UN committee postpones action on human resources

A committee of the United Nations General Assembly has postponed taking action on human resources - one of the main items on its agenda - because Member States failed to agree on contractual arrangements, recruitment, placement of personnel and administration of justice.

Despite intense informal consultations, the General Assembly body, called the "Fifth Committee," was unable to reach consensus yesterday on 20 of the 200 operative paragraphs of a draft resolution on human resources management, according to the coordinator of consultations on the text, Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry of Pakistan.

Meeting from 13 March to 9 April, the Committee discussed the role of the UN Office of Human Resources Management, human resources planning, conditions of service, mobility, delegation of authority, questions related to equitable geographical distribution, career development, and performance management, among other issues.

Addressing the Committee on 29 March, Under-Secretary-General for Management Joseph E. Connor said that a new recruitment, placement and promotion system was one of the key elements in reforming the staffing process at the UN. Under the new scheme, programme managers are responsible for selecting staff and are accountable for those decisions. Also important, he added, was a system of "managed mobility," which would facilitate staff assignments and provide for greater career development opportunities.

The Committee also focused on the questions of improving the UN's financial situation and funding the UN missions in Ethiopia and Eritrea, as well as in Sierra Leone.