Draft administrative instruction on Workplace harassment

Executive Secretary of UNOG Staff Council

In his letter to Staff on the Integrity Perception Survey issued on Friday, 4 June 2004, the Secretary-General mentioned “the finalization of an administra-ive instruction on workplace harassment, which emerges from the survey as a major concern for some staff.” The UNOG Staff Coordinating Council feels very much encouraged by this new development because in 2002, the UNOG Staff Coordinating Council set up a working group to do a thorough research on harassment in the work- place and make proposals to the Council. This working group produced a report, which the Council submitted to the XXVI Session of Staff-Management Coordination Committee (SMCC) held in New York in September of the same year (SMCC-XXVI/2002/10). The Committee discussed the report and agreed to issue an information circular on harassment to remind all staff that harassment of any kind is prohibited, and to draft a new administrative instruction by a joint working group to that end.

In 2003 SMCC XXVII did not take place because Staff representatives of all duty stations found out that agreements reached at previous sessions of many years had not been implemented and considered it meaningless to go to another SMCC to negotiate more agreements. They adopted a resolution, stating that they would return to the next SMCC only when all previous agreements had been honoured.

Despite this deadlock, UNOG Staff Council continued its work on the harassment issue, by reconstituting the working group and taking the initiative to draft such an instruction.

The newly elected Staff Council made the harassment issue one of its priorities by adopting, at its first Council meeting the draft administrative instruction on workplace harassment prepared by the Working Group. Then, the Bureau of the Council unanimously decided to accept the request of the Working Group to circulate its introductory statement to the draft to all staff members while the draft itself will be published on the Council Website. At the same time the draft has been presented to UNOG Management, in the hope that this would become a joint paper from Geneva to the next SMCC if and when it takes place. Earlier at the XIX CCISUA General Assembly, all its members were also provided with the Draft. They adopted a unanimous resolution in support of it.

In order to raise awareness of the seriousness of harassment in the work- place, an extract (in both English and French versions) of the introductory statement by the coordinator of the Harassment Working Group (Mr. Nigel Lindup) is made available herewith. For the full text and the draft administrative instruction, please go to the UNOG Staff Council’s Website on the UNOG Intranet. The draft has been sent to SMCC Secretariat to be distributed to its members for comments and as well as to be transmitted to those involved in drafting the instruction.