News from Jul 14, 2009

The Umoja Project will provide a number of opportunities for improving the way resources are managed in the United Nations. This article will look at some of the benefits Umoja will bring to peace operations. In 2007, Peacekeeping oversaw 114,577 personnel in 16 missions, operated more than 18,000 vehicles and 210 aircraft and ran 20 military hospitals and 230 medical clinics.

Field missions bring people, money and equipment together to deliver mandated outcomes in the host country. Unfortunately this is currently being done in the absence of critical technological support and necessary global integrated information. The entrenched silo approach creates inefficiencies and duplication of effort, which in turn increases the time and money required to deploy the right resources, to the right places, at the right time and at the right cost. This situation combined with the tough physical conditions of field missions further exasperate the day-to-day challenges faced by staff members and adversely affects morale.

Umoja will also provide integrated information for personnel and financial reporting. As a result, the ability to get people and materials on the ground, as well as sustain and manage a mission, will improve. Tools will now be available to track and manage transportation, movement of goods and procurement. With better information and more responsive procurement, the time it takes to deploy a mission will be considerably reduced.

Umoja will help by supporting business processes, re-engineered by subject matter experts working with the Umoja team, to eliminate unnecessary process steps and multiple manual data entries. The planning process will vastly improve. Increased accuracy and visibility of resources will lead to a reduction in waste and obsolescence as the identification of surplus resources will facilitate tracking and redeployment on a global basis.

Missions can experience difficulty assessing effectiveness, given that they are often operating in a vacuum. Being able to obtain good information in a timely manner will improve the accuracy and forecasting of budgets. Discrepancies between approved budgets and actual spending should diminish.

Umoja will provide a powerful means to manage resources more effectively and responsively in often fast-paced and challenging environments.