least 40 per cent if the intention was to bring every Member State within its desirable range. In the light of the goals of the medium-term recruitment plan, his delegation appealed to the Secretary-General and the Office of Personnel Services to reach and exceed that target by 1985 at the latest. It also requested the Office of Personnel Services to explain in greater detail its intentions with respect to recruitment and to state what methods it intended to use in order to achieve the goals of the medium-term recruitment plan. 18. In spite of some progress, the number of posts subject to geographical distribution filled by Japanese nationals amounted to only 61 per cent of the lower end of the desirable range, or 66 posts below the minimum. Japan was ready to co-operate fully with the Secretariat to rectify that situation, as was demonstrated by its participation in the competitive examinations held in Tokyo in 1983. However, in view of Japan's serious under-representation, he requested the Office of Personnel Services to invite Japan to participate in the examinations every year. 19. Little progress had been made in increasing the percentage of women staff members in the Secretariat, although numbers of appointments to senior posts, particularly at the D-1 level had increased somewhat. His delegation believed that more women should be recruited and that that goal should be reconciled with the principle of equitable geographical distribution through a particular effort to recruit women candidates from unrepresented and under-represented countries. 20. The excessive reliance on outside. consultants and experts was explained in part by a personnel policy that was too restrictive. In order to sustain morale and increase productivity, the United Nations must establish a mechanism to improve the utilization of existing human resources before it requested the creation of new 
**Analysis**
This text appears to be discussing the human resources and recruitment practices of the United Nations, specifically the goal of achieving a more equitable geographical distribution of staff members and increasing the representation of women and under-represented countries. The language used is formal and professional, suggesting a bureaucratic or administrative context.

**Category**
Employment