Sir,
Members of CEB,

On behalf of the 52,000 staff working in 23 specialized agencies, programmes and funds, including 22,000 UNRWA area staff, FICSA would like to express its appreciation for this opportunity to provide our views to the CEB. Global challenges lay ahead that will test the strength, tenacity and ability of the UN to rise to the demands made on it. Whether the common system responds effectively will rest in a large part on the staff without whom these challenges cannot be met.

First, we would like to thank the Secretary-General for his remarks about staff in the report to the General Assembly on strengthening the United Nations. Our members read the report with great interest and I would like to highlight a few topics that attracted their attention.

Our members welcomed the support for enhancing the career prospects of General Service staff; recognition of the need to achieve gender balance among Professionals at the senior levels; and the recommendation to increase resources for staff development. Greater emphasis on training and opportunities for advancement are needed, especially in the field duty stations.

Staff share the view expressed by the Secretary-General that the "impact and vitality of the Organization rests on having a core cadre of international civil servants who dedicate their careers to the service of the United Nations." FICSA would like to reiterate our full support for the reinstatement of career contracts for staff performing core functions. We were pleased that the report of the Secretary-General took note of the problem of short-term contracts and that several organizations have already taken action to address this problem.

The need to strengthen the systems of dispute resolution and the administration of justice is a priority for FICSA members. Some of our members depend on the ILO Administrative Tribunal (ILOAT) while others rely on the UN Administrative Tribunal. Both tribunals have shown weaknesses that inhibit the attainment of justice and limit accountability. We have been following the discussions within the International Labour Office regarding the ILO Administrative Tribunal with keen interest and hope that the formal justice system will be brought into compliance with international instruments on human and labour rights.

Naturally, we hope that ombudsmen and other forms of preventing and resolving conflicts will alleviate the need for bringing cases to a tribunal. Enhancing the competencies of supervisors could prevent problems, as would courses in negotiation techniques for staff and managers. We would like to request that all organizations establish the post of Ombudsman and provide similar facilities, such as local arbitration panels for all staff in field duty stations, where there has been an increase in reports of harassment.

FICSA recognizes the need for improved management in the common system and would like to suggest, as a step prior to piloting a Senior Management Service (SMS), that administrations carry out a management audit to identify the obstacles to effective management. In that process, organizations should be able to identify the practices of well-managed programmes, which could then be generalized, taught and applied throughout the organizations. We believe that training and performance management could improve the quality of managers.

This year the Federation had the chance to participate in meetings of the High Level Committee on Management (HLCM), the Inter-Agency Security Management Network (IASMN), the Inter-Agency Advisory Group on HIV/AIDS (IAAG) as well as meetings of the Human Resources Network and the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC). We were pleased to see a positive shift towards our participation in these bodies which manifested itself in more constructive and interactive dialogue, a recognition of the importance of staff views and opportunities to have our suggestions and concerns incorporated into final reports. FICSA looks forward to the review of the mandate, functioning and membership of ICSC to strengthen the consultative process.

FICSA was keen to participate in the discussions on the review of the pay and benefits system, and provided information to its membership on the items under consideration. Unfortunately, discussions on this important issue were not arranged, as agreed at HLCM, between administrations and staff. FICSA therefore welcomes the decision of the Commission to establish a mechanism to allow for the broadest possible participation and discussion on the part of the organizations and staff.

FICSA would like to remind the Organizations that they have committed themselves to:

"Recognizing the legitimate role of staff representatives, ensuring that staff representatives are fully informed on matters affecting conditions of service and consulted on those related to personnel/human resources policies and practices and ensuring that appropriate mechanisms are established to offer the opportunity for staff representatives to participate in and influence decisions affecting personnel/human resources policies and practices."

We would like to ask the CEB therefore to ensure that staff are able to participate fully in such discussions in each organization. We count on the CEB to stress the importance of genuine dialogue between staff and managers. This will be particularly important as the process of change accelerates.

Regarding the pay and benefit review, FICSA believes that the Commissioners asked the relevant, pragmatic questions about the proposed reforms at the 54^th session. Some contentious points were addressed by the 55^th session while others remain. FICSA hopes that they will be addressed in next year’s sessions and working groups. Staff cannot embrace the whole reform package until outstanding issues are resolved, especially those concerning the implications of the proposed reforms. In particular, we find broad banding and pay for performance to be premature given the weaknesses in management and performance appraisal systems in some organizations.

With regard to the recommendations and decisions of ICSC under consideration at the present session of the United Nations General Assembly, FICSA was pleased that the ICSC recommended that the margin be restored to 115 in March 2003. While recognizing that there are competing demands for funds, we would like to point out that staff have waited for a real salary increase for many years and they have earned this increase. They will be very distressed if the General Assembly chooses to ignore the current methodology and its prior resolutions regarding the margin and rejects the ICSC recommendations. In contrast, a positive decision would send an encouraging message to staff, who are facing additional challenges and workloads.

FICSA supports the new salary scales for GS staff in Geneva, London and Vienna. In the case of the Geneva Salary survey, FICSA recognizes that staff were not wholly satisfied with the results. FICSA will participate in the Commission’s review of the salary survey methodology next year. We expect that this review will address the difficulties encountered in applying the methodology during the recent round of surveys. Of particular importance are the securing of cooperation of the local employers in the survey process, and the development of new approaches to ensure that the salaries and benefits of the best outside employers are captured.

FICSA appreciated the ICSC recommendation for an increase in hazard pay for local staff because they are on the front line of operations in high-risk duty stations. When international staff are evacuated, local staff carry out the important task of keeping UN offices running, and safeguarding UN property, communications and assets.

FICSA would like to reiterate its request that UNRWA area staff in the West Bank and Gaza Strip receive hazard pay. The fact that some staff in those areas are given the allowance while others do not creates an unacceptable disparity, and adds to tension in an already difficult situation.

Mr. Secretary-General, the important role played by staff representatives is of great value to the organizations; it is also costly. For 50 years, FICSA has been financed largely by the contributions of it members, but we are now encountering serious financial difficulties. The number of inter-agency meetings, working groups, focus groups and task forces calling for the participation of staff representatives has increased and created greater financial burdens. At the same time, the number of staff in some agencies is shrinking. May we reiterate our request to CEB that the organizations consider contributing to the participation of FICSA representatives in all inter-agency staff-management consultative machinery?

Thank you for your attention and consideration.