Excerpts from a note to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon from Inga-Britt
Ahlenius, retiring UN Under-Secretary-General for Oversight Services:
After having served my five-year term as the Under-Secretary-General of [the
Office of Internal Oversight Services), I hereby submit my end of assignment
report..
I feel compelled and duty-bound to report the following conclusions of my
report, which evolves around the question I put on its first page: Is the
United Nations now on the right path, more transparent, more accountable? .
My conclusion and answer follows from my detailed review of certain core
aspects of the Organization.
In spite of all your good intentions pronounced in these respects, my answer
to this question, regrettably, is no. And at the end of my report, I
summarize my observations:
There is no transparency, there is a lack of accountability. Rather than
supporting the internal oversight, which is the sign of strong leadership
and good governance, you have strived to control it, which is to undermine
its position. I do not see any signs of reform in the Organization.
I regret to say that the Secretariat now is in a process of decay. It is not
only falling apart in silos, the Secretariat is drifting, to use the words
of one of my senior colleagues. It is drifting into irrelevance. You are the
CAO [chief administrative officer] and responsible for the strategic
guidance and leadership of the Organization. You are the one responsible for
providing perspectives and a way forward and to ensure a coherency approach
in and by the Secretariat..
Absence of strategic guidance and leadership manifests itself not only
through failure to bring about change and reform of the Organization; it
also manifests itself as a sort of an 'adhocracy'; disintegrated and
ill-thought-through "reforms" are launched without adequate analysis and
with lack of understanding and a holistic view..
I am concerned that we are in a process of decline and reduced relevance of
the Organization. In short, we seem to be seen less and less as a relevant
partner in the resolution of world problems. This inevitably risks weakening
the United Nations' possibilities to fulfil its mandate. Ultimately, that is
to the detriment of peace and stability in the wrold. This is as sad as it
is serious.
Inga-Britt Ahlenius, Under-Secretary--General for Oversight Services