209th MEETING OF THE FICSA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

PAHO/WHO Washington DC, Saturday, 2 February 2002

Present:
Mr. Bernard P. Grandjean, President
Mr. André J. Heitz, General Secretary
Ms. Marielle Richon, Vice-President
Ms. Judey Austin, Regional Member for the Americas
Dr. Ali Basaran, Regional Member for Asia
Mr. Joachim Laubhouet-Akadie, Regional Member for Africa
Ms. Jane Mitchell, Regional Member for Europe
Ms. Anne Marie Pinou, Research and Liaison Officer

Opening of the meeting
  • The President opened the meeting.

    Adoption of the agenda
  • The agenda was adopted as proposed; and it is reflected in the titles below.

    Reports of the Members of the Executive Committee

    Africa

  • Mr. Joachim Laubhouet-Akadie referred to the following points:
    • Lack of visibility of FICSA in Africa;
    • Documents in English only;
    • Widespread feeling that FICSA is a club of internationally-recruited staff, locally-recruited staff being ignored;
    • Locally-recruited staff considered as privileged by their compatriots (and governments), and particularly vulnerable in case of trouble;
    • New generation of agency heads who are more open and support the creation of associations and federations;
    • Security plans deemed insufficient by locally-recruited staff (but FICSA’s contribution is acknowledged) and lack of briefings and drills;
    • Problems with the hardship classification, particularly for Accra, Ghana.

  • With regard to the workshops on the general methodology for the conduct of surveys of best-prevailing conditions of employment in non-headquarter duty stations, he emphasized that they should be continued to:
    • Provide training;
    • Ensure FICSA’s visibility in the field;
    • Promote networking.

  • The President referred to activities deployed by the General Secretary and himself in support of the President of FUNSA Nigeria, and stated that the question of translations should be addressed by Council.
  • The Vice-President underlined the need to vigorously promote the training and development of locally-recruited staff. Furthermore, she emphasized the need to change the perspective of Regional Members’ missions: they should last 10 to 15 days, twice a year, during which they should visit 8 to 12 duty stations. Airline fares would be covered by FICSA and accommodation would be covered by the local staff associations or federations (FUNSAs). This would allow a better presence and recognition of FICSA in the field.

    • Americas

  • Ms. Judey Austin reported that a workshop was held in Kingston, Jamaica, that she had attended a meeting of the task force on HIV/AIDS and the Security Summit in New York and that, whilst on annual leave, she had met staff in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; the major concern there was the "reprofiling" of the UNDP Office.
  • The General Secretary added that Mr. Osvaldo Bastida had conducted two workshops in Spanish, in Costa Rica and Ecuador, and that, as a result of his activities (as well as those of Ms. Elvira Ajero in the preceding year), the staff had formed FUNSAs and joined FICSA. Mr. Bastida had also been requested to provide assistance by the Local Salary Survey Committee in Brazil, and he did so under the FICSA umbrella. According to Mr. Bastida, FUNSA Bolivia was expected to adhere to FICSA; contacts were also made with staff in Paraguay in connection with the forthcoming Council session.

    • Asia

  • Dr. Ali Basaran referred to the following concerns and allegations:
    • Increased security concerns (e.g. UN vehicles being hijacked in front of the offices or at gun point);
    • Need for better "trauma" counselling;
    • Evacuation of local staff (i.e. this long standing issue needs to be resolved and practiced uniformly throughout the common system);
    • Feeling/allegations that the recruitment practices are discriminatory in certain organizations, and increasing preferential treatment of people from the region for "political" reasons;
    • Growing concern with all forms of alleged discriminations;
    • Lack of job security with severe consequences on private life;
    • Concerns regarding rotation/reassignment;
    • New travel rules in certain organizations, with reduced entitlements in certain circumstances;
    • Lack of after-service medical insurance
    • Manila’s "promotion" to "A" in terms of hardship, whereas other seemingly more favoured duty stations are still in "B" or "C".

  • Dr. Basaran also mentioned two workshops, planned for Beirut and Moscow had to be postponed for logistical and financial reasons (i.e. the resource person approached requested a professional fee to conduct the workshops but FICSA did not have the provisions for such).
  • The Research and Liaison Officer stated that Manila had been reclassified on the basis of the evidence at hand.

    • Europe

  • Ms. Jane Mitchell reported that she had made contacts with the staff of Interpol, in Lyons. They had a heavily subsidized grouping and it was doubtful whether they would be able to collect dues to pay a contribution to FICSA. She had also participated, with the President, in a meeting with the "Geneva Group".
  • Concluding the tour de table, the President stated that members of the Executive Committee served the Federation, whose interests should not be tapered with by considerations from the local association or union.

    • Review of the Index of Decisions of the 54th FICSA Council
  • The Executive Committee took note of Annex 1 of FICSA/C/55/3 and concluded that it had fulfilled the mandates given at the 54th Council session.
  • With regard to the absence of follow-up by members, the General Secretary referred to the growing difficulties encountered by members in their functioning. This was an issue to be addressed urgently by FICSA.
  • Ms. Judey Austin suggested that FICSA should organize regional meetings to allow the staff representatives of the regions to air their concerns. The President mentioned that the workshops were not a suitable venue since they were geared towards those contributing to the General Service salary surveys. He also highlighted the usefulness of meetings such as the Conferences of Staff Associations of International Organizations now regularly held in Europe, and also the need to vigorously promote the creation of FUNSAs. He finally suggested that a PowerPoint presentation of FICSA and its place in the common system structure should be prepared.
  • Emphasis was also placed in the course of the discussion on the need for Council to set reasonable, practical and achievable goals and to set them to well-identified entities, not just to FICSA.
  • The General Secretary introduced a draft document on "our objectives and needs". The Executive Committee adopted the document and it was subsequently distributed as FICSA/C/55/CRP.2.

    • Review of the items on the agenda for the 55th FICSA Council
  • The Executive Committee discussed the request by a number of members to add two items to the agenda.
  • The President recalled that the purpose of the meeting of Heads of Delegations set for the afternoon of the same day was to clarify the issues and discuss the policy and the budget of FICSA. He also announced that if the General Secretary was asked to step down, he would withdraw his candidacy for another term.
  • Dr. Ali Basaran emphasized that internal grievances should be discussed internally. The unity and credibility of FICSA were at stake.
  • The General Secretary underlined that he and, to a lesser extent, the President had been the subject of a campaign of defamation and character assassination over the last eight months. He thanked the President and the Regional Members for their support. He also deplored that one member of the Executive Committee, on top of it using FICSA monies, had joined in that campaign.

    • Constitutional matters
  • The Executive Committee decided:
    • To make a positive recommendation with regard to the application for associate membership filed by the Staff Association of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO):
    • To refrain from making a recommendation concerning the suspension of the rights of the UNIDO Staff Association in view of the fact that a delegation was expected to be present in the Council session; such suspension was to be considered by the Council on the basis of a resolution adopted by it in Montreal. The UNIDO Staff Association’s arrears of contribution now totalling three years:
    • To refrain from making a recommendation concerning continuation of the suspension of the rights of "New Wood".

    Administrative and budgetary questions
  • The Executive Committee was appraised of the impending move of the FICSA Liaison Office into the Chrysler Building, into premises made available by UNOPS. The Executive Committee expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by Mr. Reinhart Helmke, Executive Director of UNOPS, and Mr. Richard Nasereddin.
  • With regard to the budget, the General Secretary referred to the downward spiral that might be generated by budget cuts, to the efforts undertaken so far to seek financial support from the organizations, and to the importance of the investment in "The World of International Civil Servants" (a minimum of 120,000 Swiss francs per issue).