STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY H.E. MR. JAN ELIASSON ON THE ADOPTION OF THE RESOLUTION ON MANAGEMENT REFORM

UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS NEW YORK 7 JULY 2006

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, I am gratified by the adoption this afternoon of the draft resolution on "Investing in the United Nations: for a stronger Organization worldwide" as recommended by the Fifth Committee. This was an important step on the path to implementing what our leaders asked us to do in the field of Secretariat and management reform at the 2005 World Summit. I am particularly pleased by the constructive atmosphere that has prevailed during the difficult negotiations of the Fifth Committee during these past three days. I commend all the members of the Committee for working tirelessly to find compromise solutions to the complex issues in the draft resolution we just adopted. While I note that in some areas the resolution did not fully meet the concerns of all delegations, I am glad to note that the resolution was adopted by consensus. By the adoption of this resolution, the General Assembly has: 1. Requested the Secretary-General to fully operationalize the Ethics Office; 2. Emphasized the need for strengthening accountability in the Organization; 3. Decided to establish a post of Chief Information Technology Officer at the ASG level;

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4. Decided to replace the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) with a next generation enterprise resource planning system; 5. Decided to authorize the Secretary-General, on an experimental basis, a limited discretion for budgetary implementation to enter into commitments up to $20 million during 2006-2007 and 2008-2009. This would enable the Secretary-General to meet the evolving needs of the Organization. This experiment will be reviewed at the 64th session; 6. Decided to approve the adoption by the United Nations of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS); 7. Resolved that the Working Capital Fund for 2006-2007 shall be increased from $100 million to $150 million effective 1 January 2007; 8. Took note of the intention of the SG to prepare a single comprehensive annual report containing financial and programme information aimed at enhancing transparency of the Organization; 9. Authorized the Secretary-General to enter into commitments up to $706,600 to strengthen the procurement system, pending action by the General Assembly at the 61st session on the report of the SecretaryGeneral on procurement reform. The resolution also looks forward to the results of the Independent External Evaluation of the audit and oversight system, to proposals on ensuring full operational independence of OIOS as well as to taking action on the terms of reference of the Independence Audit Advisory Committee with a view to operationalizing it. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, friends,
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As to the future work on management reform, the Assembly decided to defer to its 61st session the question of the consolidation of peacekeeping accounts and increases in the peacekeeping reserve fund. At this coming session the Assembly will furthermore consider proposals of the SecretaryGeneral on governance, oversight and accountability, human resources management and procurement, as well as on the administration of justice. By the decision today we have contributed to the strengthening of the United Nations. Together we have taken a step to make the Organization more efficient and effective. We have begun consolidating a culture of accountability, transparency and integrity in the Secretariat. The General Assembly has also pledged to provide the UN with adequate resources on a timely basis to implement its mandates. It is my sincere hope that the cooperative atmosphere experienced over the last few days will prevail and have a positive influence on the continued work on mandate review. Next week my two co-Chairs, Ambassador Akram of Pakistan and Ambassador Cooney of Ireland, intend to initiate discussions on the way forward. I urge you all to support the coChairs in this important endeavour. It remains now only for me to thank each and every one of you for the determination and stamina with which you have worked to achieve these results. Your collective efforts have now provided the Organization with the first measures to put in place mechanisms to respond to the vision of our leaders to make this an efficient, effective and accountable Organization.

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I want to pay tribute to the tireless efforts of the Chairman of the Committee, Ambassador John Ashe, and his very able staff, and of course to the skillful work of Mr. Morteza Mirmohammad of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Coordinator of the informal consultations of the Fifth Committee on management reform. Mr. Mirmohammad dedicated his days and nights, literally, to ensure the adoption of a draft resolution on this important issue to the satisfaction of all Member States. I thank him wholeheartedly and I thank all the colleagues in the Fifth Committee. [...] Before I adjourn the meeting, just a few words and brief observations on the reform process as a whole during the 60th General Assembly and what remains on the agenda. You have taken some significant decisions during this 60th session of the General Assembly. The establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission and the Human Rights Council, as was mentioned earlier, are just a few but important examples. To make institutional reforms is usually a very complicated operation. I commend you for the constructive spirit in which we could finalize that work. I would like to express my gratitude to you for the constructive spirit in which you have worked to implement the mandate given to us from the World Summit. There are still weeks ahead of us for continued work. I hope we shall make progress on some of the outstanding issues. We have for instance the General Assembly revitalization issues, and as you know, we also have a debate on 20 July on Security Council reform.

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I know that some of you will be leaving New York later this month or in August. I am certain that at the end of August, when we still have a chance to deal with some important issues, we will go to that work with vigour and determination to finish our important tasks. We need, among other things, to finalize the resolution on the reform of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). This is important for the strengthening of the social and economic issues within the United Nations. And I also hope we will be in a position to adopt a UN counterterrorism strategy, thereby strengthening the international cooperation and coordination to combat this scourge. I would like to conclude by thanking you all for good work and look forward to finalizing the remaining reform issues before the end of this session. You will receive a letter later today, or over the weekend, where I will spell out more in detail the remaining items on the agenda. I again want to thank you for hard work. I hope that you will have some rest during the summer, but you also know that we will all come back to finish the work, and by that do as much as possible to implement the Outcome Document, and thereby follow what our leaders wanted us to do in September last year. So by this, I thank you again for heroic work in some instances, in many instances, and I wish you a pleasant weekend. The meeting is adjourned.

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