Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN

Management Reform

As the responsibilities of the United Nations have grown increasingly complex and diverse over the past six decades, the UN has continued its efforts to reform the management of the Secretariat and enhance the efficiency of its budget. At the Millennium Summit in 2000, Member States recognized that all of the principal organs of the UN were in need of reform. The oil-for-food scandal revealed the inadequacies of a grossly outdated UN system which struggled to handle the tremendous demands on its time. In answer to these issues, Member States reaffirmed their commitment to a more efficient and effective UN at the 2005 World Summit.
On 20 March 2006, Secretary-General Kofi Annan presented bold and comprehensive reform proposals in his report "Investing in the United Nations for a Stronger Organization Worldwide." With the inauguration of the new Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, there were high hopes for rejuvenating UN reform efforts. In 2007, in response to a rapid increase in the number and complexity of United Nations peacekeeping operations, the Department of Field Support was established as part of the restructuring of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.
On 24 December 2008, the General Assembly adopted the resolution on simplification of contractual arrangements that introduces three types of appointments under one set of staff rules, effective 1 July 2009. The General Assembly at the main part of the 63^rd session approved the establishment of the Chief Information Technology Officer and the implementation of the Enterprise Resource Planning system. There was also an agreement on the strengthening of the Department of Political Affairs and the developmental function within the Secretariat. The new system of Administration of Justice has been launched on July 1st 2009. In addition, the UN has been also striving to make improvements on reinforcement of the oversight services, strengthening of accountability, and procurement reform. The Republic of Korea supports management reform of the United Nations. Such reforms are important and necessary for greater effectiveness and efficiency of the organization. In the long term, management reforms will strengthen the capacity of the UN and allow it to better respond to the rapidly changing global environment.
However, while supporting overall reforms, the Republic of Korea also highlights the cost factor of implementing reforms for each agenda. It is equally important to measure the cost-benefit potential and take into account the cost efficiency factor of management reforms. The cost of implementing reforms must be weighed against their expected benefits, and only when the balanced outcome is significantly fruitful shall reforms be effectuated.