Approved by the GUAM Council of Foreign Ministers September 25, 2006, New York
(with amendments  approved by the GUAM Ministerial Council Decision of December 4, 2008,
and the GUAM Ministerial Council Decision of December 5, 2019).

Article 1

Scope of application

The present Provision shall establish the procedure for functioning of the Secretariat of GUAM (hereinafter referred to as Secretariat), and also, the rules, principles and procedure for the appointment of its personnel.

Article 2

Tasks and functions

  1. In its activities the Secretariat shall be guided by the Charter, the Rules of procedure, the Financial provisions of the GUAM and the present Provision.
  2. The objective of the Secretariat is to provide organizational and technical support for the GUAM activities.
  3. Functions of the Secretariat shall include the following:
    1. to prepare and present draft documents of GUAM in accordance with the Council decisions and instructions of the Party holding the Chairmanship;
    2. to distribute the documents received from the Member States of GUAM;
    3. to maintain the correspondence related to the Secretariat activities;
    4. to maintain the archives and web-page of GUAM;
    5. to provide organizational and technical support for the GUAM events and participate therein;
    6. to provide as necessary information on the GUAM activities to the Member States of GUAM as well as to other states and organizations;
    7. to submit to the Council a report on its activities (except of a report on financial performance, which is provided on a quarterly basis), with reflecting in its structure and content of the relevant functions of the Secretariat, generally, in the period between next Summits, as the results of GUAM Chairmanship by respective member state.
    8. to facilitate the development and implementation of projects and programs of GUAM cooperation;
    9. to conduct relevant consultations with the Member States, partners, observers, the Parliamentary Assembly and Business Council of GUAM as well as with non-government organizations participating in the events of GUAM;
    10. to establish, in accordance with the instructions of the Council, a dialogue with other countries and international organizations;
    11. to exercise other functions in accordance with the instructions of the Council.
  4. The Secretariat shall not interfere with the policy issues of the Member States of GUAM. The Member States of GUAM shall exert no pressure upon the Secretariat in performing its objectives and functions.
  5. Decisions on all issues of the Secretariat activities, including the appointment of international officials to their positions, approval of the budget and reporting of the Secretariat shall be taken by the CMFA.
  6. The Secretariat communication with the members of the Council and transmission of correspondence and other materials related to the activities of the Organization shall be performed through the Permanent Representatives of the Member States of GUAM.

Article 3

Staff of the Secretariat

  1. The Staff of the Secretariat consists of international officials and administrative-technical employees.
  2. The international officials include the Secretary General and three Program Coordinators. The Secretary General and the Program Coordinators shall be appointed on the basis of the principle of rotation for four and three years term, correspondingly.
  3. In the absence of the Secretary General, his/her functions shall be temporarily exercised by one of the Program Coordinators, as appointed by the Secretary General.
  4. The administrative-technical part of the Staff of the Secretariat, which is appointed by the Secretary General, includes an assistant-secretary, an archivist, an accountant, a driver/supply clerk.

Article 4

Responsibilities

  1. The international officials shall perform their duties exclusively in the interests of achievement of the purposes of GUAM.
  2. The international officials shall perform their work under the guidance of the Secretary General and be accountable to him/her in performing their duties. Each GUAM Member State shall respect the international character of these responsibilities and refrain from attempts to influence a representative of the Secretariat in the discharge of his/her duties.
  3. Activities of the international officials assigned by their national authorities shall have by no means a negative effect on their professional status and career advancement in their country upon the expiration of the term of their assignment.
  4. Staff of the Secretariat shall be at Secretary General’s disposal during the entire working day. The Secretary General shall establish the number of working days per week and working hours per day. For full-time employees, a working week shall be comprised, as a rule, of five working days, from Monday to Friday, and eight hours per day. The Secretary General may engage the employees, if necessary, in work in excess of regular days/hours.

Article 5

Distribution of duties

  1. To have the Secretariat perform its functions effectively, the Secretary General may distribute or redistribute responsibilities of the administrative-technical part of the Staff, taking into account education, competence and other qualities of its employees.
  2. The Council may, by its decision, introduce new or terminate the existing positions. A position may be terminated only upon the expiration of the terms of office of the working international official.

Article 6

Job responsibilities of international staff

  1. The Secretary General is a chief administrative person of the Secretariat, responsible for the fulfillment of the objectives and functions of the Secretariat, as determined in Article 2.
  2. Responsibilities of the Secretary General include also the following:
    1. to distribute duties of the Staff of the Secretariat and control their fulfillment;
    2. to control financial and logistical activities, operational management of resources and other assets of the Secretariat within the limits of the approved budget;
    3. to submit a report on these activities to the Council.
  3. The Program Coordinators are responsible for the directions of GUAM activities in accordance with the distribution of responsibilities in the Secretariat.
  4. The Secretary General and other international officials take part in meetings of the Council without a right to vote.

Article 7

Appointments

  1. The candidates for positions in the Secretariat shall be only the citizens of the Member States of GUAM.
  2. While appointing to the positions the candidate’s professionalism shall be taken into account.
  3. The positions of international officials are quota. The State representing the candidate of the Secretary-General shall be determined on the basis of the principle of rotation.
  4. While appointing the international officials to the positions, the following procedure shall be applied:
    1. the Secretariat informs the contributing countries one year before the end of their tenure;
    2. the GUAM states submit candidatures for posts in accordance with the approved quotas;
    3. the Secretariat shall distribute among the Member States of GUAM the notifications on nomination of their candidates received from the Member States;
    4. the appointment of candidates for the posts of coordinators of the Secretariat’s programs and the extension of their terms of office takes place with the consent of all Member States of GUAM;
    5. the Secretary General appointed by the CMFA Decision.
  5. While appointing the employees, the following procedure shall be applied:
    1. the Secretary General shall announce the competition on the vacancies;
    2. a candidate shall fill in and submit an appropriate form to the Secretariat;
    3. the Secretary General, based on evaluation of the qualities and experience of all candidates and in consultation with the international officials, shall take a decision regarding the employment of a corresponding employee and conclude a contract with him/her for a two year term. Upon its expiration, the contract may be extended for the next two year term.

Article 8

Financing

The activities of the Secretariat and its Staff shall be financed from the budgetary sources in accordance with the approved estimate of expenditures based on the Financial Rules of GUAM and from donor contributions.

Article 9

Accreditation. Privileges and immunities

  1. Ukraine shall provide accreditation of the Secretariat and its Staff, non-citizens of Ukraine, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and concede such privileges and immunities to the Secretariat, which are necessary to exercise its functions and usually provided to the missions of international organizations in Ukraine. The scope of such privileges and immunities shall be determined by a separate international agreement.
  2. The Secretariat shall have an independent balance sheet, accounts in banking institutions and its stamp.

Article 10

Location of the Secretariat

Ukraine shall provide the necessary facilities to the Secretariat in the city of Kyiv at the expense of budgetary funds of the Secretariat in accordance with a separate international agreement.

Article 11

The Provision on the Secretariat as well as the amendments and changes thereto shall be approved by the CMFA.