7 August 2001

FICSA Update No. 42 2001

    FICSA Greets Three New Members

  • Following postal votes, which all yielded a unanimous "yes", FICSA has admitted:

    1. the Staff Association of the Secretariat of the Convention in Biological Diversity (SCBD) as a full member;

    2. the Staff Association of the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) as an associate member;

    3. the Federation of United Nations Staff Associations in Costa Rica (FAPCOSNU) as an observer member.

  • The SCBD is located in Montreal and has some 50 staff members. It is one of a number of decentralized secretariats of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Details about its activities can be found under www.biodiv.org.

  • ISNAR is located in The Hague and has some 70 staff members. Its mission, formulated in 1979 when the Institute was established, is to "support the institutional development of agricultural research in developing countries". Details about its activities can be found under www.cgiar.org/isnar/index.htm.

  • ISNAR is one of the 16 "Future Harvest Centers" supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), along with the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), another FICSA associate member.

  • Costa Rica is host to offices of 11 United Nations organizations, in particular to a regional office of the ILO. According to the official statistics, there are some 100 staff members with "regular" contracts.