United Nations Office at Geneva, Staff Co-ordinating Council

Letter to the Secretary General

Dear Mr. Secretary-General,
Further to the adoption by the General Assembly of resolution A/RES/58/270 and deeply shocked by its implications on the future of General Service staff within the Secretariat, the Staff Co-ordinating Council, at its ordinary session on 15 January 2004, adopted the attached resolution.
The UNOG Staff Council trusts that you, our Chief Administrative Officer, will take into account our dis- may and hopes that you will do your utmost to defend your staff and to protect it in its best interest and that of the Organization.
You have repeatedly stated, when you addressed the staff in Geneva and elsewhere, as well as in your reports to the General Assembly, that staff members in the General Service category are essential to the work of the Organization. As is the case for Professional staff, General Service staff deserves the best in job security, training and career development.
The decision taken by the General Assembly does not take into consideration the need for the Organization to recruit “new blood” in order to rejuvenate the workforce. The impact of such a decision will eventually have a destructive effect on a valuable part of the United Nations workforce.
We seek your intervention, dear Mr. Secretary-General, for a coherent, clear and uniformed interpretation and implementation of the resolution at Headquarters and at all duty stations, in full consultation with the staff representatives, in order to avoid further complication of the programme of work of the Organization and further deterioration of working conditions of its staff.
I wish to thank you for any action that you will take in favour of your staff, especially those whose commitment to the ideals of our Organization help it to achieve its objectives.
Please accept, dear Mr. Secretary-General, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Marlène Sequeira, Executive Secretary