“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.”

W. Edwards Deming

If the UN community was not busy contemplating the possibility that US Congress may try to pass a law withholding up to 50% of UN dues, it would probably be wondering how seriously to take Rice’s leaked comments on UN reform high and low. The Washington Post cites a leaked memo of a meeting between Rice and members of a congressional task force on UN reform in which Rice is reported to have come out against a permanent Security Council seat for Germany, and called the principle of allocating jobs in the UN on the basis of geographic distribution a “disgrace”.

“Resignation is the easy path. Nane and I could have a wonderful life, travel, sit on the farm I dream about.” A weary smile plays on his face. “No one is indispensable.”
From a recent New York Metro article on the SG.

Last night Associated Press published an article on the US Congress’ draft bill - the [Hyde-Lantos] UN Reform Act of 2005. The draft bill is a clear indication that the Republican assault on the UN has not reached its peak. The bill proposes linking the payment of US dues to certain reform ideas. One of the objectives of the draft bill is to prevent US contributions to the regular budget funds from going to several named programmes - including UNODC - in an attempt to force those programmes to seek more voluntary funding. The full article is here.

The appointment of Christopher Burnham, a US State Dept. official with considerable experience in management and operations, to be the UN’s new head of management, is both a step forward for the organization and a worrying sign of business as usual. more

“The Secretary-General today announced the appointment of Christopher Bancroft Burnham of the United States as the new Under-Secretary-General for Management, succeeding Catherine Bertini, effective June 1, 2005. Mr. Burnham’s selection came at the end of a competitive process in which three short-listed candidates were interviewed. ” The rest of the release is here.

Although the UN remains more popular than President Bush in the US, some people in the organisation must be seriously worried about the steep decline in support for the UN among the US public. more

A few photos from the recent LLP plenary meeting in New York… more