INFORMAL WORKING SESSION TO DISCUSS UNITED NATIONS ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM
Press Release
DEV/2108
ORG/1219
INFORMAL WORKING SESSION TO DISCUSS UNITED NATIONS ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM
19960415 NEW YORK, 15 April (DDSMS) -- Seven high-level leaders of administrative reform efforts from Belgium, Brazil, Hungary, Malaysia, South Africa, the United States and the European Community will meet tomorrow, 16 April, with United Nations officials to discuss the relevance of their experience to the reform of the United Nations.The working session will be co-hosted by the Under-Secretary-General for Administration and Management, Joseph E. Connor, and the Under-Secretary- General for Development Support and Management Services, Jin Yonjian. The event, which is sponsored by the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation, takes place in conjunction with the resumed fiftieth session of the General Assembly on public administration and development, currently being held at Headquarters until 19 April.
The United Nations is undergoing a period of significant reform, with several working groups and internal efficiency reviews aimed at producing a more effective Organization. Anticipating the results of Tuesday's working session, Mr. Connor, who is also Chairman of the United Nations Efficiency Board, said, "We are drawing on the experience of Member States in our reform efforts. This session will give us an opportunity to compare notes with people who are bringing about change in their bureaucracies and are facing many of the same challenges that managers in the United Nations have to deal with."
In his opening statement to the resumed session today, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali emphasized the critical leadership by Member States in public administration and development to benefit not only governments but also the United Nations. "The results of your deliberations this week will form an integral part of the overall change that will further define the United Nations and its role in the twenty-first century", he said.
The following seven government officials will participate in the informal working session: Mazlan Ahmad, Director-General of Public Service, Malaysia; Carlos Bresser Pereira, Minister of Public Administration, Brazil; Elaine Kamarck, Senior Policy Advisor to the Vice-President, United States; Giovanni Motzo, Cabinet Minister for Institutional Reform, Italy (on behalf of the European Community); Zola Skweyiya, Minister for Public Administration,
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South Africa; Imri Verebelyi of the Government Commissioner for the Modernization of Public Administration, Hungary; and Jacques Van Haverbeke, Deputy Chief of States, Ministry of Public Administration and Internal Affairs, Belgium.
The resumed General Assembly marks the first time that the Members States address the relationship between public administration and development.
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