'A very different way of doing business'. (An Initiative from Within).

Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced on 23 September a plan to strengthen the United Nations Organization and prioritize its actions to meet the goals identified by Member States in the Millennium Declaration of 2000. In the report, he lists specific actions and says the reform of the Organization is an initiative from within.

* A revised Programme Budget reflecting the priorities of the Millennium Summit.

Human rights

* Strengthen UN actions at the country level.

* New streamlined reporting procedures.

* Review of the special procedures by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

* Development of a plan by the High Commissioner to strengthen management.

Public information

* A Division of Strategic Communications to devise, disseminate and evaluate UN messages; an Outreach Division to group services to delegations and liaise with civil society; strengthen the News and Media Division, which will now include the Department's Web site operation.

* A three-year evaluation of the Department of Public Information (DPI), with assistance from the Office of Internal Oversight Services.

* Rationalize the network of United Nations information Centres around regional hubs, starting with the creation of a Western-European hub.

* The Dag Hammarskjold Library to improve electronic access to UN collections; facilitate the transfer of paper collections to electronic files, and train depository librarians.

* Reduce the number of the Organization's publications, and improve their coherence, focus and scheduling, including those from DPI.

Serving Member States better

* Consolidate reports on various subjects; write sharper reports with clearly defined actions and page limits.

* Encourage the General Assembly to review the need and frequency of recurring reports.

* Changes to planning and managing meetings and documentation.

* Strengthen the effectiveness of the Organization's presence in developing countries and countries emerging from conflict, through such features as joint programming, pooling of resources, common databases, knowledge networks, dedicated support for the resident coordinator and integrated planning, and budgeting and resource mobilization tools.

* Roles and responsibilities in the area of technical cooperation to be clarified by September 2003.

* An Assistant Secretary-General to support policy coherence and management to be appointed in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).

* A policy planning unit to be established in DESA.

* The Advisor for Special Assignments in Africa to coordinate and guide preparation of reports and input for Africa-related debates of the General Assembly and subsidiary bodies.

* A panel of eminent persons to review the relationship between the United Nations and civil society and offer practical recommendations for improved modalities of interaction.

Engaging the private sector

* A Partnerships Office to consolidate the Global Compact Office and the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships.

* An improved planning and budgeting system with a more strategic medium-term plan covering two years rather than four; a budget outline that could be combined with the mediumterm plan; a shorter, more strategic budget, with supplementary detail provided separately; flexibility to reallocate resources between programmes and between allocations for personnel and other allocations; a strengthened system of evaluation and monitoring that will better measure the impact of our work.

* The General Assembly recommended that the inter-governmental review of plans and budgets be absorbed under the aegis of the Fifth Committee itself.

Peacekeeping

* Future peacekeeping budgets to reflect a more strategic approach to the process of resource allocation.

* Consolidate and reduce the number of trust funds and harmonize rules relating to their management and reporting.

Incentives to staff

* Effective 1 January 2003, all employees of the United Nations Secretariat will be referred to as international civil servants.

* In order to enhance staff mobility across the United Nations system, review the contractual arrangements and benefits offered to Secretariat staff in field locations, including longer-term contractual prospects for deserving staff; reduce current barriers to mobility between common-system organizations; special recruitment and reward mechanisms for duty stations at which there are debilitating vacancy rates; ensure spouses of United Nations staff with appropriate qualifications are given favourable consideration when applying for posts in field locations; explore renegotiation of host country agreements to allow United Nations spouses to work.

* Member States to consider lifting the restrictions on the number of General Service staff eligible for promotion to the Professional category.

* An implementation plan over the next 12 months to include: review of General Service functions, responsibilities and competencies; improvements to the system of General Service induction and career planning; opportunities and incentives for mobility across functions, offices and services in the field and peacekeeping missions.

* Introduce flexible working arrangements in all Secretariat departments, subject to work requirements; and broaden the opportunities for part-time employment for Secretariat staff.

* A thorough review should be completed to ensure that the Organization's policy on HIV/AIDS is fully implemented, and additional measures implemented, where needed, by the end of 2002.

* The International Civil Service Commission to finalize its proposals for a more competitive pay and benefits system; the initiation of an independent review of the operations and functions of the Commission itself.

Rejuvenating the Organization

* Enable better planning for the replacement of departing staff members; develop more targeted recruitment mechanisms; enhance the existing departure package to include career placement assistance; and facilitate transition arrangements with a significant increase in the resources allocated to training.

* A review to increase the capacity and flexibility of managers to manage the resources; redefine the roles and responsibilities of the Department of Management, along with those of the executive offices, to support the increased delegation of authority; training of managers will be strengthened across the Organization, making particular use of the Staff College.

* A review of the current system of internal justice to improve the efficiency of the system and allow staff fair and due process.

(Full report available at: http://www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/index.shtml)

In April 2002, Mr. Annan appointed M. Patricia Durrant, former Ambassador of Jamaica to the United Nations, to the newly-created post of UN Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is an open, readily available and confidential source of support to staff at all levels who need answers to questions or help in resolving and overcoming problems or conflict in the workplace. As an impartial and objective mediator, she is independent of any UN organ or official and reports directly to the Secretary-General. After her five-year term, she will be ineligible for any other appointment in the United Nations.

(More at www.un.org/ombudsman)

RELATED ARTICLE: An Average of 21 Meetings a Day, Including Holidays.

In the Secretary-General's report, under "What More Should be Done", Mr. Annan says that the number of meetings had increased dramatically--in 2000 and 2001, a staggering 15,484 meetings were held--and 5,879 reports issued. "While this trend is in part an inevitable result of an increasingly complex global agenda, it can and should be reversed." He states that many smaller Member States found it practically impossible to play a meaningful role in even the most crucial activities of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, while larger countries found it increasingly difficult to keep track of--let alone actively participate in--the full range of annual meetings. Many UN conferences had made a constructive contribution to international cooperation, but he hopes that, in future, Member States would exercise "self-restraint and call additional conferences only when high-level and comprehensive direction is needed on new issues of global policy".

Mr. Annan says the measures described in the report added up to a very different way of doing business.

"They cannot be implemented automatically or overnight", he notes. "Specific units and individuals must be tasked with managing the change, particularly in the departments that will change most." He states that "resources must be earmarked for retraining staff whose jobs will be affected, and for investment in information technology, which is central to the achievement of many of the measures proposed". The Secretary-General also sought a "strong endorsement from Member States for the entire package".