UNITED NATIONS, May 9 (UPI) -- The U.N. General Assembly has approved a resolution that could effectively slow U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's bold management reform proposals.
In a 121 to 50 vote with 2 abstentions -- Norway and Uganda -- the assembly Monday adopted the measure which had passed by a similar margin late last month in the powerful Fifth Committee on administrative and budgetary matters. The tally again showed the divide between developed and developing countries.
Designed to overhaul and modernize the world organization's management structures while bringing them in line with its increasingly field-based work, it was brought forward by the "Group of 77," a caucus of 132 nations.
General Assembly President Jan Eliasson, of Sweden, after the vote lamented the tradition-shattering lack of consensus and suggested to reporters the far-reaching nature of the reforms had brought on the divide.
"If the secretary-general had proposed a less ambitious program, he would have perhaps achieved that consensus, but here was a serious effort to lift the bar and ask for more - and you saw the reaction," Eliasson said.
The resolution responds to Annan's report, "Investing in the United Nations: For a Stronger Organization Worldwide," submitted in March to enable the United Nations to accommodate its own shift from largely bureaucratic tasks to life-saving work in the field.
The proposals include recruiting, contracting, training, assigning and compensating staff. It also includes a redefined post of deputy secretary-general. Other recommendations call for exploring options for alternative service delivery, including relocating and possible outsourcing of functions.
In a reflection of the Group of 77's concern about its own role, the resolution reaffirms the assembly's oversight role -- and that of the Fifth Committee -- in administrative and budgetary matters.
That is where the developing world's power lies in the world organization.
