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The 63rd FICSA Council took place at the United Nations in Geneva from 18 to 22 January 2010, bringing together representatives from the Federation’s 29 member associations and unions, 10 associate members, 21 FUNSAs and 16 consultative members.

The FICSA President welcomed the participants and recalled the tragic loss of life in the ranks of the United Nations, in particular in the wake of the recent earthquake in Haiti that would increase the toll of lives lost still further. He invited those present to observe one minute’s silence in honour of those who had paid the supreme sacrifice in the past year while serving the United Nations.

The President remarked that the recent United Nations General Assembly resolution on the common system and the work of the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) offered the Standing Committees ample food for thought in their upcoming meetings. He thus took great pleasure in welcoming Mr. Wolfgang Stoeckl, Vice-Chair of the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), who would address Council and answer a limited number of questions from the floor.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Stoeckl reiterated the full support of the ICSC for the United Nations Secretary-General’s concept of an organization firmly anchored in the 21^st century. He then went on to address five key issues of particular interest to staff that were before the Commission: end-of-service payments; mandatory age of separation; post adjustment; hazard pay; and continuing appointments.

In the current proposal, end-of-service payments would be effected after ten years of consecutive fixed-term contracts. The General Assembly would resume its discussion of the proposal once a decision had been reached on continuing appointments. For his part, the speaker expected a positive conclusion to the debate.

Given the global discussion of increasing the age of retirement in various countries to 62, 65 and even 67, the ICSC would await the outcome of the discussion of the issue in the Pension Board before addressing the issue in 2011. For their part Member States were in favour of rejuvenating the UN secretariat and achieving a more equitable gender diversification. Mr. Stoeckl thus anticipated what he termed “an uphill struggle’.

The speaker referred to the lack of an increase in the post adjustment owing to the fact that inflation figures had dropped, thus resulting in no increase in pensionable remuneration for 2010. It also had to be remembered that under the present financial circumstances, Member States saw no reason for increasing salaries in their national civil services and were thus not inclined to increase salaries in the international civil service.

As for hazard pay, the speaker noted that the United Nations itself was increasingly becoming a target in peace-keeping operations. In Afghanistan, for example, hazard pay had been increased by 50 per cent for three months. It was possible that ultimately hazard pay might be extended beyond office hours and cover non-office locations in certain conditions.

The issue of continuing appointments was still pending; however, in respect of post adjustment, the ICSC would be addressing the issue of out-of-area expenditures and their weighting. Furthermore the ICSC had been encouraged to exercise its mandate relating to the coordination of working conditions in the common-system organizations.

Mr. Stoeckl assured Council that the members of the Commission and the staff of the ICSC secretariat recognised the quality of the FICSA submissions. Issues raised by FICSA were invariably among the best and most substantial of those submitted by the organizations and staff federations alike.

The keynote speaker, Mr. Yves Beigbeder, a former personnel officer who served at both FAO and WHO expressed his conviction that administrations needed staff representatives as reliable partners so that staff interests and concerns were both heard and considered. The active participation of staff representatives in joint staff/management committees was of importance to both parties.

The strength of FICSA, which had brought together 29 staff associations/unions and 41 others with associate, consultative or observer status, bordered on the miraculous. The existence of an independent international civil service hinged on an independent, motivated and competent staff. The Federation and its member associations/unions were essential partners in constructive dialogue with the administrations.

The areas of staff action were well known, such as the right of association and the right to fair hearings and due process. Current issues included staff safety and security, contractual arrangements, allowances and pensions and flexible age of retirement. The strength of staff representatives lay in addressing the right issues with a comprehensive knowledge of staff rules and a sense of unity.

The FICSA Standing Committees addressed those issues in greater detail throughout the week and identified the priorities for the coming year. These included among others: harmonization of the FICSA Statutes and Rules and Procedure;  implementation of the ICSC framework on contractual arrangements; inter-agency mobility; parental leave; after-service health insurance; separation age; implementation of the policy on employment of persons with disabilities; a change to eligibility criteria for the divorced surviving spouse’s benefit; staff safety and security; hazard pay for UNRWA staff; GS salary survey methodology; GS job classification standard; end-of-service grant; place-to-place surveys; the implementation of the Noblemaire principle; obtaining paid release of the FICSA General Secretary; standards of conduct and training in staff representatives and salary setting.