Summary

The United Nations has substantially restructured its leadership and operations and partly implemented a merit-based and performance-oriented human capital system, and these reforms have strengthened the U.N.'s operations. Although progress is being made, the overall objectives of the reform have yet to be achieved. The U.N. has not yet implemented reforms to focus its programming and budgeting on managing the Secretariat's performance. These initiatives would allow member states to hold the Secretariat accountable for results and are key to the success of the overall reform because they institutionalize a shift in the organization's focus from carrying out activities to accomplishing missions.

GAO noted that: (1) the U.N. has substantially restructured its leadership and operations and partly implemented a merit-based and performance-oriented human capital system, and these reforms have strengthened U.N. operations; (2) however, while progress is being made, the overall objectives of the reform have not yet been achieved; (3) specifically, the U.N. has not yet implemented reforms to focus its programming and budgeting on managing the Secretariat's performance; and (4) these initiatives would enable member states to hold the Secretariat accountable for results and are key to the success of the overall reform because they institutionalize a shift in the organization's focus from carrying out activities to accomplishing missions.