STU/67th Council/16/007
11 April 2016

199 EX/5: Follow-up to decisions and resolutions adopted by the Executive Board
and the General Conference at their previous sessions

Part III: Human resources issues

D: Preliminary proposals for a Human Resource Management Strategy for 2017-2022

STU Addendum

The STU is concerned by the lack of clarification and concrete development of the many ideas listed in this section.

And first and foremost, the STU, following document 197 EX/5 Part V, would like to see an evaluation of the Human Resources management strategy for 2011-2016.

I. Build staff capabilities for the SDGs

Getting the foundations right: values and competencies of UNESCO staff

The STU acknowledges that there is an urgent need to allocate funding for training programmes.

Although a request to finance a set of training programmes has been submitted to the preparatory group of the Executive Board in document 197 EX/5.INF.2 “Invest for Efficient Delivery”, it cannot replace a stable corporate training budget financed by the regular programme.

Therefore, the STU regrets that Zero USD is allocated for training in the $518 million expenditure plan scenario for the biennium. Training also requires the availability of time and energy to dedicate, and it is a matter of fact that, following the restructuring of the Organization, this has become the less available resource.

The STU further deplores that promises made during the redeployment exercise in 2014, according to which redeployed staff would be duly trained on their newly-assigned functions, have not been kept.

The STU further deplores that there have been no efforts on the part of Human Resources Management to find an adequate or appropriate solution for our downgraded colleagues.

Attracting and retaining the best

The STU questions how UNESCO is able to attract and retain the best candidates in its field of competences as overall employment conditions will considerable deteriorate for professional staff following the implementation of the ICSC Review.

Achieving SDGs is an appealing challenge which will require improvement of capacities in many specialized disciplines, and it is a matter of concern that efforts of which the management is so proud, like the “invest for efficiency”, are addressing mainly managerial competencies (not programme oriented)…

The STU remains deeply concerned with the lack of human resources planning in the Organization, which is crystallized by the fact that the 2011-2016 Human Resource Management strategy remained at the development stage already reported in 197 EX/5 Part V and that no concrete outcome has been published since. The STU urges the Director-General to develop a real human resources management policy for UNESCO for 2017-2022, with clear goals and mechanisms, in which all levels of hierarchy become accountable for their responsibilities in human resources management, including knowledge and skills development, career development planning and transparent mobility and recruitment processes.

Recruitment and selection processes

The STU is pleased to read that the recruitment process will be made more rapid, transparent and efficient but would like to learn how this will be made possible Current recruitment procedures should be revised in order to ensure some level of equity, fairness and transparency at each stage of the recruitment process. HRM should start by playing a role in the recruitment process and ensure that personnel policies area applied.

Furthermore, STU is worried that the decision by the last General Conference on Staff Issues (“ Staff members shall be given priority of consideration for vacant posts on the basis of equal competence”) will not be implemented, and that this staff acquired right will not be protected. Should external recruitment become the norm, this will perpetuate a high percentage of demotivated staff with no prospects for career development.

This with the lack of training opportunities we were stressing before is generating a very dangerous and unfair situation of non-competitiveness (linked to the continuous erosion of our competences) of internal human resources.

Mobility policy

According to paragraph 18, it is proposed to introduce a managed mobility programme, which will cover functional and geographical mobility for Professional staff and functional mobility for General Service staff. Support for mobility and assignments outside UNESCO, with some possibility to return, will also be explored.

STU is outraged to see that after years of unapplied mobility policies and schemes, HRM is still at the stage of exploring! STU would like to recall that to this date no mobility mechanism whatsoever has been set up and that the majority of dispositions of the October 2013 Mobility Policy have remained unapplied. Transfers at equal grade between field offices or from Headquarters to field offices and vice versa are left to the discretion of sectors and field directors, and are decided on a case-by-case basis with completely opaque criteria.

II. Create an engaging and enabling work environment

The STU fully supports HRM’s initiative to finally introduce flexible work arrangements to enable staff to work remotely and firmly believes that these measures will positively contribute to the motivation of staff and improve work-life balance. The STU hopes that the eligibility criteria for flexible work and the modalities to grant it will be equitable and transparent to all parties concerned.

Based on the above, the STU proposes that the following could be added to the decision to be adopted:

The Executive Board:

…

5. Invites the Director-General to report to it at its 200th session on the evaluation of the Human Resources management strategy for 2011-2016 ;

And

Invites the Director-General to develop a human resource management policy for UNESCO including knowledge and skills development, career development planning and transparent mobility and recruitment processes;

And

Invites the Director-General to provide further clarification and outline what is meant by “an optimal design for the Organization”.

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