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From the Staff Committee
2015-2016 |
202-370-4645 |
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March 31st,
2016 |
SN-57/15-16 |
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March 29,
2016 Present for the Staff
Committee: Luiz Marcelo Azevedo, Steven Griner, Carla Sorani, Marya
Hynes, Teresa Bustamante, Paulina Corominas, Catherine Pognat and Kim
Osborne. Present for the
Administration: Secretary General Luis Almagro, Jay Anania, Gabriel
Bidegain and Christopher Hernandez-Roy. 1.
The members of the Staff Committee presented two
concerns in particular to the Secretary General: the schedule for
pending competitions and implications of the mandated $ 2 million cut from
the Regular Fund budget for the current 2016 year and the $12 million cut
from the Regular Fund budget for 2017. 2.
The Secretary General shared the general outline
of the proposed cuts in a
letter sent to the Chairman of the Permanent Council on March 28,
2016. He confirmed that the “vacant posts” mentioned in the letter
correspond to those which do not currently have incumbents and added that
the $1.6 million savings can be thus achieved with minimal disruption to
personnel. 3.
The Secretary General acknowledged that it would
be impossible to cut a further $12 million from the budget without
resorting to a reduction in force. The Secretary General noted that the
cuts would necessarily result in a reduction of the programs of the
Organization. He further noted that the cuts would be identified by the
General Secretariat with the assistance of an Ad Hoc Working Group of the
Permanent Council. He recommended the creation of an Advisory
Committee comprised of the Secretary for Administration and Finance, the
Strategic Counsel for Organizational Development and Management for
Results and “two or three members of the Staff Association”.
The Secretary General committed to drafting an executive order to create
this Committee as soon as possible.
4.
The Staff Committee members emphasized the
importance of establishing clear and transparent criteria for any
reduction in force and that these criteria be publicized as soon as
possible, along with a timeline for the cuts. 5.
In response to the question about the pending
competitions, the Secretary General responded that if the competitions
implied any expenditure, they would be suspended until further notice, but
those which did not imply additional costs would go forward. In this
regard, the Secretary General agreed to resume the pending competitions
originally scheduled to be carried out in the last quarter of 2015 and in
the first quarter of 2016, in accordance with the Selection Competition
Working Plan 2015 & 2016 included in document CAAP/GT/RPP-86/15. 6.
Finally, the Secretary General and his staff
reiterated their commitment to the continuance of “smart parity”
with the United Nations System.
The Staff Association will keep staff informed as information becomes
available. | |
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