Stating that the United Nations system of recruitment and selection was "flawed", Pakistan has called for the adequate representation of developing countries at the senior management and professional levels of the Organisation's service.
"The continuous under representation of developing countries, especially Islamic countries, especially at the under-secretary-general and assistant secretary-general levels, including women, have been a major disappointment," Pakistan's delegate Imtiaz Hussain told the General Assembly's budget committee on Monday.
Speaking in a debate on Human Resources Management Reforms, he also pointed out that the number of underrepresented and un-represented countries had increased over the last one year. Imtiaz Hussain, Minister at the Pakistan UN Mission, proposed that the General Assembly created a balance in the representation of developed and developing countries at the under-secretary-general and assistant secretary-general level positions and rotated them between the developed and developing countries, especially in important departments. He said the representation of all cultures and civilisations was essential for a balanced reflection of their position on sensitive issues in the reports of the organisation.
The Pakistan delegate also stressed the need for allocating a larger share to troop contributing countries in the UN secretary-general's proposed 2,500 civilian personnel for the peacekeeping missions. Pakistan also appreciated his commitment to reform the UN's human resources management policies through building block approach. At the same time, Pakistan stressed the importance of accountability of programme managers and senior management on account of failure to meet the targets identified in the human resources action plans, especially with regard to recruitment from developing countries.
Elaborating, he said the UN human resources machinery suffered from fundamental weaknesses and deficiencies, including a flawed recruitment system that lacked transparency and failed to address the organisation's needs; inadequate strategic human resources management planning; perpetual under-representation of developing countries and lack of career advancement opportunities for staff from developing countries; lack of incentives for mobility across duty stations; absence of a well-defined accountability framework and mechanisms; absence of a well-defined internal justice system; and inadequate information and communication technology support to the human resources management system.
He recommended a strong role for the Performance Management Board for the accountability of programme managers in areas of delegated authority, with specific reference to equitable geographical representation. He said that undermining merit had harmed the Organisation, and supported the use of the pre-screened roster of candidates from unrepresented and underrepresented countries, and continuation of the existing eligibility criteria for recruitment and selection including relevant qualification experience, skills, and gender and geographic benchmarks.
He warned that the secretary-general's proposal on reducing the advertising time from 60 to 30 days was likely to have a negative impact on the prospects of candidates from developing countries. He said that with proper terms of reference, a dedicated unit within the Secretariat to facilitate field missions' recruitment of staff could improve geographic representation and monitoring of progress on human resources action plans.
The Pakistan delegate noted that equitable geographic representation was a Charter obligation. He sought a quarterly report on progress in achieving targets, especially in sensitive areas such as human rights, political affairs, peacekeeping and conference management. Finally, he called for a clear framework and mechanism of accountability on human resources management policies, especially at senior management levels. The absence of a sound internal justice system made the situation for staff in general even more precarious.
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