Tony Banbury says the United Nations' bureaucracy makes it difficult to achieve its goals. Photo: Twitter

Tony Banbury was a champion of disasters, leading the United Nations to tackle the Ebola virus and to provide emergency relief after the earthquake in Haiti and the tsunami that swept from the Indian Ocean.

He wept at a media conference in February as he revealed allegations of sexual abuse by UN peacekeeping troops from five African and Asian countries.

The organisation is a Remington typewriter in a smartphone world. 

Tony Banbury

Then he abruptly quit his almost-30-year career with the UN, where he'd risen to become assistant secretary-general in charge of field support, warning in a stinging New York Times article the international organisation was a "black hole into which disappear countless tax dollars and human aspirations, never to be seen again".

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ends his term leading the UN this year. Photo: AP

Criticism of UN lethargy and waste is hardly new, but rarely has it delivered by such a heavily credentialed insider.

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"If you locked a team of evil geniuses in a laboratory, they could not design a bureaucracy so maddeningly complex, requiring so much effort but in the end incapable of delivering the intended result," Mr Banbury wrote.

"In the run-up to the election of a new secretary-general this year, it is essential that governments, and especially the permanent members of the Security Council, think carefully about what they want out of the United Nations. The organisation is a Remington typewriter in a smartphone world."

Tony Banbury (centre) led the United Nations' response to the Ebola virus and several other disasters. Photo: Twitter

Seven candidates have officially declared their interest to be the next UN chief – with several more, including Australia's Kevin Rudd, believed to be canvassing for support.

But Mr Banbury's decision to quit and air his criticism – particularly about the "sclerotic" recruitment system that takes an average 213 days to appoint staff – has highlighted the challenges for whoever succeeds Ban Ki-moon when his term finishes in December.

"At the end of the day, the UN is an intergovernmental organisation, which is not run like a private corporation or national government," Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the Secretary-General, told Fairfax Media.

Mr Haq said Mr Ban had made it clear he shared many of the frustrations about how the bureaucracy works at the UN, yet "he understands the need to work within the guidelines created by the UN's member states, as difficult as that may be".

"[A] vacancy must be open to any interested applicant throughout the world and filled only after a fair, transparent international competitive process."

Mr Haq said the UN Secretariat was required to advertise all vacancies for 60 days – or 30 days for jobs in field missions – to allow ample time and equal opportunity for external and internal candidates to apply.

"The UN attracts a very high volume of applications (ranging from 300 to 500 applicants per vacancy) and program managers are required to review all eligible candidates ... The review process is one of the most transparent recruitment systems."

Melissa Parke, federal MP for Fremantle and a former lawyer with the UN, said the global body did suffer failings but none were reasons to abandon the organisation.

"Inevitably, it comes back to the member states," Ms Parke said.

The UN was run by the countries that comprise the organisation and had imposed the rules on the bureaucracy for making appointments, she said.

Fairfax Media