Of the Preliminary List*

Diatr. GENERAL

A/41/328 9 May 1986

ORIGINAL: ENGLISH

Forty-first seseion Item 113 of the preliminary list*

PROGRAMME BUDGET FOR THE BIENNIUM 1986-1987

Evaluation of the News Service of the Department of Political and Security Council Affairs

Note by the Secretary-General

1. Ae requested by the Committee for Programme and Co-ordinc.ilon at ite twenty-fifth session, the report of the Administrative Management Service on the evaluation of the News Service of the Department of Political and Security Council AffairA is annexed to the present note. Under normal circumstances, reports of the Administrative Manaqement Service are internal documents for Secretariat use only. Exceptionally, however, because of the epecial interest expressed by the members of the Committee for Proqramme and Co-ordination and Member States, this evaluation report ie beinq made public. The evaluation report is provided in its entirety, a8 prepared by the Administrative Management Service, but itR ennexes have been omitted to reduce caste.

2. The Secretary-General conaiders the conclusions and recommendations of the report to be, in qeneral, soundly based an.i has reservations only about the recommendation that the daily bulletins be reduced from four to two a day. The utility of these bulletins ts much enhanced by their timeliness. If they were reduced to two a day, Borne of this value would be lo&*.. The Secretary-General would therefore prefer that the present four daily bulletins be keduced by only one. This would aeem to coincide with the views expreesed by other end-users.

3. Aa the sources utilized for the daily press review have been expanded and its coverage extended in accordance with the findings in the evaluation, :he Secretary-General believes that there would be value in continuing the daily press review for a further period of three months in order lo as8e88 ite value in the light of these changes.

* A/41/50/Rev.l.

86-12950 1954m (E) / . . 0 A/41/328 English Page 2

ANNEX

Evaluation of the News Service of the Department of Political- and Security Council Affairs

(Prepared by the Administrative Management Service of the Secretariat)

CONTENTS

Paragraphs Page

I. ‘NTRODUCTION ...... 1 - 7 3

A. General ...... 1 - 4 3

B. Objectives and methodology of the evaluation ...... 5 - 7 3

11. ANALYSIS OF THE POLITICAL AND SECURITY COUNCIL AFFAIRS NEWS SERVICE ...... 8 - 59 4

A. History and mandate of the Political and Security Collncil Affairs Newr Service ...... 8 4

B. Objectives of the News Service ...... Q - 12 4

C” Description and assessment of outputs ...... 13 - 40 5

D. Sts 4fing and redeployments ...... 41 - 49 15

E. Costs of the Political and Security Council Affairs New8 Service ...... 50 - 53 19

F. Twenty-four hour wire service monitorinq ...... 54 - 59 21

III. CONCLUSIONS ...... 60 - 69 22

IV. RECOMMENDA’i’KONS ..~..,,...... C..,,..,..,...... ~..,...... “.... 24

/ . . . A/4 l/328 Englirh Page 3

I. INTRODUCTION

A. Genera 1

1. This evaluation of the News Service of the Department of Politic81 and Security Council Affairs (PSCA), hereafter referred to au the New8 Service, hre been prepared by the Adminietrative Management Service (AMS), at the request ef the Secretary-General. The eva lust ion plan was approved, on behalf of the Secretary-General, by the Chef de Cabinet on 14 Novemtcr 1985.

2. This final report enlarges upon the progrerrs report which WII rubmitted to the Executive Office of the Secretary-*General on 23 December 1985.

3. It will be recalled that since the evaluation exercire began, the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly diacursed the New8 Service at conridersble length. The progress report of December 1985 rummarlzed the Committee’8 deliberatione in this regard. On 14 December 1985 the General Aamemb!y, in eection XI of resolution 40/252, decided:

“to maintain for 1986 the current staffing resources of the New8 Service of the Department of Political and Security Council Affairs pending consideration by the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination and the General Asaemb Y of the Secretary-General’s report on the evaluation of the Newr Service”.

4. The Secretariat hae undertaken that “the result6 of the evaluation will be available to the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination In time for its twenty-sixth 8eesionn, which is now scheduled to take place from 28 April to 30 May 1986.

B. Objectives and methodology of the evaluation

5. The two-fold man?ate of the evaluation waBt

(a) To evaluate both the utility of the News Service to clients and its efficiency with regard to internal ar;angemente;

(b) To make recommendations on any improvements that could be made.

6. Through the use of structured interviews , work sampling and flow-charting, work study techniques and systems and procedures analysis, the evaluation team undertook the following:

(a) Review of the operations, schedule, collection and selection methods for the news obtained from wire services)

(b) Review of the preparation and publication methods of the daily and weekly news bulletins and reports)

/ . . . A/41/328 English Page 4

(c) Procedural study Of the diaaemination channels and distribution patterns of daily and weekly news bulletin8 and reports)

(d) Detailed analysis of responsibilities and work-loads of the staff of the News Service)

(e) Content analysis on a sample basis of news coveraqo in the daily and weekly bulletins and reports)

(f) Survey of users9 views on the benefits of the enhanced News Servicer

(g) Review of organizational relationships related to the News Service’8 operations and mission, including the relationship with other information inputs to the Excrutive Office of the Secretary-General and related linkages to the Department of Public Information and other Departments and Offices as required.

7. Before undertaking desk audits and conducting interviews with the staff concerned, the evaluation team looked in some detail into the background of the News Service. It followed closely the debates in the Fifth Committee and took into account the points raised during the twenty-fifth cession of the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination. The team paid special attention to the question of possible duplication with the outputs of other departments of the Secretariat, especially the Department of Public Information (DPI). To that end, it conducted several interviews with DPI staff and visited a number of inatallations in that Department.

II. ANALYSIS OF THE POLITICAL AND SECURITY COUNCIL AFFAIRS NEWS SERVICE

A. History and mandate of the PSCA News Service

8. The gathering of new8 relating to political issues for the Secretary-General and its distribution to other appropriate officials had been under way in the Secretariat lonq before the present Secretary-General decided “to develop a wider and more systematic capacity for fact-finding in potential conflict areas”, as stated in his 1982 report on the work of the Organization. The PICA News Service, which was established by the Secretary-General in his capacity as Chief Administrative Officer of the Organization, doee not supersede any orqani?ational unit of the Department of Political and Security Council Affairs. Its objectives were integrated Into the work programme and the activities of the Section for Co-ordination and Political Information within that Department, which was created in 1975 by merging two units , one for co-ordination and the other for political information, in the Office of the Under-Secretary-General.

8. Objectives of the News Service

9. It will be recalled that the News Service, as constituted at present, grew a8 a consequence of the Secretary-General’s annual report on the work of the

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Organization, presented to the General Aesembly at its thirty-seventh session and the in-depth analysiu of the available public sourcea of information undertaken SUbSeCWently by a workinq group of thrQe Under-Secretaries-General. In his report, the Secretary-General specifically stated: “In order to carry out effectively the preventive role foreseen for the Secretary-General under Article 99, I intend t0 develop a wider and more systematic capacity for fact-finding in potential conflict areas. Such efforts would naturally be undertaken in close co-ordination with the Security council. ” 3.J

10. In order to carry out his function8 under Article 99 of the Charter, the Secretary-General can draw on an information-gathering network of which information in the public domain form8 only one part. He is in frequent contact with Governments of Member States at the senior-most levels a8 well as with their representatives to the Organization. Likewise he is in constant contact with his senior colleagues both at Headquarter8 and in the field as well as with hia close aides. Of all the public sources of information that reach the Secretary-General, the NOW8 Service is but one. His Executive Office prepare8 for him on a weekly ba8iS an exteileive cortpendium of international press and wire service coverage of and comment on a wide ranqe of matters, including rituatione that might place under threat the maintenance of international peace and security. His spokesman, whore staff monitors the Reuters wire service and who is in constant contact with all the member8 of the united Nations Correspondent8 Association, frequently alerts him and hi8 aides to breaking news that. might merit their attention. He is providad with daily summaries of the local press by hi8 repreeentatives in areas where the Organization maintains peace-keeping operations. In addition the publicly available information of local origin provided by the United Nations Information Centre8 (UNIC) around the world is analysed in hi8 Executive Office and UMmCiZOd on a weekly basis. These sources of information are highly valued by the Secretary-General and his close collaborators a8 they have been modified and honed over time.

11. In 8umr it ia essential to L)ee the Newa Service a8 one part of a very broad network of information sources used by the Secretary-General and hia staff. It ha8 an important role to play but this should be seen in its proper context.

12. Againet this background, the objective of the News Service ha8 been rtated to be twofold :

(a) TO provide the Secretary-General with timely inforlaation on developments related to international peace and security;

(h) To make relevant current news available, on a selective basis, to other appropriate officials in the Secretariat.

C. Description and Jssessment of out-puts

13. The main SOUrCe of information for the New8 SetViCe consists of eight teleprinters for the news agencies of Reuter8, UPI, AFP, Tass, DPA, EFE, Tanjuq and Xin:?ua. Some additional input is obtained from the daily orare. Althouqh UNtt‘ A/41/320 English Page 6

Cables, reports anA Clipping8 are provided, albeit tardily, to the News S F vice, as a qeneral rule, these source8 are very rarely utilized in the preparation of the outputs of the News Service. Monthly magazines, major news weeklies and scholarly journals are not used to suppplement the information sources of the Service. More important, news from the electronic media - radj.0 and television - 18 not used as a direct input. Some additional press coverage of non-United States sources is obtained in a non-systematic manner.

14. The team, in reviewing tne outputs, held firmly to the view that a news service should endeavour to provide its end-users as quickly a6 pO88ible with the news in oriqinal form. AnGlyeis should be left to thoLe most ql!alified to undertake it, i.e., the line political departments and the Executive Office of the Secretary-General.

15. It should be noted that, in addit’on to the six main outputs, new activities such as the collection and weekly circulation of newspaper clipping8 within the Department of Political and Security Council Affairs, and the preparation of a small number of special reports on political issues, have recently been added to the work-load of the service without any increase in staffing.

16. In aseeesincc the usefulness of the Service to it8 Clients, the evaluation team paid close --ttention to views eXpreSSed by the Secretary-General’s Senior colleagues in an opinion survey conducted by the Department in October 1985. The evaluation team alSO COndW”?d interview8 with respondents or their deputies who provided valuable addititirlal cormllenta and inaights.

1. Daily news bulletins

17. Four bulletins, each of approximately two pages in length, appear daily at 9.30 a.m., 11.30 a.m., 2.30 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. To the knowledge of the evaluation team, a special or extraordinary bulletin has appeared only once, in October 1983. The News Service doe8 not monitor wire news report8 on week-ends, holiday8 or outside regular hour8 of work. (Two staff members start work at 7 a.m. to prepare the 9.3u a.m. bulletin.) Teleprinters are turned on automatically at 3 a.m. to obtain news reports from wire services over the early morning hours; they are turned off at 3 p.m. The news is summarized under thematic and regional heading8 with sources indicated and each bulletin is circulated to 152 staff member8 of the Secretar lat. Although the identification and selection of reports require considerable sensitivity and acumen on the part of the selector, the basic operations of the News Serclice involve relatively simple production processes. Selection of news agency reports can be further refined through the use of well prepared guidelines and topic check lists based on the requirements of the internal users. Once this first step is accomplished the production of daily news bulletins involves very straightforward ta8kS related to cummarizing, typing, reproduction and distribution.

18. The evaluation team is of the view that th? daily news bulletins are very ucleful indeed In providing current news not otherwise readily available to senior polltical affairs officials. Items covered in the bulletins frequently go

/ . . . A/41/328 Enqlish Paqe 7

unreported in the local press at Headquarters. Frequently, the staff of the Executive Office of the SWretary-General brinq items in the bulletins to the attention of the Secretary-General and it is thtouqh thi8 channel that he first learns of them.

19. It 18 felt that in the context of la-hour coverage tha fourth daily bulletin which appear8 at 4.30 p.m. risks beinq repetitious. Followinq a close examination of the content8 of several bulletin samples, the evaluation team conclude8 that it would not prej\,9ice the overall usefulness of the bulletins if they were spaced sc that one appear& in the early morning and another in the early afternoon.

20. It would seem that two daily news bulletins, supplemented by tl)ecial bulletin8 where warranted and an amplified distribution of raw wire !,ervice print-outs, would make for an extremely efficient operation and would ensure very full dissemination of current new8 available through this source on the La818 of 12-hour coverage. In the context of 24-hour coverage (as set out in paras. 54-58), a third daily bulletin can be accommodated with a total of seven staff members. Apart from anythinq else, this would reduce the number of deadlines which the staff is required to meet each day. The evaluation team is strongly of the view, however, that the service prov.:jed by the wire services is severely weakened because cjf its restriction to 12-hour instead of 24-hour coverage on working days and the absence of any coverage on week-ends and holidays.

21. Vith regard to the contents of t’e daily bulletins, it was ascertained from the head of the Service an9 from the staff that there are no established, written guidelines qoverninq the selection and presentation of material. The head of the Service informed the team that he was in t: 1 p:ccess of drafting guideline8 which, to the best of the team’s knowledge, hate rx>t y?t been finalized. In general, the staff are advised to cover subjects of a political nature and issues relevant to tllc activities of the Secret.ary-General and the Security Council, Only very c>ci:asion;rllv in the past have staff been advised by their supervisor8 to delete reports on sensitive political situations which were held to be unntiwsworthy. This testifies to the qrowing experience and judgament of the staff involved in the selection process and suqqests that these staff at the P-3 and P-2 levels can perform their tasks with minimum supervision.

22. Th? WalUatiOn team ha8 examined the content of these bulletins takinq as a random sample 20 bulletins that appeared on 4, 18, 19 and 20 November and 2 December 198’ -.E well as 19 bulletins that appeared in the period from 10 to 16 January 198b. .I breakdown by subject topic is set out below1

/ . . . A/41/328 Englirh Page 8

Table 1

!&nplo A: 19 daily nowe bulletinr, from 10 to 16 January 1986

It wa8 found that the bulletin8 featured 196 itomr under a total of 23 topic! headinga, broken down 18 follower

Topic hoadlnq No. of item8

1. Middle Eart 68 2. RelaliOn8 among States (breakdown below) 41 3. Iran ( Islamic Republic of) -Iraq 13 4. Diearmament 12 5. Southern At r ioa 11 6. Democratic Yemen 10 7. South At r ica 7 0. United Nat.iona 6 9. Central Amer lea 5 10. Sri Lanka 4 11. El Salvador 2 12. European Community 2 13. Organiaatlon of African Unity 2 14. Weetern Europe 2 15. Cyprus 1 16. Ethiopia 1 17. India 1 18. Italy 1 19. Latin Amerioa 1 20. Mali-Burkina Faeo 1 21. NATO 1 22. Niger la 1 23. Norway 1 24. Philippines 1 25. Syr Ian Arab Republic 1 Total iteme covered 196 Z=Z

/ . . . n, rr, AL” Englirh Psge 9

Table la v-wBreakdown of the 41 itemr lirtd under relations among Statea

No. of item8

GLilf 4 Ir6ia 4 Afr iCih 3 Inda-China 3 Union of Soviet Socialirt Republic8 - Japan 2 Afghanistan 2 Afro-Arab relations 2 Spain-Arab relations 2 China-Union of Soviet Sociallet Republics 1 Foreign debt 1 France-Germany, Federal Republic of 1 Germany, Federal Republic of-Central America 1 G,,*eece-Yugorlavia 1 Holy See 1 Iran (Islamic Republic of) -Iraq 1 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya-Yemen 1 Turkey-Tuniria 1 United Kingdom-Spain 1 United Stater-Caribbean 1 United States-Germany, Federal Republic of 1 United Statea-German Democratic Republic 1 United States-Libyan Arab Jamahirlya 1 Union of Soviet Socialist Republicr-Albania 1 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics-Argentina 1 Western Sahara 1 Total 41 =

/ . . . A/41/320 Englirh Page 10

Table 2

-SiSl9l 20 bulletins dated 4, 18, 19 and 20 November 1985 and 2 December 1985

The bulletins featured 210 items under a total of 33 topic headinge, broken down ae follows:

headTopic inq No. of item8

1. Relations among Stat28 (breakdown below) 64 > , Middle East 60 3. South Africa 10 4. Southern Afr i,: 10 5. United Nations 10 6. Iran (Islamic Repllhlic of) - Iraq 9 7. Uganda 4 0. Central America 3 9. Disarmament 3 10. NATO 3 11. Afghanistan 2 12. European Community 2 13. Republ ic of Korea 2 14. Africa 1 15. Argentina 1 16. Austria 1 17. Chile 1 18. GCC 1 19 I Greece 1 20. Guatemala 1 21. India I 22. Litwr ia 1 23. Luxembourg I 24. Malayeia 1 25. Nicaragua 1 26. Non-Aligned Movement 1 27. OAS 1. 28. Philippines 1 29. Poland 1 ‘30 . Sudan 1 31. tlnited Klnqdom of Great Hrit.ain and Nor thc?rn Ireland 1 32. Warsaw Treaty 1 33. Western European IJnion --1 Total. items covered 210 --

/. A/41/320 Englirh Pago 11

Table 2a

Breakdown of the 64 Items listed under relr.tione among Stats8-.

No. of item8

United Staten-Union of Soviet Socialist Rspubl ice 20 Eartern Europe 7 Centr; 1 America 5 India 5 Gulf 4 Africa 3 China 3 Indo-China 3 Iran (Islamic Republic of) -Iraq 3 Afghanistan 2 Cyprus 2 Fr rrnce 2 Zimbabwe-Eaetern Europe 2 Jordan-Luxembourg 1 Republic of Korea 1 United State&s-Iceland 1 Total 64 =

23. The evaluation team, mindful in particular of concerns expressed by Member Stater with regard to tne diversity of aourzea used , also analysed the sample bulletins from this point of view.

Table 3

News agencies used in Daily News Bulletin

A. Sample of 20 bulletinA from B. Sample of 20 bulletins on 4, 18 10 to 17 January 1986 19 and 20 November and 2 Decembe8 1985

Ember of timee each Numbe’: of times each new8 agency was ueed news agency was used

1. Reuterlsr 114 1. Reuters; 117 2. AFPl 53 2. AFP: 61 3. Tanjug; 51 3. Tanjuq: 60 4. UPII 33 4. EFE x 31 5. Xinhua a 19 5. UPI: 2”a 6. EFR a 15 6. Xinhuar 22 7. Tasor 9 7. Taee x 20 8. DPAx 5 8. DPA t 12 Total 299 Tctal 352 X E / . . . A/41/320 English Paqe 12

24. It should be borne in mind that Tanjug acts in effect a8 a pool for aqencies of non-aligned countries. It is felt that the frequency with which Xinhua and Tanjug dispatches appear in the bulletin8 (23 per cent in both samples) assures a eiaable if not wholly adequate representation of view6 from developing countries. TO expand the number of wirs services in use, however, would entail not only inrtallation expenses but increased ongoing operational costs as well. In light of the above figurea, it is not felt that such expense is juetified at the prudent time. None the less, the team feels that every effort should be made to assure adequate repreeentation of Tanjug and Xlnhua dispatches on an ongoing basis and perfarmance in this regard should be under continual review.

2. Daily press review

25. This is approximately two pages long and eummarizea articles and editorials from several leading newepapere. The circulation is the same as tha+. of the daily news bulletins. It concentrates generally on two item6 per issue. Certain of the end-users felt there wae too great a focus on East-West relatione. The review draws principally on the following newspapers: New York Timee, Washington-- Post, Christian Science Monitor, Wall Street Jcurnal and the Financial Times. En addition, the London %&I and Le Monde ar=ed occaeionally. The drafter works under the disadvantage imposed by late arrival of the press from countries other than the United Statee. The press review therefore can be timely only at a cost of being incomplete and can be comprehensive only at the cost of being late - perhaps beyond usef ulneee.

26. The team feels that in the normal course of their dutici the line political departments dealing with the issues covered In the daily press review will, in any event, be aware of press coIId811ent on their areas of reeponelbllFty. They are geared independently to take such comment into account as they analyse developments and frame advice for the Secretary-General. Moreover, any analytical functions pertaining to the press review are also best discharged by the line pclitical depar tmentg. The Secretary-General already receives a comprehensive review of prses comment on important international queetione, prepared in his Executive Office. On the other hand, there is no other such summary available as quickly within the Secretartat. It is felt that It can be useful as a genetnl tool for the broad senior ranks of the Secretariat.

27. In general the end-users found the press review lesb valuable than the daily news bulletins. Several pointed to the preponderance of the Western press sources a8 Lts raw material.

3 . Weekly summary

28. A weekly summary of international developments regardinq political and security matters, including developments at the United Nations, is issued every Thursday. It is divided into two Garte, Is generally about 15 pages in length and is circulated to approximately 70 persons at Headquarters and 80 in the field. Part I covers United Nation8 activities, reports of committees, United Nations

/ . . . A/41/328 English Page 13 documenta, etc. With regard to staffing arrangementa, it is noted that activity in thie area 18 coneiderably reduced when the General Aaeembly ie not in eese,ion. Part LX draws on the daily bulletins and adda inputs from other prese media on international developments broken down in a well-structured manner. (Originally, this weekly summary was intended solely for internal use of the Department Of Political and Security Council Affatre.)

29. The evaluation team aecertained that the information contained in part I e a round-up of the actlvitiee of the Security Council, the Secretary-General and the Main C mmitteee of the General Assembly - drew directly on material already produced elsewhere in the Secretariat. For example, the Security Council and Political mmmitteee Divieion produces a round-up of meetlnge and documenta of the Security Council. The weekly United Nation6 Newe Digeet produced by DPI aummarizes the Iame kind of information and ie given wide dietribution. While serving a useful purpose as a back-up to other irrformatlon gourcee, part II of the summary Of weekly new8 ie mainly used at Headquarter8 for reference i)r archival purposes.

30. As regards the usefulness of the weekly summary to officials in the field, it should be borne in mind that all UNICs already receive on n systematic baeie from two different sources information about United Nat?or?s activitiee: the Information Support Section of DPI distributes td UNICs aummariee of all press rell!aeee iSSUed by and through Headquarters, and the Office for Field Operational and llxternal Support Activities (OFOESA) in co-operation with DPI, provides cable brief inge on current developments at the United Nations, especially in the political field, in line with the Secretary-General’6 Bulletin ST/EGB/185 of 20 January 1982.

31. The evaluation team feela that, while the weekly summary is prepared with dedication by able and conecientious staff and can play a useful archival role or serve a8 a gazette, It doee not appear to fulfil the stated purposes of this par titular news Bervice, i.e. (a) to provide the Secretary-General with timely information on developmeirte related to international peace and security (he has already been apprised of the important content8 of the weekly summary by the time it appears), and (b) to make relevant \:urrent news avatlable to selected Secretariat staff (these senior staff %re generally fully conversant with ite contents in regard to their area8 of reeponslbility).

32. There is a significant degree of duplication with the outputs of DPI and OFOESA and this clearly calls for cloee attention at the senior level of the Secretariat. A very valuable product could well reault trom an integration of the DPI, PSCA and OFOESA outputs.

4. Selected wire 3ervice print-outs

33. In addition to providing input to the daily newa bulletins, selected wire service print outs are sorted by subject and sent to the appropriate political departments three time8 daily, at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. These “raw” print Out9 are drawn from Reuters, AFP, Tanjug, Tass and Xinhua. The contents are neither summarized nor analysed! they are merely highlighted for emphasis. These “raw” neWS reports are extremely valuable to political lJnder-Secretaries-General

/ ,.. A/41/328 Enqlish Paqe 14 and their staff who generally make extenaive une of them in formulatinq advice for the Secretary-General and in canductinq the business of their department. Et is noted that wire service monitoring can be computerized so that selected topics, key words, etc., can be pre-aort& electronically.

5. ,Mater ial received from United Nations Information Centres

34. At the present time, the News Service processes and distributes material received from UNLCs. Arising specif!caLly from the Secretary-General’s 1982 annual report, in mid-1983 the Under-Sccrecary-General for DPI request,ed UNICs to send to Headquarters concise weekly reports of important developments affecting the external relations of the country or countries of their accreditation, especially when such developments have significant implications for international peace and security. Ae a result of this inet,ruction, about 25 of the 65 UNICe provide weekly summaries of developments in memorauCum form. These reports are, by strict mandate, based solely on information already in the public domain and are generally accompanied by abundant press clippings. In addition, again at the request of the Under-Secretary-General for DPI, many UNICs supplement their weekly reports with cables relating to fast-breaking events a;4 required.

35. All these weekly reports are sent to the Chef de Cabinet with a copy to the Under-Secretary-General for DPI) the !.atter copy is dintrihuted internally within DPI. The Executive Office of the Secretary--General reviews thoroughly the Chef de Cabinet’s originals with a view to preparing for the Secretary-General’s attention a weekly summary thereof, before forwardinq them to PSCA for more qeneral distribution amonq senior Secretariat staff, according to their areas of responsibility.

36. The quality and, therefore, the usefulness of the UNIC reports seems to be uneven. This no doubt stems in part from the fact that UNIC directors are not always familiar with the requirements of end-users at Headquarters. Moreover, the background and training of UNIC directors is by no means uniform. Over time, the written guidelines provided to UNIC directors have been supplemented by oral briefings at Headquarters. ha a result, there has been a discernible - but gradual - improvement in the quality and uflefulness of material received. There is no reason why this trend should not continue, and once present wnaknesses have been addressed this service should in fact. tecome very valuable.

37. The somewhat low proportion of IIN;Cs reporting in this format (38 per cent) may arisr? from Borne confusion on the part of IJNIC directors who hav-: lnother standinq instruction to report alonq similar lines solely to DPI. Thuv some ‘.NIC’s report directly to the Information Support St?ction of their parent dc~artment, in line with the followfnq section of the DPI Manual for UNICcr

“TO facilitate the necessary uniforn,ity in the transmission of feed.-hack material to HeEdquarters, comments end editorial clippings should always be addressed to the Information Support Section which is responsible for the processing of such material and channelling it to the appropriate substantive offices at Headquarters.”

/ . . . A/41/328 English Paqe 15

38. Clearly better zo-ordination and more efficient handling at Headquarters as well as closer liaison between the principal end-users and the drafters of the weekly reports distributed by PSCA will be required before this excellent concept can fulfil its potential.

39 . The evaluation team is of the view that many UNICa resort too frfqoently to the use of urgent cables, without appreciating that a wide range of wire services iu available at Headquarters. These are Sent by the UNICs to the Chef de Cabinet with copies to senior members of the Secretariat. They are reviewed in the Executive Office and from there sent to the Secretary-General and other seniti, staff as appropriate.

6. Television monitor

40. A television monitor in the “quiet room” adjacent to the Security Council Chamber features Reuters news service and is accessible to the members of the Council. The cost of thio useful service is neqligible.

D. Staffing and redeployments

1. -Establiohment and redeployments

41. There are now 13 staff members engaged in the News Service. The original core of 7 staff members working in the Section for Co-ordination and Political Information (1 P-4, 1 P-3, 1 P-2, 1 G-5, 3 G-4) has been progressively strengthened through internal redeployments, starting in January 1984. The Head of the News Service (D-l) was serving in the Office of the Under-Secretary-General for PSCA as Assistant Director before being entrusted with the direction of the News Service. He was appointed Head of the News Service effective 1 September 1984, as announced in a departmental instruction dated 10 September 1984. As of the present time, it is he who has exclusive charge of the direction of the News Service, responsible only to the Under-Secretary-General for PSCA. The evaluation team was informed by the Budget Division, however, that there is no D-l poet on the PSCA staffing tabla to accommodate the Head of the News Service) financing for his post is ensured by use of available vacancies in other areas of thct Secretariat.

42. In additfon to the D-l post, 1 P-2 post has been loaned by the Centre against Apartheid since 1 January 1984, on a six-month renewable basis. The current incumbent has been with the News Service since that date. Another P-2 post ha:i been loaned by the Centre aqainst Apartheid since 1980, before the News Service as such came into being. Since the Section for Co-ordination and Political Information and the Centre aqainst Apartheid belong to two different sections of the budget (sects. 2 and 3 respectively), any transfer of posts would have required approval by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions. The Department ha8 in this case used an extended loan arrangement. Never theless, f ram the budqetary point of View, that particular post cannot be considered as belonging to the staffing table of the Section for Co-ordination and Political Information, atld has been included among the ad hoc arrangements.

/ . . . A/41/320 English Page 16

43. One P-4 post is being loaned by the Security Council and Political Committees Division. The current incumbent joined the News Service on .5 August 1985. One G-4 post is loaned by the Centre against Apartheid8 the current incumbent has been .+ith the New6 Service since 1 August 1984. Another G-4 post is loaned by the security Council and Political Committees Division, and the incumbent joined the News Service on 1 March 1985. Overall, 6 posts (1 D-l, 1 P-4, 2 P-2 and 2 G-4) have been redeployed internally to the activities of the News Service (see table 4:

Table 4

Ad hoc staffing arrangements

Staff Originating Date joined member unit News Service Activity

D-l Office USG/PSCA 1 September 1984 Head

P-4 Security Council and 15 August 1985 Wire service Political Committees print outs Divi8iOn

P-2 Centre against Apartheid 1 January 1984 Weekly summary

P-2 Centre against Apartheid 1980 Weekly summary and wire service print-out

G-4 Centre against Apartheid 1 August 1984 Weekly summary Daily bulletins

G-4 Security Council and 1 March 1985 Daily bulletins Political Committees Press Review Divi8iOn

44. The thirteen (13) staff members currently assigned to the Service may be broken down as follows:

/ . . . A/4 l/328 Englirh Pa90 17

Table 5

Staffing of the PSCA News Service

Regular staff Ad hoc rcrrnqementr Post Staff member aJ PO. t staff m.lntmI, aJ 1 P-4 (A) 1 D-l (RI 1 P-3 (B) 1 P-4 (8) 1 P-2 (C) 2 P-2 (T) (0) 1 G-5 (D) 1 G-4 (VI 3 G-4 03) (F) (G) 1 G-4 (W 7 staff members 6 staff memberr

iv The designations are for the purpore of indicating the aueignmente of staff to the outputs lieted in para. 46.

45. Currently, the geographical distribution of the Profeeeional rtaff of the Service ia a8 followsz

1 D-l Pakistan 1 P-4 Czechoslovakia 1 P-4 Hungary 1 P-2 (against a P-3 post) Germany, Federal Republic of 1 ‘-2 India 1 P-2 United States of America 1 P-2 Tr inidad and Tobago

3. Allocation of staff to out-put8

46. A8 of the present time, the allocation of staff to outputs ie aa followea

(a) Four daily news bulletins! 1 P-4 (A), 1 P-3 (B) for the 9.30 a.m., 11.30 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. bulletins, 1 P-2 (C) for the 4.30 p.m. bulletin, 4 GS staff (F) (G) (V) (W) ;

(b) One daily press review2 1 P-4 (A), 1 P-2 (C) , 1 GS (W) 1

(c) One weekly summary of international development8 regarding political and security matterst 1 P-4 (A) , 2 P-2 (T)(U), 1 GS (D) a8 back up, 1 GS (V) 1

(d) Daily circulation of UNIC reports, cable8 and . .ppinge to Under-Secretaries-General and Assistant Secretaries-General: 1 GS (D) , 1 GS (E) 1

(e) Selected wire service print-outs provided three times daily to Under-Secretaries-General and Assistant Secretaries-General, directly from the toleprinterer 1 P-4 (s) , 1 P-2 (U) , 1 GS (D) f

(f) Collection and circulation of newspaper clippings (ae of 1 November 1985) x 2 GS staff member8 (F) (G). / . . . A/41/328 English Raqe 18

3. Staff time estimates

41. Each staEf member was renuested to complete forms provided by AMS setting Out in detail the number of hours each day that he or she devotes to various aspects of his or her official duties. All staff member8 reported that they were fully occupied on activities relating to the major output8 of the News Service. The time estimate8 made by the staff wt?re in general confirmed by the Head of the Service, using the same forms. These figures are set out in paragraph 48 below. It should be noted that one staff member reported spendinq upwards of 50 per cent of his time on the recently established news clippin’ service. Moreover, three further staff members reported time spent on report writing, ?‘lso a new activity. One Professional staff member r&ported being obliqed to work in excess of a 40-hour wee’

48. The results of the work-load statistical analysis are the following:

(a) Cur rent setup*

Total time available: 13 x 8 = 104 work/hours daily ( 13 work/days) (see table 6 below).

(b) Reduced operations:

Cur rent setup:

Case A: Less Week1.y Summary 87.0 hrs. (11 work/days) Case B: Less Press Review 94.7 hrs. (12 work/days) Case CI Less UNIC’s 100.0 hrs. (13 work/days) Case D: Less Clipping Service 96.4 hrs. (12 wc)rk/d;.ly:;)

(cl l3asic operations (Daily bulletins and wire seC:vicc distribution only):

Case E: Three daily bulletins and wire service print-outs 41.4 hrs. (6 work/days)

Case F: Two daily bulletins and wire service print-outs 37.3 hrs. (5 work/clays)

Case F saves 66.7 work/hours daily or 8 work/days rlr~cj (:(vI IrI rqerate using a minimum of --five s,iaff members.

I... .., .-, --- English Page 19

Table 6

-e-.-Time r !&urn8 of staff member8 a6 confirmed by supervisor and AM8 revirw

Daily Wire Weekly Pr em Clip- Admin/ Staff bl tns --servicze ~ummarior review readingUNIC8 pings other Total t D-l 0.5 0.8 0.5 0.3 0.5 5.4 8.0 a P-4 2.2 1.5 0.5 3.8 8.0 b P-3 6.5 1.3 0.2 8.0 c P-2 2.5 4.0 1.5 8.0 d G-5 4.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 8.0 e G-4 2.0 6.0 8.0 f G-4 2.5 4.6 0.5 0.4 8.0 g G-4 5.0 0.5 2.5 8.0 a P-4 5.0 1.0 2.0 8.0 t P-2 6.0 2.0 8.0 u P-2 4.0 1.0 0.5 2.5 8.0 v G-4 0.3 6.0 1.7 8.0 wG4 3.0 0.8 2.0 0.5 1.7 8.0 Daily hts. 22.5 14.6 15.0 7.3 4.0 7.6 12.1 20.9 104.0 % of total 21.6 14.0 14.0 7.0 3.0 7.3 11.7 20.1 100.0

49. Having examined these estimate8 and engaged in close observation of the staff over a period, the evaluation team confirmed the relative amountr of time apent by staff members on each activity and reached the conclusion, from the srtimates and from the job assignments set out in paragraph 46 above, that the burden of work is poorly distributed.

E. Costs of the PSCA News Service

1. Equipment and supplies

50. F,ight telepr inter8 for the news agencies of Reutere, UPI, AFP, Tasa, DPA, EFE, Tanjug and Xinhua were purchased by the office of General Services (OM), using funds already allocated for the biennium 1984-1985, and installed on the 35th floor of the Secretariat building in the summer of 1984. The cost of this purchase was $14,080 ($1,760 each), The installation cost was $766. Since the eight wire services were already leased by DPI, there was and continues to be no additional cost in that regard. The eight teleprinters are serviced by the staff of the Technical Support Group (GGS) , who also maintain the equipment of the Cable Unit.

51. An initial request for word-processing equipment was first made under the Office of the Under-Secretary-General for PSCA for the four subprogrammes of his department . An additional request for acquisition and maintenance of

/ . . . A/41/328 English Page 20

word-processing equipment was submitted in the programme budget for the biennium 1906-1987. The Budget Division estimates that the pro rata share of the News SerYiC@ in this overall request of $38,400 amounts to $121800 for the biennium.

52. As regards supplies, the cost of teleprinter paper is $11,431 per year. The Cost of photocopying is estimated at $67 a month, rounded-up to the nearest dollar (30,480 copies a month, at an average cost of 0.218 cent per copy), or $804 a year. Details of the photocopying costs were provided by the Purchase and Transportation Service (OGS) and the data on the number of copies made was supplied by PSCA.

2. Total costs

53. In summary, the following one-time costs were incurred during the biennium 1984-1985:

In US dollars

(a) Purchase of eight (8) Extel teleprinters 14 080

(b) Installation cost 766

The following costs would be incurred during the biennium 1986-1987:

(a) Staff costsr

(i) Regular staff 604 100

(ii) Ad hoc arrangements 614 200

(iii) Total, staff costs 1 219 300*

(b) Equipment and furniture 12 800

(d) Photocopying 1 608

(e) Total costs for the biennium 1986-1987 1 256 570

* It should be recalled that the News Service has resulted in the creation of no new posts. Accordingly, it has imposed no additional staff costs on the Organization.

/..* English Page 21

F. Twenty-four hour wire. service monitoring

54. An obvious deficiency in the present operation of the New8 Service monitoring system is the gap in wire service report collQctions from 3 p.m. to 3 a.m., at which time the machines are turned on automst!cally. Also there is no monitoring of news wire services on weekends and official holidaye. TO cover such a gap in operations under present arrangements would require additional staff and this courqe is not recommended.

55. However, this deficiency could be addressed in the context of a scaling down of the New8 Service’s operations (without any significant reduction in cervices) to a basic wire service mon!toring activity that concentrate8 on alerting end-users to fast-breaking developments through the distribution of raw wire service reports and two daily news bulletins. Such an arrangement could be handled by five staff. It is estimated to require 37.3 work/hours daily.

56. Two additional staff would be available for a new evening shift. The following scheduling is proposed (it is to be noted that eimilar shift arrangements are currently used in the Department of Conference Services):

(a) The early morni ng team (one Professional and one eenior Gerwral Service staff member) takes up duties at 7 a.m. and leaves at 3 p.m.1

(b) The eveninq team (came ataffinq as the early morning team) takes UP lutiee at 4 p.m. and leaves at midniqhtt

(c) The aupervieor, his secretary and one additional General Service staff member performing essentially clerical tasks work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

57. The allocation of duties would be aa follower

(a) Supervisor; supervises, revises outputs, drafts and updates guidelines, alerts the Under-Secretary-General for PSCA to imp lrtant developments, participates in drafting of epecial bulletins if warranted;

(h) One Prdfeseional (early morning): sorts and summarizes material from teleprinters, drafts 9.30 a.m. and 2 p.m. bulletins, incorporates late night bulletin into 9.30 a.m. bulletin;

(c) Opt Profeesional (evening): aorta and eummarizes material from teleprinters, drafts a late afternoon bulletin! prepares a late night bulletin which will be typed on a word-processor at 11 p.m. and incorporated by the morninq team into the 9.30 a.m. bulletin)

(d) One senior General. Service (early morning) : sorts, selects, highlights and sends relevant wire service pr int-out6 to selected Under-Secretaries-General and Assistant Secretaries-General1 types draft news bulletins1

(e) One senior General Service (evening): sorts, selects, highlights anti sends relevant wire sc?rvice print-outs to selected Undnr-Secretaries-Gen~ral and

/ . . .

.._--- - __ A/41/328 English Page 22

Assistant Secretaries-General. Prepares envelopes containing print-outs picked up and sorted during the afternoon and evening (last pick-up at 11 p-m.. Types draft news bulletins and/or special news bulletins;

(f) Secretary to supervisor: does secretarial and administrative work for the supervisor and the section; back-up typing of news bulletins;

(q) Clerk: picks up material from teleprinters, sorts and distributes copies to relevant staff of the section; files material; photocopies daily bulletins (unless Wang networking is used for electronic transmission)t stuffs envelopes; liaises with messenger service.

58. Raw wire service print-outs would be circulated four times daily:

9 a.m.: print-outs coming out of teleprinters from 3.30 to 11 p.m. the day before and sorted by evening team;

10.30 a.m.: print-outs coming out of the teleprinters from 11 p.m. the night before to 7 a.m.;

1 p.m.: print-outs coming out of the teleprinters from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m;

5 p.m.: print-outs coming out of teleprinters from 11 a.m. to 3.30 p.m+

59. Under the proposed arrangement, the staff of the News Service (7 people) would not be able to ensure weekend coverage. The evaluation team recommends an arrangement whereby, for example, political affairs officers in the political departments would rotate as duty officers on weekends , coming in for short periods in the early morning and the late afternoon to monitor the teleprinters and alert appropriate senior officials to any significant new developments that might require their immediate attention.

III. CONCLUSIONS

60. Neither the Secretary-General nor his senior staff rely solely on the News Service to inform them on current developments relating to international peace and secur ity . It is, moreover, difficult in present circumstances to envisage a situation in which any one source of public information could gain preponderance. The News Service is one source among many. Such diversity is considered to be healthy in ensuring wide coverage, provided it does not cause duplication of activities.

61. Against this background the news service in general performs quite well in meeting its dual mandate. A body of expertise in the operation of the service has been built up in the Section and this should be maintained. However, it has some organizational weaknesses which need to be addressed before it can perform to maximum potent ial + The value and usefulness of the various outputs is uneven.

/..I A/QI/J&O Englieh Page 23

62. The four-t.imee-daily bulletins are of a high quality and are very valuable both to the Secretary-General and to hie aeniar staff. These, together with the raw wire service printouta, ehould form the core of the service expanded to a 24-hour coverage. In the period of the evaluation the items comprising these outputs have in general been aelected in a balanced manner, Signif icant, though somewhat lelfle than ideal, coverage ie given to dispatches from developing countries’ dgenciee.

63. The weekly summary of developments, while well done in its own right, doen not juatify, in terms of the active u8e to which it is put, the resources devoted to it, This i@ particularly 80 in light of the significant degree of duplication with wak done elsewhere.

64. The daily taummary of preo8 commento, despite being a useful supplement for senior rank8 of the Secretariat, ir likewise handicapped by the restricted timely availability of the international preeo. To make it more comprehensive by, for example, ueing press from developing countries, and timely, would probably require eddi t ional resources.

65. There are serious organizational weakneeaes in the processing of the report8 received from UNICe. The team ie not convinced of the need for PSCA involvement in their distribution. There is serious overlap in this regard with the activities of the Information Support Section of DPI. Moreover, UNIC directore lack sufficient epecific guidelines for the drafting of reports. Such guidelines can best be formulated by the Executive Office of the Secretary-General in close consultation with the senior staff member8 principally concerned.

66. The mandated outputs do not justify the current deployment of 13 staff membere. Moreover, distribution of duties ir far from equitable.

67. The aelection of items for inclusion in the daily bulletins requires the work of politically alert profetasionals with diveree regional representation. Such Professionals, working to general guidelines, require good support staff capable of working in an environmc t of recurrent deadlines. Minimal supervision is required beyond these guidelines.

68. ‘L’he television monitor in the roun adjacent t.o the Secur’.ty Council Chamber i: a useful resource at the service of Council members.

69. A basic news eervice operation, nroducing two daily bulletins and distributing a greater number of “raw” wire service reports, is estimated to require 37.3 work/houre per day or up to five staff members. Expansion of that operation to ensure 24-hour m&nitoring and coverage of the teleprinters would require seven staff member@. That number ie identical to the core staffing of the news service. (An additional daily bulletin, i.e. a third, can also be accommodated in this arrangement. 1

/ . . . A/41/328 English Page 24

IV. RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendation 1

It is recommended that the news service function be continued in PSCA essentially as a wire monitoring service with the following modifications in policies, programme and procedures and related personnel and other resources.

Recommendation 2

With regard to the present six outputs of the news service, it is recommended:

(a) Daily bulletin6

That the number of bulletins be reduced from 4 to 2 appearing at 0930 and 1400 hou,;. Additional special bulletins could be issued where warranted. In the context of 24-hour coverage, a third bulletin could appear at 1700 hours;

(b) Daily press review

That the review be discontinued unless it is shown within a short period that it can be made much more widely-based without any increase in staff allocationt

That the weekly news summary be effectively integrated with similar activities currently being undertaken in DPI and OFOESA. Failing such integration, the evaluation team cannot cecanmend that the weekly summary be continued in its present form. (The team did not* of course, have a mandate to analyse in great detail the DPI and OPOESA outputsjr

(d) Raw wire service printouts

That circulation of these very valuable items be increased from 3 to 4 times daily at 0900, 1030, 1300 and 1700 hours;

(e) UNIC material

That the distribution of UNIC materials currently undertaken in PSCA be transferred to DPI and integrated more closely with that Department's other mandated activities. Primary analysis and briefing of the Secretary-General on the basis of this material would remain solely a function of the Executive Office of the Secretary-General;

(f) Television monitor

That the television monitor currently located in the quiet roan adjacent to the Security Council Chamber be maintained as a useful facility at the disposal of Council members.

/ . . . A/41/328 English Page 25

Recommendation 3

It ie further recommended that the internal prez@ clippings service and the preparation of special topic reporta be diecontinued.

Recommendation 4

It iS recommended that the wire service monitoring be extended to cover 24-hour operation and be linked to a duty officer on weekend8 and holidaye.

Recommends t ion 5

It ia recommended that greater use be made of word-processing eguipment In the preparation of bulletins and in their transfer b:] electronic mean6 to ueer6. y

Recommendat ion 6

It ie recommended that special effort be rnaLt to establish clear guidelines and aelection criteria for wire eervlce monitoring.

Recommends t ion 7

It is recommended that in addition to the prePsent guidelines provided to all UNICIS by the Under-Secretary-General for DPI to be used in the preparation Of weekly reports, specific pointers be given on an individual basis to UNIC Directors. These pointers would be tailored to meet the circumstance8 of each UNKC and they would be formulated by the Executive Office of the Secretary-General in cloee consultation with DPI and principal end-users in alrch case. Moreover, it should be made clear to UNIC Directors that they should have recourse to cable reporting only in cases of extreme urgency and when their cable would provide information not otherwise available at Headquarters.

Recommendation 8

It is recommended that etaffing arrangements for the news service should be in consonance with the conclueions of this report (set tut in paras. 60-69 above).

Notes

1/ Official Records of the General Assembly, T’rty-seventh S@8siOn, Supplement No. 1 (A/3*1/1), p. 3.

2/ The evaluation team ha8 Identified computer software that can intercept wire service reports and pre-sort them by topic, key-word, etc. However, such a aystem at this time costs in excess of $100,000 and is not therefore recommended.

--M-M