Secretary-General says: 'Managerial reform well under way.' (UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan) (Costwatch)

Managerial reform in the United Nations will yield savings of $100 million this year and improve the world body's effectiveness, according to a report released at United Nations Headquarters on 22 April. The report was prepared by the Management Reform Group of the Department of Administration and Management (DAM) under the direction of Under-Secretary-General Joseph E. Connor.

"I believe that this report makes clear that managerial reform is well under way in the United Nations", Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a 21 April letter transmitting the report to the President of the General Assembly.

Accomplishments include the following: United Nations documents were linked to the Organization's Home Page via the optical disk system (ODS); the United Nations Office at Geneva automated its security services and saved $1.197 million; and the Treasury of the United Nations saved $501,000 in the first eight months of a cash management project to buy foreign currency more competitively.

Other examples of the many organizational efficiency gains listed in the report include a saving of $188,000 by a reduction of meetings by the Department of Political Affairs, a $1.7-million savings by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations through improved selection and training of Police Monitors, as well as a revitalized Commission on Population and Development which, with no additional resources, met a doubled demand for services.

The process of modernizing information services thus far has entailed a strengthened United Nations Home Page, making available full access to the complete Treaty Series and allowing for full-text searching of Security Council resolutions, Department of Public Information press releases and other organization-wide pages. The United Nations Home Page has been rated by Lycos, a search engine which also provides reviews on World Wide Sites, in their "Top 5 Per Cent Sites" review. Another of those services, Hyperspace, has named it one of the "Top 10" government sites, and Excite Reviews rated the Home Page as a "must see", and went on to say that "this site should serve as an example to other government entities as to how to make a site appealing and useful". The Cyber School Bus has received a number of honours, including a NetGuide Platinum Site Award. The estimated number of "hits" per week on the Home Page has risen from a total of 210,000 in June 1996 to 1,100,000 in February.

In the future, the goal is to dramatically expand...