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STU/65th Council/13/017
9 October 2013

Dear colleagues,

You will find below the oral intervention, delivered by STU on 8 October 2013, on the document 192 EX/4 part III: Follow-up to the Independent External Evaluation of UNESCO (IEE), the implementation of the roadmap and the financial situation.

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Thank you, Mr. Chair,

Distinguished Delegates,

1. The STU is surprised to note that no specific information has been provided concerning the way in which each of the roadmap targets is being dealt with. The roadmap’s ambiguous nature was moreover pointed out in the report by the External Auditor (section 4.4 of document 191 EX/28, Part II). Thus, the lack of information in no way allows the Executive Board to gauge, in particular, the actual impact of the targets in terms of programme delivery capacity or even budget savings.


2. Regardless of the issue, as, for example, Target 4 which deals with the field reform in Africa, Target 10 on a better balance between posts in programme and in administration, Target 11 concerning the voluntary separation scheme, or Target 15 on the more efficient use of available office space, STU considers that the various aspects of reforms relating to organizational processes should fully include all those implementing the programme within the Organization, and be based on an in-depth, detailed study of all processes with the staff concerned, taking into account current and future restructuring.


3. However, this is not the case and therefore it is not surprising that the report of the External Auditor stated, in paragraph 49 of document 191 EX/28, that "the impact on the Organization's regular budget, advanced as a postulate by the Secretariat, remains to be proven." In addition to the unproven impact in terms of budget savings, the consequences of the implementation of the roadmap on the capacity of the staff to execute the programmes and mission of the Organization are not mentioned either in the document 192 EX/4, Part III.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.