SAP Helps United Nations and International Organizations

by Evan Welsh

SAP AG today announced that SAP(R) for Public Sector solutions are helping the United Nations (UN) and international organizations operate more efficiently while improving delivery of stakeholder services and employee benefits. International organizations including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations World Food Programme, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) all take advantage of SAP solutions to meet the unique and complex requirements that are a consequence of the global nature of their operations.

Featuring human capital management and payroll functionality based on UN employment and payroll practices, the SAP for Public Sector solution portfolio addresses a wide range of challenges unique to the UN and international organizations, including financial reporting transparency; tracking and management of donor contributions; logistical obstacles, such as large numbers of "field" employees with limited access to computers; an international employee base that crosses borders, currencies, and national rules and regulations; and the need to interact with a broad base of stakeholders ranging from the UN community to government, corporate, private or non-profit organizations.

Based on an enterprise service-oriented architecture (enterprise SOA), the SAP solutions fully integrate with existing SAP and non-SAP systems, an issue that is particularly important for international organizations, and allows them to quickly react to changing business requirements with the rapid composition of new business solutions. In addition, the flexible SOA solutions from SAP can be deployed based on Unicode to simplify the usage of all languages in one system.

"UNESCO's work with international partners such as national commissions, governments, universities and industry reveals that the future is bringing with it new requirements for speed, collaboration, transparency, accountability and oversight," said Lopamudra Guha-Giacobbi, chief of Section Financial Control Services, Bureau of the Comptroller, UNESCO. "SAP provides the foundation for our modern management information system, with the scope and flexibility to support our international operating requirements. As SAP has continued to invest in delivering a world-class solution based on best practices from other UN organizations, we have continued to invest in SAP software, most recently going live with human resources and payroll applications earlier this year."

In addition to providing standard software solutions for UN organizations, SAP is a founder signatory of the UN Global Compact, a forum of business, government and social leaders dedicated to developing responsible strategies for global economic growth. While all partners are united in their commitment to respecting human rights, supporting internationally defined labor standards and environmental protection, SAP takes a particular interest in how technology can help emerging markets develop more accountable and transparent management processes and enter the global marketplace.