At the World Summit in September 2005, UN Member States agreed to some major UN reform proposals and to further discuss additional ones, including UN management reform.

Management reform underpins all other reforms and, as Secretary-General Kofi Annan observed: “Failure to carry through reform in any one of these areas can greatly reduce or nullify the value of reform in all the others.”

The reforms aim to increase the UN’s capability to comply with its principles, objectives and mandates more efficiently and effectively, while improving transparency, accountability, and integrity. The adopted resolution at the World Summit, widely known as the “Outcome Document,” identified four main proposals with regards to management reform:

• Reform of the Secretariat’s management structure.
• Review of all mandates older than five years originating from General Assembly and other organs.
• Restructuring of the Office for Internal Oversight (OIOS).
• Establishment of an Ethics Office.

The developments within these four proposals are being examined in close on the following sub-pages.