Dear Colleagues and Friends,
On this last day of 2021 we would like to remember those that have sadly left us this year, we pay homage to their sacrifices and express gratitude for their service, we also share our sincerest condolences and sympathies with their families, loved ones and colleagues.
The ongoing pandemic continues to add complications to all our lives and even more so to those who serve on the front lines of peacekeeping and other United Nations field operations.
There have been serious challenges for the UN to “stay and deliver” while more recent events in Darfur showed us that leaving our operating theatres is also fraught with serious challenges and risks to our staff.
We must be grateful therefore for all the staff who have continued to show their professionalism, dedication, commitment, and determination by doing their jobs under extremely dangerous, stressful and complicated circumstances. Without our staff there would simply not be any mission, or an organization.
Yet, despite all too often hearing the “staff are our greatest assets” mantra, we often see that the treatment of these “greatest assets” is far from what we’d expect from a humanitarian organization.
Looking forward to 2022 our focus will continue to be on the well-being of the staff we represent, exposing abuses, enforcing accountability, and expecting integrity and trust to be strengthened by ensuring that Human Resources policies and the application are indeed “people centric”.
We will be looking towards actively engaging with all key stakeholders to understand the concerns, and to work towards proposals for the “UN V.2.0” which the UN Secretary General has proposed to establish.
We believe that a “social dialogue” is needed to better engage with all staff to determine what we all expect from a UN V2.0
We continue to be “Stronger Together” in 2022 and beyond.
Wishing you all a safe, healthy, happy and successful 2022
Warm Regards,
Mark, Leila & Liliya