Join Umoja online - Umoja NET

Umoja, the UN Secretariat’s administrative reform initiative, is changing the way we work. Supported by a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, Umoja will help to integrate and improve management of the Secretariat's human, financial, and physical resources. Achieving such an important reform means involving all of Umoja’s stakeholders – from Subject Matter Experts to senior executives.

What Umoja NET is…

The Umoja team is making use of a modern, web-based collaborative tool called “Umoja NET”, to help involve its diverse group of stakeholders across the global Secretariat. Umoja NET gives stakeholders direct online access to:

• interact with the Umoja Team,
• view design documents,
• participate in events,
• join discussion forums, and
• provide feedback about the Umoja "to be" processes.

Umoja NET brings the world of Umoja to your desktop.

Working in unity…on Umoja NET

Umoja NET helps coordinate Umoja's outreach efforts. For example, from September to December 2009, over 450 staff members representing 25 different duty stations, participated in 147 detailed design sessions. During those sessions, participants helped the Umoja team develop streamlined processes that are responsive to the current and future needs of our Organization. All contributions were documented and compiled into process maps and solution presentations for each "to be" process.

Umoja NET helped the Umoja team coordinate participation and make the event schedules available online. Participants were able to log into "My Umoja" and view their personal schedule with event information, dates, descriptions, and locations.

The first release of solution materials was published this summer on Umoja NET. Stakeholders viewed these materials in their own virtual workspace in My Umoja. Subject Matter Experts from around the globe logged in to view the processes they helped design and to provide feedback through an online process survey. Their feedback is helping the Umoja team finalize the processes for review and acceptance by the responsible parties.

Umoja NET stakeholders personalized, up-to-date information. We will continue to leverage web-based technologies to engage Umoja’s stakeholders in a cost-effective manner. We hope all Umoja stakeholders will continue to contribute the same level of hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm.

UN staff can visit the Umoja website to request an Umoja NET account: http://www.unumoja.org.

Umoja is the way forward for a renewed and more effective UN Secretariat. Together we can build a better UN.

Re-published on iSeek on Friday, 22 October 2010, New York (EN FRANÇAIS)

Umoja Times - July 2010 released

In this issue of the Umoja Times:

1. Umoja reaches key milestone, signing agreement with SAP
2. Solving the process puzzle
3. Umoja hosts workshop for DFS in Brindisi
4. On the road with HR leaders

UN Umoja reaches key milestone by signing agreement with SAP

On 25 June 2010, the United Nations and SAP Public Services, the German-based and world-leading provider of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, signed a contract for the provision of the core software for Umoja. This achievement was the result of the joint efforts of the Procurement Division (PD), Office of Legal Affairs (OLA), the Umoja team, and the Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT).

With the new process design effort nearly complete, the Umoja team will now be able to configure a software solution in line with the requirements and objectives of the Organization.

Umoja is an initiative that aims to transform the United Nations Secretariat to enable high-quality, cost-effective service delivery to support the execution of evolving mandates everywhere the Secretariat operates. Umoja, which means "unity" in Swahili, will integrate the many support and administrative entities throughout the Secretariat, including in peacekeeping and field missions, through re-designed and common processes for the management of all financial, human and physical resources.

SAP provides the software platform for Umoja and will take the form of a single, integrated information system, which will replace hundreds of disconnected legacy software applications on which the Organization currently relies.

Redesigned processes and revised policies, combined with this software, will enable faster processing of transactions and timely reporting on expenditure. This will allow staff to focus on more value-added tasks and provide services more efficiently. Ultimately, Umoja will transcend organizational, geographical and functional barriers, fostering a culture of transparency, accountability, empowerment, sharing and unity across the Secretariat.

The signing ceremony was attended by Under-Secretary-General for Management Angela Kane, Chief Information Technology Officer and Assistant Secretary-General Choi Soon-hong, Assistant Secretary-General Office of Central Support Services Warren Sach, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management, Catherine Pollard, Assistant Secretary-General and Controller, Jun Yamazaki, representatives of SAP and other key members of the cross-departmental negotiation team.

Originally published on iSeek on Wednesday, 30 June 2010, New York

Umoja hosts workshop for DFS in Brindisi

The Umoja Team hosted a workshop for colleagues in the Department of Field Support in Brindisi from 24 to 26 May 2010. The goal of the workshop was to prepare participants for their role in support of the implementation of Umoja. Twenty-five participants representing field missions from across the globe became the first group of Umoja Leaders. Umoja Leaders are the primary focal points and overall coordinators for Umoja activities in their respective duty stations. At the workshop, the participants received an Umoja orientation, which introduced them to Umoja concepts, vision, guiding principles, and timeline.

The workshop was conducted in a highly interactive manner enabling participants to learn about Umoja through presentations, exercises, and discussions with the Umoja Team. A highlight of the workshop was the "Around Umoja in a Day" sessions. During these sessions, participants received detailed explanations of the administrative reforms embodied in the new Umoja processes covering financial, human and physical resources of the Organization.

The event included two remote participants. Paul van Essche, Umoja Director, joined the event via Skype on opening day, answering questions about the timeline, budgeting, and training. On the last day, Under-Secretary-General Susana Malcorra addressed the participants through a video-conference, responding to questions and conveying her strong commitment to the Umoja initiative.

According to the evaluation survey submitted by participants, the Umoja Leaders workshop was a great success. Ninety-six percent (96%) of participants rated the overall programme as "good" or "excellent". The survey responses also revealed that participants considered the interactive sessions to be very useful. Given the volume of information conveyed at the workshop, a number of participants suggested that the length of future workshops be increased from three to five days.

As part of a growing network of motivated individuals, more Umoja Leaders will be identified during the coming months to support the successful implementation of Umoja.

Visit us at http://www.unumoja.org to learn more about Umoja.

Umoja Times - May 2010 released

Catch up with Umoja in the May 2010 issue of the Umoja Times:

Umoja forges ahead
Working closely with expert colleagues to design solutions that meet the UN’s current and future administrative...

Umoja on the road to Entebbe
2010 Mercury Conference (22 - 27 March, Entebbe, Uganda)...

Umoja by numbers
A few interesting facts and figures on Umoja from that last 11 months...