UN General Assembly
1961

98. That the concept of the Secretary-General's role also has undergone a change is clearly shown by the part he was called upon to play by the General Assembly and the Security Council in the middle East and in the Congo during the last few years. He no longer remained an administrator, charged merely with keeping the operational services of the Secretariat in a state of efficiency, but was called upon to supply initiative when the situation called for it. It was as a result of this that the late Secretary-General was unjustly criticized by some for lack of initiative at times, and by the same people for blowing initiative at other times. Let us hope that the lessons of the last few years will not be lost, and that Member States will not lightly dismiss the possibility of achieving something more concrete in the way of better equipping the United Nations to face crises in the future.