TOP UNITED NATIONS MANAGEMENT FULLY COMMITTED TO CHANGING WAY ORGANIZATION MANAGES HUMAN RESOURCES, FIFTH COMMITTEE TOLD

Press Release
GA/AB/3259

TOP UNITED NATIONS MANAGEMENT FULLY COMMITTED TO CHANGING WAY ORGANIZATION MANAGES HUMAN RESOURCES, FIFTH COMMITTEE TOLD

Top management was clearly fully committed to changing the way the Organization managed its human resources, Rafiah Salim, Assistant-Secretary- General for Human Resources Management, told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this afternoon, as it began considering United Nations human resources management. Management's active participation was a clear signal of a commitment to do things better, she added. The Secretary-General's reform plan, adopted by the General Assembly in 1994, was being implemented. The representative of New Zealand, speaking also for Canada and Australia, said that both the Member States and the Secretariat could ill afford to linger in the half-light of a 1950s establishment and still maintain that the ideals of the United Nations Charter were being pursued with commitment, vigour or imagination. The large number of staff due to retire over the next five years provided the United Nations with a human resources challenge not seen since 1945. Succession planning should begin as a top priority, he stressed. Speaking for the European Union and associated States, Austria's representative expressed concern over the fact that more people were resigning than retiring. Resignations at junior Professional levels revealed an intolerable level of frustration that must be addressed urgently. The need to bring new blood into the Organization must be reconciled with the legitimate aspirations of the Organization's core staff. A balance should be struck between offering ways to advance internally and bringing in fresh expertise from outside. Israel's representative said it would take considerable work to forge a new organizational culture and transform the United Nations into a responsive and results-oriented system. A reform programme must anticipate budget cuts and coming geo-political changes. The representatives of Norway and Japan, and representatives of the United Nations Staff Union and the Federation of International Civil Servants' Associations (FICSA) also addressed the Committee this afternoon. The Fifth Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 10 November, to discuss the United Nations common system, its pension system and activities of the Office for Internal Oversight Services.

Committee Work Programme

As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) meets this afternoon, it has before it a series of reports on human resources management. The reports cover the composition of the Secretariat, the Organization's use of consultants and individual contractors -- including retirees -- and guidelines for these, as well as the United Nations recruitment procedures. Another report provides information on incidents of death, injury and violence committed against United Nations staff. Also, the Committee has before it a report on United Nations performance management, and another that responds to some 19 different requests for information and action contained in Assembly resolution 51/226.

It also has before it the Secretary-General's report on human resources management reform (document A/53/414), in which the key elements of the United Nations human resources strategy are outlined and the Organization's new management culture defined. The report sets out a vision of organizational change, combining longer-term objectives with short- and medium-term targets for the next three to five years. (For further background on the report, see Press Release GA/AB/3251 of 28 October.)

Reports on Human Resources Management

A note by the Secretary-General transmits a report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services on its audit of the United Nations use of consultants during 1996 (document A/52/814). The audit found shortcomings relating to internal controls, many of which had been noted previously by the Board of Auditors. The Oversight Office proposes revisions to the guidelines on the engagement and use of consultants.

The Oversight Office was unable to obtain precise data on the number and cost of consultants hired by the United Nations during 1996, the report states. According to the information available, 2,675 consultants were employed during 1996 -- 656 at Headquarters and 2,019 at other offices -- costing $19.4 million in fees. Of that amount, approximately $3.8 million, or 20 per cent, was charged against the regular budget, while the remaining $15.6 million was against extrabudgetary resources. Six institutional or corporate consultants were also hired, at a total cost of $0.3 million. The consultants were not engaged to perform work previously undertaken by regular Secretariat staff, according to the Oversight Office's findings. However, shortcomings in record keeping made it difficult to assess the situation with certainty.

Regarding disparities in remuneration levels, the Oversight Office recommends that the guidelines reflect the importance of a consistent approach to determining pay rates, while also responding to differing market rates in differing duty stations. On the matter of geographical representation, the Oversight Office recommends that the guidelines balance the importance of proper

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representation with the need to achieve economies through local and/or regional recruitment. Low-cost consultancies should be exempt from geographical distribution, the report states.

The Secretary-General's report on performance management (document A/53/266) provides information on the development and implementation of the Performance Appraisal System (PAS) over the past year. The System applies to all staff members, including Under-Secretaries-General, holding appointments of at least one year under the 100 series of Staff Rules. It emphasizes goal setting, planning, performance expectations and feedback.

The PAS processes, forms and materials were simplified, the report states, so that now, for example, the number of steps in the process have been reduced and the forms are written in straightforward language. Revised System forms and guidelines were issued in December 1997. Currently, 14 departments and offices have reported that they have implemented the PAS during two cycles, six have implemented it during one cycle, and the remaining seven are commencing implementation in 1998. Monitoring takes place via various bodies at the departmental levels all the way through a Global Joint Monitoring Committee.

On the system of performance awards or bonuses, the Secretary-General says this should be based on principles including that an award system should focus on enhancing responsibility and accountability at all levels. A performance awards or bonuses system should not substitute for adequate compensation nor should it replace opportunities for career development. Any such system must be transparent. Also, the new PAS must be sufficiently established throughout the Organization before a Secretariat-wide programme is introduced.

For under-performance, early detection and corrective action are crucial, the report says. Where a staff member is not performing up to standard, the problem should be addressed early, to help address performance gaps and to maintain morale. Supervisors and staff are expected to agree upon goals and success criteria at the beginning of each performance period. Measures to address under-performance can include the development of a performance improvement plan in consultation with the staff member, on-the-job training, withholding of a within-grade increment, transfer to a different post or function, the non-renewal of a fixed-term contract or separation for unsatisfactory service.

A note by the Secretary-General on internal vacancies (document A/53/327) says that a recent judgement of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal had called into question the validity of the distinction between internal and external candidates. For many years, the Secretariat had considered that, for placement and promotion of staff whose appointment was subject to the system of desirable ranges, vacancy posts circulated through an

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internal vacancy announcement were "internal vacancies" and were open to "internal candidates" only, that is, staff members who had already been recruited under the system of desirable ranges through competitive examination or a review by the appointment and promotion bodies. This system had been applied flexibly and vacancies at the P-5 level and above were circulated externally.

On 25 November 1997, in the Tribunal's judgement No. 852, Balogun (1997) (AT/DEC/852), the Secretary-General was ordered to allow the applicant to apply for any internal vacancies for which he was qualified. The applicant had been recruited under 200 series of the Staff Rules, which govern project personnel. The Tribunal's definition of who was eligible to apply for internal vacancies was worded in a way to include 200 series personnel and staff recruited under the 300 series of the Staff Rules (those on short-term or limited appointments), in addition to those recruited under the 100 series of the Staff Rules outside the competitive examination or review by appointment and promotion bodies, as in the case of some mission staff.

The report says that expanding the pool of applicants for internal vacancies in this way would negatively affect career development, particularly for junior staff, and would require a new layer in the placement and promotion process. The judgement makes it difficult for the Secretariat to comply with a number of General Assembly resolutions relating to the competitive examination system, the eligibility of a limited category of staff to apply for internal vacancies after one year of qualifying service and the system of desirable ranges.

Annexed to the report is a summary of the Tribunal's judgement, as well as two options for Assembly action. The Assembly can accept the Tribunal's interpretation of staff regulation 4.4 by taking note of the judgement. This would make any staff member eligible to apply for any vacancy, regardless of the series of the Staff Rules under which he or she was appointed.

The second option would have the Assembly decide to continue the present practice of restricting eligibility to apply for vacant posts to be filled by staff members appointed under the 100 series of the Staff Rules to internal candidates previously appointed under that series for one year or longer. Other staff members would be allowed to apply for such vacancies only after it had been determined that no internal candidate met the requirements of the post.

The second option would also have the Assembly amend staff regulation 4.4 accordingly and the Secretary-General would promulgate staff rule 104.11 to define "internal candidates" as staff members previously recruited under the rules 104.14 and 104.15. Rule 104.14 says that appointments of one year or longer under the 100 series should be considered by one or more appointment and promotion bodies, while rule 104.15 regulates the procedure to be followed for appointments by national competitive recruitment examination.

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The Committee also had before it the report of the Secretary-General on human resources management (document A/53/342). The report says that the strategy for the management of human resources enunciated in 1994 and 1996 has become part of the initiatives for renewal of the Organization. A separate report on the work of the Secretary-General's Task Force on the Reform of Human Resources Management would be submitted to the fifty-third General Assembly.

On the subject of delegation of authority, the report states that recent delegations have focused of three priority areas: classification, administration of benefits and recruitment. Quarterly reports are the main internal monitoring tool. The activation of release 2 of the Integrated Management Information System, which allows new methods of monitoring delegation and entitlements, includes an automated template of standard practice. A comprehensive review of delegations in human resources management has been initiated under the auspices of the Secretary-General's Task Force.

The report suggests mechanisms for improved accountability in human resources management, including the creation of a work contract setting out responsibilities of both parties linked to the Performance Appraisal System, and periodic management review. The Secretary-General aims to explore the establishment of a management review panel to review non-compliance with delegations.

Regarding simplification of personnel rules and procedures, work thus far was focused on areas of urgent need, such as education grants, mobility and hardship allowance, sick leave, removal costs and unaccompanied shipments. Additionally, 30 obsolete administrative bulletins were abolished in 1997, and all new instructions are drafted to consolidate and simplify rules.

On linguistic qualifications in the context of performance appraisal, recruitment and promotion, the report states that linguistic proficiency is one of the seven criteria taken into account for promotion of staff. Additionally, 8,217 staff studied language courses in 1997, and development of language skills is supported and encouraged through incentives.

Other areas covered in the report include staff-management consultative mechanisms and Member State practice, probationary periods for, and problems of geographic imbalance from, staff promoted through competitive examination, career development policy, mobility, permanency and geographic distribution, proposals for a duel track for career and non-career appointments, hiring retirees and consultants, performance management, gratis personnel and staff provided on a non-reimbursable basis.

The Secretary-General's annual report on composition of the Secretariat (document A/53/375) considers all Secretariat staff with appointment of one year or longer. It states that the United Nations faces a problem of an ageing staff population. While 58 per cent of staff is older than 45 years,

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only 3 per cent is under 30. The overall average age for staff is 45.5 years. In the Professional categories, there is a high age at entry level (38.5 years for P-2).

In all, some 33,037 staff hold appointments of one year or more, with 13,543 in the Secretariat and 19,494 at other United Nations entities, the report states. Of the 13,543 Secretariat staff, the regular budget contains 8,792 authorized posts. Staff subject to geographical distribution number 2,400, and are appointed for one year or longer to posts in the Professional and higher categories. Under the system of desirable ranges, 104 appointments were made during 1996-1997 -- 44 were candidates who were successful in national competitive examinations for posts at the P-2 and P-3 levels, 20 of these were women.

On the system of desirable ranges for geographical distribution of staff, the report explains that the mid-point of the desirable range is determined by a formula involving three factors: membership, population and contribution. Member States are either unrepresented (currently 24 States), under-represented (nine), overrepresented (13) or within range.

The report says that 1,223 staff will reach retirement age in the next five years, an overall departure rate of 11 per cent. Since Directors and Professionals are retiring at a higher rate than their share in the staff population, important replacement prospects are opened up, which should be integrated into personnel replacement plans. Also, the fact that more male than female staff are retiring provides possibilities for furthering the goal of gender equality. Five countries will see their representation in the Secretariat staff reduced by more than half as a result of retirements: United Arab Emirates, Fiji, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, and Benin).

Between 1997 and 1998, 2,425 staff were recruited in proportions consistent with the current breakdown of staff by category (3 per cent into Directors and above; 35 per cent into Professional category; and 62 per cent into General Service and related staff), according to the report. Of new recruits, women accounted for a total of 42 per cent, but the majority of women were recruited into the General Service category.

The two most senior grades at the Secretariat (Under-Secretary-General and Assistant Secretary-General) have low female representation -- only 12 per cent, the report says. Female staff account for 36.1 per cent of Professional category staff, primarily at or near entry levels. Meanwhile, they constitute 56.7 per cent of General Service and related categories.

Regarding permanent and fixed-term appointments, the report says that the former account for 56 per cent of all staff, and the latter for 40 per cent. The regular budget funds more than two thirds of permanent appointments, while extrabudgetary funds two thirds of fixed term appointments. Of the staff total,

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70 per cent are financed from regular budget and 30 per cent by extrabudgetary funding.

The Committee had before it the Secretary-General's report on comprehensive guidelines for the use of consultants (document A/53/385). The report responds to concerns of the General Assembly and matters raised by the Office of Internal Oversight Services on the use of consultants. New guidelines are annexed to the report. They will be implemented within a delegation to programme managers, balanced by accountability measures.

The Office of Internal Oversight Services, according to the report, cited a lack of understanding of the difference between consultants and individual contractors: both hired under special service agreements but providing different types of service. It also suggested use of the umbrella term "special service agreement" be discontinued.

In response, the guidelines define a consultant as someone providing a service requiring skills not possessed by staff nor needed, on an ongoing basis, by the Organization. An individual contractor is someone engaged from time-to- time to perform a specific task, for an all-inclusive fee, that could be performed by staff. Participants in advisory meetings, where they provide some ancillary service for which they are paid (like a written paper), should be hired as consultants. Institutional contractors or consultants, where the United Nations has no contractual relationship with individuals, are not considered subject to these guidelines.

Under the guidelines, programme managers will be responsible for matters of substance, and Executive or Administrative Offices away from Headquarters will be responsible for processing contracts. The Office of Human Resources Management will remain responsible for policy, follow-up, monitoring and reporting.

The principles for the use of consultants specify, among other things, that: assignments should be temporary and for tasks that can be performed within a limited, specified time; highly qualified consultants should be selected using a reasoned and documented process; the service must be clearly related to the work programme, or to a specific legislative or programming decision; the service should not duplicate planned or completed work; the consultant should not perform functions of staff or have representative or supervisory responsibility; the most competent person should be selected from a wide number of nationalities.

Department and office heads will be responsible for detailed terms of reference for engagement of a consultant and for timely submission of requests. The work assignment should cover all functions, and should not include functions which have recently been, or soon will be, assigned to staff. Certification of this is a prerequisite for processing requests and issuing contracts. Terms of reference should include objectives, targets, measurable outputs, realistic delivery dates, and how the work is to be delivered.

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The report states that a central roster is being developed as part of the Integrated Management Information System to help identify suitable consultants. It is envisaged that it will include data regarding engagement dates, type of work, fees and evaluation of past work.

To ensure selection on a more competitive basis, several qualified candidates must be considered for each assignment. Where a single candidate is engaged on an exceptional basis, a justification should be recorded before selection. The guidelines require that, prior to a contract, the processing office must verify the academic and professional credentials of the candidate. Former United Nations common system staff who have separated on or after age 55 will only be engaged in accordance with existing policies concerning the use of retirees. The principle of geographical distribution should be applied, but not without regard to other factors, such as travel costs.

A consultant contract will now be used, not a special service agreement, the report states. No single task and consultant contract should exceed a period of six months without a formal evaluation of the work performed, and no consultant shall provide services on successive projects for more than 24 months in a 36-month period.

The guidelines address the legal status of consultants, expected standards of conduct, remuneration -- including the need for documentation when exceptional remuneration is required to obtain skills needed -- and currency of payment. Unsatisfactory performance or failure to conform to the standards of conduct will lead to termination of service for cause.

These guidelines will also apply to individual contractors, altered only where the difference between the two is relevant. They will be engaged under a contract for individual contractors, and use of the special service agreement will be discontinued. Remuneration may be linked to the salary scales for locally recruited United Nations staff, but a contractor engaged to perform language functions would be paid according to an agreed unit costs rate. Individual contractors would be limited to six or, in special circumstances, nine work months work in any 12 months, except for contractors performing language functions on a unit-cost basis.

On information management, the report advises the Office of Human Resources Management will collect and maintain discreet data for reporting and monitoring on these contracts.

The Committee had before it a report of the Secretary-General on amendments to the Staff Rules (document A/53/502), many of which had been previously published in Secretary-General's bulletins. Annexed to the report are the texts of amendments not previously published. The amendments apply to staff employed under three types of contracts; 300 series rules apply to staff engaged for short-term service and assignments of limited duration; 200 hundred

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rules apply to staff specifically recruited for service with technical cooperation projects, and 100 series rules apply to all other staff.

Under changes to 100 series rules, the report notes a new rule on hours of work and official holidays in response to General Assembly resolution 52/214 and decision 52/468. The staff rule on the education grant is amended to simplify it, to align the duration of appointment requirements for special education grant with that for regular education grant, and to set out the new amounts of grant.

The rule on mobility and hardship is simplified, the report states. The rule on permanent appointment in amended to eliminate the five-year review on these appointments, no longer considered necessary because of the PAS. Changes are also made to rules on the Appointment and Promotion Board, sick leave, excess baggage and unaccompanied shipments and removal costs to simplify them and bring them into line with other changes. As a consequence of these changes, several other rules have been renumbered.

Under changes to 200 series rules, the report notes similar changes to rules on hours of work and official holidays, education grant, mobility and hardship allowance, sick leave, and excess baggage and unaccompanied shipments. Under changes to 300 series rules, the report notes similar changes to rules on hours of work and official holidays, and sick leave, and other changes to the rule on certification of service and to extend the benefit paid to other staff in case of death to 300 series staff.

The Committee also had before it a report of the Secretary-General on employment of retirees (document A/53/526). For the purpose of the report, retirees are defined as former staff aged 55 and over and who are in receipt of a pension from the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund. Those over this age and not in receipt of a pension are not included. Annexed to the report are tables detailing use of retirees by department and office, by function, by age group, by engagement, for 1996 and for 1997. A total of 328 retirees were engaged by the United Nations in biennium 1996-1997, with a total of 42,970 days worked for total fees and salaries of some $8.58 million.

The general policy covering employment of retirees states that staff shall normally not be employed beyond the mandatory retirement age, according to the report. However, they may be temporarily employed under limited circumstances when such employment best meets the operational needs of the Organization and no other suitable candidates are available. No one may be appointed within three months of retirement without special Office of Human Resources Management approval. In all cases, retirees are limited to six month's employment per year before they must contribute to the Pension Fund as per normal staff. The General Assembly has set a ceiling for retiree earnings of $22 thousand per calender year (or $40 thousand for language services staff).

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The Secretary-General reports the exceptional need for the expert services supplied by employment of retirees continues, notably during peak periods, and at the start of field missions. Retirees are often available immediately and for service outside their countries.

In resolution 51/408, the General Assembly decided that such employment should be strictly monitored and controlled by the Human Resources Office, but weaknesses in automated databases, the lack of an earnings flag for retirees, and the lack of a cross checking facility with the Pension Fund made this difficult, according to the report. It is expected these problems will be solved by system enhancements in early 1999.

Regarding the earnings ceiling, the Secretary-General reports that the current ceilings remain appropriate, although he will continue to monitor them. He notes that some language services staff had reached the limit prior to the peak demand period during the General Assembly.

The Secretary-General's report on consultants and individual contractors (document A/53/548) covers the biennium 1996-1997. During that time, 7,505 individual special service agreements were concluded with consultants or individual contractors, for a total contract duration of 1,697 person years of work. Total expenditure for these was $53 million, from all sources of funding. The regular budget covered 26 per cent of total engagements, totalling $11.3 million, compared with an allotment of $11.9 million.

Consultants and individual contractors engaged during 1996-1997 were drawn from 162 Member States, as well as Switzerland, Tonga and Palestinians, according to the report. Twenty-eight per cent of those engaged were women. Some 235 special service agreements (3 per cent of the total) were concluded with 94 retirees from the United Nations common system, representing $1.1 million in expenditure.

Almost three quarters of all special service agreements for consultants and individual contractors were at offices away from Headquarters, the report states. The secretariat of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) accounted for 20 per cent of all engagements, the Department for Development Support and Management Services for 10 per cent, and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) for 16 per cent.

The numbers and amounts of contracts awarded varied greatly, according to the report. United States nationals received the most contracts -- 622 valued at $9.1 million -- followed by the United Kingdom, whose nationals received 344 contracts totalling close to $4.6 million. By descending order, the next highest contract amounts went to: France, Canada, Chile and India.

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Another report of the Secretary-General submits a list of Secretariat staff (document A/C.5/53/L.3) showing, by organizational unit, the name, functional title, nationality and grade of all staff members holding an appointment of one year or more at 1 July 1998. The actual list is issued separately (document ST/ADM/R.51) and in limited quantity.

Human Resources Management

RAFIAH SALIM, Assistant-Secretary-General for Human Resources Management, said that one of the Secretary-General's statements -- when he had recently introduced his report on human resources management reform (document A/53/414) -- was particularly important. He had called reform an evolving process. Some practices of human resources that had worked for others would have to be changed to work for the United Nations.

The plan set out by the Secretary-General and adopted by the General Assembly in 1994 was being fulfilled, she said. The Secretary-General had met repeatedly with senior staff to discuss the issue, and had used experts from around the world to provide advice and counselling. He had emphasized his own areas of concern. He had initiated a communication campaign to reach out to staff and managers, and had met with the Fifth Committee to personally discuss the issue with Member States.

She said she wanted to report that action was being taken. It had been said that change happened too slowly in the Organization. However, staff members and managers alike were taking notice and asking questions. The impact of change was now visible.

The Secretary-General had explained what reform was not, she said. She wished to explain what reform was. It was the implementation of the skills inventory database. It was the simplification and streamlining of rules and procedures. It was the removal of duplication between the Office of Human Resources Management and other offices and departments. It was the process of defining organizational core and managerial competencies, now well under way. It was staff development programmes now in place. It was a changed system to eliminate unnecessary steps in recruitment and promotion, which would be implemented before the end of the year. It was the managed reassignment programme for junior professionals. Lastly, it was the building and strengthening of accountability of all staff through the PAS, the managers being required to defend their decisions before appeals bodies, and through the possible creation of a management review panel.

It would take from three to five years to enact the much-needed reform, she said. Current actions were building on previous initiatives. The strategy approved by the General Assembly was a foundation, but it was necessary to move forward from there. How would management culture be changed? Continuous investment in training and learning was required. This

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year, a career development policy had been implemented with responsibility for career development shared by staff, managers and the Organization itself, which was responsible for creating opportunities.

She said that communication with all partners in the process was critical. A discourse with all staff at all levels in a variety of forums had commenced. With the establishment of the Secretary-General's Task Force early this year, five working groups had been established. They examined the five major human resources areas -- staff administration, planning, performance management, career support and conditions of service. In June, the Global Staff Management Consultative Committee had met in Bangkok. Prior to that, staff and management had met in New York to discuss the direction and purpose of staff management relations. A number of other important meetings had taken place.

It was clear that top management was fully committed to change the way the Organization managed its human resources, she said. The active participation of senior staff was a clear signal and a commitment to do things better.

She then introduced the reports on human resources before the Committee. While introducing the Secretary-General's report on human resources management, she said that, at the Secretary-General's request, the Task Force report would be released very shortly.

MICHAEL POWLES (New Zealand), speaking also for Canada and Australia, said that 1,223 staff would be retiring over the next five years. This provided the United Nations with an unprecedented human resourcing challenge not seen since 1945. The Secretary-General should begin the task of succession planning as a matter of top priority, so the Organization was not short of skills and experience.

Reform of human resources management was an integral part of renewing the United Nations into the new century, he said. As time changed, Member States and the Secretariat could ill afford to linger in the half-light of a 1950s establishment and still maintain that the ideals of the United Nations Charter were being pursued with real commitment, vigour or imagination. Staff had faced significant challenges in adapting to the process of change under way in the Secretariat. But it was a reality of the times: technological advances and fiscal restraints were affecting everyone and should be seen as opportunities for personal development rather than threats to job satisfaction.

Future reports on human resources management should be subsumed into one report on human resources reform, to facilitate discussion by the General Assembly, which should take place every second year, he said. He was pleased that the Task Force on Human Resources Management had been helpful to the Office of Human Resources Management. While he commended that Office for progress achieved to date, there was still much to be done. There were problems with recruitment, placement, performance management, mobility, career

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development, geographical and gender representation, delegation of authority, accountability, and staff-management consultation.

The lengthy recruitment process was a matter of concern, he said. One of the causes was the involvement of staff committees in the staff selection process. Recruitment was the responsibility of management alone, and the process should be properly managed and efficient. The mechanism to challenge decisions on recruitment should be the appeals process. Canada, Australia and New Zealand had been surprised to learn that the number of staff leaving the Organization was as high as the number retiring each year. A study of the reasons for those departures would be helpful in planning future recruitment strategies and addressing staff morale.

The introduction of the performance management in the United Nations marked a conscious effort to reinforce the merit-based principle in the staffing and work of the Secretariat, he noted. He supported the Secretary- General's intention to continue decentralizing management functions by delegating authority to line managers and balancing this with measures to ensure accountability. It was regrettable that while the Secretariat had for years been proposing greater decentralization, its implementation had been slow and partial. He urged the Office of Human Resources Management to begin training to prepare managers for delegation of authority and increased accountability. The Office's resources should be increased for such awareness and other training programmes, which would contribute to the responsiveness and results-oriented culture that the Secretary-General was committed to creating. The system of internal justice needed to be streamlined as a matter of priority. He supported career development policies and was glad that special emphasis was being placed on building leadership and managerial capacity.

He called on the Secretary-General to reverse the slow pace of gender redistribution. Member States should propose more women candidates from a broader array of occupations, for appointments to intergovernmental and expert bodies, and positions within the Secretariat. The quality of implementation of General Assembly and Security Council mandates was at its best when acted upon by well-trained and motivated staff members committed to the ideals of the Organization and supported by adequate financial resources from Member States. While in his dealings with Secretariat professionals he had been encouraged on the first score, when it came to the provision of adequate financial resources, Member States had some distance to go.

ULRIKE BUTSCHEK (Austria), speaking for the European Union and Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Iceland and Liechtenstein, said the United Nations staff were its most valuable asset. The Organization should strive to employ only the best and the brightest. Seventy per cent of the United Nations costs were related to personnel, and Member States expected excellence from staff at all levels. The

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United Nations should be able to educate and train its personnel. To implement reform measures, all parties must be part of the process.

The Union welcomed the Organization moving more towards a performance-based culture and supported the ongoing efforts to strengthen the PAS, she said. The step increase should be used as an award for excellent performance, rather than an almost automatic mechanism. The Union also welcomed measures taken to address under-performance.

She expressed concern over the fact that more people were resigning than retiring. Resignations at the P-2 and P-3 levels, in particular, exhibited an intolerable level of frustration that must be addressed urgently. Further information was needed on the career development of staff recruited through competitive examinations. The currently distorted age curve must be rectified. The average age of newly hired staff seemed high. While new blood must be brought into the Organization, that must be reconciled with the legitimate aspirations of the Organization's core staff.

Career development required continuous learning to acquire additional qualifications to allow personnel to advance, she continued. The Union agreed with the Secretary-General that rotation and mobility were essential tools to widen horizons and increase experience. In fact, mobility was an inherent duty for any truly international civil service and should be stipulated in the staff rules.

Expressing particular concern over the United Nations recruitment practices, she said recruitment in an Organization of this size and complexity could not occur haphazardly, but must follow a forward-looking strategy. The overall recruitment process today was unsatisfactory and must be speeded up. A balance should be struck between offering ways to advance internally and bringing in fresh expertise from outside. Recruitment should focus on attracting younger people.

Accountability and delegation of authority were mutually reinforcing and should progress in parallel, she said. A balance must be struck between decentralization and empowerment, on one hand, and central monitoring and control over human resources policies, on the other, he said. Regarding the composition of the Secretariat, she said that of the Union's 15 members, 10 States were below the mid-point of their desirable range. Of the 13 countries that were overrepresented, 11 were developing countries. She hoped the trend for improving representation continued and would include those countries.

She welcomed progress made to increase representation of women at the Principal Officer level (D-1), although the number of women at those levels was still low. The Union was concerned about the slow pace at which the representation of women was improving. On the Secretary-General's report on

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internal vacancies, she said it was important that the United Nations be able to recruit from among the best candidates available. The wider the choice, the higher the chances to identify excellence. At the same time, current instruments to recruit and promote career development must be maintained.

The Union was concerned to learn that the conditions of operations for United Nations personnel had deteriorated and that 23 staff members had been killed and 33 abducted during the last years, she said. For the success of United Nations undertakings, all personnel -- international and local -- should be safeguarded, particularly those in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions. She called on all States to ratify the Convention on the safety of United Nations and associated personnel.

RONY ADAM (Israel) said the need for reform should be acknowledged and outlined. It should then be planned, implemented and evaluated. In his report on human resources management reform, the Secretary-General outlined a phased programme for implementing changes. Member States should ensure that those changes were carried out and evaluated within a precise time-frame. It would take considerable work to forge a new organizational culture and transform the United Nations into a responsive and results-oriented system. A reform programme must anticipate budget cuts and coming geo-political changes.

In pursuing such reform, he said, a first priority should be the establishment of a human resources planning task force, integrated within the existing administrative and budgetary consulting bodies, to transform plans from principle to practice. That task force would study the need for change and the changing needs in the United Nations system, and make concrete proposals, working closely with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the Office of Human Resources Management.

The Organization's mission required a workforce that was creative and proactive, well-trained but able to break from convention, open to new possibilities and constantly re-evaluating work and attitudes, he said. Such a workforce could be created and worked into the current one, but to do so required professional recruiting programmes and the most modern and effective training programmes.

He commended progress made towards improving the entry examination and modifying requirements to fit the changing needs of the Organization. The Central Examination Board consisted of five members: three from the Secretariat and two representing the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management. That Board should also contain an additional ex officio representative, representing a Member State in the Fifth Committee or the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ).

In addition to a new recruitment system, there was need for a revised system of evaluation for hiring and promoting staff, he continued. That new

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system should live up to the standards now used in the private sector. In March 1989, the Secretary-General had announced the need for delegation of authority and the need to decentralize functions. Recently, delegation of authority had focused on classification, administration and recruitment. Such delegation should be further expanded and reviewed in the fifty-fourth General Assembly.

He said increased delegation of authority could cover many fields of United Nations operations and administration, and could positively affect recruitment and evaluation. The Central Examination Board could delegate authority by setting up local and regional examination centres worldwide, yielding a more efficient and specialized workforce, with a variety of perspectives while ensuring the goal of geographical balance.

TRYGGVE GJESDAL (Norway) said that while the United Nations staff had been performing excellently under difficult circumstances, the Organization lagged behind other international organizations in recruitment policies, management and conditions of service. A better system for managing recruitment was long overdue. According to the report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, the average recruitment time was 461 days. That was unacceptable. Administrative procedures leading to appointment should be simple and transparent.

Recruitment of qualified individuals could be assured in a system where management of human resources was delegated to line managers, he said. The success of such delegation depended on well-defined procedures, as well as monitoring and follow-up mechanisms centred in the Office of Human Resources Management. The role of that Office remained of special importance in regard to improving gender balance and geographical balance.

A balanced gender distribution widened the resource base and improved the quality and efficiency of the Organization's work, he said. The Secretary-General's commitment to the advancement of women must not only be translated into recruitment, but must also be extended to career development for women. Family-policy measures were instrumental in that regard. Time was of the essence for reaching the goal of 50/50 parity between men and women by the year 2000, and a more vigorous approach was needed.

Norway believed the competitive examination process remained the best and fairest means of recruiting professional staff at entry level, he said. Better use must be made by department heads of the rosters of qualified examinees in the recruitment process. The competitive examination process must be complemented by a system of career development for P-2 and P-3 level staff, to allow the United Nations to retain the younger staff it recruited. He called on the Office of Human Resources Management to redress the situation where more Professional staff were resigning than retiring.

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Due consideration should be given to introducing a more widespread use of time-limited contracts, he said. The delegation of authority for human resources management required full acceptance by programme managers, and must be fully transparent. To implement a new human resources strategy based on full participation would take time, but a five-year horizon for reform seemed under-ambitious. Both the staff and the Member States were stakeholders and needed to see practical results of efforts being taken to modernize the United Nations. The key to United Nations performance lay in the quality of its staff, and Norway commended the Secretary-General for the way he had developed his human resources reform package.

YUKIO TAKASU (Japan) said that staff were an invaluable asset on which the functioning of the United Nations was dependent. Japan appreciated the Secretary-General's reform initiatives, including those to streamline rules and procedures and empower managers. However, Japan would like to be informed as to how simplification would shorten the time taken for recruitment. Regarding delegation of human resources decision-making, the General Assembly's request that mechanisms for accountability be established had not yet been fulfilled. The Secretary-General's report set out the principles of a new system, but, while acknowledging the usefulness of the measures he proposed, Japan believed they were not central to accountability, and was, therefore, disappointed. Change should be gradual until such measures were established, he said. It should be borne in mind that the aim of reform was to better achieve the policy directives of Member States. Responsibility for equitable geographic distribution of staff must remain in the Office of Human Resources Management, and Japan welcomed the Secretary-General's assurances on that matter. Organization-wide targets would be difficult to meet under the new delegations unless strong leadership and clear guidelines existed.

He welcomed the significant improvement in the data and presentation of the report on the composition of the Secretariat. The report was now of great value. He noted that the number of under-represented Member States had fallen, and welcomed that, although he also noted that the overall situation of Japanese nationals had not improved. The number of Japanese working in the Secretariat was exactly the same as a year ago, and well below the desirable range. Japan took a grave view of that matter, and attached great importance to ending under-representation by the end of 2001. He urged the Secretary- General to take every possible measure to put all Member States within the desirable range in that period.

He noted that 104 appointments had been made in posts subject to geographical distribution in the past 12 months, whereas the Secretariat had made more than 2,400 appointments. The ratio of posts subject to geographic distribution seemed very low. Japan would like a breakdown by nationality of the 2,425 appointments by nationality. He also noted that only 19 of the 104 appointments to posts subject to geographic distribution were from under- represented States, for which Japan supported the use of national competitive

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examinations. However, it called attention to the long delay in offering posts to successful candidates. A Japanese candidate successful in the 1993 examination had only been offered a post in May this year. He advocated a method to force Department heads to accept such candidates.

The number of posts subject to geographic distribution at the P-2 and P-3 levels had been reduced, according to the report, he said. Japan cautioned against such a reduction. Additional measures were needed to make significant progress on geographical representation. Priority should be given to that goal. In the coming four years, 320 staff would retire from posts subject to geographic distribution. A certain proportion of those posts should be preserved for under- represented countries. A focal point for equitable distribution should be established within the Office of Human Resources Management. Japan supported the proposed recruitment missions to under-represented States, but, to be meaningful, advance preparation must be made. The posts to be filled must be specified before the mission so that candidates could be identified.

ROSEMARIE WATERS, President of the United Nations Staff Union, said the central theme of her concerns today was human security. The Secretary-General had said that security began with security of person, but it also meant job security, in the sense of having a job and what was possible in that job. The staff fully supported those concepts, and joined with him in placing their concerns and futures in Member States' hands. Restoration of career appointments to majority level was the first important step towards achieving security. Staff on fixed-term contracts were suffering from exploitation and fear, with their contractual status hanging over their heads like a Damoclean sword. They could not secure mortgages or obtain bank loans, and they could serve for 10 to 15 years without any termination benefits, to return home to a country where they no longer had ties. That issue was a priority.

The staff supported reforms and wanted to turn the Organization into a caring employer with strong mandates and staff who strived for excellence, she said. To achieve that, clear accountability measures were required. As a first step, the current Rules and Regulations must be completely enforced. For example, staff representatives had long advocated the use of Staff Rule 112.3 for any financial loss suffered by the Organization as a result of gross negligence and reckless disregard for Staff Rules.

There must be justice if the Organization was not to remain a house divided, she said. Staff had the right to have their cases heard and resolved expeditiously, as well as the right to counsel. A system that addressed appeals quickly and efficiently would improve staff morale. When managers broke rules, they should represent themselves. She hoped the working group on the Internal Justice System would provide a framework for change within the context of human resources reform. The Office of Internal Oversight Services was a strong tool to ensure good management, but it had violated rights of several staff by reporting conclusions prior to the conclusion of disciplinary processes.

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Staff would work closely with management on career development, particularly for General Service and related staff, she said. Real and fair solutions for promoting General Service staff to Professional posts needed to be developed. The current system was expensive and produced on average 17 successful candidates per year. The Joint Advisory Committee in New York was looking at that. She was pleased that the 1994 Convention on the Safety and Security of United Nations and Other Personnel required only one more signature to enter force. The Union continued to be concerned for Alec Collett, missing since 1985, Vincent Cochetel, abducted in January 1998, and all other colleagues missing or detained.

In the case of the non-renewal of contracts, managerial prerogative was being cited to exclude staff representatives from participating in major staff welfare issues. The Office of Human Resources Management had suggested staff representatives were trying to co-manage the Organization, she said. It was agreed that guidelines for non-renewal would be established, but they had not materialized. Given that 50 per cent of staff were on fixed-term contracts, if staff representatives were not involved in non-renewal, half the staff were denied representation. The guidelines should be established without delay.

Staff representatives did not wish to co-manage the Organization, she said. However, they did expect dialogue early enough in the process to make useful inputs. If the views of staff were heard, it might save resources. Those who did the work should have input into developing the work process. That was not co-management, it was sound management.

MARGARET ELDON, President of the Federation of International Civil Servants' Associations (FISCA), welcomed the increasing attention given to human resources management reform in the United Nations system as key to improving the Organization's capacity to fulfil its diverse mandates. The reform had four basic elements: delegation of responsibility and accountability to managers; streamlining or simplification of procedures; career development; and increased consultation among all parties concerned.

Since it was difficult to implement a performance appraisal system in a multi-cultural environment, there must be safeguards against unfair treatment, she said. Second- and third-level review bodies should be established and must include staff representatives. Appraisal systems in United Nations system were essentially top-down mechanisms, where supervisors reported on the supervised. They should be complemented by a bottom-up component whereby the supervised could make comments on the supervisor. Alternatively, expertise external to the Organization could be used to collect comments and create a profile of a supervisor's strengths and weaknesses, which could be given to that person for consideration. A central monitoring mechanism was essential if delegated authority and empowerment were not to lead to fragmentation and lowering of standards.

Where unnecessary bureaucracy hindered timely action, the problem had to be redressed, she said. Office automation could be of help in that regard.

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Modifications to rules and regulations, and simplification of procedures, should not be at the expense of transparency. The Federation strongly opposed the suggested abolition of joint staff-management monitoring mechanisms (joint staff-management selection and promotion boards). Those bodies did not diffuse responsibility, since they were advisory only and ultimate authority rested with the Secretary-General.

The Secretary-General's proposal on staff development was ambitious, particulary in its aim to meet development needs and career aspirations of staff members, she said. It could be achieved only with stable funding that permitted long-term planning and adequate resources for training. Attention had been paid to linguistic competence for both recruitment and promotion. However, that was not enough to enhance staff language skills and would work against the recruitment of candidates whose languages were not among the Organization's working languages, or whose languages were less prevalent. If language competence was to be encouraged, the recommendations of the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) to minimize incentives should be deferred until the linguistic needs were ascertained.

The reform proposals would move the Organization towards a merit-based approach to recruitment and promotion, she noted. The Federation fully supported this approach, but recognized the difficulties inherent in a political structure where merit competed with geographical representation and gender balance. The use of human resources computer systems for initial screening of candidatures could assist in a merit-based selection process and help increase the objectivity and transparency of the selection process.

Change should begin with labour-management relationships, she said. Change should be characterized by: respect and value for employees; willingness to share power; information sharing; joint decision-making and agreement reached through consensus; and faith that partnership would lead to more effective organizations. She appealed to Member States to reflect the spirit of the International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions on labour in the staff rules and regulations.

A supportive work environment that included job security and enabled staff members to respond to the pressures of work and family life would strengthen motivation, she said. Reforms that might work in some settings might not work in the culturally diverse setting of the United Nations. Reform should include stronger labour-management partnerships, team-based management, competitive conditions of employment, job security, recognition of achievement, accountability, stable funding, merit-based assessment of candidates and ethical leadership. The Federation did not agree with short- termism, understaffing, outsourcing, or performance pay in a multi-cultural environment where the objectivity of evaluation could not be guaranteed. Nor did it believe in over-reliance on generalists in the name of flexibility.

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