EU Presidency Statement - Human Resources Management

EU Presidency Statement on Item 129: Human Resources Management, by The Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom to the United Nations on behalf of the European Union, Fifth Committee, United Nations, New York

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey and Croatia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, EFTA countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.

The EU would like to thank all the representatives of the Secretariat and JIU for introducing their respective reports. We should also like to offer our congratulations to Ms Jan Beagle on her appointment as Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources.

Mr Chairman

The EU would like to reiterate its continued support for effective human resources management within the Secretariat, as well as for the ongoing HR reform efforts. The EU believes that the Secretariat must be an entity which is modern, forward-looking and staffed by competent and efficient individuals responsive to existing and future challenges. The incorporation into the working methods of modern management practices is a way to achieve this and to preserve and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation.

This becomes all the more necessary during this post-World Summit period when the organisation is facing many challenges. As the Secretary-General said in this room last week, "business as usual" is not an option. We look forward to receiving from the Secretariat innovative and soundly justified proposals in respect of simplifying the existing HR regulations, as well as concrete proposals for the staff buy-out, as agreed in the Summit outcome document, that will protect the best interests of the Organisation.

Mr Chairman

This Committee held extensive discussions on human resources management issues during the 59th General Assembly which culminated in a comprehensive resolution addressing all aspects of HRM (A/RES/59/266). Many of the reports which will flow from that resolution, and be presented to the General Assembly at its 61st session, are directly related to those reports presented today: a report from the Board of Auditors on geographical representation, and one on the human resources action plans, are just two examples. The EU considers, therefore, that it would make practical and operational sense to consider all substantive HRM-related reports as a whole at the 61st session in line with the biennial consideration of this agenda item. We would request the Bureau to reflect on this at its next meeting.

Having said this, Mr Chairman, we believe that in respect of amendments to the Staff Regulations on financial disclosure and sexual exploitation and abuse, we should take a speedy decision during this session. We would welcome an update from the Secretariat on the consultations it has had with those UN expert bodies having a fiduciary role with a view to determining what system of financial disclosure might be appropriate for their members, and the responses received to date.

The EU, in line with the comments above, will refrain from making detailed comments on the reports before us. We do wish, however, to flag-up the importance of succession planning for vacancies given that there will be a great many posts coming vacant in the next 5 years through retirements. We urge the Secretariat to address this quickly.

Mr Chairman, Article 101.3 of the Charter remains the guiding principle in the employment of staff. Although the system of geographical distribution works adequately, and we welcome the efforts to reduce non- and under-representation in recent years, the problems that do exist with the system are not necessarily those of methodology, but perhaps of recruitment practices. We believe better use should be made of the NCE rosters, as the GA noted in A/RES/59/266, and greater prominence given to attaining the targets in HR action plans.

Mr Chairman, in this respect we were disappointed to note in A/60/310 that, in many areas of the action plans, several Departments consistently fell well below the established targets. The EU looks forward to hearing what accountability mechanisms, and corrective measures, are in place to ensure managers perform better in meeting their targets.

We welcome the continued upward trend, albeit slow, in the overall representation of women within the Secretariat, and urge the SG to continue his efforts to achieve the goal of a 50/50 gender balance.

The EU is disappointed by the response of the SG in his report on the availability of skills in local labour markets (A/60/262). The report falls short of what was requested, especially given that the last assessment of the availability in local labour markets was carried out in the mid-1970s. We intend to explore this in more detail.

The EU notes the report on Gratis Personnel (A/59/716), introduced earlier this year, and agrees with the ACABQ that this information should, in future, be incorporated into the Composition of the Secretariat report. The EU also takes note of the JIU report and the CEB's comments thereon. In this respect, the EU recalls paragraphs 10 - 12 of A/RES/59/266 which addressed directly some of the issues raised by the JIU.

Thank you


* Croatia continues to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

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• EU Presidency Statement - 5th Committee: Review of Efficiency (12/10/2005)
• EU Presidency Statement - 5th Committee: Programme of Work (10/10/2005)