8 June 2001

The meeting brought together staff counsellors, Human Resources specialists, representatives of the UN Medical Service and UNSECOORD, FICSA and CCISUA to develop principles to guide action in cases of domestic violence and workplace violence, and to identify measures to prevent stress and violence in the workplace. On the second day, participants worked together in groups to identify core competencies for recruitment, selection and development of Counselling Professionals. Participants also had an opportunity to exchange information on best practices.

An atmosphere of care, trust and attentiveness prevailed during the meeting, which was well-chaired by Sandra Baji-Ahmed of the United Nations. It was clear that Staff Counsellors throughout the system were fully aware of the difficulties encountered by staff at every level of the common system and were keen to do as much as possible to assist staff. The Staff Counsellors had not met as a group since 1995, and expressed some frustration at that fact. As there is generally only one Staff Counsellor (if any) in each organization, they felt it was important to meet on a regular basis to exchange information and views, and to seek mutual support.

The meeting was organized in response to the deaths of at least three staff members due to domestic violence and the lack of support facilities to assist in cases of this type.

There are at present no statistics in the UN system to show the extent of the problem. However, participants acknowledged that staff are increasingly having to confront situations that place greater demands on them and which may result in intolerable levels of stress. Stress in the workplace affects not only the professional capacity of individuals but often impair their ability to function appropriately within their family and community.

Particularly within the UN environment, staff work away from their home country, and often lack the support which is generally provided by a neighborhood or local community. They are confronted with dramatic situations in their work, often being expected to find answers to the world’s overwhelming problems. Staff are sometimes reluctant to seek assistance because it might be seen as an admission of weakness or perceived as incompetence by the organization or a manager. Unfortunately, the phrase "unfit for international civil service", however vague a notion, still finds its way into staff’s personnel files.

The group recognized that the well-being of staff is a matter of concern for all, not only because it may have a direct impact on the way organizations successfully achieve their objectives, but also because organizations have a duty to care about their staff.

Stress in general results from an imbalance between work demands and control of the working environment. The group identified sources of stress and proposed preventive measures. A further notion that might be included in the following list is to clearly identify areas of control and independence in each job description.

Attention was also drawn to the benefits of Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) which include such components as a staff counsellor, peer support programme, trauma intervention and critical incident intervention.

It was reported to the meeting that violence at work is the first cause of death of women in the workplace. Fifty-eight per cent of women have experienced bullying in the workplace, and 70 per cent have witnessed such bullying. The ILO website - www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safework/violence/index.htm - contains information about the cost of violence and bullying at work.

Participants agreed that the employer must make a commitment to provide a safe and secure workplace which protects all staff - regardless of contractual status - against abuse, harassment or violence of any kind. The following recommendations were made:

• Organizations recognize, in line with the ACC policy statement on work/family, the fundamental linkages between a socially responsible workplace which is safe and fair and a healthy, productive, creative workforce.

• UN principles and standards of conduct should be emphasized as overarching principles, notwithstanding local law and culture.

• Consideration should be given to interagency collaboration in the development of a broad outline of a core policy on violence in the workplace which should cover inter alia verbal abuse, physical abuse, psychological abuse (i.e. bullying and mobbing), sexual harassment (recalling the 1995 ACC policy statement), economic abuse and abuse of power.

• Each organization should consider the development of specific policies and procedures to address workplace and domestic violence.

• Consideration should be given to proposing that heads of agencies acknowledge that organizations, as a basic and primary obligation deriving from their employment contract, had a "duty of care" to ensure that staff members are not endangered by actions or inactions.

• Individuals should be better screened in the recruitment phase and before reassignment for their personal suitability and better use be made of the probationary period to this end.

In FICSA’s view, organizations should also increase their investigative and fact-finding capacity.

The meeting agreed that UN system organizations have a responsibility not only to respond to domestic violence, but to institute preventive and educational measures.

The following measures were identified for consideration by the organizations:

• Introducing policies which state that organizations have a zero tolerance policy regarding domestic abuse.

• Providing clear guidelines for staff on what to do and who to contact in the event of an incident; these should be available in all languages and sensitive to local situations.

• Ensuring that victims of violence (staff members or their partners) have secure, confidential and easy means of seeking advice and assistance through the introduction of such measures as focal points, hotlines, peer groups and/or family support networks.

• On entry to the organizations or on reassignment, briefings might include the partners of staff members to convey the message of organizations’ zero-tolerance and other policies (e.g. entitlements for dependents).

• Broadly disseminating information on the role of the staff counsellors in providing advice, assistance and crisis intervention.

• In the field, country management teams could play an important role in promoting such policies and communicating to the appropriate persons situations which warranted specialized intervention (which in some situations may be the only channel of assistance for the individual).

There was discussion about the duty to care for staff and all family members, especially children. The absence of a broader community support network may also prevent children from accessing the type of care required in cases of domestic violence. FICSA thus would like to recommend the use of the term ‘household members’ so that the policy would be broadened to cover not only children but also domestic servants whose housing, salary and social costs are the sole charge of the staff member and whose legal residence in the country depends on the staff member.

Participants were surveyed as to whether their organizations had adopted policies on harassment and sexual harassment. Responses were as follows:

UNHCR, WFP, ILO, WHO, World Bank (UNICEF reported that the basic principles applying to sexual harassment apply to harassment/mobbing)

UN, UNDP, UNICEF, UNHCR, WFP, ILO, ICAO, WHO, World Bank, UPU, IAEA, WTO(Trade) (ITU and WIPO reported that the UN policy serves as guidelines)