United with our colleagues in the aftermath of disaster in Haiti

The devastation wrought by the earthquake in Haiti on Tuesday, 12 January 2010, ignited a deep sense of compassion in us all, and sparked an immediate, global outpouring of humanitarian assistance for those caught by this unexpected natural disaster. For all of us at the United Nations, our grief encompasses not only the scale of human casualties, but also the loss of dear colleagues whose untimely passing have now become a symbol of sacrifice made on behalf of world peace.

The Umoja team joins the UN family in expressing our heartfelt sympathies to the families and friends of our fallen colleagues and to all those who have lost loved ones. Our thoughts go out to the people of Haiti, and we stand behind our Organization as it continues to work with members of the international community in bringing much needed relief to those suffering the aftermath of this disaster. We remain hopeful that our missing MINUSTAH colleagues are safe, including those colleagues who shared their expertise as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) during the Umoja design sessions held in the second half of 2009.

First issue of "Umoja Times" hits the stands

To mark the end of a year of significant progress, the Umoja Change Management team has launched the Umoja Times, Umoja's community newsletter.

This first issue summarizes the progress and achievements of 2009, enabled, of course, by the expertise, input and enthusiasm of Umoja's stakeholders. It also provides a glimpse into the future - a new way of working together. Let's continue "working in unity"!

• Umoja Times (Issue 1 - December 2009)

UNMIL hosts Umoja design sessions

The UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) hosted a delegation of designers from 12 October to 6 November 2009. No, not fashion designers as you may be thinking, but rather process designers who were very busy taking a closer look at "to be" or future processes for eventual inclusion in Umoja.

As you may already know, Umoja is the cornerstone of UN administrative reform - supported by a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that will help integrate the management of human, financial, and physical resources of the Organization.

The Monrovia design sessions brought experts in process re-engineering together with experienced and knowledgeable staff members serving as "Subject Matter Experts" (SMEs). The UN Secretariat design sessions hosted by UNMIL were organized to look at specific aspects of supply chain (receipt and distribution and management of assets) and central support services, along with some technical functions.

All told, UNMIL hosted thirty-two Umoja design sessions with more than sixty participants contributing to the sessions. Each session was prepared and facilitated by an Umoja team comprising UN staff members and system integration consultants serving with the project. Participants worked diligently to bring their experiences and skills to the challenging task of defining streamlined processes and leading practices for the future.

The UNMIL Director of Mission Support and the Chief of Administrative Services were among the Mission's senior staff who opened the sessions. In addition to UNMIL staff, SMEs came from the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) and the UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC).

On-line participation also enabled SMEs and others from the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), MONUC and UN Headquarters in New York to participate remotely.

The Monrovia sessions allowed for a field perspective for input into Umoja's continuing effort to cover the entire scope of administrative reform. With this objective in mind, experts attending the sessions in Monrovia went through the current "as is" processes in order to create "to be" processes that are simplified, streamlined and standardized. In doing so, participants held lively discussions on business requirements, risks and other related issues while working simultaneously with process diagrams to map the future.

Feedback from the sessions indicates that the exercise was extremely productive and that participants found the sessions useful to the future work of the Organization. In the words of one participant, "the design session has been very well planned and executed and many 'as is' (processes) addressed to help improve the 'to be' development." Another participant thought that "it was very essential to ask staff from different missions and crosscheck ideas and processes to make the design session a success…" and yet another participant expressed the view that "this project 'Umoja' will change a lot of aspects of how we work in United Nations and it will help to improve resources that UN uses to execute their mandate especially in field mission(s) of DPKO."

Contributions made by participants were documented and compiled into "to be" process maps that will be validated by designated business owners in the months ahead.

With respect to design sessions, the Umoja team takes seriously the old tailor's maxim of "measure twice, cut once" so as to minimize waste and rework.

The Umoja team, therefore, appreciates the work completed at the Monrovia sessions and extends its thanks to all participants for a job well done.

You can learn more about Umoja or become a part of the Umoja network by visiting us at http://www.unumoja.org.

Originally published on iSeek on Friday, 19 November 2009, Monrovia

Umoja detailed design sessions are underway

Umoja, a continuous administrative reform initiative within the UN Secretariat, including Peacekeeping, has entered its Detailed Design Phase. UN offices in Geneva, Monrovia and New York are hosting expert staff members who are working with the Umoja team to design future business processes that will improve the way we work.

In the absence of an integrated solution for managing human, financial, and material resources, the UN currently delivers on its mandate thanks to the enormous efforts of dedicated, experienced, and hard-working staff. Even so, opportunities are missed due to outdated practices and lack of information.

In June 2009, experts from Headquarters, Field Offices and Peacekeeping Missions worked with the Umoja team to identify "pain points" or issues with our current processes.

During the Detailed Design Phase now underway, Umoja is addressing these issues with the help of UN staff members who are highly experienced in the areas of Central Support Services, Human Resources, Finance, and Supply Chain.

Over 450 staff members are participating in 140 Design Sessions, representing 25 different duty stations throughout the Secretariat. These experts are working with the Umoja team to streamline administrative processes, resolve issues, and design solutions that are responsive to current and future UN needs and suitable for global implementation. The outputs from these sessions will be presented to managers for validation and form the basis of Umoja's final design.

The goal of this effort is to ensure that Umoja provides the best solution possible for the UN Secretariat – designed by experts, supported by management, and welcomed by all.

For more information on Umoja, and to become a part of the Umoja network, please visit our web site at http://www.unumoja.org.

Originally published on iSeek on Friday, 30 October 2009, New York

Fifth Committee briefed on Umoja

On 6 October 2009, during a closed meeting of the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly, an informal briefing on Umoja was provided by Ms. Angela Kane, Under-Secretary-General for Management and Mr. Paul van Essche, Umoja Project Director, in which they introduced the draft report: First Progress Report on the Enterprise Resource Planning Project and Revised Estimates under Section 28A, and under the Peacekeeping Support Account (A/64/380).

Ms. Kane provided a concise summary of the changes that have been introduced in the new report, bringing attention to the critical state of the organization's way of doing business and the pressing need to bring about lasting change and improve our processes:

"Challenges are acute across the Organization and especially in the field. This reality jeopardizes our operability, our accountability and thereby our credibility and reputation.

The time is overdue for a renewal that will bring processes, procedures, skills and systems up to levels that are considered minimal in other professional environments."

Mr. Van Essche wrapped up the session, summarizing the primary goals of Umoja, providing tangible examples for the delegates of the Fifth Committee, and finally driving home the key message:

"In short, the recipe for success is equal parts improvements in processes, the skills of people and the use of technology. People, process, technology. Umoja redefines all three. If you take one thing away from this briefing, please let this be it. This is the essence of Umoja."