UN management reforms up in air as deadline nears

Fri Aug 5, 2005 8:23 PM ET
Reuters
By Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Plans for U.N. management reform, eagerly sought by Washington, are in disarray less than six weeks before they are due to be adopted at a world summit in New York, ambassadors helping to guide the project said on Friday.
Management changes are among the main goals of an ambitious U.N. program initiated by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to overhaul how the world body tackles security, human rights and development issues. It is due to be discussed at a summit of 175 world leaders in September.
The project is now in its final stages, with negotiators unveiling on Friday their latest 38-page draft of the document, which also addresses such issues as eliminating poverty, protecting human rights and ending the spread of nuclear arms.
Following allegations of mismanagement and corruption in the now-defunct U.N. oil-for-food program for Iraq, the United States has been pushing for a strong package of U.N. management reforms.
But the draft made public on Friday still represents very much a work in progress, said Australian Ambassador John Dauth, who has been helping General Assembly President Jean Ping with the negotiations among the 191 U.N. members.
We all recognize the public is watching closely. We need to get it right, said Ambassador Christopher Hackett of Barbados, who also has been helping Ping.
U.S. Deputy Ambassador Anne Patterson, addressing the assembly earlier this week, said Washington was committed to a reform package including improved U.N. management practices that bring a level of transparency and accountability that has previously been lacking.
But drafts to date were not well organized and failed to reflect U.S. proposals for an oversight advisory committee, an independent inspector and a requirement that all programs be reviewed before they can be renewed extended, among others.
Another dispute among member-states is the extent to which Annan should have a free hand to run things without first seeking General Assembly approval.
Outside analysts say micromanagement by U.N. members discourages efficiency and effectiveness.
Some diplomats said Annan's hand had been weakened by his newly appointed undersecretary-general for management, American Christopher Burnham, who told the Washington Post last month, I came here at the request of the White House. It's my duty to make the U.N. more effective. My primary loyalty is to the United States of America.
The remark had damaged the U.S. case for reform, said one diplomat involved in the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity. People are saying, 'That's the man you want to delegate authority to, instead of the General Assembly?'
Hackett said a number of developing nations insisted the General Assembly not surrender its responsibilities. Dauth said Russia too hesitated in giving more power to the secretary-general.