As many of the world's conflicts begin to show possibilities for resolution and the United Nations continues to play a highly visible role in attempts to negotiate agreements among belligerent states, there has been an increasing clamor about how the United Nations has finally become what its founders envisioned in 1945. The September 13 announcement by President Reagan that the United States would resume its share of funding of the United Nations may appear to ratify this sentiment, but this decision should not be misconstrued as implying that the United Nations has turned the corner and is necessarily headed toward a long-awaited renaissance. The general feeling in the United States remains, as it should, one of cautious optimism.
True, there has been some progress in the particular areas of reform addressed by Congress in the most recent Foreign Relations Authorization Act. In response to the call for a 15 percent cut in UN Secretariat personnel, Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar has submitted plans for the elimination of 1,465 staff positions by December 31, 1989. This is a reduction of approximately 12.8 percent.
Furthermore, marginal efforts have been made toward reaching a 50 percent limit on the number of Secretariat employees from any one country on fixed-term contracts, a practice known as secondment that makes them more responsive to their own countries' demands than to the United Nations'. The Soviet Union, 100 percent of whose nationals working for the Secretariat are seconded, has promised to allow between 3 and 6 of its 184 UN staff members to accept permanent contracts. With the small number of people that Moscow promises to put on permanent contracts, some 97 percent of the Soviets at United Nations will still be on fixed-term contracts. There is no indication that they or their Eastern bloc allies have any intention of complying with the 50 percent limit.
The call for greater influence by major donors on budget matters has resulted in a weak consensus decision-making procedure that is not yet fully tested. The group that makes budget recommendations, the Committee for Program and Coordination, reached a consensus on the secretary-general's preliminary budget outline for the 1990-91 biennium on September 19 this year. However, the General Assembly, which requires no consensus, has not approved this outline. The General Assembly has ultimate authority over the budget and, as has frequently happened in the past, can add to the final budget even as far along in the budget process as the second year of the biennial cycle.
While these efforts are not entirely negligible, their implementation is still in jeopardy. Constant vigilance will be required of the secretary-general, as well as the United States, to prevent these improvements from being rolled back. Moreover, if these efforts are successful, the reform movement cannot be abandoned. Instead, the success should serve as a catalyst for continued improvement, perhaps ultimately resulting in an organization capable of achieving the goals embodied in the UN Charter. The contention that these developments indicate that the United Nations has finally turned the corner is, at best, premature and, more likely, entirely false.
More changes needed
In addition to the reforms that are presently getting under way, the United Nations will have to initiate
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