You have been an investment banker, chief of the administration of the US State Department; you have been treasurer of the State of Connecticut. Why did you come to the UN?
I came here because I have a deep belief that the United Nations is the most important organization to build a peaceful, prosperous world, with freedom and dignity for all. I came here because it is an honour to work for the United Nations. I came here also because the Secretary-General needed someone who could help address management issues. And I am thrilled that he selected me.
After 2 months in the UN, can you tell what is working well in the UN and what is not?
It is a difficult question for somebody who has only been here for two months. Instead let me say that I have received the most hospitable welcome, which has given me a real opportunity to learn more intimately how the United Nations works and how we can advance the Secretary-Generals’ reform agenda, culminating obviously with the summit in September and the implementation of the Secretary-General’s vision under the General Assembly’s guidance.
What would you like to achieve in the UN?
I would like the UN to become more accountable, more transparent; to adopt internal controls to the fullest extent possible, to develop an office of ethics and implement annual ethics training globally. I’d also like to create an organization where staff members at all levels and at all duty stations have faith in the ethics and accountability of their senior managers and their colleagues.
Accountability, how do you see it in the UN?
Accountability means that we have systems in place that give the global taxpayer the assurance that we are good custodians and stewards of their money which we are using wisely, effectively and efficiently, to build a more peaceful, prosperous and just world.
belief that the United Nations is the
most important organization to build
a peaceful, prosperous world…»
How do you imagine implementing such accountability?
The American corporate world has changed under the congressionally mandated requirements for chief executive officers to attest to their internal controls and seek and audit of these controls. Internal controls are also being applied to non-profit organizations and to the U.S. Government. It is not just an American issue, it is not just a corporate concept, internal controls are important and should apply to all organizations throughout the world. There are already internal controls in the United Nations but they need to be improved and enhanced. The Secretary-General has recognized this and under the leadership of the Deputy-Secretary-General focusing on management reform issues, they are coming up with a number of recommendations including empowerment and expansion of OIOS, whistleblower protection, a standalone office of ethics and enhanced financial disclosure.
A large number of staff members wish to have the possibility to evaluate the performance of their chief, what do you think of this?
We call that 360-degree reviews, where an
individual’s superiors, subordinates, colleagues,
and customers all contribute to that
individual’s performance appraisal. It is a
very effective tool for improving management
performance but to my mind it should not be
done on a regular basis. Being a manager is
not a popularity contest and a 360-degree
review is not done to identify the most popular
manager. It is there to identify how we can
make good managers better.
You are in charge of the investments of our pension funds. As a former investment manager what is your view about our pension investments?
There is a recent study that was done by Deloitte & Touche that makes a number of recommendations on how to manage the $30 billion of the pension fund. Like a number of things in the United Nations, it needs to be modernised. How we manage this huge account is very important. It is more than just making good returns on our earnings, it is also making sure the asset allocation meets the fund’s actuarial requirements. We have a number of proposals currently under consideration. We’re also lucky to have a very talented chief investment officer, Ms. Chieko Okuda, to lead the fund on a daily basis, and I have been impressed with the staff of the fund.
Do you think that our exposure in terms of stocks, which is around 60%, is adequate?
Again, one makes this decision on the basis of an asset allocation liability study but I suspect that given the fact that the fund is fully funded we can afford to take a more conservative approach, but that approach should still be driven by our future cash flow needs.
Edward C. Luck, a Columbia University professor who specializes in the United Nations, said recently: “You send someone to New York, and in a couple of years they begin to sound a lot more like a UN person than a Bush administration appointee”. Are you already a UN person?
When I arrived here two months ago, I took a pledge of loyalty to the UN and I stand by that pledge. It is my honour to work here for the UN and for my friend, Kofi Annan. My father was the New York Times correspondent to the United Nations in the early 1960s. I came to the UN Headquarters in New York many times as a child to see where my father worked. I love to have this legacy connection to the UN but I also feel that I have been given a great opportunity over the last four years to work in the United States Department of State. Today I can only hope that the skills I’ve developed and my experience of the past four years with the Bush Administration will be of benefit to the United Nations.
