list of Heads of State or Government, Prime and Foreign Ministers. 3. Final editing: Due to the high volume of draft letters submitted to the EOSG on a daily basis, the EOSG cannot make required editing changes. If an urgent letter is submitted for immediate dispatch, departments should be prepared to have staff (including secretaries) on stand-by until letters have received final clearance from the EOSG. Nevertheless, in extremely urgent cases, the EOSG may have to make editing changes on the spot. All letters sent to the EOSG should, therefore, be accompanied by a diskette. 4. Transniittal letters: Letters addressed to Heads of State/Government and Ministers submitted to the EOSG for the Secretary-General's signature must be accompanied by a transmittal letter to the Permanent Representative to the United Nations (see example A, attached). 5. Exceptions: Effective immediately, papers will not be accepted in the EOSG after 6:00 p.m., and urgent papers will only be accepted hi the circumstances outlined hi para. 3 above and should be preceded by a phone call to the office of either the Chef de Cabinet or Mr. Michael M011er.

4 B. Format for Letters signed by the Secretary-General All letters should be typed on Secretary-General Letterhead, no drafts, (see example B, attached)., except letters to Heads of State/Government, which should be typed on cream coloured Head of State paper and special envelopes (see example C, attached). All letters should have the appropriate language heading (in English, French or Spanish). Font; Times New Roman 12 (the font used in this note) or Courier New 12. Spacing/Margins: All letters should be single-spaced, but the text can be in 1.5 spacing if the letter is very short. The left margin should align with the middle of the UN emblem (approx. 1.75"). The top margin should be at least 1.75", if the letter is short, the date can be placed lower. The right margin should be at least 1.5". The bottom margin should be no less than 0.75". Second page: If a letter on Secretary-General Letterhead has 2 or more pages, the subsequent pages should be printed on second page paper, not regular typing/photocopy paper. Head of State paper has its own second page. Page numbers: Letters with one or two pages should not have page numbers. Letters with three or more pages should have page numbers, beginning with 2, typed as "2" (not -2-), and centred at the top of the page. Salutations and closings; When writing to an Ambassador or higher, use "Excellency" and close with "Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration." Less formal letters may carry the salutation "Dear Mr./Ms. XX" and close with "Yours sincerely,". Either way, the salutation and closing pairs are always the same (Never use "Excellency" and close with "Yours sincerely", for example).

5 Text: "Secretary-General", "United Nations", proper names, names of countries, numbers, titles, dates, "A" and "I" should not be divided up and carried over to the next line. "Secretary-General" and "United Nations" should never be abbreviated. When organizations have long names, acronyms can be used after first usage. In these cases, the first usage should be followed by acronym in parenthesis. Signature block; The signature block [Kofi A. Annan] should align with the date, with the centre tab at 3.25", be centred under "Yours sincerely," (where used), and be set down from the closing of the letter by six single spaces. Address block: The address should always appear on page 1 and be single-spaced. Only the name, title, organization and city should be used (no street names or zip codes). When a title or organization name needs two lines, the second line should be indented two spaces. "His/Her Excellency" must be spelled out (do not use H.E.). Transmittal letters: Transmittal letters should carry the same date as the letter being conveyed (see example A, attached). Drafter: Please identify, on a separate slip of paper to the letter, the drafter of any correspondence prepared for the Secretary-General. Sign-off; hi order to save time and prevent letters being returned to departments because of typographical errors, departments should ensure that a staff member familiar with these procedures reviews all correspondence for the Secretary-General's signature before it reaches the EOSG.

6 C. Drafting of letters in French for the Secretary-General's signature Please ensure that letters in French for the Secretary-General's signature are drafted according to the following rules, in addition to the general guidelines outlined above. 1. Regie generate En franfais, on n'utilise "Excellence" ni dans la formule d'appel, ni dans la formule de politesse. En general, on utilise "Monsieur" ou "Madame" et le titre de la personne, si elle en a un, tant dans la formule d'appel que dans la formule de politesse. Exemples: Monsieur I'Ambassadeur, Monsieur le President, Madame la Ministre 2. Cas particuliers Dans certains cas particuliers, la formule d'appel n'est pas rappelee dans la formule de politesse. Roi: Appel: Sire Courtoisie: Je prie Votre Majeste d'agreer les assurances de mon profond respect. Reine: Appel: Madame Courtoisie: Je prie Votre Majeste d'agreer les assurances de mon profond respect. Grand Due de Luxembourg: Appel: Monseigneur Courtoisie: Je prie Votre Altesse Royale d'agreer les assurances de mon profond respect. Princes souverains (Monaco, Lichtenstein) Appel: Monseigneur Courtoisie: Je prie Votre Altesse Serenissime d'agreer les assurances de mon profond respect. Princes et princesses des maisons souveraines: Appel: Monseigneur, Madame Courtoisie: Je prie Votre Altesse (Imperiale, Royale, Serenissime) d'agreer les assurances de ma tres respectueuse consideration. Souverain Pontife: Appel: Tres Saint-Pere Courtoisie: Je prie Votre Saintete d'agreer les assurances de mon profond respect. 3. Bloc adresse On ecrit«monsieur» ou «Madame» en entier, precede de «Son Excellence»lorsque le destinataire est un ambassadeur ou une personnalite politique de haut rang.

7 EXAMPLE A Margins: 1.3 L 1.3 R [current date (same date as on letter to be conveyed)] Excellency, The Secretary-General would be grateful if you could kindly forward the enclosed letter to His/Her Excellency [Full Name], [Full title (please refer to the protocol list of Heads of State, Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers)]. A copy of the letter is attached for your information. Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration. NOTE: In cases where the recipient is not an Ambassador or Charge d'affaires at the level of Ambassador, use Mr. [name] in place of Excellency and close with Yours sincerely. S. Iqbal Riza Chef de Cabinet His/Her Excellency [Full name as per the protocol blue book] Permanent Representative of [full name of country as per the protocol blue book] to the United Nations New York

8 Marges: 1.3 Gauche l.sdroite Le [date du jour - meme date que celle figurant sur la lettre a transmettre] Monsieur 1'Ambassadeur, Le Secretaire general vous serait reconnaissant de bien vouloir faire transmettre la lettre ci-jointe a Son Excellence M. [nom et titre complets de la personnalite - priere de se referer au livre du protocole] Une copie de cette lettre est jointe pour votre information. Veuillez agreer, Monsieur 1'Ambassadeur, les assurances de ma tres haute consideration. NOTE: In cases where the recipient is not an Ambassador or Charge d'affaires at the level of Ambassador, use "Monsieur le Charge d'affaires" if the recipient is Charge d'affaires or simply ''Monsieur" in place of Monsieur 1'Ambassadeur, and close with "Veuillez agreer, Monsieur le Charge d'affaires/monsieur, les assurances de ma haute consideration". Le Directeur du Cabinet S. Iqbal Riza Son Excellence [Nom complet, se referer au livre bleu du protocole] Representant Permanent de [nom complet du pays, se referer au livre bleu du protocole] aupres de 1'Organisation des Nations Unies New York