Introduction
This survey is the third to be launched with the help of UNSpecial, the magazine for Geneva-based UN staff. The first was issued for the 40th anniversary of the United Nations in 1985 and was limited to Geneva. The second, for the 50th anniversary in 1995, was disseminated worldwide and generated more than 4,000 responses. The 2005 survey has produced a record 5,320 responses, either in hard copy or through the Internet, from all corners of the globe. Even if half of all responses came from Geneva and New York (roughly a quarter each), the other half came from such diverse places as Port of Spain, Dushanbe and Pristina.
Most of the respondents work for the United Nations itself, followed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO). One of the main differences between the 1995 and the 2005 surveys has been the lack of participation from our colleagues from the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), owing to distribution problems. There has nevertheless been an overwhelming response from our colleagues in the field, in particular from peacekeeping missions and the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR).
Now the first question that usually comes to mind is: Is the survey sample representative? The UN has 8,158 regular staff members and 31,916 staff members on extrabudgetary posts. Most polls around the world use a sample of 1000 people to represent the opinion of a population of several million. So from that point of view the 2005 survey is certainly representative of the Organization as a whole.
This summary essentially tries to answer three questions:
- What is the mood among the international civil servants of the United Nations?
- What motivates or demotivates UN staff?
- What do the staff think of the work of their organization?
The questionnaire is very similar to the previous one, in 1995, so it is possible to compare the results and see what changes, if any, have taken place in the past ten years.
