The Coleman-Lugar UN Management, Personnel, and Policy Reform Act  (S.1383)

On July 12, 2005, Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) introduced S.1383, the United Nations Management, Personnel, and Policy Reform Act of 2005. Their bill seeks “urgent and essential institutional reform at the United Nations”, demands periodic checks on the status of the reform process and requires the President to report to Congress annually on the implementation of reforms enumerated in the bill. If the President has determined that the United Nations is not making sufficient progress in implementing such reforms, the Coleman-Lugar bill authorizes the President to withhold 50 percent of U.S. annual contributions to the UN.

Below is a breakdown of these provisions as well as the rest of the Coleman-Lugar Bill of 2005.

The Coleman-Lugar Act's primary objective is to introduce meaningful management reform at the United Nations. Section 4 of the bill makes a number of reform recommendations in this area and calls upon the U.S. to use its voice, vote, and influence at the United Nations to implement these proposals. Management reforms called for in the Coleman-Lugar bill include;

 

Giving the Secretary-General authority to ensure that highly qualified individuals are tapped for high-priority positions	Creating the post of Chief Operating Officer, to be in charge of daily operations at the UN Secretariat
Ensuring that fraud and corruption at the United Nations are effectively preventable	Conducting an updated assessment of the UN’s procurement system
Establishing an Office of Ethics, to revise and enforce a code of ethics for UN employees	Monitor financial disclosure documents and encourage a culture devoid of conflicts of interest [*]

[*] - This proposal was wholly agreed to by member states at UN 2005 Summit.
 

The Coleman-Lugar Bill calls for the implementation of personnel reforms at the United Nations with the goal of creating a modern personnel system for evaluating performance, providing promotional opportunities for deserving employees, separating unneeded staff and recruiting only highly qualified employees.

The bill calls on the U.S. to use the voice, vote, and influence of the U.S. at the UN to empower a reformed Office of Human Resources Management to institute a one-time severance program designed expressly to remove unneeded staff.

Other reforms include:

• Requiring annual financial disclosure reports from UN employees, consultants, or independent experts whose responsibilities include contracting or procurement, managing loans, grants, or programs, or evaluating or auditing any UN project program. [**]

• Affirming the authority and responsibility of the Secretary General to waive immunity of UN officials in the face of criminal charges.

[**] - This proposal was agreed to in principle by member states at UN 2005 Summit.

S. 1383 calls for the United Nations to change its current budgetary procedures so as to cut costs and reduce wasteful spending. Recommended reforms include:
 

Establishing sunset provisions for all new programs created by the General Assembly	Identifying operational programs that can be made more effective through voluntary rather than assessed contributions
Requiring the UN to evaluate  programs and  terminate those that no longer serve their purpose or meet their goals [*]	Basing the biennial budget of the UN on performance-based budgeting and program evaluation
Requiring the annual budget to be itemized by program, project, and activity, for assessed contributions

[*] - This proposal was wholly agreed to by member states at UN 2005 Summit.

The Coleman-Lugar Bill calls for the creation of an Independent Oversight Board (IOB) with the authority to audit all operations of the United Nations. An IOB would be responsible for providing annual reports on its activities, observations, and recommendations related to audit operations. The aim is to:

• Strengthen whistleblower policies at the UN to the level of the highest emerging standards for national and international law [**]; and

• Provide both the resources and authority to the UN’s Office of Internal Oversight to carry out appropriate oversight of every activity that is managed by the United Nations personnel.

[**] - This proposal was agreed to in principle by member states at UN 2005 Summit.

S. 1383 seeks to abolish the United Nations Human Rights Commission and replace it with a Human Rights Council [**]. Membership in this Council would be denied to

• States that fail to uphold the values embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

• States that are subject to sanctions by the UN Security Council, or

• States that are under Security Council investigation for human rights abuses.

Coleman-Lugar calls for increased funding for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and supports the establishment of a Democracy Fund, to be administered by the United Nations Democracy Caucus [**].

[**] - This proposal was agreed to in principle by member states at UN 2005 Summit.

Section 12 of the Coleman-Lugar bill authorizes the President to withhold 50 percent of United States contributions to the United Nations in a year if the President has determined in the most recent report to Congress that the United Nations is not making sufficient progress to implement the reforms described in this Act.
 

Updated September 22, 2005