THE 23RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF CCISUA ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHALLENGES

The current membership of CCISUA is comprised of fifteen Staff Unions and Councils representing over forty-six thousand staff members of the following organizations: ECA ECLAC ESCAP ESCWA FSU ICTY ICTR ILO UNESCO UNHCR UNICEF UNIDO UNON UNOV UNU

Report of the outgoing President of CCISUA
The Acting President, Ms. Rita Ann Wallace (Unicef), reported on the activities of CCISUA since the last GA in June 2007. Starting with the challenges, she recalled that the withdrawal of the New York Staff Union (NYSU) posed legal issues that could not be overcome
without amending the Statute of the Federation to remove their automatic entitlement to the Presidency. The Extraordinary GA held in Santiago in November 07
achieved just that. CCISUA then faced the challenge of leadership allegiances which led to the resignation of the actual President in February 08. CCISUA membership once again came together and unanimously mandated the two Vice-Presidents to assume the leadership of the Federation pending this General Assembly.

Despite these constraints and the limited resources, CCISUA was able to continue to actively participate in all the meetings and Working Groups where its inputs were required.
This participation has proven crucial not only for promoting and defending the interests of the staff, but also in drawing attention to developments that were affecting staff welfare. In this regard, both the President and Vice President used every opportunity to voice the Federation’s concern, in respect of, for example, (i) the new security threats which emerged after the 11 December 2007 attack on the UN premises in Algiers; (ii) the fall of the US dollar with its impact on salaries and pensions; and (iii) the escalation of basic commodity prices which is seriously affecting the staff’s purchasing power. These are matters of global nature and therefore require initiatives on the part of CCISUA to mitigate their short- and longterm implications for the staff.

In concluding,Ms.Wallace cautioned that the year ahead might prove more challenging and it was therefore necessary for the GA to develop a realistic work plan as well as an effective strategy for its implementation. She stressed that the time has come for each member union to increase its financial contribution and in sharing the burden of representation at various inter-agency bodies and Working Groups.

The GA expressed appreciation to Ms. Rita Wallace and to the Vice-President, Mr. Nasr Ishak (UNHCR) for they competently assumed the leadership of the Federation at a challenging time. The GA also recognized the valuable work of the Treasurer, Mr. Shuibao Liu (UNOG) who effectively oversaw CCISUA’s finances and the audit of its accounts.

General Debate
Turning to the other issues on the Agenda, the Heads of delegations took turns to present the achievements and challenges of their respective Associations. They identified priority issues for their staff and stressed the need for CCISUA to make more efforts to attend to conditions of work and life of UN systemstaff particularly those serving in difficult duty stations.

One of the issues that came on top of the priority list is the impact of the fall of the US$ on Salaries and Pensions. Security and Performance Management were other issues of top priority. It was agreed that a Plan of Action needs to be established so that appropriate budget allocations can be made and Working Groups Focal/Points designated.

There was also a consensus on the need to continue to work more closely with FICSA; building on the successful collaboration at the recent ICSC Session in Addis Ababa. Adequate funds should also be allocated to enhance CCISUA’s communications strategy, its website and training activities aimed at capacity building. In the light of these discussions, several Working Groups and Focal Points have been established to deal with the priority issues highlighted by the Union representatives such as Salaries and Pensions including the fall of the US$, Security, Mobility, Communications, Performance Management and FICSA/CCISUA Coordination.

Guest Speakers
The general debate also benefited from the participation of a number of guest speakers who enriched the discussion and provided valuable inputs to CCISUA’s strategy and plans.

The keynote address on the subject of “Global Developments in Public Service Unionism” was given by Mr. PeterWaldorff, General Secretary of “Public Service International” (PSI) which is a global federation of some six hundred and fifty public sector trade unions representingmore than 20million workers in one hundred and fifty countries. Mr.Waldorff provided an overview of the role of PSI in promoting workers’ rights, social justice, and efficient and reliable public services. He said that the privatization of public services had increasingly led to problems in relation with the services provided and studies have shown in many cases a clear tendency to reverse such privatizations.With regard to Results-Based Management, Mr. Waldorff said that Unions are often wrongly told that such issues belong to Management and staff representatives are therefore not invited to set procedures and standards. HR strategies are difficult to develop, and it is proven that procedures and systems only work where there had been close cooperation between staff and Management in their development. He underlined the importance of genuine partnership between Management and Unions
on an equal level.

The Vice-Chairman of ICSC, Ambassador Wolfgang Stöckl, made a presentation which covered a wide range of topics. He said that in 2007, the Commission held a retreat where they reflected on what was happening in the Human Resources sphere both inside and outside the Common System. The ICSC has come to the conclusion that one size might not fit all and that they have to respond to different organizations based on their mandates, policies and needs; and then reach agreements that could be acceptable to the Member States. However, all concerned parties including the Staff need to work together to generate an understanding at the UN General Assembly level that some policies should be available for different duty stations/organizations. Mr. Stöckl said that the ICSC welcomed the increased cooperation between FICSA and CCISUA. In response to a question about the weakening US$, Mr. Stöckl said that the problemof the Dollar was one of the most pressing; but he explained that the impact varied from one country to the other. While the ICSC was looking into possible solutions, it welcomes any proposals from the staff representatives. In response to another question about Hazard Pay that was being requested by the staff in several countries as a result of deteriorating local situations,Mr. Stöckl responded that DSS and ICSC kept each other informed and action on these requests would be prompt.

The Executive Director, Management and Administration, at ILO, Ms. O’Donovan, provided an insightful statement about reform and managing change. She described good practices and pitfalls to avoid. She said that managing change is not the business of Management alone. The staff at all levels, particularly the staff associations, have a key role to play in the reform process which should lead to a win-win situation. She acknowledged that the ILO Staff Union makes a valuable contribution in its dialogue with the Management.

The following are brief highlights of presentations made by other speakers and delegations:

The Pension Fund delegation of Participants’ Representative provided an overview of relevant developments and had exchange of views with CCISUA members, particularly on the impact of the weakening US$ and the proposed indexation of part of the Fund. The delegation said that the UN Pension scheme is complex even for those working inside the Fund. While some ideas were emerging on how to mitigate the fall of the US$, it is important that Unions do not “go it alone” by proposing solutions which might put the Pension system in danger. The staff representatives should aimat submitting proposals for consideration at the forthcoming Pension Board meeting in July 2008.

AMFIE is a savings and loans cooperative established in Luxembourg in 1991. It is open to active and retired UN staff and other intergovernmental organizations. Because AMFIE does not itself seek tomake profit, it is in a good position to offer competitive services. For more information, please visit www.amfie.com

UNFCU is a Credit Union established in New York since 1947 to serve the staff of the UN community. It offers a number of services tailored to the specific needs of UN staff. CCISUA members raised the issue of availability of credit facilities to national staff and conveyed concerns that requests for loans are often refused without giving clear reasons. UNFCU representatives said that they were increasing their presence in the field but acknowledged that restrictions for granting loans apply, not on the basis of category of staff but on the contractual status. For more information, please visit www.unfcu.org

UN Plus was initiated in March 2005 by a group of UN staff members living with HIV, to create a more enabling environment of all HIV positive staff members, irrespective of the level of disclosure of their HIV status. UN Plus aims to challenge stigma and discrimination, and to contribute to the development and improvement of policies on HIV among UN agencies. Ms. Bhatupe Mhango, Global Coordinator of UN Plus said that confidentiality is most important and no matter what the staff member’s background, culture, belief or function, he/she will be listened to by people who are themselves living with HIV. Concerned individuals will be in safe hands when they call members of UN Plus. For more information, please visit www.unaids.org/en/Partnerships/UNFamily/UNplus.asp

FICSA
FICSA participated in the GA with a highlevel delegation which comprised the President, Mr. Edmond Mobio, and the General Secretary, Ms. Valérie Seguin. They both reiterated FICSA’s commitment to mutual collaboration in order to better promote and safeguard the interests of the staff of the Common System. To this end, the two Federations agreed that – while exploring the possibility of creating a unified representation structure – they should continue to enhance coordination and to join forces at all working levels. Following a proposal by FSU, it was agreed that a joint letter be sent to the Secretary- General on the issue of the fall of the US$. It was also agreed that the two Federations should enhance their presence in New York in order to better communicate with the Secretary-General and his top Management teamas well as with the representatives of the Member States.

Conclusions and Action Plan
The continuing demands by the Member States for amore effective, efficient, coherent, and better-performing United Nations mean that the staff representatives have to remain proactive and forward-looking. The role of CCISUA in safeguarding the interests of the staff is more than ever important. FICSA is also clear in its vision that the threats to staff security and welfare were such that coherent and principled staff representation is indispensable for achieving results. Constructive cooperation is the best means by which both Federations can hope to defend and effectively promote the interests of international civil servants before the decision-making bodies. Both Federations are committed to joint action on all issues of a system-wide nature.

Election of the new CCISUA Bureau
The 23rd General Assembly has unanimously elected Mr. Christopher Land-Kazlauskasas (ILO) as the new President of CCISUA. Mr. Kris Tengpratip (ESCAP), Mr. Stefano Berterame (UNOV) and Ms. Rita Ann Wallace (Unicef) have been elected as First, Second and Third Vice-President respectively. The GA also renewed themandate of Mr. Shuibao Liu (UNOG) as Treasurer.