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It is my honour to speak on behalf of Australia, Canada and New Zealand on Item 114, Human Resources Management.
I would like to begin by offering thanks to the Under Secretary General for Management, the Assistant Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations, the Chair of the ACABQ, the Under Secretary General for Internal Oversight Services, the Chair of the JIU, and the Director of the New York Office of OHCHR, for their presentations yesterday.
Mr Chairman,
Australia, Canada and New Zealand attach the highest importance to this Committee’s consideration of the human resources management of the United Nations. Our starting point remains Article 101 of the Charter which is as salient now as it was in 1945. It says the ‘paramount consideration in the employment of staff… shall be the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity’. Indeed, the effectiveness of this organisation in achieving the aspirations we hold for it, and the many mandates we give to it, depend heavily on the quality and performance of its staff.
In recent years our delegations have consistently supported efforts to modernise and reform the human resources practices of the United Nations and the agencies, including through the common system. A landmark in those efforts was resolution 55/258 by which the General Assembly approved a raft of reforms aimed at improving the practices in the UN. But much more remains to be done before the United Nations will have a modern and effective human resources framework which places a premium on merit and performance.
Mr Chairman,
Our predominant concern during informal consultations will be the negotiation of a resolution that advances the process of the human resources reform. We therefore appreciate the reports of the Secretary-General, OIOS and the ACABQ, all of which point to the need for continuing cultural change, the necessity of allowing sufficient time for the reforms to have their full impact, and the desirability of making refinements where experience has revealed there are problems.
Accountability should be a particular focus of our discussions since the system of delegated authority to programme managers, with appropriate forms of accountability, lies at the heart of the reforms adopted four years ago. We are especially interested in the potential for improving the contents of human resource action plans and the means used by the Secretary-General to ensure that programme managers are held accountable to achieving their goals.
With regard to staff selection, we support the proposal to reduce the period for submitting applications from 60 to 45 days. However, this alone is not sufficient for addressing the continuing long delays in filling vacancies or the lack of succession planning. We are also interested in hearing how Galaxy can be improved, since it has not yet delivered on its promise.
We are attracted to the proposal to establish three types of contracts for Secretariat staff short-term, fixed and continuing. This has been one of the unfinished pieces of human resources reform. However, before taking a decision we would hope to understand better how this might relate to contractual arrangements in other common system organisations and to the work of the ICSC. We also want to discuss the transitional arrangements further.
We are also supportive of the Secretary General’s proposals to create more opportunities for advancement of qualified general service staff into the professional category.
Mr Chairman,
While the principle of merit is at the foundation of the human resources system, we also share widely-held concerns that the staff of the organisation should reflect the diversity of the member states and that women should be equally represented in the Secretariat.
The statistics on geographical distribution show continuing improvement over the past decade, and while there are still some problems the overall picture is satisfactory. Nonetheless, aggressive recruitment campaigns and close co-ordination between the Secretariat and member states are needed to help the small number of states that have been substantially under-represented for a sustained period. In considering additional measures, we would not wish to weaken competitive processes or the application of the principle of merit.
The picture for gender representation is less encouraging and women remain significantly under-represented in the professional levels and in senior posts. The rate of progress towards the 50/50 goal has been too slow. We believe that the Secretary-General can do more to appoint women to senior posts and that the Secretariat can take more practical measures to improve the representation of women. We will present some practical ideas in informals.
Finally, we are also concerned with the lack of young people in the Secretariat. This reflects both the lack of junior professional posts and the continued used of job selection criteria which favour years of experience over competencies. These problems need to be addressed by measures to re-evaluate the levels of posts that become vacant, with a view to creating more P-2 and P-3 level openings. and, selection criteria must truly measure the capacities of applicants.
Mr Chairman,
The Secretariat has provided a useful report on the contractual status of staff in peacekeeping missions which usefully sets out the human resource needs for contemporary peacekeeping. We appreciate the need for longer than four-years’ service for mission management, the need to be able to attract and retain personnel, and the inconsistency in conditions of service between staff. We understand the reasons why the Secretariat wishes to now use the 100 series as the principal instrument for employing peacekeeping staff.
However, the ACABQ has pointed out that the proposed solution is only a partial one since it does not ensure consistency of conditions between staff employed by the Secretariat and those employed by the funds and programmes. With the increase in complex mission mandates, in which agency staff are integrated into the mission structure, this can only become a bigger problem. The ACABQ also raises the question of whether peacekeeping service merits its own distinct contractual package.
During informals we hope to explore possibilities for a comprehensive solution to this problem that meets current peacekeeping needs, ensures equity between staff, and preserves elements of administrative simplicity. As we discuss this, and other possibilities, we will also need to get a clearer sense of the financial implications of these questions.
Mr Chairman,
We have not had time to touch on all issues of interest to us this morning, and will raise some questions and comments on other matters when we take them up in informals.
