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24.
PRESIDENT WANTS UN STREAMLINED
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called for the streamlining of the
United Nations bureaucracy, saying red tape often hampers efforts to
effectively implement the world body's programs at the country level, The
Jakarta Post reported.
Yudhoyono said duplication and incoherence in the UN had eroded the
effectiveness of the world body in delivering assistance. He insisted that
the initiation of bureaucratic reform was necessary.
"After the tsunami in Aceh, tons of food was left to rot in
warehouses, along with undistributed medical supplies. This would not have
happened if there was a more coherent policy on UN fieldwork,"
Yudhoyono said in an address to the Regional High-level Consultation on UN
System-Wide Coherence on Thursday (29/03).
Providing an example, Yudhoyono pointed to several water supply projects
proposed by as many as 15 different UN bodies, which then competed among
themselves for resources.
Yudhoyono said that as a result of such duplication, there had been high
levels of competition among UN organizations to obtain funds from donors.
"The adverse impact is that many UN programs at the country level are
haunted by the uncertainty of funding," the president said.
Yudhoyono put forward a four-point proposal to reform the immense UN
bureaucracy: "Reform of the UN at the country level requires the
following: predictable funding for all national programs, the
simplification of the administrative process of program delivery, an
alignment of UN programs with national programs and the national ownership
of UN programs at the country level.”
The regional consultation meeting in Jakarta is part of a discussion that
will contribute to the panel's report, with a final recommendation to be
submitted to the UN General Assembly later this year.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who co-chairs the panel, said
a proposed method of streamlining the UN bureaucracy was through the
establishment of one UN entity in each country.
"We recommended the establishment of one UN house in each country,
with one program and one budget whenever possible," Stoltenberg said
(The Jakarta Post, 29/03/07).
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