United Nations Daily Highlights, 97-07-16

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From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Wednesday, 16 July 1997

HEADLINES

• UN Secretary-General unveils an ambitious package of measures to reform and renew the United Nations.
• In an immediate reaction, Member States welcome Secretary- General's initiatives to enhance the Organization's effectiveness.
• Reform proposals draw an enthusiastic response from UN programmes and funds.
• UN Secretary-General warns of a serious cash-flow problem if Member States keep the habit of paying dues late.
• UN women's anti-discrimination committee meeting in New York considers Italy's reports on protection of women.

The Secretary-General presented his proposals to the entire UN membership at a General Assembly plenary meeting which was convened on his request to add the question of UN reform to the agenda of the Organization's main deliberative body. Recommendations contained in his report, "Renewing the United Nations: A Programme of Reform", were the result of a six-month planning process.

In his address to the Assembly, Mr. Annan said that in formulating his proposals he had one goal in mind: to transform the Organization and to bring greater unity of purpose, greater coherence of efforts, and greater agility in responding to an increasingly dynamic and complex world. He said that the United Nations had to achieve greater efficiencies and deliver more value, even as the demand for its core services in peace and security, and development continued to increase.

"The reform of the Secretariat administration and budget discussed today, and my further recommendations made to the General Assembly, will create a United Nations that has a leaner and more cost-effective structure, a budget that is more committed to solvency and development priorities, and a management that is better coordinated and accountable", said the Secretary- General.

Secretary-General's measures to enhance UN cost-effectiveness include the merger of three UN Departments in economic and social affairs, and a budget for 1998-1999 that implements the cutting of 1,000 Secretariat posts. UN programmes in fighting crime, drug trafficking, money laundering, and terrorism are to be combined in Vienna under one administrator. In another vital area of UN activities -- promoting development and addressing the root causes of poverty and conflict -- the Secretary-General proposed to group United Nations funds and programmes in a United Nations Development Group. He also called for simplification of UN personnel and administrative rules and envisaged significant reductions in United Nations paperwork.

The Secretary-General also said that he wanted to end the persistent state of near-bankruptcy in which the Organization had been living for far too long. He proposed that Member States establish a Revolving Credit Fund, initially at a level of up to $1 billion. He stressed that assuring the Organization's financial viability was not only an essential part of reform, it was a condition for the very success of reform.

In his report, the Secretary-General proposed specific measures to refine leadership and management, which included setting up a cabinet- style Senior Management Group and a recommendation to the General Assembly to establish the post of Deputy-Secretary-General who would spearhead efforts to raise financing for development and ensure the coherence of the Organization's cross-sectoral activities.

The Secretary-General stressed that his programme of reform affected virtually every department and every activity of the United Nations. "It contains proposals for increasing the speed with which we can deploy peace- keeping and other field operations. It focuses on improving our capacity for peace-building, advancing disarmament agenda, and strengthening the environmental dimension of United Nations activities", said the UN leader.

In outlining a broad array of reform proposals, the Secretary- General pointed out that they entailed certain changes of a more fundamental nature, which could be undertaken only by Member States. Some of these changes relate to the General Assembly, he said, suggesting that the Assembly refocus its work on issues of highest priority and reduce the length of its sessions. "Perhaps most significantly, I urge this Assembly to consider adopting a new system of budgeting -- a shift form input accounting to 'results-based budgeting'. This approach, which many Member States already use at the national level, would give the Secretariat greater flexibility while maintaining strict accountability".

Underscoring the significance of the proposed measures, the Secretary- General said that the United Nations stood at the threshold of a new beginning. "This is my pledge to you, and to the world: that starting today, we begin a quiet revolution in the United Nations", he said. He emphasized that the reforms he was proposing would allow the United Nations to do even more, even better. "They will allow us to rise to the occasion of the age of global opportunity and make the United Nations truly the expression of humanity's highest aims", said Mr. Annan.

The President of the General Assembly, Ambassador Razali Ismail of Malaysia, noted that the Secretary-General had challenged Member States to do their share in helping the Organization achieve the purposes outlined in the Charter. Ambassador Razali appealed to Member States to approach the proposals very seriously. "In studying these proposals, I do hope that Member States would adopt an open mind. As we all know, it is easy to criticize but often difficult to be constructive. These are important proposals, which would not fall casualty to stereotype processes". Above all, stressed the Assembly President, the proposals "must not be casualty to tussle to benefit only one or two groups".

Speaking on behalf of the African Group, Permanent Representative of Ghana Jack Wilmot noted that for developing countries, and particularly those in Africa, the yardstick for evaluating proposals would be the extent to which the programme satisfied their priorities and concerns. In that context Ambassador Wilmot welcomed the fact that the Secretary-General's proposals covered all crucial spheres of UN activities, including development cooperation and economic, social and environmental affairs. He said that such a comprehensive package deserved "the most careful study and analysis, reflection and appraisal at a high political level".

In a statement on behalf of the European Union and associated States, the Permanent Representative of Luxembourg Ambassador Jean-Louis Wolzfeld said that the Union noted with appreciation that the proposals by the Secretary- General dealt thoroughly with questions pertaining to development, humanitarian activities and human rights. If the United Nations was to conduct a more effective action in these fields, he stressed, it must strengthen the efficiency of its Offices and of its operational framework, give them more coherence and ensure genuine coordination at all levels.

The need for the United Nations to have more targeted programmes and to redistribute resources to priority areas and away from administration was underscored by the Permanent Representative of New Zealand. Ambassador Michael Powles, who spoke on behalf of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, said they were not interested in mere cost cutting and that they most emphatically disagreed with suggestions which would leave the United Nations with a diminished role in the world. "We believe the initial reforms presented to us in February and March, and today's 'second track' proposals, constitute a critical window of opportunity for the Organization to seriously address long overdue reforms, particularly significant problems in the economic and social sectors and management reform", said Ambassador Powles.

For its part, the delegation of the United States felt that by unveiling his proposals, the Secretary-General had taken a very significant step towards the kind of structural reform that would enable the United Nations to serve the world community better, and to do it for less. Permanent Representative of the United States Ambassador Bill Richardson commended the UN leader for his initiatives and pledged full support to making the reform process an effective one. "We are fully aware that the Secretary- General cannot achieve all of the proposed reforms alone. Many central elements of the proposal require action by all of the Member States to be implemented. Both the Secretariat and the Member States share joint responsibility for the direction of the reform process as a whole", said Ambassador Richardson.

Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said that the bold recommendations for reform announced by the UN leader grew out of a vision of a United Nations family dedicated to the most effective possible service to humanity, especially world's children.

She said UNICEF remained committed to the reform of the entire UN and pledged to work vigorously with the Secretary-General to help implement the measures.

For his part, James Gustave Speth, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) expressed strong support for the Secretary- General's initiatives because they would strengthen and streamline the UN on every front. The reform package envisages the establishment of the UN Development Group (UNDG) to be chaired by Mr. Speth.

The head of UNDP said that the Development Group -- composed of UN funds and programmes engaged in development cooperation -- "will be more effective where it really counts, at the country level, making a difference in people's lives."

Speaking at a news conference at UN Headquarters today after a presentation of his reform proposals to the General Assembly, the Secretary-General said that if each Member State paid its dues in full and on time, there would be no talk of a financial crisis. "Unfortunately, that has not happened", said Mr. Annan. "As we speak, of the 185 Member States, it's only 75 who are paid up".

The Secretary-General noted that while in the past few years the Organization had survived by borrowing from peacekeeping funds, the ability to borrow from that source was no longer there since UN peacekeeping operations were now on the decrease. That concern about the Organization's finances, said the UN leader, prompted him to propose, as part of his reform package, the creation of a revolving fund capitalized at a level of up to $1 billion through voluntary contributions or any other means that Member States might suggest.

As the 23-member expert Committee took up the second and third periodic reports of Italy during its current session, Anna Finocchiaro, Minister for Equal Opportunities of Italy, said on Tuesday, that a commission of women and men had been created to investigate alleged acts of violence against Somali women by Italian soldiers in the UN peace- keeping mission to Somalia in 1993.

On violence against women within Italy itself, the Minister said the Italian Government adopted on 4 July a bill which gave civil and criminal judges power to order urgent removal of batterers from the family home and to restrain them from the vicinity of places usually frequented by the victim or victims of their violence.

From the United Nations home page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

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