Greater transparency called for in UN General Assembly chief's role in light of scandal

In the shadow of a scandal of a predecessor, the president of the UN General Assembly (GA) on Tuesday called for more transparency not only in the 193-member body but for the entire world organization and its agencies.

Almost three week after Mogens Lykketoft of Denmark took office Sept. 15, John Ashe, former UN ambassador for Antigua and Barbuda and president of the General Assembly (PGA) during the 68th annual session beginning in September 2013, was arrested on U.S. corruption charges relating to allegedly taking advantage of the status of the office.

According to charges filed by the U.S. attorney for New York, there was no apparent misuse of UN funds.

Lykketoft told a morning session of the Assembly on revitalizing the need for increased transparency and listed his efforts to that end, later introducing a new "transparency" page on his UN website.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also addressed the Assembly, reiterating the steps he has taken in light of the scandal, including ordering an audit of activities relating to Ashe, his associates and independent but UN-related entities revealed by the prosecution.

Lykketoft also explained how his office expanded over the years taking on mandates from the Assembly but in need of additional funding and secretariat help, all of which calls for greater scrutiny. At present, the office is subsidized by the seconding of staff not only from the UN Secretariat but also from Denmark.

"The office of the president is subject to a series of checks and balances including in terms of briefings to member states, audits of the regular budget and the Office of the PGA trust fund and reporting through the GA Revitalization process etc.," he said. "Like any institution, however, there is always scope for improvement and this, I believe, should be considered in further detail as a matter of priority."

"Consideration could, for example, be given to matters of disclosure, financial independence, staffing and reporting," said Lykketoft. "Engagement with external actors is another important issue, though, given the emphasis on partnership in the 2030 Agenda (Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs), this is perhaps of relevance to the broader organization as well."

"Transparency, however, is also a matter for each and every president and from the outset I have taken a number of steps to support this objective including by carrying out regular press briefings or providing information on the staffing of my office," he said.

In a meeting with reporters outside the General Assembly Hall, however, Lykketoft admitted neither he nor his office had access to documents from the offices of previous presidents, including those of Ashe. He suggested contacting federal investigators, saying his office has no such information from past presidencies. Endit