Former German chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected a job offer from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
Guterres had asked Merkel to chair an advisory board led by former heads of state and government, according to UN sources.
Merkel "spoke to the UN secretary general in the last week, thanked him, and let him know that she would not be taking up the offer," Merkel's office said on Wednesday.
Guterres reportedly made the offer to Merkel directly.
The 67-year-old conservative politician did not stand again in the federal election in September, and retired from German national politics at the end of last year after 16 years at the helm as chancellor.
Merkel had revealed very little in public about her plans after leaving the chancellery.
Governance improvements
The advisory board proposed by Guterres is one of the secretary general's top reform projects for the UN in his second term, which started in January.
The panel is to "identify global public goods and other areas of common interest where governance improvements are most needed, and to propose options for how this could be achieved."
The ozone layer is an example of a global public good, and the term can also apply to internationally applicable regulations such as those on flight safety and global trade.
