Louise Fréchette is a Canadian diplomat and public servant who served for eight years as United Nations Deputy Secretary-General. She also served a three-year term at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, an international relations and policy think-tank in Waterloo, Ontario, working on a major research project on nuclear energy and the world's security.

The deputy secretary-general of the United Nations is the deputy to the secretary-general of the United Nations. The office was created to handle many of the administrative responsibilities of the secretary-general, help manage Secretariat operations, and ensure coherence of activities and programs. The post was formally established by the General Assembly at the end of 1997.