COST-EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT, EFFICIENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, KEYS TO HEALTHY UN SYSTEM, SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS OVERSIGHT BODIES

Press Release
SG/SM/7198

COST-EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT, EFFICIENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, KEYS TO HEALTHY UN SYSTEM, SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS OVERSIGHT BODIES

Following is the text of Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s statement to the third tripartite meeting of the Board of Auditors, the Joint Inspection Unit and the Office of Internal Oversight Services in New York on 27 October:

Let me first of all thank you for inviting me to speak to the three main oversight bodies today. Oversight is crucial to the reform process and to the United Nations system as a whole, and I welcome this opportunity to encourage you to make the most of your mission.

I hope you will forgive the analogy, but good oversight is in some respects like a good doctor. We may not always relish the prospect of undergoing the examination; but afterwards, we are glad we did it, because our health -- in this case the health of our entire Organization -- depends upon early detection of any problems in the system.

In our case, a healthy system means cost-effective management, efficiency, accountability and transparency. To ensure that, we need to practice extensive and constant vigilance.

This, in turn, requires practical cooperation, coordination and mutual support among your services. It requires avoiding duplication among your programmes of work. At the same time, as the General Assembly reminds us, it requires us to distinguish between the external and internal oversight functions and ensure respect for their separate and distinct roles. I know you will continue to make progress in all these areas.

Oversight services are not and should never be a substitute for good management -- but you do constitute a vital management tool. As oversight bodies, you have already contributed vastly to our enhanced and improved machinery. With the appropriate resources, there is even more you can do. You can play an increasingly proactive and positive role in identifying and proposing specific measures to improve management. You can help promote trust in the administration by ensuring accuracy and excellence in oversight services. You can help us achieve our goal of moving from micro-management to accountability.

- 2 - Press Release SG/SM/7198 27 October 1999

Over the past five years, we have witnessed a quiet evolution that helped pave the way for the reform era's "quiet revolution". The working methods of the Office of Internal Oversight Services have become well established. A culture of internal oversight has become a fact of life.

Today is, therefore, an occasion to express appreciation of a more personal nature. As Under-Secretary-General for Oversight Services, Karl Paschke has truly served the United Nations well. During these five years, he has set new standards professionally and personally that are widely recognized both inside and outside this house. He has been an excellent adviser to me, and the reports of his Office have been a valuable tool in improving the efficiency and management accountability of the Secretariat.

We will miss you, Karl. And while your findings may not always have been music to our ears, the sound of your saxophone certainly was. And so, to a gifted player who also knows the meaning of fair play -- thank you, and good luck to you as you take your talents to a new stage in your life. On that note, I wish you all a successful and stimulating meeting.

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