General Secretariat of the Arab League
According to the Pact of the League of Arab States , the General Secretariat ( Arabic الأمانة العامة لجامعة الدول العربية, DMG al-amāna al-ʿāmma li-ǧāmiʿat ad-duwal al-ʿarabīya ; English Secretariat-General of the Arab League ) one of the main organs of the Arab League . It was founded in July 1953. It acts as an administrative body and is responsible for all technical and administrative processes within the Arab League. It is also responsible for coordinating and supporting the work of specialized organizations and other institutions within the league.
Legal basis
The basis for the work is the Pact of the League of the Arab States (English. Pact of the League of the Arab States; abbreviated PLAS) and the rules of procedure of the General Secretariat of July 24, 1974. In Art. 12 PLAS a permanent General Secretariat is set up consists of a general secretary , an unspecified number of assistants and a sufficient number of civil servants.
The Secretary General
The Secretary General (الأمين العام al-amīn al-ʿāmm ) heads the General Secretariat and is regarded as the "driving force behind the Arab League". He is appointed by the league council for 5 years. A re-election is possible. Previous general secretaries were:
| Period | Secretary General | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1945–1952 | Abdelrahman Azzam |
 Egypt
|
| 1952-1972 | Abdel Khaleq Hassouna |
Egypt
|
| 1972-1979 | Mahmoud Riad |
Egypt
|
| 1979-1990 | Chedli Klibi |
 Tunisia
|
| 1990-1991 | Assad al-Assad (interim) |
 Syria
|
| 1991-2001 | Esmat Abdel Meguid |
Egypt
|
| 2001-2011 | Amr Mussa |
Egypt
|
| 2011-2016 | Nabil Elaraby |
Egypt
|
| since 2016 | Ahmed Aboul Gheit |
Egypt
|
Function of Secretary General
According to the League Pact, the Secretary General has the following, mainly administrative, tasks:
- He takes an application from a state to a membership in the Arab League and forwards them to the league council on;
- he fills the management positions within the General Secretariat;
- draws up budgets for the general secretariat and the league as a whole;
- he convenes and prepares meetings of the League Council;
- it documents the treaties and agreements between the member states.
Further tasks according to the rules of procedure of the league council and general secretariat are:
- It concludes agreements with other international organizations on behalf of the League;
- submits the annual situation report on the Arab League to the League Council;
- attends meetings of the League Council and Technical Committees;
- he has the right of initiative regarding the agenda items in the league council and a right to comment in the plenary session of the council.
- In fact, the General Secretariat drafts all resolutions and submits them to the League Council for decision.
He also has political functions that have arisen from the recent past:
- He is the highest representative and spokesman for the Arab League and represents it diplomatically to the outside world. He is the League's official observer at the UN and other IGOs and attends international conferences on their behalf.
- Its tasks also include the peaceful settlement of disputes. On his own initiative, he mediates in conflicts between members. According to various resolutions of the League Council, peacekeeping is also part of its area of competence. In this context he is authorized to set up, organize, control and dissolve peacekeeping forces .
Departments of the General Secretariat
In addition to the general secretary, assistants, deputies and officials are based at the headquarters to support him. According to Art. 3 PLAS, every member state is allowed to nominate a deputy general secretary. The General Secretariat currently consists of a General Secretary, 12 Deputy General Secretaries and 4 Department Heads (who together form the “Council of the General Secretariat”). Each deputy and head of department heads a department in the General Secretariat. The departments have relevant tasks, including a. for international, cultural and economic matters. The main departments consist of up to 5 sub-departments. The General Secretariat also has 24 representations and offices worldwide, including a. the Arab League Permanent Observer Office at the United Nations in New York and Geneva .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mohamed Abd el Khalek Hassuna , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 10/1992 of February 24, 1992, in the Munzinger Archive ( beginning of article freely available)
- ^ Baumann, Herbert: The constitutions of the member countries of the League of Arab States . Spitz-Verlag, Berlin 1995
