Some of the ways the UN spends American dollars sound like skits on Saturday Night Live. Despite thousands of pages of budget documents prepared each year, we don't know how many employees it has, how funds are spent, or which programs work. After a decade of 'no real budget growth' the budget has almost doubled. Instead of the watchdog Sen. Pressler had fought for, the UN brought forth a pussycat. Like so many things at the organization, it was form over substance.
None is known for management ability.
Joseph Connor, an American, is undersecretary for management. The former head of Price Waterhouse has tried, since arriving in 1994, to introduce the concept of management to the UN by substituting civil service procedures for the UN's current cronyism, trying to cut the workforce, and reducing the UN budget. Reactions within the UN have ranged from lip service to foot-dragging. Mr. Connor is making more progress than his predecessor Dick Thornburgh, former U.S. attorney general and governor of Pennsylvania. Mr. Connor might seem a likely candidate to succeed Mr. Boutros-Ghali, but UN rules do not permit a citizen from one of the permanent members of the Security Council to serve as secretary general.