Chairman should send letters to presiding officers of bodies with low utilization rates urging that improvements be made. The Committee also examined the question of conference services provided to organs and programs not funded from the UN regular budget. The U.S. Delegate suggested that in view of the strong financial position of the UNDP and UNICEF those agencies should pay for conference services now funded from the regular budget. The Committee decided to make an appeal to the UNDP Governing Council and UNICEF Executive Board to review meeting and documentation needs. During the examination of the UN Department of Conference Services (DCS) budget, the Committee was informed by the head of DCS that all efforts to trim staff and make other economies had been overtaken by ever increasing demands for services, especially in the area of peacekeeping. The U.S. Delegate questioned why the DCS had not undertaken an outside management study of its operations, which DCS had previously recommended. The Committee also examined the application of new technology to conference servicing, and it was noted some duty stations are quite advanced in their use of new technology. The Committee suggested that the introduction of new technology be given priority at duty stations with the highest labor and operating costs, and that the United Nations set an eventual goal of applying conference servicing technology evenly throughout the organization. The UN's Fifth Committee considered the "Pattern of conferences" agenda item in October. In his statement to the Committee, the U.S. Representative again noted concerns about the low rate of utilization of scarce and expensive conference services: The Secretary General's report to the Committee indicated that too many UN committees require unacceptably high levels of conference resources. The Secretary General reported extraordinary examples of inefficiency in the use of these expensive resources. The U.S. Representative expressed disappointment that the "fresh outside look” management study of conference services which the Secretary General promised to undertake 2 years before had never been carried out. He went on to say: In the absence of action by the Secretariat to implement its own proposal, my delegation proposes that the General Assembly authorize a management study of the DCS this year. The urgent need for such a review is apparent. In these circumstances the United States is prepared to support the use of outside consultants, if necessary, to conduct this study. The costs of such outside expertise should be provided through a redeployment of the resources requested for the DCS for the biennium 1992-1993. The U.S. Representative stated that this review should consider the use of new technology, workload standards of DCS staff and improved utilization of conference services. In his closing remarks, he touched upon the heart of the conference services debate in response to the assertion of many delegations, opposed to any change in DCS activities, that the primary purpose of the United Nations is to serve as a forum for debate of international problems and issues: The United States does not challenge the UN's role as a forum for discussion but believes the process is out of control. The Organization's lack of progress on most issues has been masked by ceaseless debate and negotiation, unfortunately with few results. Conferences and meetings have become ends in themselves. Resolution 46/190, adopted by the General Assembly, included a section calling upon the Secretary General to carry out the long-delayed management study of DCS. International Civil Service The International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), a 15member body of recognized experts which included U.S. citizen Claudia Cooley in 1991, is responsible for making recommendations on salaries, allowances and other benefits and conditions of service for employees of the United Nations and its specialized agencies. The Commission met twice, in Paris for its 33rd session and in New York for its 34th. The Fifth Committee considered the ICSC's annual report in November and December. At its two sessions, the Commission discussed, debated, took decisions on, and developed recommendations regarding a variety of agenda items including the methodology for periodically determining the highest-paid national civil service (used to establish pay for professional staff); conduct of the comprehensive review of pensionable remuneration of the General Service and related categories of staff; pensionable remuneration of ungraded officials; adjustment to the base/floor salary scale for the professional and higher category staff; management of the margin between UN and comparator remuneration; grade equivalencies between the United Nations and the comparator; the basis for decisions taken by organizations to deviate from the common system; and review of the functioning of the ICSC. The General Assembly approved many ICSC recommendations, some with modifications by the Fifth Committee. Key actions taken: • Approved a methodology for conducting checks at 5-year intervals to determine the highest paying national civil service, i.e., the comparator which should be used to establish remuneration for professional staff. • In recognition of anticipated changes in the U.S. Government pay system as a result of the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990, suspended until 1994 the requirement that, within the agreed margin (differential) of 110 percent to 120 percent, an average 115 percent be maintained between remuneration of professional staff and that of the comparator (United States). This will permit implementation of any post adjustment increases which become due, but only to the extent they stay within the upper limit of the margin. • Revised the methodology for determining initial local currency pensions for professional staff, to make them more comparable to dollar pensions (in New York, the base of the system) in terms of purchasing power. Approved a study to examine the appropriateness of continued application of the current methodology for calculating staff assessments for General Service staff, and in the meantime, a new staff assessment scale which takes into account the latest tax data available. • Took steps to protect the common system by denouncing the ITU decision to grant a special post allowance (i.e., a cash bonus) to professional staff, and urged governing bodies of organizations in the UN common system to fully respect UN General Assembly decisions regarding conditions of service of staff and refrain from seeking to establish additional entitlements for them. • Effective March 1, 1992, approved an increase in the base floor salary scale by 6 percent, on a “no gain-no loss" basis, by moving 6 percent from post adjustment into base. The base floor scale is developed in reference to U.S. Federal Civil Service net salary levels. The increase will reflect a partial salary increase granted to U.S. Federal civil servants in 1991 and 1992. (The UN General Assembly approved a smaller increase than the 8.6 percent recommended by the ICSC, in part because of concerns over the direct relationship of the floor scale to the mobility/hardship allowance.) Approved a methodology for determining pensionable remuneration for ungraded officials who are participants in the Fund, generally based on an extrapolation of the relationship between salaries and pensionable remuneration established for D-2 level staff at the top step. This is a slightly modified version of the methodology that has been used to determine pensionable remuneration for the Administrator of UNDP and the Director General for Development and International Economic Cooperation. • Reaffirmed the importance of, and benefits resulting from, maintaining the common system, and ICSC's role in so doing; called upon member states to ensure that decisions taken by governing bodies of UN system organizations fully reflect decisions and recommendations of the Commission, as agreed by the General Assembly; and urged executive heads of these organizations to consult with the ICSC and UN Joint Staff Pension Board prior to proposing revisions to staff conditions of service. The General Assembly adopted resolution 46/191 on the report of the International Civil Service Commission without a vote. Personnel Questions Various personnel matters were scheduled for consideration by the Fifth Committee during the 46th UN General Assembly. These included composition of the Secretariat; respect for the privileges and immunities of officials of the United Nations and the specialized agencies and related organizations; improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat; administration of justice; staff rules and regulations; secondment from government service; and the Joint Inspection Unit's (JIU) report on rotation of staff within the United Nations. When it became clear that the large number of other items on the agenda would preclude the Fifth Committee from giving the appropriate attention to these issues, it decided to defer consideration of them to a resumed session of the 46th General Assembly in 1992. Accordingly no resolution was adopted on this agenda item. UN Pension System The UN Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF) was established in 1949 to provide retirement, death, disability and related benefits for employees of the United Nations and other participating organizations in the Fund. There are 16 international organizations in the Fund and about 58,300 participants. The Fund has assets of approximately $9.3 billion. The UNJSPF is administered through the UN Joint Staff Pension Board, which met twice, holding its 42nd (special) session in February in Washington, D.C., and its 43rd session in July in Paris. Major items discussed were development of a long-term approach to determining initial local currency pensions, the comprehensive review of methodology for determining pensionable remuneration for General Service and other locally recruited staff, the actuarial valuation of the Fund, and the review of the methodology for determining pensionable remuneration of ungraded officials. Considerable time was spent deliberating changes to the pension adjustment system. After extensive negotiations, the Pension Board recommended modifications to the current methodology for determining initial local currency pensions which would provide purchasing power close to, but short of, equality with the purchasing power of initial dollar pensions in New York. The Fifth Committee considered the report in November and December. The General Assembly adopted the Board's recommendations without a vote as resolution 46/192. Employment of Americans Achievement of equitable representation of Americans on the staffs of the United Nations and the specialized agencies is a long-standing U.S. Government objective. In order to achieve a "geographically balanced" workforce, the UN Secretariat and some of the specialized agencies have developed formulas to establish a desirable range of professional positions for each member state, based on factors such as population and assessed contribution. While Americans are employed throughout the UN system, they are adequately represented only in the New York-based agencies and the World Health Organization. In 1991, there were several developments pertinent to the representation issue. • The Department of State secured agreement that the United Nations would offer the written examination for entry level positions (P1/P2) for the first time to U.S. applicants. Previously, the exam was reserved for recruitment from European and developing countries. The examination will be administered in April 1992 in four professional areas: law, public information, accounting/auditing and economics. • The Fifth Committee was scheduled to review the formula for geographic distribution with an eye to giving less weight to contributions; this would have reduced the U.S. desirable range and reduced incentives to hire more Americans. The United States argued against any changes to the formula. As a result, |