Amid record needs, new UN relief chief promises reform

Article published in IRIN website on 12/05/2017 by Ben Parker

His predecessors sat in an office of picture windows overlooking the East River fitted with beige furniture on the upper floors of UN headquarters in Manhattan.

But Mark Lowcock, the new UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, prefers a cubicle.

“I like the interaction with my direct team,” said the approachable 55-year-old. “I don’t like being stuck in the corner office with all the sofas and that. It’s not my style.”

Ninety days into his role as the coordinator of global relief efforts, the former British civil servant sat down with IRIN after launching the largest appeal for humanitarian funding in UN history.

His role has arguably never been more important. His office estimates that war, drought, and other disasters will put 135 million people at risk around the world next year, a five percent increase on 2017. Last week, he appealed for $22.5 billion to help 90 million of them – the price tag of the omnibus appeal involving the UN and dozens of other aid groups has risen eightfold since 1992.

New conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo have engulfed millions; the speed and scale of the Rohingya exodus from Myanmar demands an exceptional response; and Yemen, already predicted to be 2018’s worst crisis, could get even worse.

Lowcock faces a troubled world, but also a troubled organisation.

One of his responsibilities is running the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN body charged with bringing together governments, NGOs, UN agencies, and others to ensure a coherent response to emergencies.

Described in 2016 by external consultants as being in a state of “widespread organisational dysfunction”, and facing donor-imposed budget cuts, OCHA embarked on an internal restructuring. Led by his predecessor Stephen O’Brien, it is now for Lowcock to complete.

Three months in, some of the changes are coming into focus.

First, Lowcock has created five new senior management positions. He said he wants to “get the world’s best people in these jobs”. This opens the way to replacing at least some of the existing senior management, which has come under criticism for in-fighting. It could help rebalance resources “unusually” concentrated in one department, according to the Boston Consulting Group.

Second, in cutting some $37 million from the $278 million OCHA budget due to reduced donor commitments, Lowcock has chosen the main offices in New York and Geneva to bear the brunt of reductions. “We’ve got this refocus on the field versus the HQ,” he said. “We protected the front line.” While some positions will be cut, including, IRIN understands, in liaison offices including Brussels, current staff can be reallocated to remaining jobs. Lowcock said he hopes to find most of the reduction in headcount from natural attrition rather than layoffs.

Third, halting over a decade of OCHA’s growth, Lowcock is looking to be more focused. “We are in future going to be a bit smaller, but we’re also going to be better,” he said. “We’re stopping doing the things which are least crucial to our mission, and we’re doing more of the things which are most crucial to our mission.”