United Nations Correspondence Manual - UNU

Handling of
correspondence
28
154. Action copies of incoming telegrams are routed by the Cable Operations Unit
immediately to the persons responsible for action.
155. Information copies are routed directly to other officials noted in the telegram.
Officials receiving information copies should not take action without the knowledge
of the person to whom the action copy has been sent.
3. Communications from the public and from non-governmental organizations
156. Communications from the public and from non-governmental organizations
(public-interest correspondence) are routed according to subject-matter, and the departments
or offices receiving them are responsible for replying on behalf of the United
Nations. Communications dealing with subjects not specifically within the competence
of any other department or office are routed to the Department of Public Information.
4. Communications to the General Assembly
157. All communications addressed to the President of the General Assembly or to
the General Assembly are sent by the Mail Operations Unit to the General Assembly
and ECOSOC Affairs Division.
C. Personal mail
158. As far as possible, staff members should avoid receiving their private mail at the
United Nations. If necessary, they may arrange for it to be addressed to them as follows:
Name of staff member
Room number or location
P.O. Box 20
New York, NY 10163-0020
Mail addressed in this way is delivered promptly to the Mail Operations Unit and
distributed to the addressees. This address should not be used for official mail.
159. Unless it is clearly marked “Personal” or “Confidential”, mail addressed to
staff members at the United Nations is considered official.
D. Departmental correspondence logs
160. To make sure that incoming communications are dealt with promptly and to
assist in controlling the movement of files within departments, it is recommended
that any organizational unit that receives a substantial number of communications
for action maintain a log of incoming correspondence. Such logs may show the reference
number, date of receipt, subsequent routing within the department and action
taken. They may also indicate interim acknowledgements where such are made.