UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Thursday signed a new annual series of compacts with his own senior managers aimed at holding them accountable for their performances and at increasing transparency.
"The world looks to us to tackle a remarkable array of problems -- from long-standing challenges that have defied the best efforts of generations, to new ones of tremendous severity and complexity, " he said at the signing ceremony, adding that the compacts aim to clarify "the tangible results the United Nations intends to deliver each year."
This year the signed compacts, human resources management scorecards and end-of-year results will be posted on a new website dedicated to accountability, launched on the UN's internal website and known as Accountability A to Z.
"It assembles in one location the key documents that form the accountability architecture currently in place in the United Nations Secretariat program plans, budgets and performance reports, regulations, rules, and relevant administrative issuances, " Ban said. "The 'tone at the top' will be critical. As senior leaders, strengthening accountability starts with us."
Also at the ceremony, UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro urged the top managers to sign additional compacts with their own senior staff and to share them with staff at all levels.
"These Compacts reflect your individual goals for the year ahead," she said. "They also represent our collective goals as an Organization."
"As you know, teamwork is essential to achieving our objectives. That is why the secretary-general and I believe it is valuable and meaningful to gather as a group to sign these documents," she said.