Letter by Anonymous
Iwould like to comment on the letter by
Anonymous on page 50 of the November
2005 edition of UN Special.
Unfortunately I didn’t catch the original
article he or she refers to, but the letter contains
at least three incorrect assumptions
and, furthermore, is obviously written by
someone who has never confronted the problem
of spousal employment.
The incorrect assumptions are that (1) all
international recruits are male, and their nonworking
spouses are female, (2) accompanying
spouses don’t leave behind a career, perhaps
even a UN career, and (3) people want
their spouses to work just so they
can both have as much money as
possible.
Today many staff members moving
around internationally are
female (like me). They are quite
likely to be accompanied by husbands
who had an interesting
career at the previous duty station
and might want, for a variety of
reasons, to continue to work at the
new duty station. (This also
applies, of course, in many cases
where the husband is the UN
employee being transferred and
the wife is the one who has to give
up a job in order to follow.) It is
irrelevant whether the accompanying
spouse is male or female.
An increasingly frequent situation
is one where the accompanying
spouse gives up a UN job in
order to follow to a new duty station.
Not only General Service
spouses but Professional spouses
may find themselves in this bind.
The GS spouses officially get no
support from the administration
and, on the contrary, must apply
for posts at the new duty station as
external candidates, which effectively
means that it is almost
impossible for them to get a regular
contract and continue minimal benefits
like participation in the pension
scheme (even though they are
just as qualified as before, and perhaps
more qualified than many of
the internal contenders at the new
duty station). If the P spouses did
not apply for a post at the new duty
station before leaving their old
post, or applied but were not
offered anything, they too must
apply as external candidates. I personally
know of a half-dozen cases of trailing and
not satisfactorily employed UN spouses,
which suggests that there must be many
more. Essentially when both husband and
wife work for the UN (which is no more
unusual than couples being lawyers, or journalists,
or doctors, or academics) then,
because of UN recruitment rules, it becomes
very difficult for such couples to move
around the world. So much for mobility (a
concept which I strongly endorse and have
personally put into practice).
All these circumstances most definitely
can, and often do, lead to marital problems.
They also have a very high cost in time and
energy spent trying to resolve bureaucratic,
financial and other hurdles. Human resource
officials and the Staff Counsellor can document
this, and there is plenty of anecdotal
evidence as well.
Last but not least, why do you publish
anonymous letters? It’s not something reputable
publications do. I urge you to stop
doing so.
