Personnel

Collections

Shuibao Liu, Executive Secretary UNOG Staff Coordinating Council

The Staff Coordinating Council during its mandate in 2004 organized two collections. The first one on 15 September 2004, for the victims of the terrorist attack in Beslan, North Ossetia, Russian Federation resulted in a contribution of 6,500.00 Swiss Francs while the second on 22 October 2004, for famine victims in Kenya achieved a similar result of 6,463.00 Swiss Francs. The Council decided to round each of these sums up to 10,000.00.
Many people have been wondering what happened to these collections and why it has taken some time to deliver the donations.
The saying goes: “Any course that leads to a satisfactory end is rarely direct and fast.” Organizing a humanitarian collection is a relatively easy thing to do but the follow-up is delicate and often time-consuming since contributors rightly insist that donations be handled through credible international organizations in a transparent way. Finally, after numerous contacts, UNDP and UNICEF have helped to identify a school project in Beslan (to procure educational supplies) and the World Food Programme (WFP) has identified the «Food Assistance to Drought-affected people project in Kenya». Transfers have been made to WFP and UNICEF respectively. The benefits of Staff Day, rounded up by the Council to 10,000.00 Swiss Francs, plus the contribution of DSR of 3,000 Swiss Francs are donated to Haiti through the organization “SOS Enfants Sans Frontières”. These photos show that these representatives may have the big checks but not the money, which can only be used for the victims.
Toys given by the children of UNOG staff at their Christmas Party are also intended for Beslan and the Council is still awaiting a positive response from the Russian Airline (AEROFLOT) to transport them to Beslan.
Thanks to the generosity of the staff, the excellent organization by the Collection Committee and the support and cooperation of the UNOG Administration, the collection made on 11 January 2005 in favour of the victims of the tsunami resulted in the amount of 26,600.00 CHF cash, plus several thousand Swiss Francs deposited in the UBS account opened by the Council for this purpose. Unfortunately much more could have been achieved if UBS had not been uncooperative and refused some deposits and transfers, for reasons beyond comprehension. At the time of writing, the exact figures of deposits are not available as more deposits may be made by staff returning from mission or vacation. Furthermore, the Staff Union of the United Nations University in Tokyo has decided to transfer its collection to this account for the earthquake victims.
The Director-General, the ambassadors of the countries concerned and the representatives of the above-mentioned three organizations have expressed their sincere appreciation for the generous donations by the UNOG staff.