a. Organization
The Secretariat consists of a number of major organizational units, each headed by an official accountable to the Secretary-General. These include, inter alia, the Executive Office of the Secretary-General; Office for the Coor- dination of Humanitarian Affairs; Department for General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services; Department of Peacekeeping Operations; Depart- ment of Economic and Social Affairs; Department of Political Affairs, Department for Disarmament and Arms Regulation; Office of Legal Affairs; Department of Management.
Subsequent to the Secretary-General’s reform package presented in docu- ment A/51/950, the work of the Organization falls into four substantive categories: peace and security, development cooperation, international eco- nomic and social affairs; and humanitarian affairs. Human rights is designated as a cross-cutting issue in all four categories. Each area is co-ordinated by an Executive Committee which manages common, cross-cutting and overlap- ping policy concerns. In order to integrate the work of the Executive Com- mittees and address matters affecting the Organization as a whole, a cabinet-style Senior Management Group, comprising the heads of depart- ment under the chairmanship of the Secretary-General, has been established. It meets weekly with members in Geneva, Vienna, Nairobi and Rome partici- pating through tele-conferencing. A Strategic Planning Unit has also been established to enable the Group to consider individual questions on its agenda within broader and longer-term frames of  reference (source A/53/1).
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights forms part of the Secretariat and is responsible for the overall promotion and protection of human rights. The High Commissioner, entrusted by General Assembly reso- lution 48/141 of 20 December 1993 with principal responsibility for United Nations human rights activities, comes under the direction and authority of the Secretary-General and within the framework of the overall competence, authority and decisions of the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Commission on Human Rights. The High Commissioner is appointed by the Secretary-General with the approval of the General Assem- bly and is a member of all four Executive Committees. (See part 5)
For further information on the Secretariat see OHCHR website at: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/2/ secretar.htm or UN homepage website at: http://www.un.org/Overview/Organs/secretariat.html