The Member States released a summary of their latest thinking on the reform issues ahead of the September summit. The management reform suggestions look pretty vague. Especially alarming is the request that the SG provide an implementation plan for management reform for discussion by the General Assembly in the first quarter of 2006. If there is to be any chance of beginning a large-scale overhaul before this SG leaves at the end of next year, Member States need to endorse it this September, not request more studies and reports. more

…reform energy on profound improvements; not focus on responses to exceptional cases such as Sevan and Yakovlev

Criminal corruption, such as that found by the Volcker inquiry, or outrageous behaviour, such as the harassment described in the Office of Internal Oversight Services’ report on former UN Refugees chief Ruud Lubbers, are extremely rare at the UN. Member States should not focus too much of their management reform energy on these exceptional cases at the expense of the wider, deeper problems. There is some evidence some Member States are doing just that. more

The draft outcomes document of 22 July contains the Member State thinking on internal Secretariat reform. It does contain some strong pro-reform language - and some detail. Unfortunately, it also builds in future decision-points, rather than just telling the SG to get on with it. The Aussie Permanent Representative John Dauth said it remained “A work in progress.” The management reform provisions are here: more

Staff from the office of this SG - like many before them - have often complained that Member States interfere in the affairs of the Secretariat too much. They are asking for Member States to grant more explicit authority - over mandates and resourcing for example. Member States cite two reasons why they are inclined to decline this request - one old and one new. First, representatives from Member States often say that the Secretary-General has not used the authority he currently has, so why should they delegate more? Now, the new USG for Management, Christopher Burnham, may have inadvertently further weakened the SG’s hand - with a comment to the Washington Post last month saying his primary loyalty was to the USA. Reuters cited a Member State diplomat’s response: “People are saying, ‘That’s the man you want to delegate authority to, instead of the General Assembly?’” more

In a speech to the GA today, Deputy US Perm. Rep. Anne Patterson criticized the draft outcome document for the 14-16 September UN Summit. Of interest to the low level panel, Patterson said that the US “is committed to a package of sweeping reforms that will change the face of the United Nations [including] improved UN management practices that bring a level of transparency and accountability that has previously been lacking.” more

An article in the International Herald Tribune claims that the US administration is close to claiming victory on UN reform: “Most of the reforms sought by the United States are well on their way to completion,” said a senior administration official more