Enhancing communication

282.  Broad-based, global support for the United Nations depends on timely and effective communication. In 2000, the Department of Public Information implemented a range of innovations that will increase the breadth and depth of communication about who we are, what we do and why we do it. One such initiative has been the system-wide “UN works” campaign, which explains how the Organization is addressing the main challenges of the twenty-first century, in particular those relating to economic and social development. Driving these efforts is a commitment to embrace new communications technology as a means of enhancing the impact of our activities and the productivity of our staff.

283.  Use of the United Nations web site continues to increase at an extraordinary rate, the number of hits on the site now exceeding 400 million a year. Significant improvements in the web site’s content and design were made in the past year and several new features in all six official languages were introduced, including live webcasts of major events. The redesign currently under way will present the same look and feel to all users in all official languages. Meeting the General Assembly’s requirement to maintain the web site in all six official languages has proved a real challenge, despite the modest increase in resources allocated for web site development.

284.  The Millennium Summit and Assembly provide a major opportunity for the Department to mobilize public interest in the Organization and its global role through a worldwide promotional campaign. Unprecedented media coverage has already been generated for the Summit with the publication of my millennium report and the series of teleconferenced briefings to journalists around the world that promoted it. The Department also widely promoted the Secretary-General’s multilateral treaty signing initiative in connection with the Summit. In May, the Millennium Forum of civil society organizations featured simultaneous coverage by United Nations television, videoconferencing and webcasting.

285.  As the number and scope of United Nations peace operations continue to rise, the need for public information and outreach in the field has risen with them. In Kosovo and East Timor, the role of public information has been critical and in new missions such as those in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia/Eritrea and Sierra Leone, the Department has been fully involved from the outset. The introduction of rapid-deployment information teams on new peace missions will further strengthen the capacity of the Department to achieve its goals in the field.

286.  Initiatives to build partnerships with other entities of the United Nations system, non-governmental organizations, educational institutions and the business community continue to develop through the co-sponsorship of conferences, briefings, exhibits, and events such as the World Television Forum and World AIDS Day. Contact with the 1,600 non-governmental organizations associated with the Department has been dramatically enhanced through the use of videoconferencing and live webcasting.

287.  The programme for broadcasters and journalists from developing countries, now in its twentieth year, and the programme for Palestinian journalists continue to provide training while raising awareness of the work of the United Nations in the developing world. Other media outreach programmes took 12 senior editors and broadcasters from developing countries to Geneva for intensive briefings on human rights in December 1999, and brought 15 senior African editors and broadcasters to Headquarters in June for a week to familiarize them with the United Nations role and activities in Africa. Direct e-mail links to journalists around the world are part of another innovative project that will provide electronic alerts of breaking news from the United Nations system almost as it happens.

288.  The advent of a 24-hour global news cycle has generated a number of new initiatives to increase the reporting of United Nations activities. Information and other materials are now available in real time to regional media through the web-based United Nations News Centre. Established nearly a year ago, the Centre provides United Nations news updates throughout the day. The Department’s ultimate goal is the development of a fully integrated, multi-media United Nations news service, delivering news directly to media worldwide.

289.  A pilot project is under way that will enable United Nations Radio to produce and deliver daily 15-minute news bulletins, in all six official languages, to radio stations around the globe. By the end of the year, the Department expects to have all United Nations Radio outputs on the United Nations web site, enabling broadcasters from around the world with Internet access to use the material at any time. The radio initiative will be replicated by the television service: news packages highlighting United Nations system-wide developments will be disseminated daily for use by television broadcasters in 2001.

290.  These are major developments, but their success will be entirely dependent on the Secretariat being able to meet the challenge of adapting to the digital revolution. The goal is to create an information technology infrastructure capable of instantaneously transmitting text, image and voice messages from the Organization to almost anywhere in the world. Major investment, including by other departments, will be needed if the United Nations is to avoid becoming marginalized in the new information environment. Investment is also needed to replace the crumbling communication infrastructure at Headquarters, much of which is 50 years old. Total failure of this communication system, which carries television and radio materials from Headquarters to the world’s media, is a real threat.

291.  The United Nations Information Centres are instrumental in bringing the United Nations messages and concerns to communities all over the world. They are the Organization’s direct link with media representatives, non-governmental organizations and the public at large, and draw the attention of local communities to the work of the United Nations. Staff of the Centres lead the development of national information strategies for United Nations country teams, helping to ensure that the Organization speaks with a consistent voice. Thirty-four Centres already have separate web sites; others are in the planning stage.

292.  The Dag Hammarskjöld Library continues to focus on delivering electronic information; outreach to depository libraries; training mission, Secretariat and non-governmental organization staff in documentation and Internet use; and supporting multilingualism. The Library’s web pages had 1.5 million hits in 1999, while its major databases are now installed on a web platform as UNBISNET. The programme to digitize and add to the optical disk data storage system documents of all major United Nations bodies from the Library’s microfiche collection continues apace.

293.  Technological change has enhanced the range and reach of one of the most traditional areas of activity, publications, and related client-specific services. The first half-century of the Yearbook of the United Nations will shortly be placed in electronic format as a readily retrievable resource of the Organization’s history. Development Business, which focuses on business procurement opportunities in developing countries, has been revitalized by a process of constructive collaboration between the Organization and the World Bank, leading to the launch of an active, revenue-generating electronic edition of the journal. Both print and web site editions of the UN Chronicle have been revitalized — while continuing to draw eminent contributors. Africa Recovery, a journal that seeks to enhance the prospects for development and the achievement of peace and security on the continent, appeals to a broad readership, and has received increasing recognition in African media and government circles during the past year. Sales of United Nations publications have increased, with the United Nations publications web site providing a solid platform for expanding global sales.

294.  The Cartographic Section plays a critical role in supporting the substantive activities of the Organization. The technical services of our cartographers are used almost daily by the Security Council, and provide crucial information for peacemaking and peacekeeping activities. In March 2000, a Geographic Information Working Group was formally established, bringing together on a regular basis all cartographic and geographic specialists across the United Nations system.

  Reaching out

295.  One of the most fundamental challenges facing the United Nations is coping with increased workloads without a compensatory increase in resources. Our ongoing reform programme seeks to address the resource challenge through increases in efficiency, not least through greater reliance on information technologies.

296.  We have made considerable progress over the past three years in this regard, but our commitments still remain greater than the resources available to meet them and our financial difficulties are compounded by the non-payment of dues. We can do more with less, but only up to a point. It is in this context that the generosity of individual Member States, the private sector and philanthropic foundations assumes particular importance.

297.  Over the years generous assistance from individual Member States has enabled United Nations bodies to embark on innovative programmes in conflict prevention, peace-building and development that would otherwise never have been funded.

298.  More recent is the burgeoning cooperation between the United Nations and the private sector that I discuss earlier in the present report. The United Nations increasingly benefits from the ideas, expertise and resources that the private sector can provide. The private sector, in turn, benefits from a stronger United Nations that promotes international norms and standards, the “soft infrastructure” on which global commerce increasingly depends.

299.  To ensure that public-private cooperation conforms to the priorities and rules of the United Nations, I have issued guidelines on United Nations partnerships with the business community, which may be reviewed as our experience in this area accumulates.

300.  While philanthropic foundations have always given generous support to our activities, it is only in the last three years that the United Nations has benefited from a major partnership through a generous gift from Ted Turner. This has supported work on United Nations projects as diverse as the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, the creation of electricity from biomass in India and biodiversity conservation in the Galapagos. The precedent created by that donation has already encouraged others to assist the United Nations as it addresses the world’s pressing problems.

301.  The United Nations Fund for International Partnerships, created to serve as the distribution channel for Mr. Turner’s gift and to promote other new partnerships, is entering its third year of operations. To date the Fund has programmed funds totalling $310 million in 112 countries, in four specific areas: children’s health, women and population, environment and peace, and security and human rights. Its work in coming years will continue to focus on these areas and on priorities spelled out in my millennium report.

302.  The United Nations system’s own in-house research network, much of which is part of the United Nations University (UNU), produces policy-relevant research across a broad range of disciplines and subjects. At the UNU institute in Helsinki, for example, United Nations researchers are examining the relationship between information technology, poverty and economic growth; in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the focus is on water security for the developing world; in Geneva, on restricting the proliferation of small arms; in Legon, Ghana, on natural resource management in Africa; in Reykjavik, on geothermal energy; and in Tokyo, on sustainable development and on humanitarian intervention.

303.  In my reform plan of 1997, I stressed the need for the Organization to develop research and utilize its results more effectively. Since then significant efforts have been made to increase communication between those who do research in UNU and other research institutions, on the one hand, and those who use the research in the United Nations Secretariat, programmes and agencies, on the other. Making research more relevant and useful to those who create and implement policy, and making policy makers more aware of what the United Nations research community has to offer, is critically important. Furthering such a dialogue is a fundamental rationale for the annual Geneva research and policy dialogue that was inaugurated in 2000.

304.  Over the past decade, civil society organizations have played an increasingly important role in helping to formulate, implement and deliver United Nations programmes, and as advocates of change. Thanks to the global reach of the Internet, which has become a powerful tool for advocacy as well as an extraordinary source of information and analysis, civil society organizations are now better placed than ever to form coalitions, organize and mobilize on a global scale.

305.  During the past year civil society organizations played a vital role in the regional hearings preparatory to the Millennium Assembly. The Millennium Forum held at United Nations Headquarters in May brought together representatives from more than 1,000 civil society organizations from more than 100 countries to discuss how the United Nations should be strengthened to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. Even greater numbers attended the special sessions of the General Assembly held in June in New York, to review progress since the Fourth World Conference on Women, and at Geneva, to review progress since the World Summit for Social Development.

306.  The term civil society is a broad one and encompasses more than activist and advocacy groups. Some extraordinary civil society meetings are being held in the run-up to the Millennium Summit. They include a round table to launch the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations, convened by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization with the support of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, S. M. Khatami; the annual Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization Conference; a three-day conference organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union which will bring presiding officers of parliaments from all over the world to the United Nations; and a summit of religious and spiritual leaders representing some 75 different faiths.

  Administration and management

307.  I am pleased to note that considerable progress has been made during the past year towards achieving my goal of creating an “organizational culture that is responsive and results-oriented”. Important developments were the drafting of a human resources reform package, an information technology policy and a capital master plan. I commend these proposals to the Member States for their approval. Their implementation will greatly enhance the effectiveness of the Organization.

  Human resources reform

308.  As the United Nations evolves from a Headquarters-based organization into one with a stronger field presence, the Secretariat needs to be increasingly flexible in using its human resources. The goal of the reform proposals is to modernize human resource management, to have empowered, responsible and accountable managers, and skilled, competent and well-motivated staff.
309.  The reform package consists of nine building blocks, which rest on the principles of transparency, simplicity and timeliness. It proposes fundamental changes in four main areas, namely, accountability; mobility; recruitment, placement and promotion; and contractual mechanisms. Other reforms will include improvements in the use of human resource planning and performance management, the streamlining of rules and procedure, the enhancement of skills and competency development, better conditions of service, and strengthening the administration of justice.

  Information technology policy

310.  To ensure that the Organization keeps up with the rapid developments in information and communication technology, a United Nations information technology policy has been developed. Using in-house expertise, the policy will address both the introduction and management of new information technologies and their use as vehicles for the distribution and management of information.

311.  Once the policy is implemented, senior managers will benefit from timely access to comprehensive information on policy, administrative and operational matters and from the greater overall productivity this access will generate. Member States will also benefit from enhanced support and services.

312.  The information technology policy will also allow for more effective dissemination of greater amounts of information within the United Nations. Our external partners will also benefit from these changes. The United Nations broader goal of “bridging the digital divide’’ between the developed and the developing world will be facilitated by a Secretariat that can take greater advantage of the information and communication technology revolution.

313.  In this context, the Integrated Management Information System is playing an increasingly important role in the Organization’s central administrative operations, and is proving to be a powerful management tool. It will be deployed at all other major duty stations from September 2000.

314.  The Integrated Management Information System has allowed significant re-engineering and standardization of administrative processes throughout the Organization. Owing to the system’s internal controls and monitoring capabilities, responsibility for managing programmes has been firmly placed back in the hands of programme managers. Currently, seven organizations make use of the system, which has been implemented at 11 different sites around the world.

  Capital master plan

315.  The United Nations Headquarters complex in New York, despite its superb design and construction, is ageing and requires major repairs and refurbishment. The present ad hoc and reactive approach to maintenance cannot sustain our buildings in the long term and may also pose serious financial problems if costs for repair and maintenance accelerate. In the long-term capital master plan, I put forward a number of possible solutions, and propose various financing options. The plan demonstrates quite clearly that, while the costs of a major upgrade of the complex are high, they are considerably less than the resources that will have to be expended — particularly on energy — if we continue to pursue the current reactive maintenance policy.

  Other challenges

316.  I remain committed to improving the productivity of the Organization — that is to continuous improvement in the quality, impact and cost-effectiveness of United Nations programmes. Making staff productivity the responsibility of each manager is central to this goal.

317.  Efficiency and transparency in the procurement process has increased, thanks to Internet technology that now allows a variety of procurement information to be placed in the public domain on the Procurement Division’s home page.

318.  The process of simplifying and streamlining the rules and procedure of the Organization has continued throughout the past year. The first phase will be completed by the end of the year and will improve management performance and accountability throughout the United Nations. We expect that rules and procedure will be applied more consistently as information about them is transmitted more efficiently through electronic means.

319.  Preparations to shift to results-based budgeting, with widespread use of performance indicators, are continuing. My programme budget for the biennium 2000-2001 was the beginning of that process and included statements of expected accomplishments for all substantive areas. This new budgetary concept will be the last element to link the various components that comprise my plan to create a more results-oriented management system.
320.  The greatest challenge to improving management and productivity over the last three biennia continues to be financial constraint. While the funding available to the Organization has become more stable, the level of unpaid assessments, particularly for peacekeeping activities, remains unacceptably high.

  Legal affairs

321.  The past year has been one of quiet accomplishment in the field of legal affairs. The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) made good progress towards finalizing a draft convention on assignment in receivables financing. This will facilitate financing based on receivables and allow access by commercial entities to credit at lower rates. UNCITRAL also made progress on unifying rules on electronic signatures. In July 2000, the Commission adopted a Legislative Guide on Privately Financed Infrastructure Projects, designed to assist Governments to establish appropriate legislation to attract investment where private parties construct and operate public infrastructure facilities under a public licensing system.

322.  The International Law Commission continued its work on a set of draft articles on State responsibility, with a view to their final adoption in 2001. It also reviewed the question of the jurisdictional immunities of States and their property, revisiting issues arising out of its previous work on the topic. Member States have given a very positive reception to the draft articles on nationality of natural persons in relation to the succession of States, which the Commission adopted in July 1999. The draft articles are currently before the Sixth Committee, which is considering adopting them as a declaration of the General Assembly.

323.  In December 1999, the General Assembly adopted the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism — the latest in a series of related conventions in this field. As at 25 August 2000, 22 States had signed the Convention, which will enter into force once ratified by 22 States. I call upon Member States to sign and ratify this very important legal instrument. Since adopting the Convention, the Ad Hoc Committee and the Sixth Committee have focused on another important instrument in this field — a convention intended to suppress acts of nuclear terrorism.

324.  The General Assembly in December 1999 established a consultative process to facilitate its annual review of developments relating to the oceans and the law of the sea. The first meeting, held early in June 2000, offered an opportunity to examine this issue in some depth and to seek pragmatic solutions to the remaining problems. The General Assembly will consider the recommendations of this consultation at its fifty-fifth session.

325.  The Office of Legal Affairs was also responsible for developing the legislative mechanisms for the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo and the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor, the first of the Organization’s peacekeeping missions to exercise legislative and executive authority. The Office also drafted the basic legal framework under which those missions were to operate and administer the territories placed under their charge. The Office has provided legal support and advice to the missions from the time of their establishment, as well as to other United Nations peacekeeping missions. The Office provided particularly valuable assistance to the Secretary-General’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process on the implementation of Security Council resolution 425 (1978) and the withdrawal by Israel of its forces from Lebanon.

326.  The Office of Legal Affairs successfully defended the Organization in complex arbitration proceedings involving a $50 million claim; assisted in developing comprehensive guidelines for the Organization’s cooperation with the business community; aided in negotiating and drafting agreements with the private sector; supported the successful prosecution of former staff members in cases of fraud against the Organization and helped recover its assets; prevented, before United States courts, an attempt by a private entity to attach the assets in a United Nations escrow account of the “oil-for-food” programme; advised on the implementation of the oil-for-food programme; and helped to draft a new set of financial regulations for the United Nations Development Programme. The Office also continued to seek Malaysia’s implementation of the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, of 29 April 1999, confirming the immunity from legal process of a Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights.

  Project services

327.  The only completely self-financing entity in the Organization, the United Nations Office for Project Services works on a fee-for-service basis for United Nations bodies and other organizations around the world. Since its services may be requested on a voluntary basis, the Office must compete for business in the open services market. In 1999, it acquired new business valued at more than $1.2 billion and delivered a record $560 million in project services. These included purchasing equipment and goods, hiring consultants, contracting for services and works, and administering training. In addition, the disbursement of $196 million in loans was authorized for projects that the Office is supervising on behalf of the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

328.  As the proportion of new projects funded from UNDP regular resources continued to decline, the volume of services requested by non-development-oriented entities within the United Nations system increased substantially. The Department of Political Affairs, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, all of which used the services of the Office for Project Services for the first time in 1998, increased their use by 22 per cent in 1999. Demand for service from more traditional sources of business, such as the United Nations International Drug Control Programme and associated United Nations organizations based in Vienna, almost tripled during the year.

329.  Responding to these new demands, the Office for Project Services has expanded its management expertise into fields beyond the development arena. In Kosovo, for example, its mine action services provided rapid support for mine clearance and related services, at the request of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, and the Office will work with UNDP to provide housing and electrification in the province. Responding to an initiative of member organizations of the United Nations Development Group, the Office also formulated an UNMIK programme to build up local management capacities, both public and private.

330.  An agreement with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research has enabled the Office for Project Services to assist local authorities in both developing and donor countries to strengthen their capacities; and it will provide specialized procurement services to UNTAET under an operational agreement currently under discussion.

331.  The Office for Project Services is also developing specialized management services in support of democratization, and now has experience in over a dozen countries in this area. Acting on behalf of the Department of Political Affairs, and with funding from the European Commission, it assembled an electoral observation team in Nigeria in less than four weeks in 1999. The team monitored voting in locations right across the country.

332.  To backstop project personnel in areas of concentrated demand, substantive management support units are being established. One such unit operates through the Geneva office and is focusing on the design, monitoring and evaluation of programmes fostering social and economic development at the local level, with particular emphasis on rehabilitation in post-conflict societies. A similar substantive unit focusing on public sector reform is being developed.

333.  The pursuit of operational partnerships with the private sector is another new initiative of the Office for Project Services. In the spring of 2000, 12 such partnerships between the United Nations and the business sector were launched. These joint projects range from developing local economic development in Guatemala and Mozambique to stemming the spread of HIV/AIDS in Asia and making high-tech satellite imagery more affordable and accessible to United Nations agencies and others working in post-conflict rehabilitation and natural disaster prevention.

334.  In a further attempt to combine private sector practices with United Nations goals, the Office for Project Services has created new contracting mechanisms for the procurement of goods and services, generating innovative partnership agreements with non-governmental organizations and developing new tools and instruments for public-private partnerships that will expand the impact of the work of the United Nations.

  Accountability and oversight

335.  The Office of Internal Oversight Services  provides United Nations entities with reviews of their performance and guidance on their methods of work. It has become an important agent for change within the Organization, particularly with regard to strengthening internal controls and improving management performance. More and more managers within the system are seeking its advice. The independence of the Office is assured by the fact that the Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services serves for a single, non-renewable, five-year term.

336.  The work of the Office has had a positive impact on the whole Organization. Internal oversight bodies in the specialized agencies and separately administered funds and programmes, as well as the Secretariat, are increasingly working together, sharing experiences, and benefiting from lessons learned.

  Audit and management consulting

337.  Last year, the Audit and Management Consulting Division placed special emphasis on peacekeeping operations, humanitarian and related activities, human resources management, procurement, problems associated with establishing new bodies, and information technology management. In addition to monetary savings, the audits resulted in improvements in the overall administration and management of the Secretariat as well as strengthening the internal control environment.

338.  Audits were also conducted in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations in New York and in most peacekeeping missions in the field. They focused on the staffing of peacekeeping missions, managing air operations and other logistical support functions, and planning and executing the liquidation of missions.

339.  In response to a request from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office of Internal Oversight Services conducted comprehensive audits of human rights field operations in Burundi and Rwanda and followed up with audits at the headquarters of the Office of the High Commissioner. Recommendations were made aimed at improving the Office of the High Commissioner’s management of field operations and strengthening its internal control systems.

340.  The Audit Section of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at Geneva, with resident auditors at Nairobi and Abidjan, audited UNHCR field operations in 22 countries, with a focus on operations in Africa. At UNHCR headquarters, the Office of Internal Oversight Services audited support services. UNHCR implementing partners were also assessed.

  Investigations

341.  Work continued to ensure that the Organization’s resources and staff are being used properly. For example, an important case involving the misdirection of Member States’ contributions to the United Nations Environment Programme was resolved. The misappropriated funds, totalling over $700,000, were restored, and the individual responsible is facing criminal proceedings.

342.  The Office of Internal Oversight Services also worked with law enforcement authorities in the criminal prosecution of a former staff member accused of defrauding the Organization of $800,000. The individual concerned was tried, convicted and sentenced to 41 months in prison, but only $110,000 of the funds stolen has been repaid to the Organization to date. Further repayments are expected, as ordered by the court.

  Central Monitoring and Inspection Unit

343.  The Central Monitoring and Inspection Unit prepared my report on the programme performance of the United Nations for the biennium 1998-1999, which was discussed by the Committee for Programme and Coordination in the spring of 2000. A qualitative assessment of programme performance found a programme implementation rate of 88 per cent, the highest this decade, which was attributed to the Organization’s determination to promote managerial efficiency and accountability. In particular, the use of electronic monitoring and reporting systems was found to reduce reliance on paper-based reports, to strengthen intra-departmental discipline in performance monitoring, and to facilitate the flow of management information.

 344.  An inspection of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs concluded that streamlining and reorganization had enhanced its capabilities to respond to emerging humanitarian crises and strengthened its coordination role. Follow-up inspections of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), UNEP and the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) were undertaken. The Office reported that ECA had undergone profound change, with a marked improvement in the quality of its products, and a revitalized relevance to its constituents, partners (especially the Organization of African Unity) and host country. The Office of Internal Oversight Services concluded that UNEP had addressed the recommendations of my 1998 task force on UNEP and that Habitat had recaptured the confidence of its stakeholders and was moving in the right direction. In Habitat, the Office of Internal Oversight Services found a new culture emerging, one that prioritized initiative, creativity and flexibility. A backlog of unresolved problems in financial and personnel management has, however, delayed the implementation of administrative reforms.

  Central Evaluation Unit

345.  Two in-depth evaluations were conducted by the Central Evaluation Unit. The first examined the Department for Disarmament Affairs and found that Member States were, in general, satisfied with the support that the Department provided to multilateral disarmament bodies. An evaluation of the electoral assistance programme revealed that valuable electoral assistance was provided to a total of 68 Member States during the period 1992-1998. The Unit also conducted triennial reviews of the implementation of the recommendations made in 1996 by the Committee for Programme and Coordination on the Department of Public Information and the termination phase of peacekeeping operations.