But in its report released last week, the GAO said that Annan's authority is limited to reform of the Secretariat only and that the reform program has sometimes been hampered by a lack of consensus among member countries as well as by resistance to change from program managers and possible resource constraints.
"In general the reforms under Secretary General's authority were progressing more quickly than those requiring member state's approval," says the 64-page report, which was prepared in response to requests to assess the overall status of the reforms and potential challenges to them.
Since taking office in 1997, Annan has repeatedly made public announcements expressing his intent to reform the UN bureaucracy and to streamline the operations of the Secretariat.
The GAO said that although reform in four key areas human capital management, result-oriented budgeting, public information system and human rights office are in various stages of progress, there are several challenges that remain. The GAO recommended that Secretary of State and the US Permanent Representative to the UN work with other member states to encourage Annan, among others, to report regularly on the impact of reforms and identify short and long term goals and establish target end dates for remaining reforms.
