VZCZCXYZ0002
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #0011/01 0081716
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081716Z JAN 09
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 5619

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000011 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR IO/MPR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AMGT AORC APER PREL UNGA UNGA
SUBJECT: U.S. EFFORTS TO REFORM UN HUMAN RESOURCES 
MANAGEMENT PRACTICES BRING MIXED RESULTS 
 
REF: 08 STATE 129988 
 
¶1. SUMMARY:  The recently concluded main session of the 
sixty-third United Nations General Assembly adopted a 
resolution on human resources management (HRM) reform that 
will result in significant changes in hiring mechanisms and 
conditions of service for field staff.  The resolution (to be 
issued as A/RES/63/250) also addresses a number of other 
personnel management areas, including recruitment and 
staffing, geographical and gender representation, and ethics. 
The new system is structured somewhat differently and is more 
costly than what we proposed (reftel) but generally reflects 
the compromise on which there was near consensus during the 
resumed session last March, except for the U.S. and Japan 
(and a few others who did not speak up, e.g., Russia and 
Mexico). In the face of opposition by the same states that 
were prepared to join consensus last March, including the EU 
and CANZ, to alternatives raised by the U.S. and Japan, and 
given the importance of taking action on this critical 
matter, after consulting the Department, we joined consensus 
on the resolution. Post did obtain a number of key 
concessions that addressed USG concerns that underpinned our 
proposals, including abuses in the use of temporary contracts 
at Headquarters, the wholesale conversion of 300 and 200 
Series contracts to 100 Series, and the need for a 
disciplined approach to implementing continuing contracts. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
STREAMLINING OF CONTRACTS AND HARMONIZATION OF CONDITIONS OF 
SERVICE APPROVED 
 
¶2. These were the two principal HRM issues before the Fifth 
Committee and were directly related to problems with 
recruitment and retention of international staff in field 
missions. Attempts to reach consensus on HRM reform began 
last March, during the first resumed session of the 62nd 
UNGA, but were put off when the U.S. and Japan (with silent 
support from Mexico and Russia) could not agree to measures 
supported by the Secretariat and other Member States 
(European Union, CANZ, G-77 and China). We said we would 
develop other options for the Fifth Committee to consider and 
presented our proposal prior to the start of the 63rd UNGA. 
We proposed the same overall contract structure as the 
Secretariat but tied length of service to allowances and 
benefits, i.e., the longer a person stayed with the 
organization the more allowances and benefits would they 
accrue. Although a number of Member States, including Japan, 
Russia, Singapore, and some small European countries, 
expressed support for our proposal, the overwhelming majority 
rejected our approach. 
 
¶3. Efforts to obtain wider support for our proposal (reftel) 
were not successful. However, we did succeed in eliminating 
longstanding and costly abuses in the use of temporary 
contracts at UN Headquarters that should also result in some 
significant savings (See  A/RES/63/250, Section II, paras. 7 
and 8). In addition, we were able to include measures to 
ensure that staff holding fixed-term contracts under the new 
100 Series will have no expectation of their contract being 
renewed or extended (Section II, para. 21). This will give 
the organization greater flexibility in terms of workforce 
planning and prevent automatic conversion to a continuing 
(i.e., open-ended) contract. 
 
¶4. We also obtained assurances that the thousands of staff 
currently on short term temporary contracts, e.g., 300 
Series, would not immediately receive unrestricted 100 Series 
contracts. Instead, they would receive 100 Series 
mission-specific contracts with the opportunity to compete 
for the unrestricted 100 Series contracts. We obtained a 
similar concession regarding staff serving in Headquarters 
under 200 Series contracts (Section II, paras. 10 and 11). 
 
¶5. Finally, even though the new system will go into effect on 
July 1, 2009, we obtained a delay in implementation of a 
continuing contract regime until January 2010, pending 
fleshing out and agreement on details on how continuing 
contracts would be awarded (Section II, paras. 3 and 4). We 
also obtained agreement to a number of our proposals on 
enhancing career development, e.g., how and where P-1 
positions (i.e., the lowest entry level for professional 
staff) might be used more effectively and development of a 
strategy for training and development in the context of the 
next biennium budget submission (Section VIII, paras 3 and 4). 
 
¶6. The next step toward implementation of the new contract 
structure will be consideration of draft regulations; the 
Fifth Committee will take this up in the first resumed 
session in March. In the sixty-fourth UNGA, the Fifth 
Committee will have an opportunity to consider many factors 
related to continuing appointments, including criteria for 
 
 
eligibility, the strengthening of the performance appraisal 
system, and the financial and management implications of 
converting fixed-term to continuing appointments and whether 
to establish a ceiling on such conversions. The 
Secretary-General's proposal to create a cadre of civilian 
career peacekeepers, which the Secretariat maintains would 
not be necessary under the new regime, will, nonetheless, be 
reconsidered in the sixty-fifth session (Section II, para. 
19). 
 
¶7. The new contract regime and the harmonizing of conditions 
of service for staff in field duty stations are designed to 
attract and retain qualified staff. There is an expectation 
that the new regime would obviate the need for special 
allowances and it is in our interest to work with the 
Secretariat and member states to reduce staffing gaps at 
Special Political Missions (SPM's) and Peacekeeping 
Operations (PKO's). We are hopeful this resolution will have 
its intended effect. In any event, there is nothing in the 
resolution that abolishes the concept of special allowances, 
and we are free to raise that concept if the new regime fails 
in particular instances, such as UNAMI or UNAMA, to address 
this concern. 
 
ROSTER SYSTEM NOT ADOPTED 
 
¶8. In considering ways to expedite the UN's recruitment and 
staffing process, the Fifth Committee decided not to approve 
implementation of a new pre-screened roster system, citing 
design flaws in existing rosters. The current resolution 
calls for the Secretariat to improve its outreach efforts, to 
continue to advertise all specific vacancy announcements, and 
to ensure the transparency of the recruitment process.  A 
report on efforts to improve the length of time it takes to 
fill a position (currently 160 days) will be part of the 
Secretary-General's report on human resources management at 
the sixty-fifth UNGA. 
 
GENDER BALANCE AND GEOGRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION: HIGH 
VISIBILITY BUT NO CHANGE IN COURSE 
 
¶9. During the Fall session the Fifth Committee devoted a lot 
of time to the issues of gender balance and geographical 
representation, with the EU and CANZ leading discussion on 
the former and Japan and the G-77 making a case for the 
latter. In the end, no major changes in policy or practice 
were incorporated in the resolution. The Fifth Committee 
requested the Secretary-General to report on measures to 
achieve gender balance and increase the number of staff from 
under-represented and un-represented countries at the 
sixty-fifth UNGA. 
 
ROLE OF ETHICS OFFICE TO BE CLARIFIED 
 
¶10. The Fifth Committee, with post playing a leading role, 
devoted considerable time to the Secretary-General's report 
on the activities of the Ethics Office, established in 2006 
to promote integrity within the organization. As part of its 
resolution on HRM, the Fifth Committee requested the 
Secretary-General to clarify the roles of the Ethics Office, 
Office of the Ombudsman, Office of Internal Oversight and 
other related offices and report at the sixty-fifth session 
on measures taken to avoid overlapping of mandates (Section 
XII, para. 3). At post's request, the Committee also called 
for the annual ethics report to include information on 
system-wide Ethics Committee activities (Section XII, para. 
5). 
 
Khalilzad