About UN Field Support
The Department of Operational Support (DOS) provides operational support to UN Secretariat entities globally, including advisory, operational and transactional support services and, where needed, exercises delegated authority on behalf of clients. DOS supports the entire UN Secretariat, consisting of almost 100 entities located around the globe.
The Department of Operational Support is currently led by Under-Secretary-General Mr. Atul Khare. The Department has two Assistant-Secretaries General: Ms. Lisa M. Buttenheim for Support Operations and Mr. Bernardo Mariano Jr. for Information and Communications Technology; and one Acting Assistant-Secretary General: Ms. AnneMarie van den Berg for Supply Chain Management. All had long senior careers with the United Nations and bring to their positions vast operational, political and diplomatic experience.
The Department of Operational Support is based on five key pillars - three offices and two divisions - in addition to the Office of the Under-Secretary-General. Approximately 1200 civilian staff work in UN Operational Support at the UN Headquarters, supporting operations globally.
In 2017/2018, the Secretary-General laid out vision to shift the United Nations management paradigm through decentralization of decision-making authority; simplification of policies and processes; and, strengthening of a performance-driven, accountable and transparent culture. As part of that, the Department for Operational Support has been established on 1 January 2019. DOS will play a key part in supporting a United Nations that is more agile, effective, transparent, accountable, efficient, pragmatic and decentralized to better support its organizational and operational activities.