Address of STU to the Executive Board on the Document 192 EX/16, part I
STU/65th Council/13/016
8 October 2013
Dear colleagues,
You will find below the oral intervention, delivered by STU on 7 October 2013, on the document 192 EX/16 part I: Report by the Director General on the income and expenditure plan a well as the restructuring plan based on the expected cash flow of US$ 507 million for 2014-2015.
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Thank you Mister Chairperson,
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
Dear colleagues,
- The STU is alarmed to note that the draft budget of 507 million dollars entails a reduction of 285 staff positions.
- In a demonstration of opacity and disregard for both the Organization’s programme and staff, the Administration argues in paragraph 27 of document 192EX16 Part I that it is too early to indicate the distribution of job cuts between occupied and vacant posts. It proposes waiting for the voluntary separation scheme to be fully implemented before providing this information.
- In line with a number of Member States, the STU notes that the planned job cuts reflect book keepers’ arithmetics, which fail to provide for a realistic restructuring of UNESCO’s programmes and activities. How have these 285 posts been determined? How will the strategic allocation of human resources meet the priorities requested by the Executive Board in Decision 5X/EX/2?
- Paragraph 25 of the above-mentioned document states that “the Director-General requested the Senior Management Team to keep staff informed of this process and seek their views and suggestions as much as possible, in order to ensure an informed and participatory approach.” The STU met all the ADGs and Directors at Headquarters and noted that staff members have not been associated in the reform process.
- While it is constantly reiterated and recognized that UNESCO’s staff constitutes the Organization’s main asset, the Administration clearly favours the reduction of posts and staff in its draft restructuring strategy. What was only envisaged as a possibility in Decision 5X/EX/2, has become the main purpose of the Administration, in contradiction of both spirit and letter of the Executive Board’s Decision. (Item 6E ii)
- Paragraph 28 of the document speaks of the financial and managerial challenges that staff separations and terminations will pose, but it fails to examine the effect of separations and post abolitions on the execution of the programme.
- The STU recognizes the need for reform and the fact that the budget has been reduced, but their impact on human resources cannot be accepted without regard for programme needs. Staff members are enduring stressful and demotivating working conditions due to the mismanagement of the financial crisis of the Organization. The STU will spare no effort in defending the interests of both the staff and the Organization’s programme, which is clearly absent from the obviously incoherent plan being proposed.
- The External Auditor’s report on the management of the budgetary and financial crisis of UNESCO (191EX/28) does not recommend the termination of staff, but it urges “that there be no further delay in developing and implementing a comprehensive and strategic staff restructuring plan” whose absence it deplores. It recommends controlled, efficient and transparent governance and change (Recommendation No 5).
Ladies and gentlemen, Permanent Delegates, we thank you for your attention and count on your sagacity.