Summary: October 23, 2003: Statement on behalf of the European Union by Mr. Roberto Martini, First Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Italy to the U.N. on behalf of the European Union. Fifth Committee -- REPORT OF O.I.O.S. ON REVIEW OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES TO ELIMINATE DUPLICATION Item 119 (New York)
Mr. Chairman,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The acceding countries Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia, the associated countries Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and the EFTA countries, members of the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) declare that they align themselves with this statement.
Mr. Chairman,
Under item 119, review of the efficiency, we are dealing today with the report of OIOS (A/58/211) on duplication, complexity and bureaucracy in UN administrative processes and procedures.
The EU commends OIOS for its very instructive and comprehensive report and notes with satisfaction that implementation of new administrative processes is in progress or even concluded in some offices. However, as the OIOS comes to the conclusion that "many processes are still manual, cumbersome, time-consuming, inefficient and costly to administer", we expect further steps to be taken toward rationalisation of administrative processes.
Mr. Chairman,
Given the substantial resources provided in the last years for Information and Communication Technology, that were intended to lead to further automation and enhanced efficiency of administrative processes, we are surprised to learn that "the Secretariat's administrative environment is not fully leveraging the advantages of technology, nor is it applying modern process management practices adopted by other organizations".
OIOS has focused its analysis on the processes in travel, procurement and the administration of staff entitlements. We apprehend that similar problems exist in other administrative areas and request the Secretariat, in light of this report, to review administrative processes and procedures also in other areas.
As the Secretariat states in its follow-up report, consolidating the delivery of common support services would mean a major shift with budgetary implications. From the point of view of the EU, this shift is necessary in order to avoid further duplication and waste of resources.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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