DeclinetoState
02-12-2006, 09:25 PM
Pressure from US forces Secretary General to put reforms in place
THE United Nations has drawn up plans to privatise the bulk of its staff at its New York headquarters or have their work done more cheaply overseas. The move is in response to mounting demands for reform from the United States, its biggest paymaster.
The Business has learned that Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, has commissioned a study into the outsourcing of the department for General Assembly and Conference Management, the main UN decision-making body whose officials issue about 200 documents a day in six languages.
The move comes as the UN grapples with the oil-for-food scandal in which officials have been accused of taking bribes from Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Annan will report by the end of February on management reforms to the General Assembly. According to an internal UN document previewing Annan’s report obtained by The Business, he will include “proposals to outsource or off-shore select administrative processes” – suggesting its New York headquarters may shed staff.
More at Business Online.com (http://www.thebusinessonline.com/Stories.aspx?Annan%20prepares%20for%20privatisatio n%20of%20UN&StoryID=523E5488-44AB-4751-8EEB-171844A8CC44&SectionID=F3B76EF0-7991-4389-B72E-D07EB5AA1CEE)
THE United Nations has drawn up plans to privatise the bulk of its staff at its New York headquarters or have their work done more cheaply overseas. The move is in response to mounting demands for reform from the United States, its biggest paymaster.
The Business has learned that Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, has commissioned a study into the outsourcing of the department for General Assembly and Conference Management, the main UN decision-making body whose officials issue about 200 documents a day in six languages.
The move comes as the UN grapples with the oil-for-food scandal in which officials have been accused of taking bribes from Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Annan will report by the end of February on management reforms to the General Assembly. According to an internal UN document previewing Annan’s report obtained by The Business, he will include “proposals to outsource or off-shore select administrative processes” – suggesting its New York headquarters may shed staff.
More at Business Online.com (http://www.thebusinessonline.com/Stories.aspx?Annan%20prepares%20for%20privatisatio n%20of%20UN&StoryID=523E5488-44AB-4751-8EEB-171844A8CC44&SectionID=F3B76EF0-7991-4389-B72E-D07EB5AA1CEE)