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STU/70th Council/23/029
9 November 2023

42 C/49: Human Resources Strategy for 2023-2027

COMMENTS BY THE UNESCO STAFF UNION (STU)

1. STU invites Member States to take into consideration the detailed comments on the Human Resources Management Strategy 2023-2027 already submitted to their attention at the 217th Executive Board session (see document 217 EX/4.IV.C Add.), to which we want to add the following comments, taking into account certain modifications made to the strategy document presented to the General Conference, as well as certain new contextual elements.

2. Noting that the table in Annex IV - Affiliate staff as at January 31, 2023 by location (HQ and Field) and by Sector/Service - has disappeared from the HRM Strategy version presented to the General Conference, STU would like to point out that the statistics in document 42 C/49 date from January 2023, showing 2,319 staff (49% of total headcount) and 2,438 affiliate staff (51% of total headcount). However, it is to be noted that in the middle of the yearly implementation of programmes, these figures change quite rapidly: in just 6 months, the HRM website published figures for June 2023, showing that staff members were, at that date, stable at 2,311 (42% of total headcount) while affiliated staff substantially increased to 3,154 (58% of total headcount).

3. STU is alarmed by such rapid change and has repeatedly called for an in-depth examination of the impact of such a transformation on the future and functioning of our Organization, a specialised agency, on inequalities between different contractual arrangements, and on the very meaning of belonging to the international civil service in such a changing context. Savings and flexibility cannot be the only criteria guiding us through this complex transformation, and STU can only reiterate its readiness to contribute proactively to any in-depth reflection on this issue.

4. Referring to Para 14 in the Addendum annexed below, in which STU was stigmatizing the fact that “in the hearings of the Appeals Board, staff is de-facto denied the support of a lawyer (as no person outside the organization is allowed to attend such meetings), while the administration defends itself with the support of a team of internal lawyers”, STU would like to re-iterate its call for a drastic change in this regard, strongly supported in this by the findings and recommendations contained in a recent report of the Joint Investigation Unit of the United Nations on its “Review of the internal pre-tribunal-stage appeal mechanisms available to staff of the United Nations system organizations” (JIU/REP/2023/2). This report recognizes that “Adjustments to the regulatory frameworks of organizations that continue to impose restrictions on the ability of their staff to choose legal counsel freely and without restriction are overdue” and, therefore, recommends (Recommendation 7) that “The executive heads of the United Nations system organizations who have not yet done so should, by the end of 2025, adjust the regulatory frameworks of their organizations and remove all restrictions regarding legal representation of their staff in internal justice processes, with the aim of allowing staff to choose their legal counsel freely and without restriction”.

5. Therefore, STU requests that the regulations concerning the Appeal Board be modified as soon as possible in order to include a norm that allows staff members to benefit from qualified legal assistance. Such an adjustment would not only represent an opportunity to finally make the internal justice system more equitable and fair but would also contribute to increasing efficiency while reducing costs.

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