During the past two weeks (13th – 22nd November,2023), I was in New York on the Classification of Hardship Duty Stations in Africa. I was part of the UNISERV Working Group that worked together with the ICSC on this very important project. I am pleased to inform you that we were able to positively defend the current status quo of our field missions in hardship duty stations.
In another engagement, I held successful meetings with the USG DOS, USG – DMSPC, ASG OHR, ASG DSS, Medical Director and other key stakeholders, on the current situation of our organization. The meetings were successful and there is a strong will from Management to engage the UNFSU on major decision that will affect staff members in the field.
We will be traveling to MONUSCO early next year with some UNHQ staff from the office of the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Department of Management Strategy, Policy, and Compliance. The purpose of that trip will be focused on the engagement with the staff prior to any future downsizing, and to learn from the experience of MINUSMA.
On the issue of MINUSMA, our two abled Vice presidents ( Ms. Jackline Omondi and Mr. Paul Smith), have been working around the clock to ensure that our downsized colleagues from MINUSMA are absorbed in other Missions. While some of our colleagues in MINUSMA have been reassigned, a huge number are yet to be reassigned. We want to assure you all that we will continue to do our best to engage with the various Missions, Heads of Entities and UNHQ, to do the needful where applicable, to help our colleagues as per the downsizing policy.
On the issue of UNITAMS and UNITAD, we have also engaged the USG-DOS, USG-DMSPC, and the ASG-OHR. We will keep you posted once we get clarity on the way forward.
My trip to New York was climaxed with a meeting with the UN Secretary General (Mr. Antonio Guterres). I managed to raise your concerns on the issue of the over one hundred of our UN Colleagues who were killed in Gaza, and supported his call for an immediate cease fire.
Thankfully, we now have a temporary cease fire which should expire today, but we hope it will be a permanent cease fire. The Secretary General also briefed me on the overall situation of the UN and of Peacekeeping in particular. The organization is currently going through tough times, but at the end of the day, the UN will always triumph, and Everything will be Under Control.
Please find the link of our meeting with the UN Secretary General for your perusal.
https://dam.media.un.org/Share/bgcpo74ee8a81v851ian67k0fcb01488