DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL, SPEAKING OF REFORM AND RENEWAL, HIGHLIGHTS WAYS UN ADAPTS TO NEW CHALLENGES

28 May 1998

Press Release
DSG/SM/6

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL, SPEAKING OF REFORM AND RENEWAL, HIGHLIGHTS WAYS UN ADAPTS TO NEW CHALLENGES

19980528 Says United Nations Today, in Fundamental Respects, Is 'New Institution', in Address to Foreign Policy Association

Following is the text of Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette's address, delivered yesterday, 27 May, at the Foreign Policy Association:

It gives me pleasure to be with you this evening and to share with you some thoughts on the United Nations: on the new United Nations we are designing for the new century.

Allow me to begin by thanking the Foreign Policy Association for the contributions it has made over the years to our understanding of international affairs and global security. You and your fellow associations, think tanks and research institutions play a valuable role in the international community; you have a rightful place in our work.

My goal tonight is to put into better perspective the current process of reform and renewal that is transforming the world organization. All too often, that process is depicted as largely concerned with numbers: specifically, with cuts in budgets, staff size and programmes. A related misconception is that reform is being imposed by Member States on a bureaucracy that is incapable of changing, a bureaucracy that cannot adapt to new demands and new global circumstances.

The truth is quite different. The bureaucracy does indeed have a range of problems to be overcome; the system is indeed part of the problem. But reform is more than the sum of its cuts, and we engage in reform for our own sake, out of our own wish to be the best possible instrument of service to the Member States. Moreover, contrary to popular belief, the United Nations is a place where change is and has been the order of the day for years. It is an organic part of the way we do business.

The key to understanding the changes now taking place at the United Nations is the transition taking place in our world in general, at the international and national levels alike.

We live in an era of realignment. Fundamental forces are reshaping our societies and our lives, bringing new challenges onto the international agenda.

The end of the cold war is one such force. We are still struggling to undo the social, economic and political distortions of the super-Power rivalry. Cases in point include inter-ethnic conflicts in Central Asia and the former Yugoslavia and instability in former proxy battlegrounds that can no longer count on their perceived strategic utility for assistance.

Globalization is perhaps the most profound source of international transformation since the industrial revolution. The globalization of finance and manufacturing has generated a sustained period of economic expansion and created vast new opportunities. But globalization also brings new risks, and the benefits of globalization still reach relatively few of the developing countries.

Globalization rests on and is sustained by a third fundamental force: the remarkable revolution in information technology. This has unfolded most extensively in the industrialized world, but holds enormous potential for developing countries in terms of trade, education, medicine, agricultural production and a variety of other applications.

A fourth force is the intensification of global environmental dependencies. Environmental degradation is the quintessential "problem without a passport", transcending borders and the power of any single State to address comprehensively.

Fifth is a growing trend towards democratization. Some 120 countries now hold generally free and fair elections, the highest total in history. Of course, the transition is often slow and at times fraught with difficulty. Moreover, elections are only the beginning of the process; and the second election is as important, if not more so, than the first.

Sixth, we see a major rise in the influence of civil society: women's associations, human rights "watch-dog" groups, humanitarian organizations, parliamentarians, private sector businesses and others. This is occurring both nationally and internationally.

However, there has been a simultaneous growth in "uncivil society" -- drug traffickers, terrorists, criminals and money launderers, who take advantage of the same openness of borders, markets and communications that fosters globalization, and who thrive where institutions and laws are weak.

Finally, if the forces I have just mentioned are integrative, knitting us together, fragmentation runs in the opposite direction. The phenomenon of

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"failed States" has become well known. We have seen genocide, and combatants who target civilians and relief workers. The assertion of exclusionary identities -- ethnic, religious, national, tribal -- has intensified.

These forces form not only the backdrop but the very raison d'être for the current work of the United Nations, and for the quiet revolution of reform and renewal launched last year by the Secretary-General.

Let me share with you just some of the ways in which the United Nations is adapting to each of these new challenges.

First, to cope with conflicts that were the end of the cold war's most obvious fallout, United Nations peacekeeping forces were sent into the field in unprecedented numbers and with unprecedented mandates. Successes in places such as El Salvador and Mozambique have given those countries new leases on life. But we have also experienced major setbacks, as in Somalia, and tragedies, as in Rwanda. We are now working to assimilate the lessons of those experiences and to modernize a vital instrument for maintaining peace and security. Those lessons touch on such questions as the practicability of mandates; the need for rapid deployment; and the need for improved coordination among the many United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations that routinely get involved in complex emergencies.

To deal with the long-range challenges of globalization and fragmentation, a cycle of landmark world conferences enabled Member States to address the leading developmental, economic, social and environmental problems of our day. The United Nations, playing the harmonizing role envisaged in the Charter, and with prospects for progress unthinkable before the collapse of bipolarity, served as an indispensable forum where the international community reached political consensus on a future course. Of course, agreement on paper, no matter how difficult to achieve, is only the first step. The true test is the extent to which governments and others actually make good on their promises through changes in policies and concrete follow-up actions.

As for the information revolution, the United Nations is harnessing the power of the new communications technologies in a variety of ways.

Video-conferencing enables senior officials from United Nations offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Rome and Vienna to take part in weekly meetings of the cabinet-style Senior Management Group. Remote translation for United Nations conferences saves travel and conference-servicing costs. Last month our home page on the World Wide Web received 25 million "hits", from 130 countries.

The United Nations Library is increasingly a "library without walls" stressing remote access and the provision of on-line services. An Integrated Management Information System brings a wealth of personnel, budget and

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procurement information to desktops system-wide. An electronic United Nations is quickly becoming a reality.

With respect to the environment, the United Nations has long spearheaded global efforts to safeguard the planet's ecosystems and life forms.

The United Nations convened the first global conference on the environment, in Stockholm in 1972. Twenty years later, as our understanding of the environment evolved, the United Nations staged the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro to put forth the new concept of sustainable development. Legally binding conventions on climate change, biodiversity and desertification, as well as constant monitoring and advocacy by the United Nations Environment Programme and other United Nations entities, are carrying the process, and our thinking, still further.

But here, too, laws on the books go only so far. The balance sheet also has a negative side. For example, carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise; deforestation continues at an unacceptable rate; and the oceans continue to be over-exploited. So our challenge remains: we must turn the political will expressed at Rio into more concerted action if we are to realize that Conference's great promise.

Turning to democratization, it is fair to say that this has joined our work for peace and development as a major enterprise. The worldwide trend towards democratization is reflected in the dramatic increase in the number of requests we receive for electoral assistance: no fewer than 80 in the past five years.

The diversity of tasks with which the Organization is entrusted in this area has also grown. Our work now encompasses not only election observation and verification but also the drafting of electoral laws and constitutions and the formation of political parties.

In addition, as part of our "good governance" efforts, United Nations technical assistance programmes focus increasing attention on creating and supporting democratic institutions such as judiciaries and national human rights bodies.

With respect to the increasingly robust forces of civil society, the relationship between the United Nations and non-governmental players has changed beyond all recognition. At one time, governments were virtually the sole actors in the international process. Today, non-governmental organizations are often on the ground before the international community gives the United Nations a mandate to act. Just as important, they are helping to shape public policy.

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The private sector is also part of this picture. More and more, the United Nations and business are finding common ground. The United Nations needs the private sector's know-how and ability to create jobs and wealth. Business needs the United Nations work for political stability, its efforts to fight poverty and its technical standard-setting in areas such as telecommunication, aviation and shipping. The Secretary-General has been meeting regularly with leading business groups and this relationship, like that with non-governmental organizations, is expanding quickly throughout the United Nations system.

United Nations reform also responds to the growth of uncivil society. The United Nations Office at Vienna, with the renowned Italian crime fighter, Pino Arlacchi, at its head, has become the locus from which the United Nations fights crime, drugs and terrorism.

The General Assembly is also renewing its attack on the scourge of illegal drugs with the convening of the "Drug Summit" less than two weeks from now. President Clinton and other leaders will gather in New York for the largest multilateral gathering ever held on this issue. They are expected to agree to the first truly global strategy to control drugs; the first international agreement on reducing demand; and on the goal of eradicating the illicit cultivation of opium, coca and other narcotic crops in the next 10 years. They will also agree on ways to strengthen and harmonize laws on money laundering, the extradition of drug traffickers and the sharing of information on drug cartels.

Friends, as I hope I have demonstrated, the spirit of reform courses through all United Nations activities, and throughout the United Nations system. I have stressed our substantive, programmatic response because that is what our constituents -- the world's peoples -- expect of us: tangible, positive changes in their daily lives and future prospects.

But administrative and managerial changes are an essential ingredient of the overall reform plan. The Organization does not yet meet standards of modern management. Too many of our systems are antiquated. Our personnel system does not do enough in terms of long-term career development or bringing in fresh talent. It is also not flexible enough to move staff around in response to shifting needs or priorities.

We have made a start in changing this, but we still have a long way to go. Over the past decade, the number of staff has been reduced by 25 per cent. The United Nations budget -- never big compared to many corporations or municipal governments -- has not grown in years. An office of internal oversight now carries out rigorous investigations in order to guard against

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waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement. And a task force is now examining all aspects of our human resources management.

At the same time it is important to remember that staff and budgetary cuts are not ends in themselves but rather means to an end: better service to the Member States, with a renewed focus on economic and social development. The proposed development dividend is the best example of this: savings recouped through administrative efficiencies are to be channelled towards investments that will benefit developing countries.

We must also keep squarely in view a broad view of what is meant by human security. Today, security is understood not just in military terms, and as far more than the absence of conflict. It is a phenomenon that encompasses economic development, social justice, environmental protection, democratization, disarmament and respect for human rights. These goals -- these pillars of peace -- are interrelated. Progress in one area generates progress in another.

Times of transformation can be times of confusion. The progress we make is fragile; the problems we face grow ever more complex and entrenched. With so much at stake, the international community has an obligation to itself and to succeeding generations to strengthen the available multilateral mechanisms, including the United Nations.

This is an especially important time for the world organization. As a result of the last year's progress, the United Nations today is in fundamental respects a new institution. The General Assembly has adopted major aspects of the reform plan and is discussing further far-reaching measures.

Moreover, the agreement reached by the Secretary-General during his February mission to Baghdad reminded the world just how much a united and determined international community can achieve through the United Nations. Rarely have the institution and its Secretary-General been so popular or received such tremendous support from around the world. As the Secretary-General has said, what we achieved in Iraq through reason and diplomacy, we must also achieve across our entire agenda.

Another Secretary-General, Dag Hammarskjöld, spoke to this very Foreign Policy Association almost 45 years ago. "One of the many contradictions of life", he said, "is the frequency with which we refer to ourselves as living in a period of change and rapid development, while, on the other, we are so often reluctant to acknowledge the need for adjustment in our ways to the changes which actually take place".

If change is nothing new in the world or at the United Nations, let us at least, today, acknowledge the need for adjustment. And let us work together in harnessing the mutual benefits of change while managing its adverse consequences.

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