Letters to the editor
I read with great interest an article about
plans to open a daycare centre for UN secretariat
employees in Geneva (UN Special No.
643). Unfortunately, I found only an explanation
of why nothing significant would be done
about this in any foreseeable future.
In my view, the main question is not why it
is so difficult at this moment to help working
mothers by opening a crèche in the Palais.
The question is why it never existed in
Geneva, even during times when the financial
situation of the Organisation may have been
more favourable – probably when the day
care centre in New York opened.
One could speculate on this issue, but the
explanation seems to be inextricably linked
with the system of existing dependency benefits:
an education grant, provided to staff
members in the professional category,
enables them to send their children to any
school, including expensive private institutions,
from the age of 5. At the same time,
there is absolutely no financial or other support
for staff members whose children are
under that age and who have to pay for day
care, the cost of which amounts to or even
exceeds the tuition costs in private schools.
This is because, traditionally, it was men who
worked in the UN and I would guess that, in
the majority of cases, their wives took care of
children. The system of benefits was created
to relieve the financial burden of these families
only once the care and education of their
children went outside home.
I can testify from personal experience that
it is difficult to be a mother, but being a working
mother is even more so. Trying to have
the best of both worlds, that is, a family
alongside something resembling a career in
the time of uncertainty caused by – to give
just one example – the mobility requirement,
is a process where we need more support.
Opening a crèche or finding a less costly solution
similar to what I understand exists for
ILO staff members would be a step forward.
If this organisation is truly committed to
recruiting and retaining young professional
women and giving equal opportunities to men
and women working for it, it must find a solution
for this problem.
Et puis quoi encore!
Comme je les plains ces pauvres épouses
de fonctionnaires!
Les fonctionnaires ont des contrats à vie,
des avantages incroyables... y compris l’allocation
logement... (en principe l’allocation
logement est réservée aux gens avec de petits
moyens, ce qui n’est pas le cas pour ceux qui
la touchent à l’ONU) mais dès que l’on remet
en cause leur tranquillité, c’est terrible.
Déjà qu’il y a des fonctionnaires qui font du «forcing» pour faire engager leur conjointe
sans formation aucune dans le domaine où
elles vont être recrutées …
Qu’elles ont la garantie de toucher une bonne
retraite lors de la disparition de leur conjoint.
Quelle mentalité d’accuser l’ONU d’être
responsable de divorces en cas de mobilité!
