Ban Ki-Moon : and..... the buck stops..... where?

" In Turin , at a meeting of Chief Executive Officers of UN Funds, the Secretary-General addressed the need for "change".

"People forget" , he argued , that "we are here to act. We are here to deliver results. We are the agents of change". Specifically, he added:- " Our job is to change the UN -and through it, the world." Not a small job, you would say. But how is the SG going about this task?

The SG feels "frustrated "; frustrated by "micro-management " in the UN Secretariat and by "resistance to change". For this, part of the blame, he traces back to governments of Member States; part to his senior managers, who are in cohoots with the very same governments.

Frankly , the time has come for the SG to accept his own share of the blame. He should remember Truman who, proudly in his Office, displayed the sign: - "The Buck Stops Here". Likewise, with the SG, it stops on the 38th floor.

The UN needs a leader. "I tried to lead by example" Mr. Ban Ki-Moon lamented, but "Nobody followed". He needs to be reminded that no one is a leader until his example is followed; and it is followed only when he has made it clear that he means what he says. This is hardly, one might add, the impression senior managers at the UN have formed of Mr.Ban Ki-Moon.

Actions speak louder than words; and lack of action likewise. More than a year ago, on August 27th, the Council of Representatives of all the UN staff passed a landmark resolution drawing the SG's attention to the "culture of impunity" , rampant in the upper echelons of the Organization. It called on the SG to put his house in order.

However, one year later, has anything changed ? Hardly.

Talking of "micro-management", Past Master of the art, Director Guido Bertucci, Head of DPADM--now better known, in jest as the "good governance division" --was allowed to retire with full honors, although he stood accused of maladministration as well as gross mismanagement by three successive audits between 2003 and 2007.

Among the latest charges leveled against Bertucci --which were leaked to the Press (Washigton Times- June 12th 2008) was blatant obstruction of justice by Bertucci and his entourage. Plainly stated the Director and his close associates refused to cooperate with the Investigation and sat on the report, which had been sent for comments--until it was too late...When the SG, under pressure, remanded Mr .Bertucci for disciplinary action, it was-too late. Bertucci-was retiring on July 31st, and could no longer be touched. His acolytes remain. Two also stand accused with their departed boss. A third, however, who served in the Director's Office, as his "right hand" and probably colluded in his protracted obstruction, was recently promoted to be --no I am not joking -- the new Ethics Director (D1) of the UNDP (Ms. Elia Yi Armstrong).

Worse still for Mr. Moon, the Officer in question is of his nationality.

The Secretary--General may want to impress the world with his "philosophy of life"; with statements like "giving is gaining". But if he allows examples like these to multiply and culprits like Bertucci to run away with their ill-gotten gains , the Secretary-General might well kiss "change" good-bye.