DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL OUTLINES STEPS TO STRENGTHEN ACCOUNTABILITY,

TRANSPARENCY, AT GENERAL ASSEMBLY DEBATE ON MANAGEMENT REFORM

Following are Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro’s remarks to the General Assembly thematic debate “Toward a common understanding of management reform” in New York, 9 April:

I am pleased to be with you here today and to participate in this thematic debate on management reform.  As the Secretary-General indicated to you yesterday, management reform is one of his key priorities.  The fact that you are actively participating in this two-day debate is also testimony to the importance which you -- the Member States -- attach to this subject.

I should like to therefore commend the President of the General Assembly, Srgjan Kerim, for his leadership in organizing this debate, and I thank all delegations for your active engagement.  It reflects the high interest that you place in implementing and strengthening the management reform agenda of the Organization.

I should also like to commend the Four Nations Initiative for their important contribution to the reform efforts, as reflected in their report entitled “Towards a Compact –- Proposals for Improved Governance and Management in the United Nations Secretariat”.

This report is well researched, thoughtful and complements well our ongoing work in this key area.

When he spoke yesterday, the Secretary-General informed you of the many management-related initiatives that he has already undertaken or is putting in place.

Let me therefore briefly touch on what he said and let you know what in my capacity as Deputy Secretary-General, Chair of the Management Performance Board and the Management Committee, we have been doing in the Secretariat to strengthen management practices. 

The purpose of this steadfast effort is to build an across the board managerial commitment to reform, which strengthens the Organization’s capacity to better deliver on the full range of mandates which you, the Member States, have given us.

In the area of accountability –- which is a shared priority of the Secretary-General as well as of you the Membership -- the Management Performance Board is responsible for overseeing the senior managers’ compact process. 

Earlier this year, the Secretary-General signed with all his senior managers compacts as a means of holding them accountable for achieving management objectives, particularly in the areas of human resources management and gender targets.  These were subsequently placed on i-seek to ensure disclosure and accountability.

The programme of work that the compacts represent and the managerial targets set are important objectives shared by the Membership and the Secretariat.

These compacts will continue to be monitored through the Management Performance Board.

Through the Board, we will also be responsible for alerting the Secretary-General to problem areas or issues of underperformance that need to be addressed. 

But, I also wish to underline the importance which we attach to building teamwork and mutual support among the senior management through the compact process.

The Secretary-General and I believe strongly that these compacts are so essential to shifting the management culture of the Secretariat that we have also decided to extend the compact process to the staff at the level of Assistant-Secretary-General. 

I would like to take this opportunity to ask for your support of our holistic approach to accountability as proposed in the Secretary-General’s recent report on strengthening accountability.

In this regard, the Secretary-General proposed a dedicated capacity to monitor all aspects of accountability, that is performance, integrity and compliance, thus ensuring that staff at large and senior managers, in particular, are held accountable for delivering results and for their conduct.

Indeed, our capacity to review all oversight reports and recommendations –- and ensure their implementation -– is limited. 

Therefore, this dedicated capacity would also include a small unit, including a few staff redeployments, to analyze the recommendations identified as systemic problem areas. 

The area of implementation and institutional follow-up of oversight recommendations is one the Management Committee is focusing particular attention on as far as the implementation is concerned.  I know this is another shared concern of the Membership and the Secretary-General.

The Secretary-General and I also attach high importance to increased transparency.

I noted that, yesterday, many of you voiced concerns about the senior managers selection process.  In this regard, the Secretary-General has taken steps for further transparency in his selection of his senior managers.  He has engaged in considerable consultations with Member States for nominations and appointments. 

In the meantime, in several instances, he has exercised his executive authority to appoint some members of his immediate office as well as heads of departments fully aware of the need to keep geographical and gender balance. 

In his recent report on strengthening accountability in the Secretariat, the Secretary-General has proposed to write a manual on the process for the selection of senior managers in the hope of making this process more transparent.  This manual is to be published by September.

I am also working to promote transparency as we implement reform of the administration of justice in the United Nations. 

I believe this is a good example of a joint endeavour where Member States, the Secretariat and the funds and programmes, including staff, have worked together on the design of a new system to handle internal grievances.

As the new Office for the Administration of Justice will be reporting to me, I am committed to ensuring that all the pieces are in place to have the new system up and running by 1 January 2009. 

There are some crucial decisions that Member States will need to take at the upcoming resumed session, including adopting the statutes for the Dispute Tribunal and the Appeals Tribunal, and to approve measures to ensure a smooth transition from the present to the new system.

We must continue to give this our priority attention.  I am convinced that the new system of administration of justice will not only be more fair, expeditious and transparent, but will also contribute to improving the overall management of the Organization.

This is a human resources year in the General Assembly.  You the Member States are considering the important reform proposals of the Secretary-General on human resources management.

As the Secretary-General indicated yesterday, this is one of his key priorities in the area of management reform. 

Indeed, the development of an international civil service composed of individuals who are highly ethical, efficient, multi-skilled and most of all committed to the vision and mission of the United Nations is a critical management priority for the Secretary-General and myself.

We are therefore concerned that the General Assembly was not able to approve the proposals for one contract and harmonized conditions of service at its recent March session.  We are, however, hopeful that the General Assembly will act on them at the earliest opportunity.

As Chair of the Human Resources Management Task Force, which recently submitted a report to the Secretary-General, I am committed to strengthening the human resources management framework across the entire Secretariat.  We must ensure that human resources is not just the business of the office for human resources management, but that it is everybody’s business, and, in this regard, senior managers have a special and important role to play.

Through the Management Committee, we will in the coming months be monitoring the implementation of a number of important actions that are within the purview of the Secretary-General and which include several actions in the areas of work force planning, vacancy management, career development and training, mobility and managers’ responsibilities and performance.

These actions emanated from the work of the Task Force on human resources as well as from the recommendations arising from the Task Force to Simplify and Streamline the Rules of Work Processes, led by Shaaban Shaaban, Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly Affairs and Conference Management.  

Many areas were identified that the Secretary-General can take immediate action on, and this is where I will be concentrating some of my efforts in the coming months. 

A number of other recommendations will require Member States approval, and these will be presented to you this fall.  

Many of you also pointed out yesterday, that the staff of the Organization is its most important asset.  We do agree with you.  I therefore strongly encourage you to approve our proposals for fair and equitable contractual arrangements and conditions of service, which are an absolute precondition for attracting and retaining the best qualified work force. 

Also essential for an efficient Organization is a modern, integrated, up to date, global ICT system for financial and human resources management.  The Secretary-General will soon be presenting to Member States a proposal for a new enterprise resource planning system (ERP), that will help us simplify and streamline administrative processes and will produce real time information. 

The Secretary-General provided you with an example of how it is currently impossible for the Secretariat to produce worldwide staffing statistics at the push of a button. 

The proposed ERP will enable us to produce these types of statistics as well as better align our financial and human resources information with individual programmatic activities.  This type of alignment is critical to holding managers accountable.

Many of you are aware that an equally important component of my portfolio lies in the area of development. 

In this connection, I would like once again to draw your attention to the fact that, as the Organization is asked to do more with existing approved resources, critical gaps have arisen in the capacity of the Secretariat to adequately pursue its development mandate.  The Secretary-General’s recent report on the development work of the Secretariat focused entirely on filling these gaps which are affecting the capacity of the Secretariat to implement our many development mandates in a more coherent and consistent manner.

However, we cannot fill these gaps unless you, the Member States, address the striking mismatch between mandates and resources in the developing area.

In closing, let me take this opportunity to once again appreciate President Kerim’s initiative to hold this thematic debate.  I am convinced that your discussions and exchanges with us in the Secretariat will enable us to make concrete progress in this critical field of our work.

I therefore look forward to a lively and stimulating interactive dialogue on these important management reform topics.  I am certain that my colleagues who are directly responsible for the different technical issues on the agenda will be delighted to answer in details your queries.

Be assured of the Secretary-General’s commitment and of my readiness to work closely with all of you, with a view to achieving a meaningful management reform of the Organization so that it can better and more effectively deliver its multiple mandates for the good of all the peoples.

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