Chapter 4 - Secretariat Relations with the Working Groups

Summary

Not surprisingly, the most difficult relationship for the Secretariat to work out was that with the Working Groups. Some of the groups had been established in Canberra at the founding meeting, and all were self-financed until a central budget was established in 1992. They were used to operating quasi-independently, and some of them did not want to accept the authority of the Secretariat acting on behalf of the Senior Officials.

It should be kept in mind that the Working Groups were, in effect, international committees with an ever-changing membership. This made the whole issue of accountability very difficult. It was a challenge to set up a system that assured: 1) competitive bidding; 2) disbursements in conformity with the regulations set up by the Secretariat and approved by the Senior Officials; and 3) final reports that the work had been completed.

To complicate matters, many of the projects approved under the 1993 budget had been drawn up hastily to take advantage of available central funding and were not very well thought through. There was also some confusion as to exactly what the funds could be used for. We began by using as a guideline the paper prepared by the United States in connection with the 1993 budget. However, each succeeding SOM mandated ever tighter restrictions on the use of funds. By the Seattle Ministerial Meeting, respective SOMs had narrowed the authorized use of funds to publications and consultants. Some of the member economies became very protective of particular Working Groups and would recommend exceptions for certain projects in direct contradiction to the restrictions they had originally insisted upon.

Most of the professionals working at the Secretariat were assigned as liaison officers to particular Working Groups. Some of the Working Groups quickly adjusted to the new situation and made good use of the Secretariat liaison officers. The hard work and keen analytical skills of Park Jin-Ho, Merry Wickes and Peter Richards were appreciated and utilized by their Working Groups. Other groups treated the liaison officers as interlopers and blamed them for their frustrations with the Secretariat.