197th Session of the Executive Board of UNESCO

Document 197 EX/17

Draft Budget for the Biennium 2016-2017 (38 C/5)

ORAL STATEMENT BY THE UNESCO STAFF UNION (STU)

Thank you Mr Chairman, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues.

STU listened very carefully to your discussions including those on the budget proposals and the management of human resources. STU, in this regard, noted the concerns expressed by many Member States vis-à-vis human resources management quality.

In full agreement with statements of the Director-General, STU supports an effective restructuring of the Organization based on good management of its main resource, i.e. its staff.

However, as regards career development, STU regrets that zero USD is allocated for training in the 518 million USD expenditure plan scenario for the next biennium.

In this regard, STU deplores that the promises made during the redeployment exercise in 2014, according to which redeployed staff would be duly trained in their newly assigned functions, have not been kept. A certain number of humanly difficult situations could have been avoided, especially with redeployed colleagues struggling to adapt in their new positions.

STU is convinced that it could and it should be a human resource management policy that bears vast ambitions as those expressed by Member States. Besides, STU supports the proposal of budget of the Director-General.