SECRETARY-GENERAL UPDATES ASSEMBLY ON UNITED NATIONS REFORM
Press Release
SG/SM/6539
GA/9404
SECRETARY-GENERAL UPDATES ASSEMBLY ON UNITED NATIONS REFORM
19980427 Following is the text of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's statement delivered today at the General Assembly:It gives me great pleasure to come before you again to discuss the reform and renewal of our United Nations. Much has happened since we last gathered -- in world affairs and in the ways of this house -- that makes me especially eager to push ahead with this process.
Last July, I proposed to you that we begin a quiet revolution to transform the United Nations: its leadership, its structures, its performance. In September, I challenged this Assembly to become the "Reform Assembly": to join forces and seize the opportunity of a new global era to revitalize the Organization.
We are well on our way. Last fall, you initiated the process of open-ended informal consultations within the plenary, an innovation that expedited your deliberations. In your resolutions 52/12 A and B, you endorsed a range of landmark actions and set a course for future progress that promises similarly historic gains. I am very grateful to the members of the Assembly for these important first steps. I am here today to facilitate the conclusion of the first phase of this work.
I would like to review for you the current state of the reform process and where I believe we are headed.
Allow me to begin by reporting that the measures that fall within the prerogative of the Secretary-General have been largely implemented.
As you know, the work of the Secretariat in its main thematic areas is now being guided by Executive Committees in order to ensure communication, coordination and a common purpose.
The Senior Management Group has also proven its worth quickly as the first systematic forum where the leaders of all United Nations departments, programmes and funds come together to develop policies and ensure managerial clarity. The Group meets weekly, with colleagues in Geneva, Nairobi, Rome and Vienna participating by teleconference.
Its work will soon benefit from that of the Strategic Planning Unit, our first in-house "think tank", whose terms of reference I have just approved. And our work in two major areas -- disarmament and humanitarian assistance -- has been given new focus and impetus.
If reform begins at the top, with these and other steps affecting leadership at Headquarters, reform must prove itself on the ground, in bringing positive change into people's daily lives.
The United Nations Development Group has come into being, promising greater coordination and integration of our operational activities for development. We are establishing "United Nations Houses" -- common premises -- to promote teamwork and efficiency, and in a year or two we should have as many as 50 United Nations Houses.
And we have made significant progress in devising Development Assistance Frameworks so that United Nations programmes and funds come together not only physically but in their work as well, in support of a common vision and objective that host countries themselves determine.
Reform has brought reductions in budget and in staff, and the consolidation of some departments and activities. But reform is far more than the sum of these or any other cuts.
Procedures and rules are being simplified. Administrative costs are being reduced. Common services are being extended, and an electronic United Nations has become a reality. Above all else, a fundamental review of human resource management is under way, with the objective of strengthening the staff of the United Nations.
The net result is as it should be: a more productive and effective Organization, together with a renewed emphasis on economic, social and development activities: the very heart of our mission.
Looking beyond achievements within the Secretariat, I am pleased that the various recommendations I made for reforms of the intergovernmental machinery are under consideration by the appropriate bodies. I very much hope that we will soon see progress in this realm as well.
I am also pleased to report that the Secretariat has now issued, in response to the request by the General Assembly, seven notes on a number of the recommendations contained in my reform plan. Allow me to review these briefly:
- 3 - Press Release SG/SM/6359 GA/9404 27 April 1998
-- We are proposing a Millennium Assembly, not merely to commemorate the year 2000 but to articulate a vision for the United Nations in the new century, and to propose system-wide institutional adaptations that will enable us to act on that vision. We are also suggesting that a non-governmental forum be held in conjunction with the Millennium Assembly, in recognition of civil society's rightful place in our work -- and in recognition of the United Nations own need to move closer to the people it exists to serve.
-- We are proposing time-limits, or "sunset provisions", for initiatives involving new organizational structures or major commitments of funds. Upon the expiration of a duration specified by Member States, mandates would continue only if they are explicitly renewed. This practice would help end the built-in bias towards institutional inertia that has afflicted this Organization for too long.
-- We have elaborated on our earlier proposal for the development dividend, which will channel savings generated by administrative efficiencies towards investments that benefit developing countries.
-- We are recommending ways to ensure more predictable and secure core resources for development. This is essential if United Nations funds and programmes are to increase efficiency, avert discontinuities and maintain a relationship of trust and reliability that is a key part of being an effective development partner. It will also lead to better planning and management oversight by the boards. The practical measures we are recommending should be seen as first steps towards more effective funding modalities.
-- Finally, you will soon receive further elaborations of my proposal that the United Nations shift to results-based budgeting, including departmental mock-ups illustrating how such a system would function. Perhaps more than any other measure, this will give the Organization the flexibility and agility it needs in an era of rapid change, while at the same time enhancing both transparency and the Secretariat's accountability to Member States.
It is my hope that you may adopt some of these proposals quickly in the plenary and permit us to proceed with implementation. Where more extensive technical analysis may be required, I would hope that this Assembly would forward those recommendations to the appropriate Committees so that they may report back to the plenary in a timely manner that would permit their adoption before the end of the fifty-second session of the General Assembly.
The world has just seen, in the recent agreement between the United Nations and Iraq concerning weapons inspections, just how much a united and determined international community can achieve through the United Nations.
- 4 - Press Release SG/SM/6359 GA/9404 27 April 1998
What we have done in Iraq through reason, diplomacy and political will, we can do all across the United Nations agenda.
The world has also just witnessed, in recent months of financial turmoil in Asia, yet another example of accelerating interdependence among nations, economic as well as political. This makes the presence of an effective United Nations, as a unique tool of concerted action, more imperative than ever. In this connection, I was particularly impressed by the dialogue that was initiated recently at Headquarters between the Bretton Woods institutions and the Economic and Social Council.
And last but far from least, the past year has seen the United Nations staff itself rise to the occasion: embracing change, coming forth with valuable ideas of their own, proving again and again that they are indeed the Organization's most important asset.
So let us take advantage of this moment of promise, when all of these "stars" -- the Member States, a supportive global public and a rededicated staff -- seem to be in alignment.
And let me reiterate a fundamental point:
We are transforming our United Nations not as an end in itself, but as a means to better carry out our mission of peace, development and human rights.
We do this not to please any particular constituency, but because we must be able to better meet the needs of the world's people and of Member States.
This process is not a luxury; it is not a gimmick; and it is not an imposition. Reform is our survival and our future.
Now it is my distinct pleasure to introduce to you the first Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Madame Louise Fréchette.
The establishment of the office of Deputy Secretary-General is the most direct and perhaps most consequential product of the reforms to date. Already, Madame Fréchette is immersed in one of her main priorities: directing the implementation and monitoring of the reforms instituted thus far. She will also be responsible for revising and updating our reform agenda as the process evolves.
I know you join me in welcoming her to the United Nations and wishing her well in this and the many other challenging tasks she has now assumed.
Let us push ahead; let us continue realizing the great promise of this Reform Assembly. Thank you. * *** *
- 5 - Press Release SG/SM/6359 GA/9404 27 April 1998