Accountability and the United Nations System 1 www.unu.edu Accountability and the United Nations System I n the face of numerous formidable challenges existing in the world today, effective global governance has come to the forefront of the international agenda. Many hope and expect that the United Nations orga- nizations can play a key role in helping international society to overcome or better manage these difficulties. Actually, UN Member States continue to assign the organization an ever longer list of critically important tasks. As a vital precondi- tion to resolving or ameliorating the global problems and challenges of the twenty- first century, however, the many entities that find a place under the UN umbrella must themselves improve their efficiency and effectiveness. In this context, and in the context of UN reform in general, a growing demand has been placed, in recent years, on enhancing the accountability of the UN organizations. Te UN General Assembly, for example, in a recent resolution emphasized the importance of strengthened accountability in the organization and of ensur- ing greater accountability of the Secretary-General to the Member States, inter alia, for the effective and efficient implementation of legislative mandates and the best use of human and financial resources. Further, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in the conclusion of his annual report presented to the 61st General Assembly session (September 2006–August 2007), reiterated the importance of accountability by stating that the organization can become stronger and more effective only if it is better managed and more clearly accountable. Concept of Accountability Despite frequent use of the term, accountability is a sufficiently elusive concept on which views and opinions diverge. In part, the multiple approaches are rooted in the differing perspectives found in various academic disciplines, such as those of phi- losophy, public administration, political science, international relations and public international law. As Edward Luck has observed, “[T]here is no generally accepted understanding of what accountability entails or how it could best be measured, assessed or instilled in the Organization. Who should be accountable to whom for what?” In order to arrive at useful recommendations for reform, it is thus important to illuminate the contours of accountability, as it relates to the United Overview The term accountability has come to be used increasingly these days at the United Nations as a key word in the Secretary- General reports, General Assembly resolutions, etc. However, accountability is by nature a “fuzzy” word and views are divergent on the concept, depending upon academic discipline. It appears to be a political reality within the United Nations that there may exist a certain mistrust between Member States over perceptions of accountability, the lack thereof, and ensuing policy implications and consequences. With that background in mind, this policy brief frst discusses conceptual matters, including the defnition of accountability, the question of who bears accountability for what and to whom, and managerial accountability as well as political account- ability in the context of the United Nations. This is followed by a presen- tation of a normative framework for strengthening UN accountability, with the hope that it influences the endeavours of practitioners and academics, alike, in respect to making the United Nations more accountable in the role of effective and effcient global governance. Written by Michael Fowler and Sumihiro Kuy ama © United Nations University, 2007 ISBN 978-92-808-3047-7 ISSN 1814-8026 Licensed under the Creative Commons Deed “Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivs 2.5” number , 