ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT

Organizational Management “We need to constantly improve our services, learn from experience and correct our mistakes. Good management is in the interest of everybody. Bad management serves no one. And let me be clear about the goal of management reform. It is to equip the Secretary-General and Secretariat with the management tools and resources needed to handle complex global operations. And it is to ensure that we are answerable for results and performance through effective, stringent oversight. Working together, we can and must achieve this.” Secretary-General Kofi Annan UN Photo/Milton Grant Chapter Summary - Organizational Management 2005 Strategic Issues The previous chapters have presented an account of the Secretariat’s eight strategic areas of programme work in 2005 — priorities as envisioned in the Medium-Term Plan for 2002-2005 — joined to performance analysis of the actual programmes through which the Secretariat delivers its mandated and budgeted activities. This final chapter of the Performance Section takes up the essential work that frames and supports all of these activities. Three types of services accomplish the task of managing the Secretariat as an organizaThree types of services tion: conference manage- accomplish the task ment, resource and assets of managing the Secremanagement, and safety tariat as an organization: conference manageand security management. ment, resource and Each of them is critical assets management, to the efficient and effec- and safety and security management. Each of tive day-to-day function- them is critical to the ing of the Secretariat. In the external sphere, public day-to-day functioning of the Secretariat. information activities seek to raise global awareness of the work of the Organization, thereby ensuring support for the aims and activities of the United Nations. All of these services are the object of continuous UN Photo/Mark Garten 245 improvement in keeping with the guidance of the Secretary-General’s reform agendas of previous and current years. The discussion below reviews the highlights of performance in each of these areas. Beyond these functional commitments, however, 2005 was a year of astringent challenge and sobering reflection. As a result of allegations of fraud and corruption on the part of United Nations personnel and agents, as well as contractors, including entities that had entered into contracts with the United Nations or with Iraq under the Oil-for-Food Programme, Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed an independent, high-level inquiry in April 2004 to investigate the administration and management of the Office of the Iraq Programme. Following this, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1538 (2004), which endorsed the inquiry and called for full cooperation in the investigation by all United Nations officials and personnel, the Coalition Provisional Authority, Iraq, and all other Member States, including their national regulatory authorities. The Secretary-General named Paul Volcker, former chairman of the United States Federal Reserve, to head the panel, named the Independent Inquiry Committee. Absorbing the findings of the Committee was distressing for the UN community, as was the damage to the United Nations’ reputation. Nonetheless, the Volcker investigation and related inquiries into the corruption and inefficiencies of the Oil-for-Food Programme revealed significant laxity in the execution of the directives of the Security Council’s “661 Committee” on Iraq — in particular, management weaknesses and insufficient controls in dealing with complex and high-volume transaction processes. These were problems that went beyond the peculiarities of the Programme, and pointed to systemic issues that could not be ignored. The outcome was an upsurge of in-house management review that addressed policy, process, controls, checks and balances and oversight aspects. This was amplified and accelerated by the recommendations flowing from the 2005 World Summit, in which world leaders committed themselves to cooperate in providing multilateral solutions to problems in four areas: development, peace and collective security, human rights and the rule of law, and strengthening the United Nations itself. The Summit recommendations, the resolutions of the General Assembly’s fifty-ninth session, and the Secretariat’s own analysis resulted in a number of groundbreaking measures designed to make the United Nations UN Photo/Mark Garten 246 Organizational Management more accountable and efficient, while maintaining the highest standards of ethical conduct. In direct response to concerns about fairness and integrity, and to prevent the recurrence of such damaging incidents as the sexual exploitation reported in certain peacekeeping missions, misconduct of senior officials, and harassment in the workplace, the United Nations began to implement concrete reform measures. A new Ethics Office, currently guided by a Special Advisor to the Secretary-General, was established at the end of the year, with a charge to oversee ethical standards, advise staff members on ethical questions, develop an ethics training curriculum for all staff, identify vulnerabilities to fraud and corruption, protect “whistle-blowers” from retaliation under a newly promulgated policy, and administer a more rigorous financial disclosure mechanism for all senior staff and those mid-level staff with special fiduciary responsibilities, such as procurement officers. A Management Performance Board was launched. The Board will systematically assess the performance of the senior-most tier of managers, present matters to the Secretary-General that require his attention, and advise him of suggested corrective action where necessary. To address shortcomings identified by both the General Assembly and the Independent Inquiry Committee and to increase the effectiveness of the oversight function, an Oversight Committee was proposed, with the role of ensuring that, within the Secretariat, appropriate management action is taken to implement the recommendations of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, the Board of Auditors, and the Joint Inspection Unit. The issue of its functioning and opera- tional mechanism was expected to be addressed in 2006, given the range of advice and concern expressed by the General Assembly. In parallel, and in keeping with contemporary public sector practices, a new Independent Audit Advisory Committee, consisting of senior experts external to the Organization, was also proposed, with the prospective role of helping the Secretary-General and the General Assembly to better exercise governance responsibilities with respect to the various operations of the United Nations, and ensure that the UN audit processes are operating efficiently and effectively. In addition, the High-Level Committee on Management, which governs UN System-wide harmonization of management policies and processes, decided to adopt the International Public Sector Accounting Standards to align the Organization with best practices in this essential component of financial management. Prior to publication of this report, this measure was approved by the General Assembly in July 2006; it is expected to be fully implemented by 2010. The General Assembly resolution 59/283 in April 2005 requested the forming of a Redesign Panel on the United Nations Internal Justice System. The Panel would review and propose a rational and comprehensive redesign of the Secretariat’s system of internal justice, which needs to be an effective mechanism for resolving staff grievances. Such a redesign would be focused on improving the independence, impartiality, fairness and timeliness of the system, which has frustrated staff and managers alike, and long been an issue of concern for 247 the Secretary-General. By year’s end, he had appointed the Panel, which commenced its work on 1 February 2006. During 2005, the General Assembly and the Secretariat leadership also went forward with their inescapable engagement with major infrastructural challenges: a decaying, environmentally threatening building complex in New York, and a relatively outdated information and communications technology (ICT) architecture. The UN Headquarters complex in New York City, comprising seven buildings on a 17plus acre campus, was built largely between 1949 and 1952. At that time, it was a state-ofthe-art, code-compliant structure. The building support, administration and infrastructure were designed to handle 70 Member States and approximately 700 meetings per year. It now supports 192 Member States and approximately 8,000 meetings per year, running at maximum capacity eight months of the year and over capacity during the four months of General Assembly sessions. The complex has building systems that are well past their useful life and impossible to operate at an acceptable level of energy efficiency. Hazardous materials, including asbestos, and standards of building safety in key areas have been found to be unacceptable. Based on a series of reports on such issues, the General Assembly had approved the implementation of the Capital Master Plan (CMP) in January 2003 to renovate the UN Headquarters complex in compliance with building and fire safety codes and modern standards for security, energy efficiency, sustainability and accessibility. By end of 2005, major technical studies were completed and the results incorporated into the design documents. (Further analysis and reporting on the CMP follow, in the Resources and Asset Management sub-chapter.) The Organization committed itself to explore the acquisition of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) IT system as a comprehensive solution to its information and communications management needs. In the early 1990s, the Secretariat had developed and implemented a client/server system called the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS). By the turn of the millennium, it had become outmoded and, indeed, the expected integration of functions and interoperability of systems had never been fully attained. An ERP system would provide the power, flexibility and standard of performance necessary UN Photo/MB.cp 248 Organizational Management to support a global, 21st century organization. In 2005, senior management and the Member States began discussions on planning for and defining the functional requirements of Secretariat operations. With release of the Volcker Committee’s findings and with other investigations and audits in progress, the Secretary-General ordered that immediate action be taken to assess the adequacy of internal controls of procurement operations. Procurement is a substantial and growing area of work: in 2005, the UN Procurement Service purchased US$ 1.62 billion in goods and services — a US$ 250 million increase over 2004 — the majority of which was in support of peacekeeping operations. The Secretariat requested a review of internal controls in procurement management, for which the services of the international firm Deloitte Development LLC were commissioned. The firm submitted its findings in January 2006, together with 14 associated recommendations such as establishing effective management reporting processes, developing UN procurement service competency models, implementing an online procurement manual and content management system, and proactively tracking and acting upon critical assessment and audit findings, to cite a few. In addition to the management focus of these reviews, audits and improvement actions, forensic auditing and investigative work are underway to identify possible instances of wrongdoing. In the midst of 2005’s audits, reviews and investigations, the work of procurement continued, and is summarized and analysed in the Resources and Assets Management section later in this chapter. Conference Management As a parliament of 192 nations and a community of global stakeholders, problem-solving experts, and policy advocates, the United Nations pursues its work as much through exchange of views, political negotiation, mutual education and consensus-building in real time and in real spaces — conference environments — as it does by direct delivery of services. Every year, UN offices in New York, Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi host and manage an almost nonstop procession of dozens of legislative sessions, conferences, briefings and the like. To organize and support these events — conducted, at a minimum, in the six official UN languages (additional working languages sometimes required), and informed by and recorded in extensive documentation — is a uniquely formidable enterprise. One aspect of the technical support, language interpretation, was celebrated in feature-film treatment in 2005, and given its challenges, perhaps deservedly so. But the translation and publishing of hundreds of UN official documents, the provision of overall intergovernmental direction for the Organization, calendaring and servicing of meetings, and the facilitation of major deliberations by providing authoritative advice and secretariat services — all are demanding, highly interactive and essential. 249 The Department of General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM) is embarked on an initiative to integrate its present geographically and methodologically fragmented conference service operations into a single global system, supported by new technologies and featuring fuller sharing of management and technical solutions. As this initiative goes forward in 2006-2007, the Organization will benefit through more effective sharing of legacy knowledge, work-load leveling, and more frequent exchange of talented technical staff among duty stations. The Department’s clients increasingly insist on, concomitantly, both excellent service and flexible response to ad hoc requirements, as real-world events precipitate unanticipated deliberative sessions. DGACM therefore must continue to pursue its goals of improved quality, productivity, timeliness and cost-effectiveness in its services. Sessions in 2005 continued to entertain General Assembly discussion of the organizationally anomalous fact that DGACM activities include library services in Geneva and Vienna, whereas the principal library at UN Headquarters is a component of the Department of Public Information. Thus far, however, no decision has been taken to make a change, so this arrangement continues. The Department of General Assembly and Conference Management and the conferenceservicing units at the United Nations Offices in Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi are responsible for delivering organizational and technical conference services. Overall intergovernmental direction on the organization and servicing of meetings is provided by the Committee on Conferences, which is maintained as a permanent subsidiary organ of the General Assembly. The DGACM’s principal objectives are to facilitate, through the provision of authoritative advice and secretariat services, the deliberations of the General Assembly, its General and Main Committees and its various subsidiary organs, the Trusteeship Council, the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary and ad hoc bodies, and special conferences and meetings held under the auspices of the United Nations dealing with disarmament, international security, and economic, social, and related matters. Concurrently, it seeks to provide high-quality conference-servicing support to all intergovernmental and expert bodies meeting at Headquarters and at the United Nations Office at Geneva, the United Nations Office at Vienna, and the United Nations Office at Nairobi. The Department advanced its reform to ensure that the programme of work is effectively managed. For the period 2004-2005, 250 Organizational Management to improve meetings and documentation process by aggregating and controlling information for each duty station. The overall quality rating by the principal clients of technical secretariat servicing was encouraging: periodic surveys to Member States reflected an average satisfaction of 90 per cent with the Conference services provided by the Department, including translation, interpretation and distribution of documentation. Financial accountability was strengthened through the monthly review of expenditures by the senior management, timely identification of over expenditure and regular review of the correlation between expenditure and workload. 88 per cent of its programme outputs, such as support to meetings, translation and editorial services, and production and distribution of parliamentary documentation, were implemented as scheduled — strong performance, but not good enough, given the disruptions attendant on late service delivery. To improve conference service performance in New York and all other duty stations, the Department embarked on a two-year project on integrated management of conference services and their supporting information systems. The document slotting system, which manages the processing of official documents against the legislative and conference calendar, was constantly fine-tuned to gauge its effective and identify areas in need of improvement.Thanks to these adjustments, the system served as an effective document management tool for more accurate programming and monitoring of manuscript submission by author departments, and enhanced predictability of workload. New business applications such as “e-meets” for scheduling and virtual conferencing, and “e-docs” for remote translation services, were implemented UN Photo/MB.cp To properly edit, translate, publish and distribute the reports and other documents that support deliberation, strict project timelines are critical. However, the initial dependency is on timely submission by the author departments inputting material into the conference process. While flexibility in the slotting schedule improved the compliance rate for submission, the Department faced hard choices in handling late submissions. It was forced to give these documents high priority to ensure their issuance in time for deliberation so as not to disrupt the smooth functioning of the intergovernmental machinery, but this resulted in penalizing other documents that were submitted on time. 251 1 To improve the global planning and coordination of conference services through rational allocation and capacity utilization; and to ensure that intergovernmental bodies, special conferences and Member States have access to meeting and documentation services in accordance with the resolutions and rules establishing language arrangements for the various organs and bodies of the United Nations. Improved quality and efficiency of the conference services provided to United Nations organs, particularly as regards the timely issuance of documentation. Improvement in timeliness regarding the submission and issuance of documentation in accordance with relevant rules, in particular regarding the six-week rule for issuance and distribution of parliamentary documentation simultaneously in the six official languages. 2005 Improvement in timeliness regarding the submission and issuance of documentation in accordance with relevant rules, in particular regarding the six-week rule for issuance and distribution of parliamentary documentation simultaneously in the six official languages New York Geneva Vienna Nairobi 2005 % of parliamentary documents issued in a timely manner 41% 42.4% 50% 33% 55% (estimate) 57% (estimate) 60% (estimate) 50% (estimate) 37% 57% 23% 36.5% 252 Organizational Management Resource and Assets Management identify priority areas for improvement and follow-up action. And in the sphere of internal justice systems, progress was made toward greater timeliness, with time-bound targets for disposition of appeals and disciplinary cases being met and exceeded. At the hub of the Secretariat’s management, the Office of the Under-Secretary-General for Management provides strategic leadership, identifies opportunities and serves as the locus for issues that go beyond or cut across the various functional areas of human resource management, budgetary and financial management, central support services and the management of capital improvements to facilities. Steering the overall management agenda, and identifying threats to its successful implementation, requires useful and actionable information — information that does not automatically announce itself but must be developed through targeted analysis of organizational symptoms. In 2005, the Office produced a solid account of Secretariat-wide management improvement measures, assessing the progress and impact of these concrete reform initiatives in the context of overall resource management performance. During the same period, the Department of Management used the findings from a global survey of clients of management services to The Organization’s most essential asset is its people; their effective management is the cardinal predictor of success or failure in UN operations. The internal and external environment in which the United Nations operates has changed enormously in recent years, requiring new approaches to the management of its human resources, particularly in field operations. The current human resources management framework was originally designed for a more stable, largely Headquartersbased operational concept. At present, some 30,000 staff members are serving the UN Secretariat, over half of whom are in the field. In addition, the Organization’s increasingly complex mandates require new skill profiles for staff, so as to respond in an integrated, flexible way to new needs in areas as diverse as humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping, electoral assistance, and drugs and crime. The concept of human resources management itself as a centrally provided service has shifted from administrative processing to setting policies and standards and to providing training and support to promote compliance with these standards. The Office of Human Resources Management, a component of the Department of Management, plays a key role in carrying forward the Secretary-General’s human resources 253 reform programme, which aims to create a more productive, adaptable and resultsoriented Organization. To this end, the reform programme is designed to foster a culture of continuous learning, high performance and managerial excellence. The programme is based on ten key building blocks: human resources planning; streamlined rules and procedures; recruitment, placement and promotion; mobility; competencies and continuous learning; performance management; career development; conditions of service; contractual arrangements; and administration of justice. During 2005 in particular, the Office concentrated its efforts on integrating core and managerial competencies into the areas of recruitment, development and performance appraisal. It likewise focused on developing and refining human resources action plans as a tool for monitoring the use of delegated authority; on delivering strengthened managerial and leadership training programmes for senior managers; and on preparing the implementation of the global policy on staff mobility by piloting management reassignments in which staff members volunteer themselves. Their job experiences are subsequently evaluated and fed into the implementation plan. security management system, four new peacekeeping operations and other peacekeeping reports prepared out of cycle. One year after the introduction of resultsbased budgeting (RBB) in peacekeeping operations, peacekeeping budgets showed a significant improvement in the measurability of RBB elements. In 2004-2005, 84 per cent of the outputs were clearly measurable, compared with 51 per cent in 2003-2004. This went hand-in-hand with the increased involvement of senior managers in preparing the RBB frameworks. The budgets also reflected improved linkages between the RBB frameworks and the resource requirements. One finding in the aforementioned global client survey was that financial management knowledge was unevenly distributed among the Secretariat’s management cadre. In response, the Department’s Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts provided expanded and intensified advice and training on financial management and control through workshops, town hall meetings and retreats, following up with further surveying to evaluate the effect of the effort. In 2005, the Department of Management took steps to accommodate proposals for budgets well beyond those originally anticipated and planned for, namely those precipitated by the 2005 World Summit Outcome, additional political missions, new courts and tribunals, the Over the last two years, the value of procurement has effectively doubled as a direct result of the unprecedented surge in peacekeeping. This translated into a sustained spike in demand for procurement services which was, however, not matched by an equivalent increase in human resources. During the summer of 2005, an instance of criminal conduct on the 254 Organizational Management part of a senior Procurement Officer came to light, raising questions regarding the internal controls for procurement operations and the adequacy of management oversight capacity at the United Nations. This event led to the engagement of an outside consultant to review internal controls within the procurement function of the Secretariat. The consultant’s report revealed deficiencies in several areas, pointing out that the major control in the UN procurement process was human performance alone thus creating vulnerability and raising risk to the Organization. During 2005, the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) was also tasked by the General Assembly to review peacekeeping operations. Their resulting report contained negative observations on a number of procurements conducted both at Headquarters and in peacekeeping operations. A preceding section, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis,” addresses the range of recommendations, proposals and actions undertaken by early 2006, and planned for the immediate future, in accomplishing procurement reform, with the joint aims both of attaining greater management efficiencies and of preventing mismanagement and wrongdoing. The initiatives discussed in greater detail there include increased resources, and a reform agenda focused on three main areas: strategic management of procurement, optimizing UN acquisition management, and changes to internal control measures. Strategic management will ensure the establishment of a “procurement reform implementation team” to monitor changes. Improving acquisition management will place a greater emphasis on strategic sourcing and partnerships, to avoid duplication and improve purchasing power. The procurement function will also make improved use of technology, including e-procurement systems and purchasing cards. Overall, the Secretariat achieved progress in making ICT more productive in 2005; however, in the absence of a coherent and enforced Organizationwide policy on investments in information technology, many information systems within the Organization have been developed independently. The result is a proliferation of stand-alone systems that do not interact or connect well with other systems, thus limiting 255 a robust infrastructure at all established UN offices; security policies and provisions to ensure business continuity and systems integrity; reliable connectivity with the field; and a cadre of ICT staff, efficiently deployed, with focused skills in key technologies and management practices. For the fiscal period 20022003, the General Assembly imposed severe budget cuts which seriously undermined the Secretariat’s ability to sustain ICT operations with any degree of reliability. The restoration of resources in the following biennium, 2004-2005, allowed the Secretariat to raise the capability of its technical infrastructure to adequate levels and to proceed with further standardization as a priority. UN Photo/Andrea Brizzi the ability to share information across different parts of the Organization. This has inhibited the Secretariat’s ability to aggregate data in a manner that would efficiently support management’s decision-making and operational processes, and failed to optimize return on investment. In 2002, an ICT strategy was established with overall goals to make possible efficient and effective decision-making and to support financial and administrative processes; to share the Organization’s institutional knowledge; and to provide higher-quality services to governing bodies and Member States. For the Secretariat to achieve these goals, four elements forming the necessary “building blocks” need to be established, namely: In 2005, accordingly, the Secretariat began to standardize the critical network infrastructure that supports all voice and data communications among all duty stations and to consolidate its management. It strengthened policies and procedures to ensure conformance to standards, non-duplication of effort and a positive return on investment for each major initiative. And finally, the Secretariat completed ICT security risk assessments for all major Secretariat duty stations, during which existing processes were evaluated for effectiveness, and opportunities for improvement were identified. 256 Organizational Management ance (per diem) rates for thousands of international staff in the field. The Office of Human Resources Management (OHRM) provides leadership, direction and advice on matters that relate to the development, implementation, application and coordination of human resources management strategies, policies and programmes. In partnership with the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the existing IT support tool for advertising vacancies and managing evaluation of candidates, Galaxy, was modified to meet the needs for recruiting experts and field staff. Improved inter-agency cooperation on issues related to conditions of service, HIV/ AIDS, and avian influenza preparedness has resulted in improved coordination and harmonization of human resources and staff assistance programmes and policies. The Secretariat initiated adoption of certain practices of UN agencies such as those of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), both in reviewing and determining the best prevailing conditions of employment, including salaries for locally recruited staff, and, given the fiscal impact of maintaining 17 peacekeeping missions around the globe, collaborated with DPKO in conducting economic surveys on mission subsistence allow- The Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts (OPPBA) is responsible for establishing budgetary, accounting and financial management policies and procedures for the Organization, and the systematic strengthening of compliance with established rules and regulations and exercising financial control over the resources of the Organization. OPPBA participates in the review of governance principles and internal control framework in the UN common system through the High-Level Committee on Management (HLCM) mechanism. The Procurement Service administers the procurement of goods and services for the Secretariat, devises standards such as terms and conditions for tender and contracts, and maintains a geographically diverse roster of effective, financially viable vendors. Procurement support is provided centrally by the Department of Management for its largest customer, DPKO, for high-value, complex or multi-year contracts. Peacekeeping missions have been delegated authority to undertake procurement which lends itself to local and regional sourcing. As such, staffing, resources and systems in support of field operations are managed by DPKO. The UN Secretariat plans to significantly expand inter-agency cooperation and to exten- 257 sively utilize Common Services Arrangements with other UN and international organizations. All organizations would benefit from each other’s specialized expertise and from the right to use each other’s specialized model procurement contracts. Accordingly, work has begun to determine in which field specific UN entities have a competitive advantage. Areas for cooperation so far identified include: UNICEF/WHO contracts for drugs and related medical supplies; UNHCR contracts for basic relief goods and rudimentary shelters; World Food Programme contracts for transportation services; Interagency Procurement Services Office contracts for electoral support, vehicles and other catalogued goods; and the UN Secretariat’s own contracts for vehicles, prefabricated buildings, engineering equipment, office equipment, generators, supply items, safety equipment, information technology and telecommunications equipment. and cooperative work, and offers consultancy and advisory services. The ICT Board is the interdepartmental body entrusted with the coordination and harmonization of ICT initiatives in the United Nations Secretariat. Several working groups, subsidiaries of the ICT Board, perform the substantive review and analysis of business cases, investments and potential procurement of ICT standardized goods and services. They then submit proposals to the Board for approval. The IT Services Division provides secretariat services to the Board and takes the leading role on issues related to standardization and methodology. The Office of Central Support Services (OCSS) delivers ICT services to the UN Headquarters. It also provides significant IT support to Permanent Missions, in the form of Internet accounts and e-mail, website hosting, wireless access on the UN campus, access to the UN Official Document System, recycled equipment to developing country missions, and technical support. The Office’s Information Technology Services Division (ITSD) establishes technical standards and policies for the global Secretariat. It also provides and supports the physical ICT infrastructure, develops/acquires and maintains enterprise applications for knowledge exchange The objectives of the Department of Management encompass the range of administrative and financial functions for which it is responsible. To cite the principal objectives, in 258 Organizational Management the area of human resources management, the Department aims to develop and sustain a system that ensures that the Secretariat can carry out its functions efficiently and effectively, so as to meet the expectations of its governing bodies. The human resources management programme also works to promote organizational culture change in the Secretariat, build a more versatile and multi-skilled staff, and improve the recruitment, placement and promotion processes. The objective of the Department’s budgetary and financial management function is to ensure sound financial management of the Organization and the effective monitoring and management of its assets. This involves the provision of timely services to Secretariat and other users by strengthening budgetary and accounting policies, and by systematic compliance with financial rules and effective administration of financial processes. In procurement of goods and services, the objective is to ensure the efficient, effective and economical administration of procurement activities, and related support services for Headquarters and for peacekeeping and other field missions, special assistance programmes, international criminal tribunals, regional commissions and, upon request, United Nations agencies and subsidiary organs. In the area of information and communications technology management, the Department has established the objective of providing efficient, effective and high-quality support to users in information technology and information management, by developing and implementing longterm strategies. Particular attention is to be paid to harmonizing the IT infrastructure, as well as associated resources, at all duty stations. The year 2005 witnessed the Office of Human Resources Management’s implementing improvements in the procedures for staff selection; making preparations for mobility; strengthening career support and development, particularly in leadership; streamlining administrative procedures; improving geographical and gender balance; harmonizing conditions of service among staff assigned to the field; developing further management reform proposals; and increasing the efficiency of existing human resources-related information technology systems, such as the electronic performance appraisal system and the IT tool for the staff selection system, known as Galaxy e-staffing. To enhance consistency in the Secretariat’s staff-selection system, several guidelines were issued and made available on-line in the Human Resources Handbook. Training was provided for building capacity throughout the Secretariat, and enhancements were introduced to Galaxy e-staffing. Actions to improve recruitment included the following: a) Improvements in the procedures for the annual National Competitive Examinations, an important mechanism for the recruitment of qualified young candidates from unrepresented and underrepresented Member 259 States, resulted in an increase of 26 per cent in the number of applicants over the previous biennium (27,095 vs. 21,500). This led to the rostering of the highest number of qualified candidates ever (220 in 2005, 163 in 2004). b) A “Fast Track” project was developed to establish a special roster of candidates from unrepresented and underrepresented Member States for a number of professional posts. Candidates from this roster may be selected when a vacancy arises at the P-4 or P-5 level. The Office enhanced staff development programmes, including introduction of a new programme for senior women leaders and new organizational development tools that model effective management and departments. OHRM also launched a programme to foster a shared understanding of the meaning of ethics, integrity, transparency and accountability. Greater access to staff development programmes was made possible through on-line provision of e-learning tools. In 2005, OHRM also played a role in the establishment of several new entities: the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate; the Department of Safety and Security, discussed later in this chapter; and the Ethics Office. new one-stop client service centre has provided staff and retirees with a single centre for all payroll, tax, insurance, after-service health insurance and related entitlement issues. Treasury’s banking project to assist peacekeeping missions helped to improve cash transportation and storage policies and procedures, to implement new payment systems, and to train mission staff in treasury procedures and policies. The United Nations joined the Society for Worldwide Inter-bank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) to maintain secure and reliable global arrangements with banks to send payment instructions, execute payments and receive transaction data. A new Budget Information System enables budget instructions to be posted directly on the Intranet, together with facilities for preparation and submission of budget proposals. The serious concerns about the internal control environment within procurement led to a number of actions designed to strengthen internal controls. Regarding procurement processes, review work done in 2005 led to the release of an updated Procurement Manual in June 2006. On a medium-term project basis, the Organization is also reviewing technical requirements to develop the online version of the Manual to incorporate full search functions so that users will have more effective access to the topics and issues. The Secretariat has also developed revised terms and conditions for tender The use of automation techniques has improved the summarizing of financial statements, allowing more time for review and verification of accounts and improving reporting deadlines. A 260 Organizational Management documents to reinforce the Organization’s position against collusive bidding, anti-competitive conduct, attempts to gain improper assistance, improper use of former UN employees and various corrupt or questionable practices. Additional actions involved strengthening the vendor review committee and the vendor roster, the latter with particular attention to building in a more rigorous evaluation of the financial viability of vendors. Finally, a number of ex-post facto cases have arisen due to the exigencies of procurement in the field during rapid start-up or expansion of peacekeeping missions; requests for waivers of rules regarding solicitation and approval fell behind the actions taken. Concurrently, certain Procurement Manual revisions undertaken in 2005 were addressed at clarifying correct procedures in these special circumstances. In September 2005 a directive was issued stating that all ex-post facto cases must be prepared and reviewed by the head of offices, providing detailed explanation of reasons for a belated submission. In the critical area of management and staff, improvement measures focused on procurement staff mobility and rotation, and on implementing a more comprehensive training programme. In respect to the former, the Procurement Service has already started a lateral reassignment programme within the Service to ensure that staff do not deal with the same vendors for an extended period of time. On the point of career growth through training, the Procurement Service has developed its own field training programme after having taken over responsibility for procurement training for staff in peacekeeping missions, and trained over 400 officers and assistants in 2004 and 2005. Skillful procurement, producing the most benefit to the Organization, takes full consideration of the “best value for money principle,” as established in UN Financial Regulation 5.12. This means that, when procuring goods and services, procurement officers need to satisfy that the best possible outcome has been achieved by taking into account all relevant costs and benefits over the duration of the procurement cycle. Key elements of overall governance of the procurement function include risk management and contract compliance. In field operations, where the greatest risk to fiscal resources exists, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) has expanded its risk-mitigating strategies and particular attention is being placed on managing the risks during the start-up and major expansion of peacekeeping operations. In particular, it has improved coordination and oversight during the mission planning process, such as the establishment of the Requirement Review Panel, whose task is to confirm, inter alia, the validity of key planning factors and assumptions in the early stages of mission planning. In June 2005, DPKO established a Contracts Compliance and Management Unit to consolidate vendor monitoring as a comprehensive management function, and to pay special attention to major service contracts such as those for fuel, rations and airfield services. Ethics and integrity training have become an integral and regular part of training programmes in the Organization. Continuing and 261 improving the training of staff in procurement processes, accommodating both efficiency principles and issues of ethics and integrity, is a priority. The Procurement Service has finalized the Supplier Code of Conduct, and has also developed an implementation guide, a remediation guide and self-assessment tools for suppliers. Effective implementation of the Supplier Code of Conduct is critical to achieving the goal of safeguarding the integrity of the United Nations in procurement activities. States. The ODS currently averages more than 7,000 hits a day. • Enhanced policies on ICT security and on business continuity/emergency preparedness went into force in 2005. Beyond these self-promulgated policies, during this period the Secretariat also began the work of implementing improvements in ICT security standards so as to qualify for certification against the international standard for information security management, ISO27001. As of this writing, this had been accomplished in March 2006 — making the Secretariat the first of the UN family of organizations to achieve such certification. These two policy issuances on security and business continuity are the cornerstones in providing a robust policy framework and will lay the foundation for ensuring the reliability of the ICT services within the Secretariat. • ITSD provided the ICT infrastructure to support iSeek, a new Secretariat-wide global intranet system spearheaded by the Department of Public Information. iSeek is the primary vehicle for all internal communications, making it easier for information to be shared across all departments and locations. ITSD has safeguarded staff productivity by providing a very reliable e-mail service despite the explosion of viruses from 2,000 per day in 2002-2003 to 20,000 per day in 2004-2005 and unsolicited mail (spam) from zero to 250,000 per day during the same period, and an increase in volume of messages from 90,000 per day to 200,000 per day. In 2005, the Information Technology Services Division accomplished the following: • The upgrade of the physical local area network (LAN) at United Nations Headquarters was started in early 2005 and is now 65 per cent complete. This upgrade augments the data transmission capacity to each desktop computer from ten megabits per second (MBPS) to 100 MBPS, thereby adding performance, redundancy and reliability to the functioning of the network. In addition, the upgrade paves the way for further advances in technology such as desktop conferencing and secure access to the network. • Free public access to the Official Documents System (ODS) on the Internet was implemented in 2005, enabling the public at large to access a vast amount of UN data, and allowing increased sharing of the Organization’s institutional knowledge among all UN duty stations and Member 262 Organizational Management As of September 2005, some 60 per cent of project documentation for design development for the General Assembly, Conference, Secretariat, South Annex, and North Lawn buildings and the basements and central infrastructure had been completed. During the year, however, the preferred design plan and its financing encountered political opposition, rendering non-viable both proposed construction of an additional headquarters building, and the use of commercial swing space close to the East River. In addition, the rate of increase of construction costs in the region had risen dramatically in 2004. A third annual progress report on the CMP, submitted to the Assembly in December, took all of these factors into account, and proposed a phased renovation approach in increments of ten floors at a time with modified funding and financing formulas. system and interface; and upgrading conditions of service of Secretariat staff in the field so they are on a par with those of comparable, field-based staff of United Nations funds and programmes. Efforts to improve geographical distribution have not produced an optimum result. Fluctuations in assessments, numbers of staff, and the total number of Member States make satisfying the representation goals a continuous challenge. The “Fast Track” project described in the Performance Summary section of this chapter is a new mechanism representing ongoing efforts in this area. Another area of concern is the limited coverage of the existing staff selection system. Lack of integration of human resources systems at established duty stations and field missions limits the Organization’s ability to manage its human resources as a global workforce. Investment in developing and managing talent at all levels of the Organization is inadequate. Funds for training amount to only one per cent of staff costs. To address this, a proposal to increase the allocation for staff development activities by US$ 20 million over the next two years has been submitted by the Secretary-General to the General Assembly. While progress has been made, challenges remain, including fulfilling the General Assembly’s mandates for equitable geographical distribution and gender parity; bringing recruitment, placement and promotion policies into conformance with those mandates; obtaining resources for training that are sufficient for assessed needs; integrating IT applications for the human resource business functions, so that critical and comprehensive information can be obtained through a single A client survey in the accounting area pointed to some shortcomings in services that will be addressed. In financial reporting and accounting, the goal of better meeting clients’ needs had mixed results, given that only 50 per cent of respondents said that services provided were 263 better compared to those of the past. There was significant improvement in the number of travel claims that were processed within 30 days, which increased from 73 per cent to 98.8 per cent. Reports from peacekeeping missions to the Security Council, the General Assembly, other intergovernmental bodies, and troop-contributing countries were timelier, contributing to better-informed decisions on peacekeeping issues. Reports for newly established missions (Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Burundi, Haiti and Sudan) and missions with mandate changes (Timor-Leste, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sierra Leone) were submitted within three months of the respective Security Council resolutions. The Secretariat’s liabilities to troopcontributing countries were reduced to an average of two months’ cost at the time of payment. This led to increased efficiency and effectiveness in the financial and budgetary aspects of peacekeeping. Group (IAPWG) to develop a common procurement certification programme to achieve a more long-term solution. A United Nationsspecific, System-wide certification programme, centrally administered for staff serving worldwide, would be quite cumbersome and costly. While IAPWG will continue to review the feasibility of providing a System-wide procurement certification programme, staff should be provided with opportunities and encouraged to use external certification programmes available from procurement training institutes in various regions. Concurrently, during the second half of 2005, the training of staff from 24 organizations was initiated to develop in-house trainers. In addition to management improvements in risk assessment for peacekeeping missions, discussed in the Performance Summary above, numerous practical risk-reduction measures have been introduced to further strengthen internal controls over daily activities. Procedures have been tightened for meetings with vendors. In line with best public sector procurement practices, a perforating machine has been introduced to authenticate the original tender documents, which virtually eliminates the risk of replacement documents. Security enhancements to the tender room in the Procurement Service are planned for 2006, first a closed-circuit television monitoring system and then the introduction of a biometric card key lock system. From the strategic management perspective, a significant undertaking is to increase procurement opportunities and participation of vendors from developing countries and economies in transition. This has been a priority issue The challenges of procuring goods and services for a multi-billion dollar organization with a global, value-driven mission and distinctive governance features go beyond the previously described issues of internal controls. The scope of purchasing requires a substantial cadre of specialists, equipped with contemporary knowledge, who can be assigned on a mobile basis among the dozens of UN duty stations. While the field training programme for 400 staff in peacekeeping missions is a helpful start, the Procurement Service has been working with the Inter-Agency Procurement Working 264 Organizational Management with the General Assembly; the Secretariat has attempted to increase awareness of procurement opportunities among vendors in such countries through business seminars designed to increase vendor registration. Seminars have been conducted in only 24 developing countries since 2001, leading to only a modest success, with 248 additional vendors registered. As to outcome of this effort, the actual trends are represented in the table below. With increased capacity for business education, and better alignment between the needs of Organization and the goods and services offered by vendors from developing countries and economies in transition, a more favourable future can be foreseen. efforts, and several of its planned reforms will allow the Secretariat to implement necessary changes more quickly in the future. Examples include the transition to a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, strengthened governance with a Chief Information Technology Officer and a shift in the emphasis from information technology to information management. Information management (IM) is a discipline that involves an understanding and analysis of the business of an organization and the information that it needs to carry out its business processes. Information and communication technology, on the other hand, is the discipline that provides the infrastructure needed to move business information in an efficient and secure manner from one point to another. The Secretariat has not been able to fully leverage the potential of ICT as an enabler of effective management and reform, due partly to the lack of a Secretariat-wide IM strategy, illustrated by the lack of investments and capacity-building directed specifically to IM. All of the initiatives under the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) strategy, including those related to departmental services and administrative applications, continue to require sustained efforts that transcend a single year or biennium. The strategy supports these ( 2001 Procurement from developing countries and countries in transition Grand total Percentage of total 542.2 1,109.5 48.9 2002 483.6 966.8 50.0 2003 429.1 1,010.4 42.5 2004 587.7 1,399.9 42.0 2005 791.1 1,774.0 44.6 265 1 To improve the recruitment, placement and promotion system throughout the Secretariat, in particular through the progressive delegation of authority to departments and offices. An enhanced system of forecasting, planning and staffing (including the recruitment, placement and promotion of staff) allowing programme managers to select highly qualified and motivated candidates based on readily available and accurate information. An improvement in the geographical representation and gender balance of staff. 2005 Number of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States 15 unrepresented Member States 2005 17 unrepresented Member States 12 unrepresented Member States 10 underrepresented Member States 7 underrepresented Member States 8 underrepresented Member States Percentage of women at the Professional level and above 36.8% 38% 37.2% 266 Organizational Management 2 To promote organizational culture change in the Secretariat and to build a more versatile and multiskilled staff, in particular by improving competitive entry processes, staff development and training programmes, performance management systems, the internal system of justice and the working environment, including conditions of service. Improved policies, programmes and systems for competitive examinations, staff development, mobility, performance management and conditions of service. • Increased mobility of staff; • More multi-skilled staff. 2005 Mobility index percentage (refers to the annual ratio of number of staff who have broadened their skill set through increased movement within and between functions, departments, occupations, duty stations and UN organizations compared to the total number of staff in the same department at the beginning of the year) Attendance level of staff in staff development and training programmes 2005 9.9% 12% 14.26% 43,200 45,400 53,795 267 3 To further improve the sound and timely accounting of all United Nations transactions, as well as the provision of timely financial information to programme managers and intergovernmental and expert bodies, and the provision of services to clients. Accurate United Nations financial statements are provided on a timely basis. Positive audit opinion of the Board of Auditors on the financial statements of the United Nations. Timely and accurate financial transactions. Increase in percentage of payments processed by the due date. 2005 Positive audit opinion of the Board of Auditors on the financial statements of the United Nations Percentage of staff separations, education grant payments, vendor claims and travel claims that are processed within 30 days of receipt of all appropriate documents Yes Yes 2005 Yes 82% 86% 82% (estimate) 268 Organizational Management 4 To strengthen budgetary control and monitoring of expenditures. Improved budgetary control and monitoring of expenditures. Reduction in the number of budget sections where final expenditures deviate by more than 1 per cent from the final appropriation. 2005 Percentage by which the final expenditure deviates from the final appropriation 0.11% 0.10% 2005 1.2% 5 To ensure effective management and safeguarding of the Organization’s cash resources. Improved efficiency and security of the Organization’s cash management and payments systems. Increase in the percentage of automated (non-cheque) payments. 2005 Percentage of automated (non-cheque) payments 75% 98% 2005 81% 269 6 To ensure efficient, effective and high-quality procurement services for the Organization. Increased level of simplicity, transparency and effectiveness of administrative procedures in procurement activities. Degree of satisfaction expressed by recipients of procurement services rendered by the Procurement Service. 2005 Degree of satisfaction expressed by recipients of procurement services, as captured in client survey 95.5% satisfactory response 2005 93.5% satisfactory response 80% satisfactory response* 270 Organizational Management 7 To ensure efficient, effective and high-quality support for users in the area of information technology and information management. Increased technological contribution to the effectiveness of decision-making and administrative processes. Percentage of time that information and communication technology systems are available to users. 2005 Percentage of time that information and communication technology systems are available to users 99% 99% 2005 99% 8 To ensure that information and communication technology is a strong enabler of the process of reform. Increased effectiveness of administrative processes. Increase in the number of new information and communication technology applications implemented. 2005 Number of new information and communication technology applications implemented 8 17 2005 17 271 As the mandates of the United Nations have evolved, a significant result has been the deployment of a larger number of its staff members, notably from the humanitarian agencies, on potentially hazardous missions. At the same time, peacekeeping missions place more and more personnel in areas at war or in situations of high risk. Increasingly, humanitarian staff members are being deployed alongside military units in integrated multidisciplinary missions. The suicide truck-bomb on the United Nations Headquarters at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad on 19 August 2003 was the first terrorist attack in which the United Nations was targeted as an institution with the deliberate intention of inflicting mass casualties. This made clear that the United Nations could no longer rely solely on the respect and protection provided by its flag, its neutrality and good intentions. This new era required modified policies and changed attitudes. Given the severity of the challenge, the United Nations security management system needed an unprecedented degree of cooperation and harmonization of rules and approaches. It 272 UN Photo/Stephenie Hollyman Safety and Security Management also needed greater resources to create capacities commensurate with the new threats and challenges at hand. And the circumstances required the Organization to elevate and integrate security assessment, planning, management and accountability into the highest levels of deliberation about proposed operations and into the conduct of ongoing operations. In the aftermath of the Baghdad attack, the 2003 assessment report of former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari’s Independent Panel on the Safety and Security of United Nations Personnel called for a new, drastically revised security strategy for the United Nations. Responding to this and other reports, as well as to proposals put forward by the SecretaryGeneral, the General Assembly in December 2004 decided to establish a Department of Safety and Security (DSS) as the central node of a strengthened and unified security management system for the United Nations System as a whole. The goal was to ensure the safety and security of United Nations staff, operations and premises in all locations and establish a unified capacity for policy, standards, coordination, communication, compliance, and threat and risk assessment. Accordingly, all the relevant security management components at Headquarters, Organizational Management at other main duty stations and in the field were consolidated into the new Department that came into being in 2005. DSS’s overall mission is to provide leadership, operational support and oversight of the United Nations’ security management system to enable the safest and most efficient conduct of the programmes and activities of the UN System, including those in the most challenging locations on the globe. DSS is responsible for the safety and security of more than 100,000 UN staff members and an estimated 300,000 dependents worldwide. In light of the broader recognition that sharing ideas and experiences, opportunities and costs is the only way to reduce the common vulnerability, to communicate adequately and to use resources more efficiently and effectively, DSS has been working very closely with the security services of all UN System agencies, funds and programmes, under the umbrella of the Inter-Agency Security Management Network (IASMN) and the High-Level Committee on Management (HLCM). The Department aims to reinforce security operations in all locations and establish a unified capacity for policy, standards, coordination, communication, compliance, and threat and risk assessment; and to protect staff, delegates, visiting dignitaries and other visitors on the UN premises and to prevent damage to UN property. DSS was established through consolidation and substantive strengthening of the existing security and safety structures of the Office of the United Nations Security Coordinator at UN Headquarters and in the field, and the security and safety services at all headquarters locations and regional commissions. The civilian security components of peacekeeping and spe- Safety and Security Service 273 cial political missions led by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Political Affairs, respectively, have also been brought under the umbrella of the Department of Safety and Security so as to ensure effective coordination of security decisions, compliance with common security policies and full application of the common security standards. placed a heavy burden on the resources of the infant Department. As a result, DSS has not been able to meet its staffing targets in 2005 and has had to rely on temporary personnel for the performance of some of its core functions, while continuing to plan and gradually implement its longer-term goals. The IASMN partners continued to debate the wording of an accountability framework establishing UN System-wide lines of accountability on security matters. This seems to be heading to a successful settlement in 2006. Occasional friction continued over the payment of assessed contributions by agencies and the allocation of shared resources, which has now been resolved with all but two organizations. The filling of some 750 new posts, which entailed the writing of job descriptions and vacancy announcements, along with the evaluation and interview of thousands of candidates, Safety and Security Service 274 Organizational Management 1 To protect staff, delegates, visiting dignitaries and other visitors on the United Nations premises and to prevent damage to United Nations property. Improved security and safety of the working environment. Percentage of duty stations with established Minimum Operating Security Standards. 2005 Percentage of duty stations with established Minimum Operating Security Standards 45% 100% 2005 88% 275 2 To reduce and/or prevent critical incident stress and to increase the knowledge and skills of staff of the United Nations System with respect to safety and security issues. Strengthened capacity of staff of the United Nations System to manage critical incident stress. Increased percentage of UN staff and their families exposed to critical incidents in the field who have received stress management training. Enhanced abilities in security and safety matters of all actors in the United Nations security management system, including designated officials, security management team members, security officers and staff members, through security training. Increased percentage of United Nations staff members certified in basic security training in the field. 2005 Percentage of UN staff and their families exposed to critical incidents in the field who have received stress management training Percentage of United Nations staff members certified in basic security training in the field 70% 90% 2005 95% 70% 90% 95% (estimate) 276 Organizational Management Public Information The obligation of the Secretary-General to articulate the work of the Organization to the world community flows from the discharge of his responsibilities under Chapter 15, Article 98 of the Charter of the United Nations. The effectiveness of the Organization is greatly enhanced when its activities and concerns, and stood by the world community. The global taxpayer has expectations of the United Nations, and people all over the world are beneficiar- ies of UN programmes. These people need to understand and appreciate the Organization’s work if it is to be effective. In addition, in areas of conflict, if local communities have a reasonable understanding of the work and objectives of UN staff, this can have a beneficial effect on the safety and security of those staff. More broadly, sophisticated communications strategies can assist the United Nations in influencing key audiences to the benefit of the Organization’s aims and activities. The year 2005 saw the culmination of a three-year systematic evaluation of the effectiveness of the activities of the Department of Public Information (DPI) in strategically communicating the activities and concerns of the United Nations. Using a variety of audience research methods, internal evaluation techniques and other management tools, the UN Photo 277 and penetration by region and audience group across the globe. By year’s end, a notable increase had been seen in penetration, with the estimated reach of UN radio programmes alone having doubled to almost 300 million listeners per week in Africa, and strong growth in the Arabic, Chinese, French and Spanish language audiences. On average, usage of the main United Nations website and local language sites, the latter maintained by the global network of UN Information Centres, had also increased by 50 per cent. Similarly, strong rises have been identified in subscriptions to the e-mail news service and participation in guided tours of UN Headquarters. These products and services have also received considerable positive feedback from their target audiences, with an average of 80 per cent responding positively on their usefulness, relevance and quality. The public perception of the United Nations, like the image of any public institution, is the UN Photo/Mark Garten Department of Public Information, in collaboration with the Office of Internal Oversight Services, introduced a transformative institutionalization of a culture of evaluation at all levels of its staff and management. It took the position that it was not enough to have produced a given number of communication products, such as booklets, guided tours, films, videos and radio programmes. The true gauge must be the reach and impact of those United Nations public information products and services. The Department set out to determine this through the collection and analysis of audience statistics. It became clear that using a diversity of media, and adjusting media strategies to meet different circumstances, ensured proper coverage United Nations radio and television programmes: estimated weekly audience (in millions) by region, 2005 Television programmes 300 282.9 Radio programmes 214.4 Audience, millions 250 200 150 100 57.3 50 9.2 0 Africa 18.3 141.3 116.9 75.2 n.a. Multiregion Americas Asia/Pacific 1.4 Europe 278 Organizational Management United Nations website: average weekly hits (in millions) by region, 2005 20 19.6 15 13.8 Millions 10 7.3 5 The Department of Public Information has primary responsibility for United Nations strategic communications. Discharging this responsibility involves highly interactive and collaborative processes and multiple clients and partners. Internal coordination and client orientation are central to the Department’s work in developing effective strategies for communicating the Organization’s priority issues to the global public. Internal coordination demands that synergies be enhanced within the Department, with client departments and with United Nations System partners. The United Nations Communications Group, established in 1998 as a weekly coordinating meeting, was converted in 2002 at the initiative of DPI into a global network of heads of information of the entire UN System, and has emerged as a strong unifying platform for dealing with common communications challenges facing the United Nations. Its utility as a coordinating body is demonstrated by its growing membership, which has increased by 35 per cent since its inception, and by its rising ratings; in 2005, eight in ten members stated that the Group made an important contribution to their communications work, compared with 75 per cent in 2003. The Department aims to establish new partnerships with media organizations worldwide, while maintaining the existing ones. Fostering a system of partnerships is fundamental to the objective of reaching multiple target audiences. 2.2 0.4 0 Africa Americas Asia/Pacific Europe Unspecified sum total of views held in the public mind. This image comes from a variety of sources and is not quickly or easily susceptible to change as a result of even the best public information campaigns. Following disagreement in the Security Council over Iraq in 2003, the picture in many people’s minds of the United Nations acquired a negative cast. Despite the improvements in the reach and effectiveness of the United Nations’ public information activities, a number of polls conducted in the last two years show that support for the Organization, and understanding of its global role, has faltered. However, those same polls also show that most people around the world want a United Nations that is stronger and more capable of living up to their expectations. Furthermore, global polling data confirms the public’s belief that the Organization is central to solving world conflicts (Gallup “Voice of the People,” October 2005; PIPA/ Gallup in Africa, June 2005; Zogby America, May 2005). 279 One avenue through which DPI has made the most of partnerships is the International Television Programme Market (MIP TV), the largest international gathering in the television programming industry, in which over 12,000 representatives from the world’s programme providers participate. The crucial presence of the UN System at this event has promoted awareness of its “brand” to the world’s media decisionmakers. More exposure has resulted in increased distribution, as well as in co-production partnerships, many of which started at the event and have developed though regular follow-up. The participation of the audio-visual components of UN System organizations under the leadership of the Department of Public Information has doubled every year since DPI first attended MIP TV in 2002. In 2005, 13 organizations and 30 representatives took part. UN Photo/Mark Garten engagement of its substantive clients. Emphasis is placed on publicizing, in a timely and effective manner, the work of the Organization and demonstrating its relevance to the daily lives and concerns of people everywhere. It aims to reach global audiences, through intermediaries such as the media and through partnerships with governmental and non-governmental organizations, educational institutions and other segments of civil society. The systematic collection of feedback from various audiences has provided a great deal of information on the effectiveness of the United Nations public information programme. An analysis of the views of Member States’ representatives showed that 72 per cent of their comments were favourable on products, services and activities, with only 13 per cent critical. Areas that enjoy particularly strong support included the United Nations website (www.un.org) and the United Nations News Centre [www.un.org/ news/]; UN radio [http://radio.un.org] and television [www.un.org/av/tv] programmes. In the area of educational outreach, they particularly commended Cyberschoolbus (www.un.org/ cyberschoolbus), an online service whose target audience is teachers and students from primary to secondary school. Member States also praised The Department of Public Information’s mission is to help fulfill the substantive purposes of the United Nations by strategically communicating the activities and concerns of the Organization to achieve the greatest public impact. This includes broadening support and understanding for the work of the United Nations by devising effective communications strategies on priority issues through systematic 280 Organizational Management DPI’s efforts to promote issues of concern to the United Nations, such as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the September 2005 World Summit agenda. In a survey among members of the General Assembly’s Committee on Information (COI), 70 per cent stated that the Organization’s work in the area of humanitarian relief was widely covered by their country’s news media. Public awareness of the work of the United Nations depends, to a large degree, on the extent of media coverage of its activities. Therefore, on World Press Freedom Day in 2004, the Department launched “Ten Stories the World Should Hear More About,” an annual outreach initiative to help draw media attention to important international developments and issues that often remain underreported. An analysis of press clippings showed that each launch raised the level of coverage and that there was a considerable improvement in focusing media attention on the issues between the launches in 2004 (6 per cent) and 2005 (39 per cent). One of the Department’s central goals is to reach target audiences worldwide with the Organization’s messages by means of diversified products. Tracking of trends shows healthy growth in this effort, as shown in the table below. The Department strives to maximize the efficiency of its content distribution by utilizing the latest information and communication technologies. As part of that effort, it has found that some products can be discontinued, while others are more effective if presented in new and different forms. Accordingly, the distribution of photo prints and audio cassettes to news organizations and radio programmes in areas with robust Internet capabilities are being supplanted by digital (Web/Internet) means of delivery. 2003 Annual conference of non-governmental organizations (interactive website participants) News centre e-mail service (subscribers) Guided Tours (visitors) UN Chronicle (readership: print and online) United Nations Radio (estimated number of listeners) 2004 2005 520 1,562 21,000 22,053 323,169 384,620 133,263,150 33,500 360,157 439,420 n/a 44,217 412,042 716,997 299,095,000 281 In terms of overall programme management, DPI’s initiative to institutionalize a culture of evaluation has generated findings that indicate its work is on target, and has enabled informed, continuous correction of its strategies and products. But increased reach and penetration of public information products is just one important step toward a broader goal. Improvement of public understanding, and more positive public opinion about the United Nations, and as a result, enhanced support for its work — the ultimate desired outcomes — are not easy to attain, and can only be reached when the substantive activities they promote are effective and productive. 282 UN Photo Organizational Management 1 To broaden understanding of and support for the work of the United Nations on priority issues through strategic communications. Increased awareness of key thematic issues among target audiences through the implementation of communication strategies on those issues. Percentage of target audiences indicating increased awareness. 2005 Percentage of target audiences indicating increased awareness 60% 70% 2005 70.5% 283 2 To increase the interest of news organizations and media in, and their access to, up-to-date news and other information about the Organization and its activities. Satisfaction with the availability of timely, accurate, objective and balanced information and/or services to the media, delegations, other audiences and redisseminators on the role of the United Nations in addressing the priority issues before the Organization. Percentage of users (e.g., media, Member State delegations) indicating that news and information made available by the UN is timely, accurate and objective. 2005 Percentage of users (e.g., media, Member State delegations) indicating that news and information made available by the UN is timely, accurate and objective. 2005 65% (estimate) 70% 80% 3 To inform and stimulate opinion and debate through outreach efforts targeted directly to the public and in alliance with key partners, including non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, other representatives of civil society and the media, using the Millennium Declaration as a guide. Enhanced understanding of the role, work and concerns of the United Nations resulting from outreach activities, programmes and services. Percentage of target audiences indicating that their understanding about the United Nations’ role, work and concerns has grown or improved. 2005 Percentage of target audiences indicating that their understanding about the United Nations’ role, work and concerns has grown or improved 90% (estimate) 90% 2005 94% 284