NEW YORK, June 13: A US Congressional report, set to be released this week, says the United Nations suffers from poor management, “dismal” staff morale and lack of accountability and professional ethics but will recommend the broad changes proposed for the organization by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the New York Timessaid on Monday.
The report’s copy which was handed over to the Times ahead of its official release, asked the Bush administration to support it. It calls on the world body to adopt corporate-style oversight bodies and staff standards, as well as creating a rapid reaction capability to prevent genocide, mass killings and sustained human rights violations before they occur.
It also calls on the United Nations to create a rapid reaction capability from its member states’ armed forces to prevent genocide, mass killing and sustained major human rights violations before they occur.
Newt Gingrich, a Republican former speaker of the US House of Representatives, and George J. Mitchell, a Democratic former majority Senate leader, are co-chairmen of the bipartisan task force. It includes former diplomats, military and intelligence officials and leaders of conservative and liberal political institutes.
The Congress created it in December to suggest measures to make the United Nations more effective and ways in which the United States can spur needed changes. The United States is the biggest donor to the United Nations, contributing 22 per cent of the regular operating budget and nearly 27 per cent of the peacekeeping budget.
