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Budget committee begins debate on human resources management reform: staff compensation, recruitment, geographical representation, among issues; page 3 of 4.

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M2 PRESSWIRE-29 October 2004-UN: Budget committee begins debate on human resources management reform: staff compensation, recruitment, geographical representation, among issues; page 3 of 4(C)1994-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

RDATE:10282004

Introduction of Documents

CATHERINE BERTINI, Under-Secretary-General for Management, introduced the Secretary-General's reports on human resources management reform. Among its other aspects, she mentioned the fact that the time taken for recruitment had decreased from an average of 275 days in 1999 to the current 174 days. However, it was still far from the 120-day target set by the Assembly.

In the report, the Assembly was invited to consider reducing the time for advertising vacancies to 45 days from the current 60 days in order to expedite further the selection and recruitment process.

She said that, in response to the request in resolution 57/300 for the Secretary-General to consider ways to promote General Service staff to Professional posts, the report proposed that the percentage of P-2 posts available for successful candidates of the G-to-P exam be raised from 10 to 25 per cent. Another proposal referred to a roster of high-scoring, but unplaced G-to-P candidates, allowing them to apply for non-geographic posts for a period not to exceed three years.

On gender distribution, she said that proposals before the Committee included strengthening accountability on the part of programme managers, expanding a human resources planning exercise, and increasing the pool of qualified women candidates. To improve equitable geographical representation, the Secretary-General was proposing further measures, including a "fast-track" recruitment procedure for candidates from un- and under-represented Member States to posts at the P-4 level. The Secretariat was also planning to request each permanent mission of un- and under-represented countries to identify a focal point, with whom it could work on various aspects of the issue. Measures had been initiated to establish a post in the OHRM as a focal point for geographical representation.

On the proposed amendments to Staff Rules (document A/59/213), she said that most of them were of a technical nature. The most important were the changes relating to the Joint Disciplinary Committee, which would permit full implementation of the rules governing financial responsibility of staff members for financial losses due to their gross negligence.

In conclusion, she said that the Secretariat was counting on the support of the Committee and looked forward to a constructive discussion on human resources management with a common goal of moving forward the Secretary-General's reform.

JANE HOLL LUTE, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, introduced the report on staffing field missions, saying that with the number of complex missions increasing all over the world, the number of civilian police in the field was expected to increase by...

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