Monitoring Policy Making at the United Nations |
| ||||||||||||
UN Shivers in a Season of Cost Cuts That Pinch - UN Finance - Global Policy Forum UN Shivers in a Season
of Cost Cuts That PinchBy Barbara Crossette
New York Times
March 13, 2002It has come to this at the impecunious United Nations: no more 24-hour telephone support for computer services, in an organization that has to work a 24-hour day. No new furniture, no pitchers of water for conference speakers, no after-hours meetings. Office cleaning has been curtailed and thermostats lowered.
The trouble started in December, when the General Assembly, encouraged by the United States and some European nations, slashed the operating budget of the United Nations by $75 million over two years. After leaving 6.5 percent of jobs vacant, there was still $50 million in cuts left to go, and that created a crisis.
By the end of February, it was apparent to Joseph E. Connor, the under secretary general for management, that it would not be possible to run headquarters without more drastic cutbacks in services, which had already been pared to the bone in many departments.
The United Nations operating budget has stayed small for years, just over $1.25 billion for headquarters. That is half the budget of South Dakota, or $600 million less than that of the Tokyo fire department.
In the current two-year budget, capped at $2.5 billion, the General Assembly demands that operating expenses be cut by $19.7 million, information technology by $10 million, contractual services by $6.4 million and staff travel by $2.8 million.
The cuts come as the United Nations is helping rebuild Afghanistan, administering Kosovo and bringing East Timor to independence. Previous budget cuts have already created shortfalls in translations and global communications.
On Feb. 28, a directive went out telling employees exactly where the new cuts would come — and that they might not be enough.
"It is fully recognized that these measures will, to some unavoidable extent, hamper the work of the organization and unfortunately create some discomfort in the workplace," Mr. Connor told the staff in a circular, asking for their understanding.
Kati Marton knows about that discomfort. Last week, Ms. Marton, an American journalist who is now on the staff of the special envoy for children in armed conflict, acted as moderator for a conference sponsored by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Women's Commission on Refugee Women and Children, a private body. It was held in the Dag Hammarskjold auditorium, a windowless place where no sunlight gets in to mitigate the chill of money-saving temperatures.
"Most of the people came from outside, and they kept their coats and sometimes gloves on," Ms. Marton said in an interview. She arrived from her office upstairs wearing a business suit. "I was so cold that my teeth were literally chattering into the microphone," she said. She adjourned the meeting ahead of time, saying that the panel was in danger of frostbite.
"In my office it's been equally cold," said Deputy Secretary General Louise Frechette, a former Canadian Defense Ministry official and diplomat in New York who handles many management issues in the organization. She and Secretary General Kofi Annan are both appealing to governments to rethink these budget decisions before further damage is done.
In his understated way, Mr. Annan told member nations last week that the organization needed a more "rational" budget process, and said he was putting Ms. Frechette in charge of finding one.
She said in an interview that when the General Assembly approved the budget "in the middle of the night" just before Christmas, "I'm not sure that people actually realized what the consequences would be of concentrating all that cut on these items." She said that diplomats from some small nations, for example, would suffer from reductions in information-technology spending because they relied on the organization's system for Internet connections. Free computer access is almost more popular than espresso in the Delegates' Lounge.
The United Nations is not only incapable of making routine repairs in many areas but also unable to consider a sorely needed major overhaul of the organization's headquarters. The United Nations was built in the 1950's and no longer meets all New York City building requirements for health and safety.
Under Secretary General Connor has proposed a $1.2 million renovation over six years that could be paid for by raising money through bonds. But both Republican and Democratic administrations in the United States have vetoed this idea, leaving the organization with little option at the moment but to keep the plans on the shelf, in the hope that some generous member nations will perhaps be able to help with donations.
Generous nations, however, are not in abundance right now, as the General Assembly's December budget message made clear.
More General Articles on UN Finance
More Information on UN Finance
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
