UNITED NATIONS: Progress of Procurement Reforms.

The U.N. Board of Auditors, the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services, and the High Level Group of Experts have pointed out numerous problems in the operations of the U.N. Secretariats procurement system. These problems involved issues concerning all elements of an effective procurement system, such as lack of competition, with over 50 percent of contracts not competed in the past, and accountability, with confusion over responsibility and authority leading to inconsistent application of rules. Many of these findings refer to the period prior to 1996, but some findings have been more recent. To correct these and other problems, the Secretariat established a High Level Expert Group on Procurement. In 1995, the Secretariat adopted the Expert Groups recommendations as the framework for procurement reform and since then has made considerable progress in implementing the recommendations and taken other action to improve its procurement system. For example, evidence developed by U.N. audit and inspection organizations indicates that the Secretariat has strengthened accountability by designating clear lines of authority, improved competitive practices by increasing the percentage of contracts that are awarded through competitive bid, and strengthened the fairness of the process by publishing common specifications for goods procured by the U.N. system.