Rajiva Wijesinha

“ A disturbing trend in recent years has been the symbiotic relationship between UN staff, who should be serving member states, and non-governmental organizations, some of which continue to shroud the origins of their finances and their outlay in mystery. Given the need to ensure improvements through cooperation with governments, there is surely a case too for ensuring greater recruitment from those who have worked in fields where public accountability is the norm. ”

“ Even more seriously the claims of those who are funded by the elite for continuing employment seem to be promoted in the Report, which suggests that the original recommendations will soon be superseded by partisan considerations. ”

“ The Report, Mr President, indicates a mindset that concentrates on the problems of the influential few, at the expense of the more pressing concerns of the rest of the world. Though the description of the composition of staff begins with a table of geographical distribution, this is for all staff Conversely the table for gender balance is broken down by levels too, and the Review highlights imbalance in both senses it claims, at particular levels. ”