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United Nations: Additional Efforts Needed to Increase U.S. Employment at U.N. Agencies

GAO-06-988 Published: Sep 06, 2006. Publicly Released: Sep 14, 2006.
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Highlights

The U.S. Congress continues to be concerned about the underrepresentation of U.S. professionals in some UN organizations and that insufficient progress has been made to improve U.S. representation. In 2001, GAO reported that several UN agencies fell short of their targets for U.S. representation and had not developed strategies to employ more Americans. This report reviews (1) U.S. representation status and employment trends at five UN agencies, (2) factors affecting these agencies' ability to meet employment targets, and (3) the U.S. Department of State's (State) efforts to improve U.S. representation and additional steps that can be taken. We reviewed five UN agencies that together comprise about 50 percent of total UN organizations' professional staff.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of State Because equitable representation of Americans employed at UN organizations has been a high priority for U.S. interests, the Secretary of State should provide more consistent and comprehensive information about UN employment on the State and U.S. mission Web sites and work with U.S. agencies to expand the UN employment information on their Web sites. This could include identifying options for developing a benefits calculator that would enable applicants to better estimate their potential total compensation based on their individual circumstances.
Closed – Implemented
State responded in a November 2006 letter to House and Senate oversight committees that it had begun taking steps to provide more consistent and comprehensive information to potential candidates, including creating links on UN employment to its Mission Web sites and developing additional information on its UN employment Web page. In July 2007, State officials told us that they directed the U.S. Missions to add a link to State's UN employment site and added information on UN benefits and compensation to the site. In December 2008, State provided us with additional information added to the UN employment site, including a new international organization contact list and an updated and expanded fact sheet on UN employment. In addition, State reported that in 2007 and 2008 interagency group meetings, it requested that other agencies add links to State's UN employment site. In December 2009, State officials told us that State's Web site for the Bureau of International Organization added comprehensive information on resources for spousal employment; listed some of the UN employment benefits; provided information on internship opportunities, including links to the UN organizations' Web sites; and included a highlights box on the site's front page where special positions seeking Americans are listed.
Department of State Because equitable representation of Americans employed at UN organizations has been a high priority for U.S. interests, the Secretary of State should expand targeted recruiting and outreach to more strategically reach populations of Americans that may be qualified for and interested in entry- and mid-level UN positions.
Closed – Implemented
State responded in a November 2006 letter to House and Senate oversight committees that it had started researching Internet-based options for automating the dissemination of international organization vacancy announcements. State also reported that it was conducting research to expand its list of professional associations and other groups to target particular audiences with information on international organization career opportunities. In July 2007, State officials told us that they continued to outreach to new groups and attend career fairs, including military career fairs in order to target retired military personnel. In addition, in 2008, State reported that it had increased outreach, such as to the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs. State also reported that it had increased the number of outreach events from 15 events in 2005 to 38 in 2009.
Department of State Because equitable representation of Americans employed at UN organizations has been a high priority for U.S. interests, the Secretary of State should conduct an evaluation of the costs, benefits, and trade-offs of maintaining a roster of qualified candidates for professional and senior positions determined to be a high priority for U.S. interests.
Closed – Implemented
State responded in a November 2006 letter to House and Senate oversight committees that it had begun researching the concept of maintaining a roster of candidates. As of December 2009, State officials told us that they have received funding and staff resources to develop a roster, in which people interested in UN jobs would self-populate with information such as skills and interests, to be matched with UN organizations' vacancy announcements. In July 2010, State officials noted that they are in the process of finalizing this roster, which would provide a better search mode for the international vacancy announcement list and allow people to get email alerts about job vacancies. State officials said that the goal is for this roster to be operational by the end of the summer 2010.
Department of State Because equitable representation of Americans employed at UN organizations has been a high priority for U.S. interests, the Secretary of State should conduct an evaluation of the costs, benefits, and trade-offs of funding Junior Professional Officers, or other gratis personnel, where Americans are underrepresented or in danger of becoming underrepresented.
Closed – Not Implemented
In response to the GAO recommendation, State did not conduct a formal assessment of funding Junior Professional Officers (JPO) in the UN system. GAO noted in its 2006 report that an assessment of the JPO program would involve weighing the trade-offs between funding JPOs and other agency programs. Instead, State informally assessed the JPO program by reviewing and agreeing with the findings of a 2008 UN Joint Inspection Unit report on JPO programs.

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