The Staff-Management Coordination Committee (SMCC), which is the Secretariat’s annual staff-management negotiations, ended last week. As promised we would like to inform you on its outcome, particularly in relation to how preparations are being made for the difficult period ahead that may impact us all. We will also inform you on outcomes related to mobility,…

As the Coordinating Council brought to your attention back in March, the Secretary-General asked heads of department to reduce their budget proposals for the 2012-2013 biennium. As you will see in these memos, the consolidated proposal for the regular budget of the whole UN has been put to Member States and will “entail a net…

The staff townhall on mobility, organized on 31 May in response to a draft staff-management proposal, turned out to be lively and informative. During the session, a number of staff provided testimonies on how they had moved around the system or had attempted to do so and what the benefits and costs of these had…

Two hundred staff turned out for the staff townhall on pensions, organized by the Council on 5 May. It began with a presentation by the Geneva pension fund office informing on the state of the fund, which is healthy, and the implications of a declining dollar. However, it was noted that there is a cost…

The staff unions of the United Nations have issued a joint statement to the Secretary-General condemning his 7 March instruction in which he gave heads of offices and departments 48 hours to cut three percent from their 2012-2013 budget proposals. The UNOG Staff Coordinating Council is a co-author of this statement. The instruction came as a surprise…

In order to demonstrate our support and solidarity with its victims, the UNOG Staff Coordinating Council together with our Japanese colleagues is organizing a staff collection on Thursday 31 March 2011 at strategic points thoughout the Palais and its annexes.  At 5 p.m. on the same day in Hall XIV, the UN Music Club is…

Meeting on 19 January, the Coordinating Council voted to put to referendum an amendment to its rules that would allow the next Council a two-year mandate and for Council elections to take place in the first half of March instead of the second half of February. If passed, this would bring the Council in line…

The Council met Friday with Assistant Secretary-General of Human Resources Management, Catherine Pollard. The meeting covered a wide range of issues. These included those connected with the recent human resources resolution of the General Assembly, such as the implementation of continuing appointments, five-year fixed term appointments and career development and mobility. Also discussed were possible changes…

UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi recently issued guidelines on the use of flexible working arrangements. These guidelines, which are in line with the organization’s policy on the matter, go some way to demystify and explain how to use and get the most from these arrangements. The guidelines benefited from a survey by the Sectoral Assembly, which…

The Council publishes today a report on the investigations its has carried out with the view of creating a UN creche. The report examines the demand among current and future parents for such a facility and investigates the resources available. The report is available here.