Management reform in the UN system: what is required for success?
Complaints about the defects of the UN system — bureaucracy, duplication, secrecy and unresponsiveness — persist despite decades of reform initiatives. In the current issue of Governance (24.4, October 2011) Olivier Nay of the University of Lille Northern France examines a successful effort at management reform within the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS. Nay concludes that reform succeeded here because of the coincidence of external pressure and the “active support of UN agencies who had a common interest in shifting institutional arrangements.” Success at reform in international organizations, Nay says, requires an examination of “intertwined” external and internal factors. Read more: What Drives Reforms in International Organizations? External Pressure and Bureaucratic Entrepreneurs in the UN Response to AIDS.
