Why do they count their Eritrean involvement as a success is beyond me
Begin forwarded message:
> From: "USUN, PRESS" <USUNPRESS_at_state.gov>
> Subject: Fact Sheet: Obama Administration Accomplishments: Reforming the United Nations
> Date: September 26, 2012 6:40:12 PM EDT
> To: "USUN, PRESS" <USUNPRESS_at_state.gov>
>
> United States Mission to the United Nations
>
> Office of Press and Public Diplomacy
>
> 799 United Nations Plaza
>
> New York, NY 10017
>
> (212) 415-4050
>
> http://www.usun.state.gov
>
>
>
> Follow us on <http://twitter.com/AmbassadorRice> and
> <http://www.facebook.com/AmbassadorRice>
>
>
>
> USUN PRESS RELEASE #196
> September 26, 2012
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
>
>
> Fact Sheet: Obama Administration Accomplishments: Reforming the United
> Nations
>
>
>
> The Obama Administration has dramatically changed America's course at
> the United Nations to advance our interests and values and help forge a
> more secure and prosperous world. Critical in this endeavor has been our
> ongoing work to build a modern, more efficient, more effective United
> Nations. Key achievements in this effort include:
>
>
>
> Economy: A Leaner UN
>
>
>
> As the largest financial contributor to the UN, the U.S. is committed to
> ensuring that funds are spent wisely and not wasted. The Obama
> Administration has saved U.S. taxpayer money by:
>
>
>
> * Continuing to lead efforts to maintain the 5% cut in the size
> of the 2012-13 UN regular budget from the previous biennium final
> appropriation, which resulted in a savings to American taxpayers of as
> much as $100 million and represented the first meaningful cut in the UN
> budget since the 1990's and just the second in 50 years.
>
>
>
> * Establishing a Senior Advisory Group to examine the rates of
> reimbursement for troop contributing countries following defeat of a
> proposed 57% annual increase in 2011 in the reimbursement rate for
> troops in peacekeeping missions that would have cost the U.S. alone $190
> million.
>
>
>
> * Promoting a more "paperless" UN that has resulted, for
> example, in a 75% reduction of pages printed in New York by the
> Department of General Assembly and Conference Management over the past
> three years, saving on an annual basis a pile of paper 66 times the
> height of the Secretariat building.
>
>
>
> * Introducing the concept of, and strongly supporting, a pay
> freeze, leading the International Civil Service Commission to
> effectively implement a pay freeze for New York-based UN employees,
> while deferring to the General Assembly for a final decision on the
> issue this fall. We will continue to push the UN to maintain the pay
> freeze at a time when taxpayers everywhere are facing greater financial
> pressures.
>
>
>
> * Containing the growth of the UN peacekeeping budget by closing
> peacekeeping missions, as appropriate, showing increased discipline in
> establishing new missions, emphasizing management innovations, and
> shifting resources from overhead to operations. These measures led to a
> lower price tag in 2012 for UN peacekeeping of more than $500 million
> compared to the previous year's approved budget.
>
>
>
> * Securing unanimous support for a GA resolution calling on the
> UN to reign in Capital Master Plan cost overruns and authorizing a
> forensic audit to determine what caused these overruns.
>
>
>
> Accountability: A Cleaner UN
>
>
>
> The Obama Administration has made considerable progress in boosting
> transparency and advancing accountability issues at the UN, including:
>
>
>
> * Supporting the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) to
> be a strong and independent watchdog so that U.S. taxpayers' money is
> spent wisely and UN programs are managed effectively, and successfully
> leading efforts to appoint a well-respected and qualified
> candidate-Carman Lapointe-to lead OIOS. Lapointe has rebuilt OIOS
> capacity by reducing OIOS staffing vacancies from 27% to 12% and by
> filling key leadership positions in the Investigations Division and the
> Inspection and Evaluation Division with highly qualified officers.
>
>
>
> * Supporting the head of the Ethics Office, Ms. Joan Dubinsky, a
> highly experienced American, to strengthen the culture of ethical
> behavior in the UN by increasing training and ensuring compliance of
> financial disclosure to prevent conflict of interest.
>
>
>
> * Securing public access to the internal audit reports of UNDP,
> UNICEF, and all of the New York funds and programs, and in so doing,
> setting a new standard for transparency in the UN system. We are
> building on this success to urge the rest of the UN system, including
> the UN Secretariat, to do the same.
>
>
>
> * Leading the General Assembly in adopting live webcasting
> coverage of all UN Committee formal meetings through webcasting.
>
>
>
> Integrity: A Respected UN
>
>
>
> The Obama Administration is working to ensure that the UN lives up to
> its founding principles and values by:
>
>
>
> * Working from within the Human Rights Council to enhance
> protection for and improve the treatment of people around the world.
> Though the Council remains flawed, U.S. engagement at the HRC has
> resulted in major progress. This includes:
>
>
>
> o Mandates to monitor closely and address the human rights situations
> in Iran, Libya, Syria, North Korea, Burma, Sudan, Ivory Coast, Cambodia,
> Belarus and Eritrea.
>
>
>
> o Reinvigorated use of the special session mechanism to highlight
> atrocities and abuses
>
> on the ground in Syria and Libya and establish Commissions of Inquiries
> for both to report on human rights violations.
>
>
>
> o The first UN resolution solely focused on LGBT persons that paved
> the way for the first UN report on the challenges faced by LGBT people
> and sustained Council attention.
>
>
>
> o A new way forward to counter the deeply problematic concept of
> defamation of religion that instead promotes tolerance for all religious
> beliefs, promotes education and dialogue, does not support bans on free
> speech, and is consistent with U.S. laws and universal values.
>
>
>
> o A landmark internet freedom resolution reaffirming our longstanding
> commitment to freedoms of expression, association, and assembly.
>
>
>
> o The creation of the UN Working Group on laws that discriminate
> against women.
>
>
>
> * Increasing the vote margins on the General Assembly
> resolutions condemning human rights abuses in Iran, North Korea, and
> Burma.
>
>
>
> * Working tirelessly to ensure that, for the first time ever,
> the General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to condemn the appalling human
> rights situation in Syria.
>
>
>
> * Working consistently and forcefully to oppose unbalanced and
> biased actions against Israel in the Human Rights Council, the Security
> Council, the UN General Assembly, and across the UN system, while at the
> same time working to secure Israel's full integration in the UN system,
> including pressing at all UN institutions for Israel to be admitted to
> appropriate regional consultation groups.
>
>
>
> * Fighting to ensure that all worthy non-governmental
> organizations have access to the UN by gaining accreditation through the
> UN's NGO Committee, including LGBT NGOs and leading historic efforts to
> accredit the first Syrian-based NGO.
>
>
>
> * Leading efforts to prevent human rights abusers, such as Iran,
> Syria and Sudan from winning election to the Human Rights Council.
>
>
>
> * Actively supported historic efforts to suspend Qaddafi's Libya
> from the Human Rights Council, the first time the General Assembly has
> censured an abusive state serving on its human rights body based on that
> state's human rights record.
>
>
>
> * Reaffirming the historic provision to prevent reimbursement
> for UN peacekeeping troops who have been repatriated for disciplinary
> reasons, including violation of the UN zero tolerance policy on sexual
> exploitation and abuse.
>
>
>
> Excellence: An Effective UN
>
>
>
> The Administration has constantly pushed for ways to ensure that the UN
> delivers real results and performs to the highest standards by:
>
>
>
> * Spearheading the establishment of a new UN agency called UN
> Women, combining four separate UN offices into one stronger and
> streamlined entity working to support and empower women worldwide.
>
>
>
> * Promoting the implementation of the Global Field Support
> Strategy, a sweeping reform of UN administrative and logistics support
> for UN field operations. Implementation of this initiative has already
> led to $250 million in savings in the current peacekeeping budget and
> will continue to improve the quality, consistency, and efficiency of
> service delivery and strengthen the UN's capacity to support complex
> field missions.
>
>
>
> * Supporting reforms that harmonized conditions of service for
> staff serving in the most difficult locations in the world to help the
> UN attract and retain the most qualified staff for hardship posts.
>
>
>
> * Continuing to press the UN to improve its personnel management
> policies, particularly in the areas of strategic planning, career
> development, and performance management, while also pushing the UN
> system to take measures to control the cost of personnel given the
> current economic climate, i.e. through the imposition of a hiring
> freeze.
>
>
>
> ###
>
>
>
Received on Thu Sep 27 2012 - 15:53:08 EDT
