In March 2006 the Secretary General presented his proposals^[1] for a fundamentally revision of the United Nations Secretary to the Member States.

With respect to the financial and budgetary arrangements the Secretary General stated that the "process is highly manual and fragmented."^[2] A variety of problems were specifically mentioned, including overlapping reports that are delivered to the Secretariat, insufficient performance and evaluation reports on budgetary issues, numerous and overly complicated trust funds and special accounts – each with own support arrangements and costs, inadequate working capital funds, slow and unpredictable cash flows as well as inopportune budgetary discretion.

In the light of the challenges, the General Secretary provided a catalogue of measurements responding to the requests Member States addressed during the World Summit to the United Nations. The proposed arrangements are subdivided in three areas:

In the field of strategic budgetary planning and implementation the report suggests to shorten the period for reviewing and adopting the budget. The present 35 sections of the budget appropriation shall be reduced to 13 parts. Furthermore, expanded authority for the Secretary General is requested permitting him to redeploy posts as necessary and to use savings from vacant posts.

Concerning the field of financial management practices, peacekeeping accounts shall be consolidated to a single account, providing more organizational flexibility and better cash management. The level of the Working Capital Fund and the ceiling of the commitment authority granted by the General Assembly should be increased. Furthermore, the financial processes of the Organization should be reformed, allowing accountable delegation of authority.

In the area of performance evaluation and reporting, rigorous measurements of monitoring and evaluation are requested, linking the budget and planning process explicitly to results and performance.

The report presented by the Secretary General is still subject to ongoing discussions within the framework of reform efforts. Given the far-reaching implications, it is likely the recommendations will take several years to implement.

[1] A/60/692 Investing in the United Nations: for a stronger Organization worldwide

[2] A/60/692 Investing in the United Nations: for a stronger Organization worldwide Summary Part V.