Irish Diplomat to head key UN Task Force

Irish Diplomat to head key UN Task Force

The President of the UN General Assembly, Swedish Foreign Minister Jan Eliasson, has appointed David Cooney, Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations, as Co-Chair of a key General Assembly Working Group on UN Reform. Welcoming the appointment, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern T.D., said today:

“I am confident that Ambassador Cooney will do a first-class job, for Ireland as well as for the United Nations, in this important role.” 

“During 2005, as Political Director in my Department, he worked closely with me in my role as Envoy of the UN Secretary-General in the run-up to the 2005 UN World Summit.  He commands the respect of his peers right across the spectrum for his close knowledge of the issues involved in the complex area of UN Reform.  His appointment also reflects Ireland's long-standing commitment to the central role of the United Nations in international peace and security, development and human rights.” 

“Much has been achieved on UN reform since last September's Summit.  Much, however, remains to be done, especially to ensure that the UN Organisation is provided with the right management tools to ensure that it remains capable of acting efficiently and effectively on behalf of all its member states.”

Note for Editors
The General Assembly Working Group on Management Reform and Mandate Review, as its title suggests, has the task of preparing UN General Assembly decisions on management reform at the United Nations and on rationalising and prioritising its work.  It has two Co-Chairs, the other being the Permanent Representative of Pakistan.  The task of the Co-Chairs is to find the broadest possible degree of consensus on a wide range of issues, including oversight and accountability, human resources management, governance and prioritisation of work, in which many of the member states have starkly differing perceptions of their interests.

At the insistence of the US and others, a cap was imposed last December on spending at the UN, which would have left the UN Secretary-General without funds to run the Organisation from around the middle of this year, in the absence of further reforms.  The cap was lifted last week, even though strong differences remain on a range of management reforms proposed by the Secretary-General. 

ENDS +++  
3 July 2006
Press Office