FICSA CIRCULAR

Report on the 13th session of the High-Level Committee on Management (HLCM), Frascati, Rome, 19-20 March 2007.

MARIA DWEGGAH AND MAURO PACE, FICSA

The 13th session of the HLCM (High-Level Committee on Management) was held in Frascati, outside of Rome at the Grand Hotel Villa Tuscolana. Ms. Thoraya Obaid, Executive Director of UNFPA, is the Chair and Dennis Aitken, WHO, is the Vice-Chair. It should be noted that the HLCP (High-Level Committee on Programme) also met at the same time and, later during the two-day session, conducted one or more joint sessions with the HLCM.
Contrary to established practice, and with a welcomed surprise, the staff representatives of FICSA and CCISUA were invited to be part of the opening session of the meeting and were also present during the Adoption of the Agenda. In the past, the representatives would wait outside the conference room to be beckoned for Agenda Item Two, (Dialogue with Representatives of FICSA and CCISUA). This change of attitude towards a more collegial and participatory approach did not go unnoticed by FICSA or CISSUA. Mauro Pace, former Executive Committee member and UNJSPB Participant Representative and Maria Dweggah, Executive Committee Member for Compensation Issues represented FICSA. Rick Cottam, President of the ICTY Staff Union and CCISUA’s Third Vice-President, represented CCISUA.
The dialogue arrangement this year seemed much more satisfactory than in the past, as the number of questions and interventions by the participants had increased considerably. Though the staff representatives’ exchange with the HLCM members was too abrupt and brief, there seemed to be a more intense quality. Unfortunately, as a good dialogue was beginning, the timetable dictated its closure. There were, however, opportunities for additional exchanges with the participants during the coffee break and during lunch. FICSA and CCIUSA collaborated in the presentations to the HLCM each taking three or four main items. The discussion focused on the areas of safety and security of staff; the internal justice system; staff management relations which included the duties and obligations of both staff representatives and the Administration; staff representation in field duty stations; training of staff representatives; managerial accountability; and the HLCM proposal on business practices.
Following their presentation, the floor was then opened for discussion. Both staff representative bodies were congratulated on their candor and the CEB Secretariat expressed its appreciation for the many comments on the HLCM document, specifically on the need for inclusion of staff representatives in the consultation process. The staff representatives in their statement pointed out that this was sorely missing in the HLCM document under discussion.
A number of participants intervened, both to ask questions of the representatives and to comment on their presentation. The dialogue touched all of the issues raised by the staff and a brief description of the interventions follows. The larger part of the discussions, it seemed, was focused on staff/management relations, training, and the possible unification of FICSA and CCISUA. Some of the participants failed to understand why there are two representative bodies.
UNESCO’s Director of HR, who was also reporting back from the HR Network Meeting, initiated a dialogue on staff management relations. She first questioned what constitutes a legitimate staff representative body. She referred to her own organization where there were at one time at least three unions vying for power. This was followed by a rich discussion by the FICSA representative on the meaning and the protection of freedom of association and the duty and obligation of both staff representative bodies and the Administrations to ensure that staff, in HQ and field duty stations enjoy the right of representation by responsible and duly elected persons. She informed the group that many staff in the field are not represented by any one staff association, thereby being robbed of their right of representation and suggested a possible referendum to allow them to chose by whom they wished to be represented. UNAIDS’s Deputy Executive Director, spoke of the recent creation UN Plus, a group of HIV positive staff and asked the staff representatives to work with them. The diussion then focused on staff/management training and how crucial it is and as the ADG, OHRM pointed out, training should not only be for staff representatives but also for managers. She also stressed the importance of being united especially at the ICSC on issues concerning the conditions of employment of staff.
The USG for the Department of Safety and Security expressed his support for the report on the IASMN and reiterated the importance and the appreciation of the staff representatives’ input at this meeting. WHO’s ADG for General Management stressed the value of staff and that in time of change, staff should be included as full partners, they are the greatest asset and they are the ones delivering results.
FICSA expressed its support for the establishment of leadership development programs whose goal was to enhance managerial accountability. However, it stated that agencies spend thousands of dollars in training programs but too often when managers return to their respective agencies they revert back to their old habits. How to ensure that managers are held accountable for applying what they learn ? IAEAs DDG and Head of Management assured the representatives that in his agency they do exactly that with a 360° type evaluation system.
Of special note was the item on the UN Pension Fund as much misinformation had been circulating since the meeting in Nairobi. FICSA reiterated its disagreement at the way the privatization of the investment of the North American portfolio was being managed. The decision to outsource a major portion of the investment, worth about 9 million US$, was taken last year in Nairobi, in spite of the unanimous opposition by the representatives of the participants and the beneficiaries of the UNJSPF, that led to a controversial vote in the Board.
The main reason of disagreement lay (and still lies) with the fact that there was no evident need to modify the investment policy of the Fund through passive management (indexation). This move had been vigorously pursued by the then Representative of the Secretary General for investments, Mr. Christopher B. Burnham, who eventually resigned from the position of USG for Management, to which Ms. Alicia Bárcena Ibarra has been appointed in January 2007.
The incoming USG, Department of Management, Ms Alicia Bárcena, informed that the function of Secretary General’s Representative for investment had been conferred to the Controller, Mr. W. Sach, who will be liaising with her and the SG on investment matters. She also informed that, although the indexation of the North American portfolio had been approved by the UNGA in December last year and the relevant procurement procedure had been already initiated, a recent decision was taken to proceed with extreme caution in this respect, particularly considering the harsh controversy that such proposal had triggered. She added that no final choice would be made before a careful review of the situation, also pending the next meeting of the Investment Committee of the Fund, scheduled at the end of April 2007. Finally, she informed that a further review of the staffing in the Investment Management Service (IMS) was being undertaken.