Rotation

On 18 July 1870, the Roman Catholic Church recognized the infallibility of the pope. Now, at the dawn of the 21st century, it’s the UN administration that considers itself to be infallible.

Never, ever does our administration admit its numerous failures. It’s so pathetic. Sometimes you have to laugh to stop yourself from crying.

On numerous occasions UN Special has told you about the absurdity of our new rotation system, which demands that all UN staff should move to the other end of the world by 2007. Even a 5-year-old child could have guessed that there would be cost implications. But our managers discovered it only after the circular was issued. As they didn’t want to give any ammunition to their detractors, they decided informally that rotations could take place within a duty station.

But some departments complained that a complete change of staff in a matter of three years would jeopardize their very existence. So our managers added, always informally, that rotation could take place within the same department. Then came a new complaint: even this system of rotation might put several programmes at risk. This was followed by a new informal directive: rotation could mean a redefinition of the job description. Nobody has to change; just the post has to change its name. I bet that the next step will be that rotation will mean moving your chair a little.

Bureaucracy may not have a face, but it’s scared to death of losing it.

Editor-in-Chief, Jean Michel Jakobowicz