In last month’s UN Special you were able to share, with the Executive
Bureau, the pleasure that we had when the President of the Staff
Council presented the Secretary-General with a long-service medal for
his more than 30 years service in the Organization and the positive
atmosphere that prevailed during that meeting.
This, of course, was not the only reason that the Executive Bureau
met with the Secretary-General as you can imagine. In the context of
the current reform process the Secretary-General had expressed the
desire to meet with the Executive Bureau in Geneva to present,
explain and discuss the current stage of the far-reaching reform
process of the Organization.
In the context of the review of mandates of more than five year’s existence,
the Secretary-General requested input from staff representatives. He
also specifically addressed the need to streamline those rules and regulations
that may now be out-dated, to bring
them into line with the evolution of the
Organization. The Executive Bureau has
since addressed these questions and a
communication will soon be sent to New
York, containing views and suggestions.
Should you, the staff-at-large have any
comments to make on these questions,
please don’t hesitate to forward them to
the Staff Coordinating Council.
The Secretary-General then referred to
substantive reforms that would be
engaged in areas such as human rights in
the very near future. The Executive
Bureau expressed its full support for the Secretary-General’s reform
proposal and took the opportunity to thank him for his most recent
recommendation addressed to the General Assembly, to cancel the
freeze on recruitment of General Service staff, in the interests of the
Organization.
The Executive Secretary, whilst recognizing that most of the
deliberations understandably take place at Headquarters, requested
that staff representatives at UNOG be included as often and as early
as possible in deliberations. Important preoccupations on this front
are currently the reform of the internal system of justice and the
establishment of a date for a meeting of the Staff Management Consultative
Committee (SMCC).
Further, in the context of staff/management relations, the Executive
Bureau requested that urgent attention be paid to the appointment
of senior officials in Geneva in order to fill the longstanding
vacant posts of Chief of Human Resources and Director of Administration,
as this would greatly facilitate consideration of the various
aspects of the reform process, amongst others.
In addressing questions of staff welfare, your staff representatives
briefed the Secretary-General on the current situation and status of
negotiation with the Administration regarding SAFI and the establishment
of a day nursery for UNOG staff. With this and other questions in
mind, the Bureau informed the Secretary-General of its request for regular
contacts with the Director-General, as noted in Chapter 8 of the
Staff Rules and Regulations, with a view to maintaining systematic discussions
on all subjects concerning staff matters.
At the most sensitive moment of its history, the Security and
Safety Section finds itself without a Chief and the Executive Bureau
expressed to the Secretary-General its profound preoccupation with
this situation and expressed the hope that an appointment to fill this
vacancy would be made in the near future.
The Executive Bureau reiterated the commitment of UNOG staff representatives
to continue discussions and maintain cooperation with the
Administration on all of the above questions.
