Senior managers at the UN sign ‘compacts’ on priorities

United Nations senior managers signed individual compacts with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at a ceremony in New York today, outlining their goals for reaching priorities set by Member States.

“I am confident that the compacts we have signed today will support us in our work to build a stronger United Nations for a better world,” said Mr. Ban. The compacts are being shared with staff on the UN’s Intranet site.

The Secretary-General said his overall goal is to “develop an accountability framework that outlines clear roles, responsibilities and authorities for all levels and stakeholders of the Organization.”

He called on the managers to share their compacts with their staff, explain their vision, and discuss what their roles should be.

Alicia Bárcena, the Under-Secretary-General for Management, told journalists that the initiative is part of an architecture that will rest on three major pillars: performance, compliance and integrity.

She said 26 managers signed 29 compacts, with the difference in the two numbers resulting from the fact that some managers are responsible for more than one initiative.

Asked whether the documents would be made public, Ms. Bárcena said the first step was to make them “known to the staff.” She added that there is “nothing that precludes these documents being made available to the public, but the first chance has to go to staff.”

Today’s announcement followed last month’s move by numerous senior UN officials to make their financial disclosure statements public.

A correspondent today asked about the status of those officials who have not filed their financial disclosures. Ms. Bárcena said that when officials did not comply with financial closure, it was up to the Department of Management to take disciplinary measures.

Twelve people were charged on 18 October 2007 after not filing disclosures. Eight then filed their forms and the cases of the remaining four are under consideration. “It is being decided whether these people will be summarily dismissed [or] terminated,” she said.