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UN Performance Problems UN Management Accountability Struggles Where is the Rule of Law? Inadequate UN Oversight Recent Developments
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SECTION
TABLE OF CONTENTS: -- Corruption
-Corruption in the
UN -- Accountability and Transparency
-Accountability and transparency,
general -Accountability and transparency in the UN --
1993
Management Accountability
Attempt
-Dissatisfaction with management
performance
-The 1993 management accountability
resolution
-Non-implementation of the
resolution
-Management information systems
-Programme planning system (PPBE)
-Management improvement and training -- The Winner: "Free the Managers" -- Unleashed
Managers -- Disappearing
Whistle-blowers This section of the IO
Watch archive begins with a review of an omnipresent and critical
operational hazard of modern society and its organizations, corruption,
and of the major processes to counter it, accountability and transparency.
Both topics provide subsections on the many UN problems in these two areas
over the past six decades. The following
subsections focus on overall difficulties of UN reform; the only major
attempt at UN management accountability reform in 1993; continuing efforts
to reform various UN management systems; and a distinct trend in the past
half-dozen years to "free the managers" of the UN, accompanied by
disturbing elements of manager/investigators investigating in their own
programmes, and suppressed staff whistleblowers, and a strong need for
staff self-defense tactics. These sections, unlike
the chronological quotations in the performance problems section, combine
excerpt quotes with brief IO Watch commentary and summaries, in order to
piece together a "story line."
This connective material is required primarily because the UN's
lack of serious attention to management accountability, transparency, and
corruption issues means that relevant "needles" must be dug out of the UN
information "haystack" and then linked together. This situation of course
underscores a long-standing UN aversion to proper performance,
accountability, and reporting processes, (which necessitate heightened UN
staff vigilance to protect their own interests.) The following two quotes are useful
to help set the scene. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) is a group of 30
member countries committed to democratic government and the
market economy. It has
extensive publications and statistics activities; a global reach through
active relationships with some 70 other
countries, NGOs and
civil society; and a prominent role in fostering good
governance in the public
service and in corporate
activity.
See http://www.oecd.org/home/
. In 2001 the OECD and
the Organization of American States (OAS) organized a forum in Brazil with
the common aim of building accountable and transparent public
administrations that serve their citizens' needs. An Annex in their report presented
an OECD policy brief on building public trust. It described what makes an
effective and comprehensive ethics management policy, and suggested policy
directions to build its further use in public institutions, under the
following headings:
"Core values underpin public
service Standards of behaviour set
boundaries for conduct Putting values into effect starts
with communication Ensuring integrity in daily
management Monitoring
compliance Taking action against
wrongdoing Citizens trust public institutions
if they know that public offices are
used for the public good
" "Annex I: OECD public management policy brief on building public trust: Ethics measures in OECD countries," in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Public sector transparency and accountability: Making it happen, OECD, Paris, 2002, pp. 189-194. "Citizens trust public
institutions if they know that
public offices are used for the public good
Lessons from the OECD survey
suggest the following steps for building trust in public
institutions: ?
Defining a clear mission for the public service.
?
Safeguarding values while adapting to change.
?
Empowering both public servants and citizens to report misconduct.
?
Co-ordinating integrity measures: a precondition for success.
?
Shifting emphasis from enforcement to prevention.
?
Anticipating problems.
?
Taking
advantage of new technology.
?
the following steps are necessary
to build a consistent system of supportive mechanisms, namely the Ethics Infrastructure:
?
Communicate and inculcate core values and ethical standards for
public servants in order to provide clear guidance and advice to help
solve ethical dilemmas. ?
Promote
ethical standards by preventing situations prone to conflict of interest
and rewarding high standards of conduct through career
development. ?
Monitor
compliance and report, detect and discipline
wrongdoing." "Annex
I: OECD public management policy brief on building public trust: Ethics
measures in OECD countries," in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development, Public sector transparency and accountability: Making it
happen, OECD, Paris, 2002,
pp. 193-194.
The above OECD
guidance on actions to monitor compliance, combat wrongdoing, and build
public trust may seem somewhat overwhelming. But it provides a well-thought
out and coherent framework
for building and maintaining these essential components of a healthy,
growing, learning -- and
above all accountable --
organization.
Unfortunately, UN
actions on these matters, as
discussed in the following subsections, fall woefully far short of meeting
the basic criteria. The UN
Secretariat has spent considerable time talking about them, but has not yet implemented the mechanisms
and overall framework needed to ensure management accountability and
control UN corruption and mismanagement, with severe negative consequences
for the Organization. (For an explanation of
the nature, rationale, and parameters of the quoted excerpts found
throughout this archive, please see the subsection on archive Rationale, Development, and
Parameters .) The following abbreviations of
major UN organizations and entities appear throughout this archive: ACABQ
Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions
ACC
Advisory Committee on Coordination (heads of UN system
agencies,
recently retitled "Chief Executives Board for Coordination")
Board of Auditors of the United
Nations CPC
Committee for Programme & Coordination
DAM
Department of Administration and Management (recently retitled the
Department of Management, DM) DPI
Department of Public Information DPKO
Department of Peace-keeping Operations ECOSOC
Economic and Social Council Fifth Committee
(Administrative and Budgetary) of the General Assembly
ICSC
International Civil Service Commission
JIU
Joint Inspection Unit
OIOS
Office of Internal Oversight Services
OHRM
Office of Human Resources Management UNCTAD
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
UNHCR
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees
UNEP
United Nations Environment Programme
UNFPA
United Nations Population Fund
UNICEF
United Nations Children's Fund
UNDP
United Nations Development Programme UNRWA
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in
the Near
East
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