Dear Colleagues and Friends,
Not long after we assumed the office of the UNFSU Executive, we connected with Ms. Lanla Kamara and some of her colleagues from UNPAD, http://www.unpad.org as UNFSU we felt that the issues that they were highlighting and were seeking to represent were important for the UN and for our constituency.
The work of UNPAD became more appreciated and understood when they became intimately involved in the Task Force on Racism in the UN which was established by the UN Secretary general in the wake of the George Floyd killing and the subsequent Black Lives matter protests.
https://iseek.un.org/nyc/unitedagainstracism
The UNFSU/UNPAD partnership resulted in organized townhalls with our staff in various missions’ which were very well received.
It came to us as a great shock to learn that Ms. Kamara’s fixed term contract was not renewed recently due to a supposed “conflict of interest” related to her work as a conflict resolutions officer and her role in UNPAD.
After having spoken with Ms. Kamara and examining the facts of the situation, the member unions of UNISERV decided to write a letter to the Secretary General on the matter expressing their grave concern and their strong views on the matter.
We believe that the decision to not renew Ms. Kamara’s contract was unjust and does a disservice to the UN’s efforts to becoming more diverse, equitable and inclusive.
The letter transmitted to the UN Secretary General can be found here:
https://uniserv-federation.com/2021/09/20/ms-lanla-kamara-non-renewal-of-contract/
Kind Regards,
UNFSU Executive