With eye on cost-cutting, UN limits wordy documents

The United Nations, not usually known for terseness, is putting a word limit on the thousands of reports it produces each year to try to save money and diplomats' time.

Lengthy documents are being scaled back "due to increasing financial constraints and the strain on translation services," Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the UN's director-general in Geneva, told diplomats yesterday.

Reports by the UN's intergovernmental bodies must now be limited to no more than 10,700 words, he told the Conference on Disarmament that he oversees - a big change from the thick reports whose pages often run to dozens, even hundreds.

The UN's secretariat is limiting its reports to 8,500 words. The 193-nation General Assembly has repeatedly expressed frustration over what it calls chronic delays with lengthy reports that are straining the world body's resources. Its budget committee recently discussed whether to require measuring documents in words instead of pages.

"It shows that the UN is making an effort, as is everybody else," Alessandra Vellucci, a spokeswoman for the UN in Geneva.

The secretariat's $5.4 billion annual budget is set in US dollars, causing hardship in places like Geneva where the Swiss franc is soaring against the dollar and euro.