The United Nations secretary-general has outlined a radical overhaul of UN procedures, recruitment and training, prompting protests by staff on proposed outsourcing from its New York headquarters. In a long-awaited report on management reform, Kofi Annan on Tuesday sought more financial oversight, simplified hiring and reporting procedures, staff buyouts and a modern information system. The reforms are estimated to cost $500 million. Annan said the shake-up was necessary because the UN had to cope with 80,000 peacekeepers and civilian staff in the field and its "regulations and rules do not respond to current needs". His report is a direct result of scandals in the oil-for-food programme in Iraq and fraud in awarding contracts. "Just as this building, after 56 years of ad hoc repair and maintenance, now needs to be fully refurbished from top to bottom, so our organization, after decades of piecemeal reform, now needs a thorough strategic refit," Annan told the 191-member General Assembly in introducing the 33-page report.
The exercise, demanded by world leaders at a UN summit in September, would cost about $510 million: $280 million for improving staff conditions in the field; $120 million for information technology; $10 million for training and a possible $100 million for buyouts. In turn, UN officials believe they can save nearly as much through streamlining contract procurement and farming out projects, but gave few details.