Latest News in UN Governance & Accountability

Although not well known, the ICSC has a significant impact on the UN system's ability to 'manage talent' and implement the HR resolutions agreed by the Fifth Committee. Our latest spotlight looks at what's at stake in the ICSC elections and why staff and delegates should pay close attention: https://bit.ly/3ZIA7uc

These types of informal interactions are helpful in building trust between international organizations and their member states, and participation of non-governmental stakeholders and partners has also been shown to enhance the performance of international organizations.

The liquidity crisis, which is a result of late or non-payment of assessed funding by member states is the most immediate financial problem for the Secretariat. That said, financial challenges have plagued the Secretariat and UN system over the last decade with few sustainable solutions in sight, as we explained in our spotlight last May: https://bit.ly/UNFinancing

The ExCom plenary is largely informed by the reports and recommendations of its smaller Standing Committee. This session examines UNHCR’s financial requirements for the coming year and approves the annual programme and targets. ExCom also adopts conclusions on policy issues, notably on international protection, as well as decisions on a range of administrative, financial and procedural issues.

The annual budget exercise is not just about resourcing, its a broader process of agreement on priorities and focus of the UN Secretariat between member states, and member states and the Secretariat. If you're new to the process check out our Fifth Committee Reference Guide that we created last year. Another key in this session are the elections of new members to technical committees, including the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC). Candidates are nominated by member states and elected by the Fifth Committee. In this month's spotlight, we highlight how these ICSC elections have a crucial impact on talent management in the UN (https://bit.ly/3ZIA7uc).

The workshop is another example of the high level of informal interaction between member states and WFP staff in the development of policies, a factor which contributes to WFP strong organizational performance. The discussion of the Governance Review is part of a longer process to reform the Executive Board, initiated by a consultant's review completed in Sept. 2023. The Board then set up a Working Group, which meets for the 13th time on 4 Oct. to consider how to implement the consultant's recommendations. separately, the New York-based Boards requested a review of their governance and oversight functions, which the JIU completed in January 2024. The JIU recommended discussion across all four Boards for alignment of their reforms.

Last year, the ITU initiated its Transformation Roadmap for Organizational Excellence with four pillars of reform: 1) People and Culture; 2) Financial Management & Planning; 3) IT systems, processes & tools; and 4) Oversight, Internal Controls & Governance. As we highlighted, their reform process has been a very interesting example of how reformers need to engage constructively with member states (https://bit.ly/3q1KcDb). These working group discussions are another key interaction between the ITU and its member states in furthering those reforms.