Global Policy Forum

The United Nations Department of Political Affairs will gain more than 100 new staff as part of a programme by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to make the department more proactive in averting crises and conflicts before they can emerge and threaten peace and security.

The planned reorganization of DPA will cost about $21 million over the next two years, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe told reporters at a briefing today to outline the changes. Mr. Pascoe said numerous independent reports, including one most recently from the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS)have found that DPA is chronically starved of resources and unable to meet the ever-growing demand to try to resolve conflicts and other problems around the world.

The department currently has about 220 staff based at UN Headquarters in New York and an annual budget of some $32 million. Mr. Pascoe said the extra funds required to pay for the expansion of the department's preventive diplomacy role are small in comparison to the benefits it can potentially bring. "It is so obviously cost-effective if we can be successful in stopping the issues, debates, fights, both internal and external," he said. "It's so much better if we can do it early on rather than later."

Last month Mr. Ban told the General Assembly's Fifth Committee, which deals with administrative and budgetary matters, that boosting the world body's capacity to prevent and resolve conflicts was "among the smartest investments we can make." Under the changes, DPA will gain 70 professional posts and 31 general service staff, while the regional divisions will be re-organized from four units into six: two each for Africa and Asia, and one for Europe and for Latin America.

The department will also establish more regional offices, modelled on the lines of the current UN Office for West Africa (UNOWA), that are designed to help individual Member States and regional organizations with their preventive diplomacy efforts. Regional offices are planned for Central Asia, the Great Lakes-Central Africa, Central America, South-East Asia and South-Eastern Europe, Mr. Pascoe said. DPA's mediation unit and its electoral assistance division, which are both already overwhelmed by high workloads, will also be strengthened.

The Under-Secretary-General said it was vital that the UN be able to both detect crises before they occur and respond more quickly to them when they do. Mr. Pascoe observed that DPA is already active in dealing with many diplomatic efforts of the UN, including the Darfur conflict in Sudan and the situations in Somalia, Myanmar, Iraq and Nepal. He added that the changes have received strong support from most nations, especially in Africa, where governments have called for greater UN assistance on the preventive diplomacy front.