UN reform plans face hurdles from states and staff

United Nations, Mar 8: Secretary-General KofiAnnan's plans to overhaul the UN bureaucracy are expected to face stiff resistance from developing countries and immediately triggered protests from staff over outsourcing proposals.

Annan, introducing a 33-page report on yesterday, sought more financial oversight, simplified hiring and firing procedures, career planning, staff buyouts, training and a modern information system. The costs could run to 500 million dollars.

More controversial are plans for outsourcing or moving staff out of the United States for some translation services, document production, printing and publishing and information technology.

Saying too many decades had passed with partial reforms, Annan called for a ''radical overhaul'' and a ''strategic refit'' because rules and regulations ''make it very hard for the organization to conduct its work efficiently or effectively.'' As an example, he pointed to 13,000 civilian staff, with most employed in the field but getting fewer benefits or career advancement than the 4,200 in New York.

After addressing the 191-nation General Assembly, Annan and his top managers faced a raucous meeting where staff made clear that past promises of improvements were not delivered.

Rosemary Waters, an American and head of the U.N. staff committee, said 700 employees would campaign among member states to halt the proposals and ''the constant effort of the management to erode the rights and benefits of staff,'' especially plans to outsource.

''You say no one loses a job through outsourcing but I have to tell you Mr. Secretary-General, not many people believe you,'' said one woman who was not identified.

Another man warned that instead of saving money, outsourcing could result in more expenditures. ''You could find yourself with some Halliburton-style organizations,'' he said.

EU AND US WELCOME REFORMS

While the European Union and the United States welcomed the reforms, especially in the wake of several scandals, developing nations are expected to be apprehensive of losing their authority in the U.N. General Assembly.

No sooner had Annan spoken than a wrangle ensued over where the reform blueprint should be discussed. Developing nations opted for General Assembly committees where they believe they have more power while the United States, the European Union and Japan said the full assembly should have control.

The United States has tied progress on management reform to a condition for refinancing the U.N. budget on June 30.

The financial plan, reluctantly approved by the General Assembly in December, has caused animosity between U.S.

Ambassador John Bolton and many poor nations who feel rich countries want to cut programs and jobs that benefit them.

Bolton told the assembly that the United States endorsed Annan's call for a radical overhaul of the bureaucracy. ''They are our objectives, and there will be considerable hard work ahead to achieve them,'' he said.

But Edward Luck, a Columbia University professor and U.N.

expert, warned that implementation usually fell short of expectations. ''Big and small states alike begin to fret that their relative position in the U.N., built through years of practice and maneuver, could be affected by unpredictable renovations,'' he said.

REUTERS