UNOG Town Hall Meeting

Chers collègues:

Je suis très heureux d’être avec vous aujourd’hui pour cette troisième réunion d’information depuis mon arrivée à l’Office des Nations Unies à Genève il y a un an.

Comme mentionné lors de nos précédentes rencontres, il est important pour moi que nous nous réunissions régulièrement pour évoquer les progrès accomplis et les défis à venir.

Dear Colleagues:

At the last Town Hall meeting, I highlighted priorities of my work as Director-General. Now let me begin with a brief review since we last met.

It is one year since I arrived here to join you all at UNOG.

UNOG has experienced a busy winter and spring, with the high-level sessions of the Conference on Disarmament and the Human Rights Council, and many other intergovernmental meetings.

The Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, visited Switzerland in April to attend the Chief Executives Board session.

In early April, I met with the President of the Swiss Confederation, Ms. Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, and with the Swiss Foreign Minister Mr. Didier Burkhalter. I congratulated them on the 10th Anniversary of Switzerland’s membership in the United Nations, which is also an important moment for UNOG. Switzerland has had a significant impact on the United Nations in the past ten years.

During this meeting, we signed an agreement formalizing the CHF 50 million donation from the Swiss authorities. This contribution will be used for the implementation of structural measures for energy saving. It is a welcome signal to further the Organization's sustainability efforts. It will also result in a reduction of the total cost of the Strategic Heritage Plan. Mr. Adams will brief you on this issue in a few minutes.

While in Bern, I reiterated my engagement to further increase Geneva’s strong contribution to multilateral diplomacy, and its role in peacebuilding and conflict prevention.

UNOG continues to provide critical services and support to the mission of the Joint Special Envoy for Syria, Mr. Kofi Annan. The Secretary-General of the United Nations has endorsed this action.

There are other indicators of the growing importance of Geneva as a multilateral hub. In 2011, the number of journalists permanently accredited at UNOG reached nearly 250, we welcomed more than 97,000 visitors, and organized 99 cultural events in the Palais des Nations.

We also enhanced our partnerships with Member States, the research and academic community, youth organizations and civil society. We have tried to further reach out to local citizens and to schools in particular.

As part of our outreach, I am particularly pleased that we will again welcome the local population on the 15th of September for an “Open Day”. This will provide an opportunity to raise awareness of the 2012 International Year of Sustainable Energy for All. The 15th of September will also coincide with the International Day of Democracy. The last “Open Day” in 2010 gathered 6,500 people. I hope that many of you will once again volunteer to help with the event.

UNOG has established and consolidated professional and business-like relations with many members of our United Nations family – JIU, ECE, UNCTAD, the Human Rights Council and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNHCR, ITU, WMO, ILO and others. It is a priority for me to coordinate with them, to help ensure that we work in the same direction in support of the Secretary-General.

We just published the Annual Report, which details all these accomplishments, and I invite you all to read it . . . but online please! As part of our ongoing greening effort, it is a third shorter this year, 44% fewer copies were printed, using only recyclable dyes and paper. Overall at UNOG, we achieved a 20% reduction in 2011 in the use and distribution of paper.

We have achieved a lot together and I thank you all for your efforts. I appreciate the work of the Security and Safety Service, interpreters and translators, and the many other services that have made a real contribution in meeting the needs of our clients and beneficiaries, here in Geneva and beyond.

All staff play an important role in supporting the Organization and the international community’s work to meet the challenges before us.

Let me now turn to the road ahead.

Priorities this year:

In January, the Secretary-General outlined five priority areas for his second term where opportunity and need come together in a most compelling fashion: sustainable development, prevention, building a more secure world, helping countries in transition, and doing more for women and young people. Partnerships and a strengthened United Nations are key enablers.

Geneva is and must remain at the forefront of these efforts as the United Nations system here brings together expertise across all five areas. UNOG is in a position to tie the efforts together, as a part of the overall work of the Organization.

At the beginning of the year, I shared with you via broadcast our priorities for 2012, which flow from the Secretary-General’s action agenda and situate us within this global context. These priorities form the foundation for our work together this year.

Let us think about the special nature of our work
As we take this work forward, I think it is important to recall and reflect briefly on the nature of our work.

The United Nations is a truly unique Organization. It is the embodiment of the collective aspirations of the international community for a better world. Expectations of us are therefore very high. And they should be.

Serving the United Nations is a personal choice, and a privilege. It entails an obligation to be industrious and innovative. The privilege also comes with a responsibility to constantly seek to improve the way in which we work together in service to the Organization. This is more important than ever in a global context of continuing economic hardship, and in a reality of budgetary constraints.

We must therefore together meet the common expectations with the highest professional and personal ethical standards, in a spirit of respect. Respect, first of all, for the Organization, for its legacy and mission, respect for its Member States, for the people it serves, and for each other.

Over the past year, we have critically reviewed our work and initiated reforms. We need to continue these efforts to modernize and rationalize work practices and methods. It is easy to settle into routines and familiar ways of doing “business as usual”, mistakenly thinking that further improvement is not possible. Yet, often when we review how we do our work, we find we can do it better.

The challenge for us is to do the following two things at the same time.

On the one hand, the reality is that we need to manage increasing demands with scarcer resources. We must therefore prioritize strictly, in line with the priorities determined by our Member States, so as to adapt and streamline our practices and work in a disciplined manner.

At the same time, we must innovate and experiment. In this regard, we cannot succeed without your good ideas. Your suggestions, drawing on your extensive experience and expertise, have already helped enhance our work in many areas. We will continue to build on your creativity, and I am asking all managers to actively seek the ideas of their staff in this area.

Let me now turn to some specific issues.

The use of the Palais, of this building:

Rationalizing our work also includes reviewing and updating the use and allocation of space here at the Palais. Compared with other duty stations, we are privileged in the amount and quality of space that we have available for different purposes. Yet, the demands on office space and other resources continue to grow, reflecting the expansion in the United Nations’ substantive mandates. This requires us to make increasingly difficult choices.

We must respond to this development by better use of the space we have, in a spirit of collegiality and with commitment to the mission of the Organization. These growing demands, and the requirements of the Strategic Heritage Plan that will follow require us to look seriously not only at offices, but also conference rooms and common spaces to ensure that we put our available space to the best possible use. I expect concrete proposals that reflect our substantive purposes and ensure the most appropriate utilization of space to be provided by the Directors of the Division of Administration and the Division of Conference Management, as we agreed a month ago.

I also see a need for all of us to be more mindful of how we treat the building in general. Just as we treat each other with respect, we need to treat this building with respect, by keeping it tidy, by respecting the smoking ban, and by working for its long-term preservation. The Palais des Nations is not only a historic building, but also a symbol of all that the United Nations stands for and works to achieve. The manner in which we treat the building and our work space reflects our respect for the Organization we serve.

I have personally visited all parts of the UNOG complex to assess not only how we manage our available space but also the way in which we use the buildings and Ariana Park. I have asked for certain parts of the Palais to be refreshed, within existing means, to project an appropriate image to our many visitors. I have asked for an exhibition of photos of our staff at work, to be displayed here inside the Palais. This will highlight and recognize the wide range of work that you all undertake on a daily basis.

Speaking about greening:

A variety of greening initiatives continue, from the Bike-to-Work programme to the Act Now recycling campaign. One example is the promotion of paper smart meetings. The Chief Executives Board (CEB) met for the first time in April in a paper-smart environment, and the Secretary-General wants to experiment with this at both the Rio+20 Summit and the upcoming 67th Session of the General Assembly. Division of Conference Management (DCM) staff are involved in this initiative.

The Change Plan:

UNOG is actively involved in taking forward the Secretary-General’s Change Plan. The Plan is available on iSeek and I invite you to review it. The four key deliverables of the Plan are: enhancing trust and confidence; engaging staff; improving working methods and rationalizing structures and functions. It is composed of 61 recommendations. Of these, 18 have been identified by UNOG’s Change Implementation Team as implementable by UNOG such as the establishment of a three-signature rule to streamline review and clearance processes.

Flexible Working Arrangements:

I want to indicate once again my commitment to the implementation of Flexible Working Arrangements. I believe that Flexible Working Arrangements can have a positive impact on staff motivation and productivity, and should be implemented with flexibility where the work of the individual entity allows. HRMS has been active on this issue and two Town Hall meetings took place last month. In 2011, nearly 20% of UNOG staff used one of the options offered under the FWA. This is a demonstration of a shared staff and management commitment to flexible solutions.

Mobility:

As you all know, an organizational policy on mobility is under development. I understand a large number of you took part in the mobility focus groups earlier this year. At my request, the Division of Administration has been an active member of the Mobility Working Group now finalizing a concept paper for consideration by the Staff Management Committee next month.

Linked to this is the importance of ensuring flexibility in our mindsets. As United Nations staff members, we must be open and agile. Are we open enough to different ways of working and thinking, are we ready enough to learn new skills, are we willing to reform our work in meaningful ways? I believe that this mindset must apply everywhere – within my own office, in the leadership of the Divisions and Services, at Professional and at General Service levels. Whether you move across continents . . . or across corridors, between duty stations . . . or between job descriptions, it is change that opens your mind, enables you to views things differently and allows you to learn new skills.

A few words about transparency and accountability:

Tied to this is the need for us to increase and improve transparency and accountability in all that we do – in how we manage our conferences, our human resources, our procurement, in our management practices, and in our daily interactions as staff, and at all levels. Information must be shared appropriately and in a timely manner.

Managers and staff must conduct their work in a transparent, courteous and dignified manner, focused on the delivery of results, and accountable for their actions.
Human resources is a particularly important area when it comes to transparency and responsibility. Selection and promotion must be based on merit, free of bias or possible conflicts of interest.

Dear colleagues:

I know that serving the United Nations can be a difficult choice at times. Reconciling professional and personal priorities can be a delicate balance. But across the world, people really dream of joining and serving the United Nations. We owe it to all those people, and to the international community that has placed us here, to serve this Organization with consciousness, dedication and distinction. My invitation to you is to go further together in a spirit of mutual respect.

I recognize the Staff Coordinating Council as a key partner in this process. Yesterday, I had a useful and productive meeting with members of the Staff Coordinating Council, and we will continue to engage the Council as we move forward. We will keep all staff informed of our joint progress.

Thank you.