Series 1896 consists of chronological files, statements and schedules of the Deputy Secretary-General. Louise Fréchette was appointed Deputy Secretary-General in April 1997 and concluded her tenure in April 2006.
The chronological file consists of 6.5 boxes of material spanning 1998-2005 with gaps. Records for March to December 2001 are not available. These records provide an overview of Fréchette’s daily work and activities. The files contain information about the Oil-for-Food program, East Timor elections (1999), Sudanese Civil War, crisis in Darfur, avian influenza, and the political situation in Iraq in the early 21st century. In addition, there are invitations, briefing notes, personnel records, weekly updates to the Secretary-General, notes and thank you letters to world diplomats and ministers.
The statements and schedule files consist of 5.5 boxes of material spanning 1998-2006. The records also comprises of speeches, messages and statements, including some handwritten notes within each statement section. The documents also include annotations on the statement and speech transcriptions. Notable statements were on topics such as UNAIDS and how to respond to the challenges of the millennium declaration and the AIDS epidemic, the UN role in Iraqi elections, and the “UN today and tomorrow”, which focused on women on the UN agenda.
The schedule files provide a detailed breakdown of Ms. Fréchette’s travels and meetings for events such as memorial services for victims of bombing in Nairobi and Tanzania (1998), Swiss Air Flight 111 (1998) and for the staff members who lost their lives in the Baghdad bombing on 19 August 2003. Other schedules detailed Fréchette’s attendance at the Task Force on Kosovo (1999) and the Security Council, which focused on consultations regarding Western Sahara, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2003). The itineraries also revealed meetings with high profile officials like Fidel Castro (2000) and Tun Myat, Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq (2001).
Volume: 12 boxes
Name of Processing Archivist(s): Anne DiFabio, John Joseph
Series 1897 consists of records documenting the official and extensive travel of the Deputy Secretary-General. Louise Fréchette was appointed Deputy Secretary-General in April 1997 and concluded her tenure in April 2006. The records primarily consist of briefing and trip books dating from 1998 to 2006. These contain itineraries, program information, background about the country to be visited, profiles of officials, talking points and speeches.
A wide-variety of subjects are addressed in the talking points and speeches such as development reform agenda, in particular, poverty and its links to sexual and reproductive health. Other issues discussed were the reform agenda including management reform, allegations of UN peacekeeper sexual abuse in the Congo and the 30 January 2005 elections in Iraq and developments in Afghanistan and the Bonn Peace Process. Key topics also included the need to raise the awareness and understanding of the magnitude of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the Security Council resolution 1296 on the “Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict and Security Council discussion on the Rwanda Report.
In addition, the files detail informal consultations with the General Assembly’s Peacebuilding Commission. Her files for the Sierra Leone Pledging Conference (2005) contain information about a high level donors meeting on Sierra Leone and discussion of elections strategy, the security sector, the extension of state administration.
Volume: 20 boxes
Name of Processing Archivist(s): Emily Legutko, John Joseph
Series 1898 consists of records documenting the meetings of the Deputy Secretary-General. Louise Frechette was appointed Deputy Secretary-General in April 1997 and concluded her tenure in April 2006.
The meeting files consist of 23 boxes of records and span from the beginning of her term until the end of March 2006, shortly before her departure. In addition there are talking points, briefing notes and profiles of some well known attendees such as Dr. Angela Merkel who then was the Chairperson of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and Prime Minister Tony Blair. The files mainly contain correspondence in the form of memos and emails, travel itineraries, attendance rosters and general background on meetings. The meetings concern a variety of subjects such as Recognition for UN Purposes of Same-Sex marriage (2003); Politics and Humanitarianism and the Senior Management Group which includes the Security-General Statement on Iraq (2003) and the Policy Group on Iraq (2004). Also included are records of Security Council Meetings, draft summaries of General Assembly Meetings and the G8 Summit; the files for the Steering Group on Iraq contain Volumes 1 and 2 of reports on the aftermath of the US Invasion and include information about the United Nations Headquarters Crisis Response to the 19 August 2003 Attack on the UN Office in Baghdad. There is also information about humanitarian relief in response to the tsunami disaster in Asia and Africa and the HIV/AIDS crisis.
Other files pertain to formal and informal luncheons and meetings on a wide variety of topics such as the democratic transition process in Haiti (2005) and the countries who are contributing peacekeeping operations associated with the crisis in East Timor (2004). Other meetings concern allegations of bribery in the Oil-for-Food Program; holding a free and fair election in Afghanistan (2004); the 60th anniversary of the United Nations; implementation of the Millennium Declaration (2004 and 2005) and the strategy for UN action on Darfur.
In addition, S-1898 includes press releases and interviews for the Security-General and Ms. Frechette by outside organizations such as the Brookings Institution. One press release announces the appointment of Rachel N. Mayanja as Special Advisor on Gender issues and the Advancement of Women. The files also contain information on the preparation for internal investigations and audits like the Volcker Report (2005). These files comprise of a large number of strictly confidential records such as CV’s, financial and contact information -- the CV’s are included in background information for proposed candidates for positions such as Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.
Volume: 23 boxes
Name of Processing Archivist(s): Emily Legutko, John Joseph