United Nations

This report provides information on management, administrative, and program reforms in five organizations at the United Nations: the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization, the International Labor Organization, the U.N Conference on Trade and Development, and the U.N. Population Fund. Although it is acknowledged that the organizations are not operating as effectively and efficiently as they should be, the State Department believes that continued membership in the five organizations is important to the United States because their activities contribute to U.S. security, prosperity, safety, and health. The policies and agendas of each of the five coincide with U.S. foreign policy objectives and provide significant benefits, such as setting international standards for living and working conditions; improving global health; and collecting, analyzing, and disseminating global information on trade, health, population, and employment. They also provide opportunities for joint research among technical experts to combat deadly diseases, such as AIDS and the Ebola virus. The five organizations have begun to address weaknesses in the management and administration of their programs, such as the lack of budget transparency and the overlap of programs and activities. These weaknesses have been the subject of frequent criticism by Congress, the State Department, and others.

GAO found that: (1) policies and agendas adopted by WHO, PAHO, ILO, UNCTAD, and UNFPA coincide with U.S. foreign policy objectives; (2) assessments by U.S. officials and other experts conclude that programs and activities of the 5 organizations provide significant benefits; (3) the programs and activities also provide opportunities for joint scientific research among the technical experts of participating countries in combating deadly diseases; (4) U.S. officials asserted, and other experts agreed, that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for any federal agency or private institution to perform the mandates of the 5 organizations; (5) these organizations are now generally considered politically neutral by most governments and provide the United States access to countries in which it would otherwise face legal, financial, or jurisdictional obstacles; (6) in addition, membership in these organizations allows the United States to work with other nations in sharing the burden of dealing with challenges that threaten domestic security, international stability, and human well-being around the world; (7) declining resources available from donor countries, the increasing number of worldwide crises, and the demands for better collaboration between the donor organizations and the recipient countries have caused the 5 organizations to recognize the need for improved management and administration; (8) each has begun to address weaknesses in the management and administration of its operations and programs; (9) these weaknesses have been the subject of frequent criticism by Congress, the State Department, and other U.S. foreign policy analysts; (10) PAHO, ILO, and UNFPA, which the United States generally considers to be responsive to recommended management and administrative improvements, have initiated a number of reforms; (11) in contrast, WHO and UNCTAD have been slower than the other 3 organizations in undertaking significant management and administrative improvements; (12) although the United States believes that strengthening the internal audit function is imperative to efficient management, WHO still has not clearly defined the function's degree of independence or established specifically which internal audit reports would be provided to WHO's members; (13) UNCTAD was even slower in initiating reforms, but provisions were adopted at its 1996 conference for streamlining institutional arrangements; and (14) the United States and other member states are continuing to push for reforms in each of the 5 organizations GAO studied.