On a project of this magnitude, strong governance is essential to steer the project, monitor progress against plans, resolve conflicts without delay, decide on work priorities, help manage changes and communicate progress to all stakeholders. Effective management and oversight of the project is especially important given a) the high-visibility of Umoja to both Member States and to staff members and b) that it will provide the fundamental infrastructure of the Organization's current and future business processes.
The Umoja Project is a "business" project, and therefore is being led by senior management. The main policy decision-making body is the Umoja Steering Committee, chaired by the Under-Secretary-General for Management.
The governance structure below illustrates the composition, structure and reporting lines of the Project.
The Steering Committee reports to the Management Committee. The goal of the Steering Committee is to provide leadership and support to the project team. It meets regularly during the project life cycle to monitor overall project status, address escalated issues that cannot be resolved at another level of project management, and other areas as deemed appropriate. It takes decisions on issues involving financial and human resources and project strategy.
The Umoja Steering Committee consists of Ms. Susana Malcorra, Under-Secretary-General for Field Support; Mr. Soon-Hong Choi, Assistant Secretary-General, Chief Information Technology Officer; Ms. Catherine Pollard, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management; Mr. Jun Yamazaki, Assistant Secretary-General for Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts (Controller); Mr. Warren Sach, Assistant Secretary-General for Central Support Services; Mr. Franz Baumann, Assistant Secretary-General for General Assembly Affairs and Conference Management; the Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna, which is presently vacant; Mr. Kiplin Perkins, Director of Field Support; Mr. Nabeel Arif, Director of Logistics and Support Division, Department of Field Support; and Ms. Angela Kane, Under-Secretary-General for Management, chairs the committee.
The day-to-day planning and execution of the project is delegated to the Umoja project team headed by a Project Director. The Umoja Project Director reports to the Chair of the Steering Committee on business processes (the USG for Management in her capacity as the Chair of the Committee) and to the Chief Information Technology Officer on day-to-day project management and technology issues. The Project Director's role is to provide leadership and management necessary to achieve the project's success. The Project Director owns the project deliverables and is responsible for day-to-day project management. The Project Director is advised by the Project Leadership Team (PLT), made up of senior project staff, and manages the project through the team leaders.
