UN MAKES PROGRESS ON MANAGEMENT REFORMS

The United Nations recently responded to charges of misconduct and mismanagement by instituting several reforms that had been endorsed by heads of states at the 2005 World Summit as well as the congressionally mandated Gingrich-Mitchell Task Force on U.S. priorities for UN reform.
 
Included in the 2006-2007 budget agreement recently approved by the UN General Assembly were funds to create a UN Ethics Office. This body will conduct independent external evaluation of the UN’s auditing and oversight systems with an eye toward ways to strengthen these functions. Also funded in the biennial budget is a second oversight mechanism, the Independent Audit Advisory Committee which will conduct oversight of the General Assembly.

On December 29, the UN Secretariat, the principle administrative body of the UN, announced a stringent new “whistle-blower protection policy” that encourages UN staff to expose corruption in the world body by assuring whistle-blowers protection from retaliation for reporting misconduct. The policy will take effect on January 1, 2006 and will be implemented by the newly created Ethics Office.

The Government Accountability Project (GAP), a Washington-based public interest group promoting government and corporate accountability, praised the UN’s new policy as “the gold standard for freedom of speech at international organizations,” adding that it meets 15 out of 20 criteria in GAP’s compilation of best practices for whistleblower protection. By contrast, the World Bank’s policy and the U.S. Whistleblower Protection Act only pass 12 of the 20 tests.

Stronger protections for whistleblowers are just one part of the UN Secretariat’s effort to change its system of doing business. In late December, Under-Secretary for Management Christopher Burnham announced a study, scheduled to begin in February, which will examine the administration of justice and due process at the UN and culminate in a report expected in July of 2006.

Changes implemented by the UN Secretariat and General Assembly represent significant first steps toward ensuring good governance, accountability and transparency at the United Nations. When progress is made it deserves recognition, particularly from the UN’s most vocal critics in Congress and the Bush Administration. Citizens for Global Solutions sincerely hopes that this progress is acknowledged  and that reform-minded individuals in the UN system continue to make substantive changes to their practices.

Updated January 5, 2006