UNITED NATIONS: U.N. Accused of Aping Corporate Downsizing

By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print |

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 29 1996 (IPS) - Developing nations are accusing the U.N. Secretariat of going the way of multinational corporations in downsizing the Organisation and hiring and firing staffers at will.

“The United Nations does not sell a product whose production can be increased or decreased at will according to profits,” says Ambassador Nazareth Incera of Costa Rica.

Speaking on behalf of the 132 developing countries of the Group of 77, Incera said that Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has shown “an excessive tendency towards a corporate management style” in implementing his personnel policy.

This style, she said, is far removed from the principles spelled out in the U.N. Charter which urges that the 14,000 people employed by the Secretariat worldwide hail from as many countries as possible.

“We believe that the founding fathers of this institution had no intention of establishing an institution which functions on the basis of value for money,”she added.

“It is of extreme importance that the new direction towards the so-called ‘corporate’ mentality does not destroy the fabric of the international civil service,” she added.

As part of his reform of the U.N. system, the Secretary-General is laying off nearly 1,000 staffers — mostly through buyouts, attrition and voluntary separations — in order to cut costs and save the world body from insolvency.

Last month, the Secretariat decided to “involuntarily terminate” 31 staff members, 19 of whom are from developing nations, including Jordan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Algeria, Malaysia, Libya, Tunisia, Burkina Faso and the Philippines.

Incera said the Secretary-General should explain “why he intends to eliminate the functions performed by each post and the effect of such action on the implementation of U.N. programmes and activities.”

“Moreover, it has been shown that these professionals were qualified international civil servants as provided for in the Charter,” she said.

She added that the Group of 77 was also concerned that some professional staff is being replaced by consultants or individuals hired on short-term contracts or by government secondments. “We would like the Secretariat to indicate the country of origin of these staff and the reasons for substitution,” she said.

“How is it to be justified, for example, that in the midst of a hiring freeze, personnel is being recruited at various levels and even being promoted, without these promotions having been approved by the General Assembly,” Incera asked.

Ironically, the United States, which has accused Boutros-Ghali of failing to reform the world body, is now defending his right to hire and fire U.N. staffers in the face of Third World criticism.

“We would contribute little, however, if we were to attempt — as a Committee with 185 members — to do the Secretary-General’s job for him,” Ambassador Madeleine Albright told the U.N.’s Administrative and Budgetary Committee Monday.

Albright was reacting to a collective protest by the Group of 77 which says that Boutros-Ghali cannot terminate any staffers involuntarily without explaining the negative effect of such actions on U.N. programmes approved by the General Assembly.

But Albright countered by arguing that Boutros-Ghali was acting within his rights as the Chief Administrative Officer of the United Nations.

“We cannot take upon ourselves the job of scrutinising every personnel decision, every decision to authorise or not authorise travel, and every decision to move one position from here to there,” Albright said.

“That level of micro-management is a recipe for the paralysis of this institution,” she warned.

Albright’s defense of the Secretary-General comes at a time when the U.S. says it will veto a second term for Boutros-Ghali when his re-election comes up next month.

The Bill Clinton Administration is trying to deny Boutros-Ghali a second term on the grounds that he has not done enough to cut U.N. costs and waste,

But Albright’s defence of Boutros-Ghali has led to speculation that the Clinton Administration may change its mind if Clinton is himself re-elected as U.S. president Nov 5.

The staff lay-offs are part of a wider, 154-million-dollar cut in the U.N.’s 2.6-billion-dollar budget for the 1995-1996 biennium.

Rosemary Waters, President of the U.N. Staff Committee, said last month that “the international civil service is fighting for survival.”

Addressing Boutros-Ghali, who shared the podium with her on U.N. Staff Day, Waters said there was no reason why the 31 staffers should have their services terminated. “There are enough vacant posts to accommodate them. With a small investment in training, each of them could continue to be a productive part of this Organisation,” she added.

Waters also pointed out that most staffers had given up lucrative opportunities to be a part of the mission of the United Nations.

“Throughout the growth years, the United Nations needed us. It is unfair that some of us should now be thrown away like products that did not sell,” she added.