FIFTH COMMITTEE HEARS EXPERT ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON UNITED NATIONS PLACEMENT AND PROMOTION POLICIES

29 November 1996

Press Release
GA/AB/3120*

FIFTH COMMITTEE HEARS EXPERT ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON UNITED NATIONS PLACEMENT AND PROMOTION POLICIES

19961129 ASG for Human Resources Management Seeks Departments' Cooperation to End 'Back-Door' Recruitment

The practice of placing staff members against higher level vacant posts for long periods, while normal promotion procedures were under way, must be immediately discontinued, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) was told this morning as it heard recommendations of the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) on the application of United Nations placement and promotion policies. Such a practice was against United Nations rules and damaged the promotion and career prospects of eligible staff, said JIU Inspector Fatih Bouayad-Agha, as he introduced the second part of the report he co-authored with Homero L. Hernandez on the "Inspection of the application of United Nations recruitment, placement and promotion policies". Policy measures to ensure gender parity by the year 2000, an issue the JIU Inspector called "the most delicate and the most sensitive", were discriminatory, he said, because they gave automatic preferences to women. The report also recommended that programme managers should be held financially responsible for decisions which led to the payment of damages to staff adversely affected by managers' failure to follow relevant placement and promotion policies. In introductory remarks on the JIU report, the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management, Denis Halliday, said the Secretary-General supported the proposal to ban temporary appointments at P2/P3 levels for longer than three months. Such appointments had facilitated "back-door" recruitment. However, changes in the practice would require the cooperation, or at least compliance, of departmental heads. Regarding the promotion and placement of women, Mr. Halliday said in 1995, 56 per cent of the promotions in the Organization went to male staff members, and to date in 1996, 52 per cent went to male colleagues. Therefore, the so-called "reverse discrimination" was neither the policy nor the reality of the United Nations Secretariat.

_---------_ * The second line of the heading on pages 2-20 of this press release should have read "34th Meeting (AM)".

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The issue of racial discrimination should have been addressed in the JIU report, the representative of Uganda said. The report had shown why the Secretariat had been reluctant to provide honest answers to Member States' questions on human resources management. The Secretariat should stop telling lies and tell the truth to make it easier to discuss issues.

Statements on human resources management were also made by the representatives of Ireland (on behalf of the European Union and associated States), Kuwait, Algeria, New Zealand and Cuba.

Also this morning, the Fifth Committee continued discussing the United Nations common system, the Organization's pension system and the report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services.

On the United Nations common system, the representative of Ireland, on behalf of the European Union and associated States, said that Member States should increase the salaries of the Professional staff to ensure the competitiveness of the United Nations system. The objective of ensuring such competitiveness should not be held hostage to, or influenced by, the current financial difficulties, which resulted primarily from the non-payment by some Member States of their dues.

The Director of the Office of International Standards and Legal Affairs of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) also spoke on the United Nations common systems.

Speaking on the United Nations pension system, the Secretary of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board, Raymond Gieri, responded to questions raised in a previous meeting by the representative of Ukraine on the pension rights of some citizens of the former Soviet Union. Ukraine's representative said he would make further comments on the matter.

On the Office of Internal Oversight Services, the representative of Bulgaria called for joint efforts by that Office, the JIU and the Board of Auditors to produce positive effects in procurement and outsourcing practices and in the inception and the liquidation of peace-keeping operations.

Referring to the Office's report on the seminars organized by the Special Committee on decolonization, New Zealand's representative said that the Office did not have the mandate to question the decisions of intergovernmental bodies. Statements were also made by the representatives of the Republic of Korea and Liberia.

The Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, Karl Theodore Paschke, circulated his responses to Member States' questions because of the lack of time for an oral presentation.

The Committee is scheduled to meet again on Monday, 2 December, to discuss the Office of Internal Oversight Services, among other matters, at a time to be announced.

Committee Work Programme

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met this morning to take up the financing of the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) and of three missions in the former Yugoslavia -- the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH), United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) and the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP). In relation to those three missions, the Assembly had last June appropriated funds to cover the six-month period from 1 July to 31 December.

The Committee was also expected to continue discussing the Office of Internal Oversight Services, the United Nations common and pension systems and human resources management, particularly the report of the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) on the United Nations recruitment and promotion policies. (For background on the common and pension systems, see Press Release GA/AB 3118 of 25 November; for details on the JIU report, see Press Release GA/AB 3119 of 27 November; and for details of the Oversight Office report see Press Release GA/AB/3112, of 11 November.)

Financing of UNMIBH, UNTAES, UNPREDEP and UNIKOM

The Secretary-General's report on UNMIBH (document A/51/519 and Corr.1) asks the General Assembly to appropriate $85.3 million gross ($81.6 million net) for the 12-month period from 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1997 and assessed it at a monthly rate of $14.2 million gross ($13.6 million net), should the Security Council extend the mission beyond 20 December. The new amount -- which includes $1.9 million for the support account for peace-keeping operations -- would be in addition to the $75.6 million gross ($72.2 million net) appropriated and assessed last June.

The report also presents about $157.1 million gross ($150 million net) as the revised estimates for the mission for the period 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1997. The amount represents a drop of $1.7 million from the initial estimates the Secretary-General presented in March. The decrease is due mainly to delays in deploying civilian personnel and reductions related to air operations, in the number of rented premises and in travel.

In its consolidated report on the three missions in the former Yugoslavia (document A/51/681), the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) says that the new estimates should be accommodated within the appropriations it had previously recommended for the period 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1997. The ACABQ had recommended $147.4 million gross for UNMIBH, assessed at $12.3 million gross monthly; $274.1 million gross for UNTAES, assessed at $22.8 million monthly; and $51.3 million gross for UNPREDEP, assessed at $4.2 million monthly.

Noting that the missions include additional provisions for the United Nations in Action series, produced by the Department of Public Information

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(DPI), the ACABQ recommends that no such allocation should be made until the Secretary-General clarifies whether supplemental funding is necessary for the programmes. It also states that it is still awaiting the Secretary-General's report on the financing of the "blue book" series on peace-keeping.

Commenting on UNMIBH in connection with the Trust Fund for the police assistance programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the ACABQ requests that the next UNMIBH budget should identify activities funded from that Fund. The police programme was established on 25 March to train and help local police and law enforcement institutions.

In his report on UNTAES (document A/51/520), the Secretary-General asks the Assembly to appropriate $143.3 million gross ($138.5 million net) for the same 12-month period and assess it at the monthly rate of $23.9 million gross ($23.1 million net), should the Council keep the Transitional Administration beyond 14 January 1997. The new sum -- which includes $3.4 million for the support account for peace-keeping -- would be an addition to the $140.5 million gross ($136.1 million net) appropriated and assessed last June for the period 1 July to 31 December.

The report provides updated estimates of $276.9 million gross ($267.7 million net) for UNTAES and the Belgrade and Zagreb liaison offices for the 12-month period. The new sum shows a drop of $7.9 million gross from the budget published in April. According to the Secretary-General, the savings are due, among other things, to the reduced provisions for contingent- owned equipment ($4.9 million), cuts in the number of civilian police ($2.2 million) and delays in deploying international staff ($3.3 million). The savings are partly offset by increases in local staff salaries of about $2.4 million and in other costs. The budget provides for 100 military observers, 5,000 troops, 560 police monitors, 477 international staff, 721 local staff and 100 United Nations Volunteers.

About $33.7 million is owed to troop contributors for the period from 15 January to 31 August.

Commenting on UNTAES and UNMIBH in its report on the three former Yugoslavia missions (document A/51/681), the ACABQ asks the Secretary-General to explain the criteria used to conduct the local salary surveys that led to the additional local wage costs of over $2 million for each of the two operations. He should also absorb any additional costs from the local salary surveys within the appropriations recommended previously by the ACABQ.

Annexed to the ACABQ report are the provisions for the United Nations in Action series, facts on the salary surveys conducted in Sarajevo and Zagreb, and further details on the programme to hire and train civilian police in UNMIBH and UNTAES.

In his report on the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) (document A/51/508 and Corr.1), the Secretary-General asks the

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Assembly to appropriate and assess $26.4 million gross ($25.8 million net) for the mission for 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1997. The sum includes the $26.3 million gross ($25.6 million net) that had been appropriated and assessed for 1 July to 31 December and $632,400 for the support account for peace-keeping operations. Assessments would be granted at a monthly rate of $4.4 million gross ($4.3 million net), should the Security Council extend the Force beyond 30 November.

(On 27 November, the Council decided to extend the mandate of the Force for six months, until 31 May 1997. It also decided to reduce the mission's military component by 300 of all ranks, by 30 April 1997. It took that action by adopting resolution 1082 [1996] by a vote of 14 in favour to none against, with 1 abstention [Russian Federation].)

The Secretary-General also asks the Assembly to appropriate for the Force about $4.2 million gross ($4.1 million net), previously authorized and assessed for the period 31 May to 30 June.

According to the Secretary-General, the total UNPREDEP cost from 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1997 was originally set at some $52.4 million gross ($50.8 million net). However, it is now estimated at about $51.4 million gross ($50.1 million net). The decrease resulted from savings caused by delays in deploying civilian staff and cuts from provisions for contingent- owned equipment and travel. The mission's budget provides for 35 military observers, 1,050 troops, 26 civilian police, 76 international staff and 127 local staff. With no reimbursement of troop costs made for the period starting January, about $9.1 million is owed for the period 1 January to 31 August.

In the consolidated report on the three former Yugoslavia missions cited above (document A/51/681), the ACABQ says that the $51.4 million revised estimates for UNPREDEP can be accommodated within the total appropriation of $51.3 million it had previously recommended.

However, noting the Secretary-General's proposal that the provision for maintaining United Nations-owned vehicles be raised from $300 to $500 monthly per vehicle, the ACABQ says that $500 is too high and should be reduced. It asks the Secretary-General to act to bring down the average cost of maintaining those vehicles and report the results of his efforts in the next budget submission for UNPREDEP.

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The Secretary-General's report on the financing of activities from Security Council resolution 687 (1991): UNIKOM (document A/51/658) contains that mission's financial performance report for the period from 1 November 1994 to 31 December 1995. The Assembly is asked to credit Member States their respective share in an unencumbered balance of $5.7 million gross ($5 million net).

The report states that the total prorated resources provided for the period amount to $73 million gross ($70 million net), while the related expenditures amount to $67.3 million gross ($65.1 million net). That resulted in an unencumbered balance of $5.7 million gross ($5 million net), which resulted primarily from the lower number of military personnel deployed; cancellation of some construction projects; postponement of some infrastructure repair projects; acquisition of a fewer number of vehicles; and lower flying hours of aircraft services.

In the related report (document A/51/683), the ACABQ recommends that the unencumbered balance be credited to Member States. In that connection, the Advisory Committee was informed that two-thirds of the amount would be returned to the Government of Kuwait.

Statements on Human Resources Management

FATIH BOUAYAD-AGHA, the JIU Inspector, prefaced his introduction of the Unit's report entitled "Inspection of the application of United Nations recruitment, placement and promotion policies (Part II. Placement and promotions)" with remarks on the present situation of the Organization, which he said could be considered as a weather report on the international civil service.

He said all staff members must know a career progression translated into additional responsibilities, an enhanced status and a higher remuneration. Unfortunately, certain trends in the promotion area appeared to compromise the very concept of career itself. Many staff members who contributed to the United Nations their energy, competence and dedication, found themselves more often than not, without any promotion perspectives. One could even point out that the fastest promotions were not always linked with competence and efficiency. A drastic curtailment of the promotion of male staff, as they increasingly came up against stiff female competition buttressed by comprehensive preferential measures, had been witnessed in recent times. The practice of promotions with little guarantee of objectivity engendered a deep feeling of dissatisfaction which could be discerned throughout the United Nations system. That frustration, which affected all staff, was detrimental to a harmonious career development.

Introducing the report, also on behalf of the JIU Inspector Homero L. Hernandez, he recalled that Part I of the report -- on recruitment issues -- had been taken up by the Assembly's forty-ninth session. The second part of the report focused on placement and promotions. The report was based on three

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interrelated assumptions. The first was the JIU's belief that a modern, fair and transparent personnel policy -- of which placement and promotion was an important part--, and its strict implementation, were crucial determinants of the effective future performance of the United Nations. The second assumption was that such a policy, strictly implemented, would tangibly improve the morale of United Nations staff and, as a third assumption, was the best guarantee against attempts aimed at "micromanaging" the Secretariat and interfering with the Secretary-General's prerogatives as the chief administrative officer.

He raised the following questions relevant to promotion and placement policies which the report sought to answer, including the following: what was wrong with the current system of placement and promotion; how closed or open was the decision-making related to placement and promotion; and what changes were both practical and desirable. Also: could the functioning of the joint appointment and promotion bodies be improved; and how could programme managers be held responsible and accountable for decisions relating to placement and promotion? The Unit's analysis of the system led to the conclusion that the present and previous placement and promotion systems suffered from flaws and deficiencies in the annual grade-by-grade review and the vacancy management system.

The practice of "regularization" of temporary staff constituted an obstacle to promotion and to normal competitive recruitment for posts at levels higher than entry level, he continued. The recruitment of successful candidates for the competitive examinations must wait for years to be offered options in the Secretariat, and at present the total number of such candidates exceeded one hundred. He stressed the necessity of strict application of educational requirements for recruitment to posts in the Professional category. Circumvention of those by a "package" of academic training as the equivalent of an advanced university education should be forbidden. With the improvement in the planning capability of the Office of Human Resources Management and a shorter recruitment process, there was no longer reason for granting short-term appointments for three months, except for replacement of staff on mission.

Regarding placement, the policy of temporary assignments of a staff member from within a department against a higher level vacant post while placement procedures were under way were out of step, as they were no longer limited to three months, he continued. "Exceptions to the rule were numerous." The Department of Administration and Management, which enforces procedures and policies, and the Department of Political Affairs were the departments that abused that practice most. Such practice continued to raise questions of credibility and fairness both to the ad hoc incumbent and to other interested staff.

Despite the fact that the Fifth Committee and the JIU had criticized that abuse, the practice continued to damage the careers of eligible staff, he said. In some cases placement against higher level posts had been made

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without announcing vacancies. That practice was at variance with United Nations policy. It must be immediately discontinued. Immediate steps should be taken by the Office of Human Resources Management to fill vacancies as they occurred. The JIU recommended that any staff member occupying a higher level vacant post temporarily, in excess of three months, should no longer be considered eligible for that vacancy.

Noting that "the most delicate and the most sensitive provision" of the JIU recommendations concerned placement and promotion of women, he said the Secretary-General's attempts to push ahead with gender parity by the year 2000, as mandated by the Assembly, had introduced a number of discriminatory measures by introducing different criteria for recruitment, placement and promotion which had given preferences based on gender. Policy guidance, as stated in administrative instruction ST/AI/412, and other such directives left too many loopholes and opportunities for abuse which had already resulted in a number of grievances being lodged with the Joint Appeals Board and the United Nations Administrative Tribunal.

The Inspector said the JIU shared the Tribunal's view that the fundamental principle reflected in Article 101(3) of the United Nations Charter -- on the criteria for the highest standards for staff and the geographical basis of recruitment -- should not be diluted by a desire, however commendable, to overcome past problems. Special measures giving automatic preference to women in a placement and promotion system were redundant, if the aim of the system was to recruit, place and promote the best as required by the Charter, and if a women's qualifications were superior. Concerns to that effect had been heard from women themselves both in the New York Staff Council and in the Fifth Committee.

Turning to the issue of a comprehensive career development system, he said that very concept had almost disappeared, noting that a career development system had not been mentioned in the proposed medium-term plan for the period 1998-2001, or in the Secretary-General's report on the implementation of the strategy for human resources management. In promoting the performance appraisal system (PAS), the Secretary-General's report gave the impression that the introduction of that new evaluation tool had superseded the requirements for career consideration and development. The JIU Inspector stressed that it was up to the Secretariat to chart career paths in a fair and transparent manner for all staff, and not merely for a select few

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who were placed against higher level vacant posts for long periods or were given accelerated promotion, or who were part of "special deals, favouritism, parochialism and nepotism".

Career development had to be considered one of the most disappointing administrative policy efforts in United Nations history, he said. He wondered whether it was not the responsibility of the Office of Human Resources Management to introduce a comprehensive career development plan. The Inspector's second recommendation, among other things, requested the Secretary-General to inform the Assembly on policies, staffing and programmes and time-limited objectives by which he intended to achieve a comprehensive career development system, he added.

On the issue of accountability of programme managers, he said it was time to hold programme managers financially responsible for decisions which entailed paying damages to staff who were adversely affected by managers' failure to follow relevant policy decisions regarding placement and promotion. Staff rule 112.3 provided the necessary means to do so. The Unit therefore recommended the application of that rule with regard to financial losses incurred in placement and promotion cases when it was established that placement and promotion decisions appealed against were based on improper motivation, wilful violation, or reckless disregard of staff rules and regulations and established policies regulating placement and promotion.

Without a system of accountability and responsibility, decentralization and delegation of authority would lead to a chaotic system in which responsibility would rest with no one, the JIU Inspector continued. That issue was related to a 1994 JIU recommendation which had called for a comprehensive report on personnel matters to be presented to the Assembly on a biennial basis. That report, which could be called a human resources performance report, was badly needed and would contribute to ensuring management accountability at this time in the Organization's life. Reforming the United Nations personnel system could only be done through the will of Member States themselves, he stressed, expressing the hope that the Assembly would approve the recommendations of the JIU.

DENIS HALLIDAY, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management, in introductory remarks on the JIU report, said his office was in the process of finalizing the Secretary-General's comments on it.

The JIU report contained some sound aspects for the improvement of promotion and placement policies, he said. While the current system was not excellent, it had some very sound elements, such as open competition for jobs, performance-based criteria and recognition of mobility and staff training. The Secretary-General had also introduced a supplementary annual review system for staff. However, negative perceptions, which were only perceptions, did exist. Such perceptions, which were evident in the responses of less than 25 per cent of staff who had participated in the survey on promotion policies, were not mutually exclusive.

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He said that staff members with the relevant seniority, competence, mobility, productivity and use of training were undoubtedly known to their managers and supervisors, as implied in the somewhat pejorative reference to "friends higher up" and government support for promotions. However, the use of such approaches to promotion were improper. The fact that some of the staff members who had the best performance were well known did not take away from the recognition of their performance in the promotion process. However, it was regrettable that senior level staff received pressure from certain missions. It was a situation they had to live with but tried to resist despite risk to their own survival and the unhealthy encouragement such readiness to micromanage gave to staff who were "often underperformers who exploited the undermining of the Charter provisions".

It was encouraging to note that the Secretary-General's human resource management strategy had set out to change the existing placement and promotion system but perhaps it was too far-reaching, especially in view of the fact that readiness to change did not exist, he said. When successfully implemented, it would indicate that the Organization was capable of meeting the challenges of the twenty-first century. The financial crisis had had an adverse effect on the strategy's implementation. Loss of staff in the Office of Human Resources Management over the last three years had hampered its ability to progress, to focus on change and to start implementation of the necessary improvements that had been endorsed by the Fifth Committee and the Assembly. However, some progress had been made in areas such as the performance appraisal system, people management training and human resources management planning and database development. He had recognized the omission of reference to career development in the medium-term plan. Career management was fundamental to human resources management in the Secretariat. He called on the Fifth Committee to restore reference to it in the medium-term plan. The Secretariat must endeavour to take it on as a matter of priority.

The JIU recommendations, in particular the proposal to ban temporary appointments for longer than three months at the P-2/P-3 level, which had been a means of facilitating "back door" recruitment, was supported by the Secretary-General, he continued. "The ongoing efforts to enhance the Office's ability to forecast vacancies and streamline recruitment procedures are intended to obviate the need for such temporary hiring, making it possible to undertake proper national competitive examination roster recruitment in a timely fashion." Basic to those changes was the less parochial thinking and more holistic or corporate thinking on the part of departmental heads. He stressed that his office must have the support and cooperation, or at least compliance of departmental heads.

In making mission replacements, he said a balance must be struck between ensuring that those temporary needs were met. At the same time there was need to avoid having untested short-term staff, outside the equitable geographical distribution framework, make a career of going from one mission replacement function to another, so that their accumulated experience would not represent a loss to the Organization if they had to be terminated. The challenge was to

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find the talent through the competitive examinations and get it on board quickly. There was need to invest up-front in staff who came through the appropriate Assembly mandated channels and to ensure that systems were geared to support their early entry. In that connection, he called for guidance from the Fifth Committee on a suggestion by the Secretary-General that further study might be given to mission replacement arrangements to ensure that competitive internal processes were set that encouraged staff development through the performance of different, perhaps higher level functions on a temporary basis. Such action would limit hiring of external temporary staff.

His office would focus on how to encourage mobility of staff and the taking on of new and different assignments, preferably in different offices or duty stations, as well as the return of staff to their parent duty station to perform functions that recognized and rewarded their hard-earned and valuable experience in the field. Again, in that connection, the Office must have departmental support. The JIU did not take into account the fact that various elements of a career development plan were already being pursued under the general scope of implementing the Secretary-General's 1994 human resources management strategy as well as by the implementation of resolution 49/222 A, of December 1994, on the matter. Again, it was important to have departmental collaboration. Regretfully, the Office had not progressed quickly because of resource constraints. He also noted the inherent difficulty of a career track targeted for each staff member, which was a demanding exercise.

He further noted that any comprehensive system of career development would have to recognize the limitations of any organization, such as the pyramidal structure that precluded all staff members from reaching the pinnacle of their ambitions. However, the Office would continue to develop a system to encourage all staff to meet their full potential in a framework of career ambitions. The Office was encouraging staff mobility, including horizontal opportunities, given the pyramidal constraints. It was already working to develop competencies in various career fields and to encourage managers to advise staff as to necessary training and development required for career moves both vertically and horizontally, as well as to encouraging staff mobility and the pursuit of diversity in skills development.

On the issue of promotion and placement of women, he said discriminatory directions had never been given to the effect that lesser qualified women candidates should be given preference over male colleagues of superior qualifications. The measures set out in Administrative Instruction ST/AI/412,

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issued in early 1996, specified that a woman candidate should be given preference only when her qualifications met all the requirements for the vacant post and were substantially equal or superior to those of competing male candidates. The wording was formulated with the full benefit of two Administrative Tribunal's judgements, numbers 671 and 765. The Tribunal recently upheld the application of that policy. In 1995, 56 per cent of the promotions in the Organization went to male staff members, and to date in 1996, 52 per cent went to male colleagues. Therefore, the so-called "reverse discrimination" was neither the policy nor the reality of the United Nations Secretariat.

The Secretariat had to make the best of a cumbersome system responsive to Member States, geographical distribution, gender balance and staff union concerns, as well to ensure the cultural diversity of the secretariats of all organizations all over the world. To make it work all concerned had to pull together. On behalf of the Secretary-General, he expressed his willingness to discuss the points raised in the JIU report as well as some of the misinformation given this morning.

PATRICK KELLY (Ireland), speaking for the European Union and Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Norway, said it was judicious to distinguish between reforms aimed at settling disputes before they became litigations and the plans to professionalize the membership of existing appeals and disciplinary boards. The Union supported the Secretary- General's proposals on the early resolution of disputes. It welcomed the proposal to replace existing panels on discrimination with ombudsman panels and to establish a post of Coordinator to organize, train and guide the ombudsman panels. The members of the new panels should have experience on United Nations work and enjoy the confidence of the Administration and the staff.

The representative expressed support for the Secretary-General's proposals to reform the procedures for reviewing administrative decisions. Major improvements would be effected by transferring the responsibility for reviewing such decisions to an independent unit in the office of the Under- Secretary-General for Administration and Management, separate from the existing Administrative Review Unit. Relevant staff rules should be amended to allow for the extension of the present time-limits for administrative review. The Union supported the proposed appointment of a Legal Officer to serve the Panel of Counsel full time.

Turning to the Secretary-General's proposals to replace the Joint Appeals Board with an arbitration board and the Joint Disciplinary Committee with a disciplinary board, the representative said that some issues should be addressed before the proposals were further considered by the Assembly. The Union had doubts about the proposals to replace the Joint Appeals Board with arbitration boards. It was mainly concerned about the provision to replace staff members in the process with outside experts. Outsiders would lack the familiarity with the United Nations system which the members of the Joint

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Appeals Board automatically enjoyed. "Outside experts might adopt an approach which, although it might be appropriate in the private sector, could be unsuitable for the United Nations Secretariat. This drawback would outweigh any advantage of more overt impartiality that outside experts might import."

The appropriate action for the Assembly for the present, he said, would be to approve non-contentious reforms meant to strengthen mediation efforts and the pre-litigation process and to promote earlier dispute resolution.

NESTER ODAGA-JALOMAYO (Uganda) said that the statement of the JIU answered many questions that Member States had been seeking. After the statement of the JIU, he understood why the Secretariat had not been forthcoming with answers. Referring to the statement by Mr. Halliday that it was easier to pull down than to build up, he said that transparency on the part of the Secretariat would have made it easier to pull together and work. All sides could complement each other if they were honest and transparent with each other. He stressed, referring to a statement in Mr. Halliday's written text about the requests for written answers, that such answers were necessary for the records of Member States. The Secretariat had been telling lies to Member States and it should tell the truth to make issues easier to discuss.

The representative said it seemed to him that one big word was being avoided by everyone, including, perhaps, the JIU. Since gender discrimination had been acknowledged, it was time to recognize and address cases of racial discrimination in the United Nations. The atmosphere that engendered gender discrimination was liable to producing racial discrimination also. The JIU should have addressed the issue of such discrimination in the United Nations.

ZIYAD MONAYAIR (Kuwait) welcomed the statement by the JIU and the Office of Human Resources Management. The Assistant Secretary-General had stated some of the problems of the Secretariat, he said, adding that he would make further comments later.

DJAMEL MOKTEFI (Algeria) expressed concern about issues such as temporary recruitment of staff members over periods of three months, which were later extended. The lack of adherence to standards of academic qualifications and to guidelines also caused concern to his delegation. Noting that the JIU report had shown complaints regarding promotion possibilities in the Secretariat, he said the Secretariat should make efforts to ensure a better system of promotion.

DENISE ALMAO (New Zealand) said she would reserve the right to comment on the JIU report and the impending Secretary-General's comments on it in a formal meeting at a later date.

DULCE MARIA BUERGO RODRIGUEZ (Cuba) said that the JIU report was "hugely important" for the discussions of the Committee on human resources management. The report and its recommendations should be considered in great detail. The recommendations on placement and promotions should be included in the draft

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resolutions before the Committee. Such an action would provide clear guidelines on career development and on discrimination.

The issue of racial discrimination had been raised by the President of the Staff Union, who had addressed the Committee last week, she continued. The Secretariat should tell the Committee of any cases of discrimination it was aware of. The presentation of the Secretary-General's report would be important to the Committee, especially in light of the contradictions highlighted by the JIU's report. She reserved the right to speak on the matter after the Committee had received additional information on the issues raised by the JIU report.

Mr. BOUAYAD-AGHA, JIU Inspector, said, "Mr. Halliday is an excellent speaker and it is always a pleasure to listen to him. I am not an excellent speaker, but I am not new to the United Nations." He said he had been following the Committee for about 10 years and had been following Mr. Halliday's statements with interest. He could not believe, with the existence of a planning unit for a long time, that programme managers were not aware of the movement of staff on missions, for instance, or that the contracts of some of them would be ending. The Committee might be interested in receiving answers to questions such as those when the new system would be fully operational.

The Inspector said that the JIU supported efforts to check discrimination against women. However, it was concerned about justice and fairness and about preventing the abuse of the efforts to address the gender balance. In one particular case, he said, the United Nations Administrative Tribunal had granted compensation to a male staff member because he had not been properly considered for a post that eventually went to a woman.

Statements on United Nations Common and Pension Systems

Mr. KELLY (Ireland) spoke for the European Union, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. He expressed concern about the decision of the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to suspend the application of the revised post adjustment classification for Paris, which had been due to go into effect on 1 May. The UNESCO head had also decided to ask the agency's Executive Board to review the automatic application of the recommendations of the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC).

The decision by the Director-General was a violation of the ICSC Statute and deprived staff of their right to receive the appropriate post adjustment, he stated. The Union joined the ICSC in urging the Director-General to reconsider his decision and pull away from any further action which might undermine the operation of the United Nations common system as a whole. He also urged staff associations to resume their participation in the work of the ICSC in the spirit of cooperation and non-confrontation. Member States,

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common system organizations, staff and the ICSC should urgently address the issue of restoring the operation of the consultative process.

Turning to the application of the Noblemaire principle, the representative said that it should continue as the basis of determining the remuneration and conditions of service of Professional staff. In its study to determine the highest-paid national civil service, the ICSC had shown that the total compensation levels of one national service was superior to those of the current comparator (the United States federal civil service). The results of the study and any decision of the Assembly on it would have major implications for the continued application of the Noblemaire principle.

The European Union recognized the need to ensure the competitiveness of the conditions of service in the United Nations system, he said. "We do not believe that the objective of ensuring such competitiveness should be held hostage to, or influenced by, the current financial difficulties which, in the case of the United Nations, primarily results from the non-payment by some Member States of their mandatory assessed contributions." Member States should act if it was shown that an increase in salary was needed to ensure the competitiveness of the United Nations system. Current developments elsewhere suggested that some difficulties were being faced regarding the extent to which the common system was judged to have retained its competitiveness.

The Union, he continued, had endorsed in principle the use of special occupational rates in organizations with problems of recruitment and retention. The various organizations should provide information on and evidence of such difficulties, which the Union would consider. The Union believed that a decision should be taken on the proposals to raise the base/floor salary scale for Professional staff. The financial implications of the increase would have to be considered in the context of the budget performance reporting mechanisms. Any pay increase should be accompanied by intensified efforts to improve the system of responsibility.

The representative called for a major overhaul of the post-adjustment system, starting from its basic principles. The Union had felt that more efficient systems of gathering and using cost-of-living data should be

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investigated. Before the major review of the system, more immediate action should be taken to address the existing imbalances in the operation of the system. As a first step, action should be taken to address the determination of the out-of-area expenditure weight used to calculate post-adjustment indices. Further, the ICSC should give greater priority within its programme of work to issues related to pensionable remuneration.

The Union supported the changes proposed on dependency allowances, education grants, mobility and hardship allowances and hazard pay. It also welcomed the ICSC's decision to de-link hazard pay from the base/floor salary for Professional staff, while at the same time reviewing its level every two years in order to ensure that the amounts paid remained meaningful.

Speaking on the investments of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, he said that the Union supported the view of the ACABQ that a pragmatic approach be followed regarding the use of an investment benchmark in assessing the future investment performance of the Fund.

JONATHAN ATTA KUSI, Director of the Office of International Standards and Legal Affairs of UNESCO, said he would underline the salient points regarding the Director-General's views with respect to both the specific decision of the ICSC relating to the Paris post adjustment classification, which was determined by the Commission to be applied with effect from 1 May 1996, and the broader issue of principle involving automaticity in the application by common system organizations of decisions and recommendations of the Commission and related Assembly resolutions.

(Note: The ICSC had recommended a revised post adjustment classification for UNESCO's professional and higher category staff in Paris based on the results of a cost of living survey in 1995.)

The UNESCO Director-General was convinced that in the present difficult times the United Nations common system should adapt itself to the changed and ever-changing context of international multilateral cooperation, he said. There should not be business as usual. Drawing attention to the ICSC's statement that its decision-making process could not be driven by financial impact nor by the financial problems faced by one or more organizations affected by those decisions, he said the UNESCO Director-General considered that the Commission needed to be attuned to the contemporary international reality of budgetary constraints and the need of international organizations to adopt cost-saving and cost-effective management methods and practices.

The second principled position of the Director General was that ICSC's recommendations and Assembly resolutions on conditions of service of the common system should not require automatic and rigid implementation by participating organizations, he said. Each part of the common system was an independent and sovereign intergovernmental organization with its own membership and governing organs which should have the final word regarding the conditions of service of its staff. It was both conceivable and highly

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desirable to have a flexible common system which gave each organization reasonable leeway to apply the relevant decisions or recommendations.

He said the question was whether UNESCO was legally obliged to implement the ICSC's decision, adding that the issue was the legality of the decision. It was regrettable that the Commission itself had committed a breach of procedure, had omitted to take into consideration important relevant facts and also "fell into an error of law".

In spite of the problems he had raised, the Director-General did not intend to take the Organization out of the common system, he said. Instead, he would urge reflection and debate by all the interested parties in order that urgent necessary reform measures could be adopted and applied for the benefit of all concerned. Regarding the post-adjustment issue, he said the Director General could not ignore the fact that the Commission's determination was legally flawed and had, therefore, decided not to implement it. All UNESCO staff had already been informed of the Director-General's decision and the reasons for it.

RAYMOND GIERI, Secretary of the Pension Board, responded to questions that had been raised by the representative of Ukraine about the three 1981 Transfer Agreements between the Fund and the former Soviet Union, the Byelorussian SSR and the Ukrainian SSR. He said that the Board had sought an ideal solution to the problems that had emerged in relation to those Transfer Agreements. Since 1991, the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund had tried to start communications with the concerned governments of the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Belarus, which had emerged from the defunct Soviet Union.

The Russian Government had taken part in discussions on the matter since 1991, he said. But despite several attempts since 1991, no replies had been received from Ukraine or Belarus until 1995, when Ukraine contacted the Fund secretariat to express its interest in the ongoing talks with Russia. The permanent missions of Ukraine and Belarus had been formally informed of all developments. In July 1995, the Russian Federation proposed that the problem be addressed on a case-by-case basis, focusing initially on former participants from the Russian Federation who had had at least five years of contributory service related to the Fund. The Board had indicated that, while a comprehensive solution covering all affected former participants was the ultimate goal, the search for gradual solutions was more practical. It had also suggested that the first stage might cover former Fund participants with at least five years of contributory service or those who were 55 years or older. It had never suggested that distinctions be based on the nationality of former participants. The Russian delegation had also stressed that it would neither be appropriate nor legally justifiable to include in its proposed Agreement with the Board any reference to former Fund participants who were not citizens of the Russian Federation.

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As to whether the Board had legal grounds to involve the Pension Fund in such arrangements, the Secretary said that the Board, as a subsidiary organ of the Assembly, could enter agreements with Member States. Also, since the proposed Agreement between the Fund and the Russian Federation was a fully self-contained arrangement for prospective pension payments, it fell outside the context of the regulations of the Fund, he said in response to a question as to whether the proposed Agreement contradicted the Fund's rules.

He added that it was not possible to reach agreements on the full reinstatement into the Fund of all the former participants concerned. However, the proposed arrangement would help determine the amount of the pension and its future adjustment in the same manner as the Fund's regulations and pension adjustment system. But it did not provide for retroactive payments. As to whether the proposed agreement conformed with provisions of international law which absolved third States from obligations to treaties they had not agreed to, the Secretary said the proposed agreement conformed with international law. The proposed agreement, which dealt solely with the situation of some Russians, had not imposed any rights or obligations on Ukraine or its citizens. The proposed agreement tried to resolve the outstanding issues related to pension matters, with a view to securing the continuity of pension rights for Russian citizens, and it had no bearing on the rights and obligations of third States.

In response to the questions as to whether the Fund recognized that the Russian Federation was fully responsible for a comprehensive resolution of the problems arising from the implementation of the 1981 Transfer Agreements and that Russia should return appropriate sums of money to the Fund in that connection, the Secretary said that the issue of responsibility should be resolved by the concerned Member States. It would not be appropriate for the Board to become involved in the issue of the obligations of the Russian Federation in relation to the monies remitted by the Pension Fund to the former Social Security Fund of the former Soviet Union.

On the number of concerned former United Nations Fund's participants who were not citizens of Russia, he said that the proposed agreement with the Russian Federation covered only transfers made under the Transfer Agreement with the former Soviet Union.

The list of transferees covered by the proposed agreement had not yet been finalized, he added. So far, the Pension Fund had identified 349 Russian citizens as well as eight such transferees from Belarus, 27 from Ukraine and five from other countries that once belonged to the former Soviet Union. The Fund was still examining the situation of the 44 remaining former participants.

YURI BOHAYEVSKY (Ukraine) said he would study the answers carefully and make additional remarks next week. He asked the Board's Secretary to name the five countries that once belonged to the former Soviet Union.

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Mr. GIERI, the Board's Secretary, said that the five other countries were Armenia, Kazakstan, Azerbaijan, Lithuania and Latvia.

Statements on Office of Internal Oversight Services

VALENTIN DONCHEV (Bulgaria) said he would await with interest the nine additional reports that the Office would present to the Committee, including one on enhancing the internal oversight mechanism for operating funds and programmes. The tangible results shown by the Office were meaningful to the Assembly's reform efforts in two ways: the direct cost savings and recoveries of about $15.8 million; and the identification of areas for more cost- effective resource allocations in virtually all departments, field missions and organizations. The cumulative result of 4,042 recommendations since October 1994 and an implementation rate increase from 15 per cent in March 1995 to 61 per cent as of the end of June was impressive. Since a number of recommendations were yet to be implemented, the Fifth Committee should be kept informed of the progress made in that regard by heads of departments and offices.

The representative said that the Office was contributing to the emergence of a new management culture in the Secretariat. He said he expected emerging in-house expertise of the Office to be extended to the entire United Nations system through joint projects with the JIU and the Board of Auditors. The combination of the efforts of those bodies and the Oversight Office would produce positive effects in procurement ad outsourcing practices, the inception and liquidation of peace-keeping operations, and on consultancy, recruitment and separation of staff. The Office of Internal Oversight Services should be provided with adequate human and financial resources, he added.

Ms. ALMAO (New Zealand) said that no United Nations entity or activity should be immune from the requirement to make effective and efficient use of its resources. However, the Oversight Office report into the seminars of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (document A/51/486) seemed to have confused the Office's investigative and evaluative functions. The report had confirmed that there was no misuse of funds; it had studied and confirmed that the activities of the seminar had corresponded to legislative mandates from the appropriate intergovernmental body.

The Oversight Office did not have a mandate to question the decisions intergovernmental bodies took to approve certain activities, she continued. The report had caused some problems to her delegation. It focused on the lack of attendance at the seminars rather than examining the causes for such low attendance. If the attendance at such seminars had been less than optimal it was because the Administering Powers of the Non-Self-Governing Territories had not been cooperating with the Special Committee. The report's argument that the agenda of the seminars was repetitive could be applied to the Assembly.

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New Zealand had attended the seminars and found that they were not frivolous activities. The seminars were very useful in showing the peoples of the Non- Self-Governing Territories that there were various alternatives they could pursue. They could, therefore, not be regarded as being redundant. Even though the cold war was over, the international community still had to contend with the results of colonialism. She also made a reference to the situation in Tokelau of which New Zealand was an Administering Power.

BYONG HYUN LEE (Republic of Korea) expressed support for the view in the report of the Oversight Office that audit recommendations must be followed up until they were fully implemented. He welcomed the new mandate that programme managers would be required to implement final Oversight recommendations and to report quarterly on the status of such implementation. He agreed with the Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, Karl-Theodore Paschke, that the Office would only be taken seriously as a deterrent and as a proactive corporate element, if the results of its work were taken seriously.

The representative applauded the ability of the Audit and Management Consulting Division of the Office to identify almost $12 million in potential recoveries and savings, resulting in the savings of some $9 million. However, he was concerned about the continuing irregularities, mismanagement and waste. Proof of that was provided in the case of the procurement by the United Nations Peace Forces in the former Yugoslavia (UNPF) of 650 generators valued at $7.2 million which were either not used or sent to other missions. Another example was the $12.4 million that was lost due to the delays in establishing ration and service contracts in the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH).

The representative welcomed the commendation that the Office gave the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The UNHCR had been credited for its efforts to follow through recommendations and the UNRWA had been commended for adapting to changing circumstances. The morale of organizations commended by the Office would be improved. The Office should closely monitor and use its own resources effectively. Mr. Paschke should express his views on the use of officers seconded to the Organization free of charge and on temporary basis.

KARL-THEODORE PASCHKE, Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight, said, because of lack of time, he would refer Member States to the written text he had circulated.

FAMATTA ROSE OSODE (Liberia) expressed concern about a recent article in The New York Times concerning George Anderson, Acting Administrative Officer of the International Tribunal for Rwanda. The article had referred to statements from Mr. Paschke regarding fraud and irregularities. It was disturbing to her since the staff member was a Liberian who had worked in the Organization for many years with his integrity intact. In the context of the claims of discrimination and in the absence of an investigation, she asked how

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the matter had been reported in The New York Times and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

NGONI FRANCIS SENGWE (Zimbabwe), the Committee Chairman, asked Mr. Paschke to return to the Fifth Committee on Monday to give an oral response to Committee members.

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