Articles: Archives

HQ renovation – ILO ‘Open Day’ on Wednesday 31st May 2023

Category : Archives

The main architectural works of the first stage of renovation of the HQ meeting rooms are almost completed, and the installation of the new audio-visual equipment is on-going. The renovated areas and conference facilities will be available and fully operational after the ILC 2023.

As of mid-June 2023, the LIBRARY, CMU, TRIBUNAL, JAAB, MEDIATOR, SOCIAL SERVICES will relocate to the new offices on R1, R2, M2 AND M3 south-west corner of the building.

You will recall from the February presentation (HQ building renovation project: Latest updates (ilo.org)) that the next stage of the renovation works will start in early July 2023, starting with the relocation of conference rooms III to XII and the Delegates’ Lounge and the addition of three conference rooms available in the temporary building.



Invitation of 25 May 2023 – Information session

Category : Archives

Dear colleagues,

As announced on our website, you are cordially invited by the Section of Former Officials of the ILO, to an Information session on May 25 from 2:00 p.m.to 5:00 p.m. (Geneva time) at ILO headquarters (R3, Room V) and by videoconference, on two topics:

  • United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF): Digital Certificate of Entitlement for ILO Retirees, presented by Mr. Aliamane Bacar Said, Chief of the Operations Support Section. Mr. Aliamane will present the Digital Certificate by video conference and will be assisted by the Section Deputy, Mr. Abdoul-Wali Mahdi, who will be present in person at the ILO, Geneva. They will guide you in this new electronic simplified process of adopting your Certificate of Entitlement.

For more information, click here: https://www.unjspf.org/for-clients/certificate-of-entitlement/

  • Update on the Staff Health Insurance Fund (SHIF): presented by Mr.Florian Léger, Executive Secretary of the SHIF. He will give information on the latest developments of the SHIF, as well as a summary of the Fund’s Report for 2022.

You will be able to participate in this event, either in person or by video conference.

If you wish to participate by videoconference, you have to register before May 22, Midnight, by contacting: anciens@ilo.org

The members of the Former Officials’ Section will receive a personalized invitation by email.

We hope to see many of you.

Bureau of the Section of Former Officials, ILO Staff Union


The Section of the former ILO Officials met the new DG !

Category : Archives

In French only

Rencontre des représentants de la Section des anciens avec le Directeur Général de l’OIT (Genève, OIT, Jeudi, 13 avril 2023)

Dans une salle baignée de lumière, il nous attendait. Sourire aux lèvres et regard bienveillant, le nouveau Directeur général, M.Gilbert Houngbo, nous a accueillis,  nous représentants des anciens, comme on accueille un ami qu’on n’a pas vu depuis longtemps.

Etait également à ses côtés pour nous accueillir, Luca Bormioli, Directeur ad interim d’HRD.

Et comme pour immortaliser l’instant des retrouvailles, nous (François Kientzler,Ivan Elsmark, Pierre Sayour et Simar Proust) voilà rassemblés autour de lui, sous l’aile du drapeau de l’OIT, souriant à l’objectif de la caméra qui capte ce moment privilégié.

Dans une attitude attentive, il nous écoute nous présenter, un à un, relatant chacun une carrière d’une vie en quelques minutes.

Nous voilà ensuite, lui présentant notre Section, qui fait partie du Syndicat du Personnel, détaillant les objectifs de la Section, ses activités, les liens qu’elle maintient avec et entre les anciens de l’OIT.

François Kientzler, secrétaire exécutif de la Section, relate les bonnes relations que nous entretenons avec divers services du BIT. Il évoque les principaux outils dont dispose la Section pour informer les retraités et communiquer avec eux. Son site web reçoit des centaines de visiteurs par mois ; son bulletin « Message », destiné à tous les retraités de l’OIT sans exception, est attendu avec impatience et intérêt.

Il évoque également la réception des retraités invités par le Directeur général, comme étant un moment très apprécié de convivialité et de renforcement de liens entre retraités et actifs au sein de l’OIT.

Notre Section a pour mission aussi de faire entendre les soucis des retraités ; ainsi François transmet au Directeur général les difficultés d’accès aux bureaux de l’OIT sur le terrain, que rencontrent les retraités requérant le soutien des collègues actifs dans le traitement des formalités administratives.

Le DG écoute attentivement et avec intérêt ces inquiétudes et promet de tout faire pour y remédier. IL pose des questions pertinentes visant à l’aider à mieux comprendre notre action et l’encourager.

Ensuite, il parla :

Du conflit géopolitique, de la réforme des Nations unies qui donne des résultats lents mais positifs, de la formation d’une coalition pour la justice sociale, et bien d’autres sujets d’importance.

Il exprime sa préoccupation de voir le progrès économique prendre le dessus sur le progrès social et montre sa détermination à œuvrer pour que le social soit, au même titre que le climat, au cœur du débat à l’échelle mondiale.

Enfin, avec la certitude que les idées et le combat de l’OIT sont entre de bonnes mains, nous lui disons au revoir et nous partons accompagnés, comme à notre arrivée, par son sourire et son regard bienveillant.

Simar Proust
Membre du Bureau de la Section des Anciens

 


The Section of the former ILO Officials is planning an information session on two topics for the afternoon of May 25

Category : Archives

Dear Colleagues,

The Section  of the former ILO Officials is planning an information session on two topics for the afternoon of May 25 (Geneva time):

– The first with Mr. Aliamane Bacar Said, Chief of the Operations Support Section of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF).  Mr. Aliamane will present the Digital Certificate of Entitlement to ILO retirees. He will do so via video conference and will be assisted by the Section Assistant, Mr. Abdoul-Wali Mahdi in the ILO room in Geneva.  They will be able to “de-demonize”, help and guide you to adopt this new simplified computerized way of obtaining your certificate of entitlement, so convenient according to those who have already adopted it. For your information, there are approximately 1327 ILO pensioners living either in Switzerland or in France. Only 108 of them have issued the Digital Certificate for 2023.

To know more on this subject cliquez ici : https://www.unjspf.org/for-clients/certificate-of-entitlement/

– The second with Mr. Florian Léger, Executive Secretary of the Staff Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) who will present the latest developments of the Health Insurance Fund, as well as a summary of the Fund’s report for 2022.

So Save the date !

More information soon.


SHIF Centenary and reception for retired staff: 8 December 2022

Category : Archives

The afternoon of 8 December 2022 was marked by two notable events at the ILO: the SHIF Centenary and the reception for retired staff, the first since December 2019 due to the COVID pandemic.

One hundred years of the SHIF

The Centenary General Meeting of the Staff Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) took place in the temporary ILO Governing Body room at the Geneva headquarters. Both active and retired staff from the Geneva region were invited to participate in person, with the possibility of also participating online. The meeting was chaired by Tilmann Geckeler, President of the SHIF Management Committee, representing the administration. He spoke several times throughout the meeting, notably recalling his personal involvement in the governance of the SHIF for over 20 years. He particularly thanked SHIF staff, who were all in the room, for their daily work in reimbursing healthcare expenses and their availability to the members of the Fund.

 SHIF News

Scheduled from 3 to 5 p.m., the meeting was divided into two parts: the first was devoted to SHIF news and the results of the satisfaction survey conducted in 2022, and the second was devoted to the Centenary. In his presentation, Florian Léger, SHIF Executive Secretary, mentioned some of the new features introduced, including a new SHIF membership certificate that can be downloaded from the Fund’s website, and a new insurance card. A call centre is being set up to respond to telephone requests for information. He noted that 80 per cent of claims are received electronically (via shifonline.ilo.org); some 1,000 out of a total of 2,500 retired staff members now use it. Amendments concerning governance have been made to the Regulations and Administrative Rules, primarily around anti-fraud issues; a 24/7 telemedicine service is expected to be available in 2023. The 2020 and 2021 SHIF annual activity reports are now available in electronic format on the Fund’s website.

Concerning the satisfaction survey, about 1.000 responses were received: 84 per cent of respondents were globally satisfied with SHIF services but 76 per cent bemoaned long delays in reimbursement. In the discussion that followed, mention was made of the SHIF’s basis in solidarity, the number of claims submitted via SHIF Online (10 per cent of which may be rejected in the first instance), the proportion of supplementary/complementary reimbursements, representing about 2 per cent of the total, and the publication in hard copy form of annual accounts in particular.

SHIF Centenary celebration

The SHIF Centenary celebration began with a video message from Gilbert F. Houngbo, Director General of the ILO, absent due to his participation in the Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting. He spoke of the importance of the Fund in protecting the health of staff and thanked the SHIF team for their work.  Dorothea Hoehtker of the ILO Research Department presented the results of her work recounting the history of the 100 years of mutual health insurance in the ILO. The initiative came from the ILO Staff Committee in December 1922 following the Spanish flu crisis.

Initially limited to certain individuals, protection was embryonic but has evolved over the past 100 years, with coverage being extended to technical cooperation staff in the regions, as well as families and retired officials. The Fund has suffered financial crises related to exchange rates, temporary US withdrawals from the ILO, rising healthcare costs and episodes of solutions being sought outside the Organization. But it maintained its course thanks to political will and action by the staff.

The result of Dorothea’s research work is a publication entitled One hundred years of mutual health insurance (ILO, 2022), which is available on the websites of both the SHIF and the Former Officials Section. It can be obtained in hard copy upon request from the SHIF secretariat. Dorothea is to be congratulated for her work of history and memory. The Centenary session ended with a presentation by Adnan Chughtai, ILO Treasurer and Financial Comptroller, representing the Director General, as well as a speech by Catherine Comte-Tiberghien, insured persons’ representative. Each participant was given a copy of the new publication on their way out.

Photos Album :

 

The reception for retired staff

On 8 December 2022, ILO management had also invited retirees in the Geneva region to attend a reception. The event was organized by Luca Bormioli, Acting Director of HRD, and Fiona Periat, who has worked on organizing retired staff receptions for some years. No reception had been possible since December 2019 due to the COVID pandemic. More than 200 people were present this time. The joy and pleasure of seeing each other again was etched on most faces, and voiced over and over again by a succession of retired staff members. Participants in the Centenary General Meeting joined the reception, and it was an opportunity for direct contact with the staff of the SHIF, which has seen some turnover in recent years due to retirements. Photos of the reception are available on our website (www.anciens-bit-ilo.org).

On behalf of Gilbert F. Houngbo, Adnan Chughtai greeted the participants and recalled the mission and objectives of the ILO, which have remained the same since its creation, especially social justice, which is the common denominator of the programmes of activity. The political, economic and social contexts have nevertheless changed over the years and the world is currently experiencing major crises. The ILO must take into account these new situations. The ILO Treasurer and Financial Comptroller mentioned the financial difficulties of many countries and the resulting need to manage them. New challenges must be met by the staff under the authority of the Director General and the guidance of the Governing Body.

Taking the floor after Adnan Chughtai, François Kientzler, Executive Secretary of the Former Officials Section, spoke about this important moment of reconnection. Referring to the SHIF Centenary session, he recalled that the SHIF Management Committee has been active since its origin in improving the Fund’s operations and benefits. The Fund has gone through turbulent times, including attempts to outsource. There are regular discussions within the United Nations on whether or not retirees should remain in the health insurance schemes of international organizations. However, their exclusion would leave many of them unprotected because a number of countries do not have health insurance schemes.

François Kientzler cited some other issues of concern, notably the difficulty that retirees have in accessing ILO offices in the regions. Retired staff should have the same opportunities and rights as those visiting headquarters in Geneva.  He recalled that Message is a magazine open to all and called on anyone who wishes to propose an article, whether a report on an event or a tribute to a former colleague who has passed away, not to hesitate to contact him. He also expressed the hope that information meetings can be held in the future and that the ILO Arts and Decoration Circle will be able to resume its annual exhibition.

In conclusion, he wished season’s greetings and a happy new year 2023 to all participants and their families.

Photos Album :

 

December 2022
Bureau of the Former Officials Section


SHIF: One hundred years of mutual health insurance

Category : Archives

Please download the PDF file produced by the SHIF for its centenary.

Photos Album :


Angela Merkel awarded in Geneva the Nansen Prize for 2022

Category : Archives , Message69

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel received the Nansen Prize from UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on 10th October 2022 in Geneva.

The Award is given to an individual, group or organization who has gone beyond the call of duty to protect refugees, internally displaced or Stateless people.

Angela Merkel was named winner of the prestigious Nansen Award, for offering a haven to over 1.2 million refugees and asylum seekers fleeing violence at the height of the Syrian conflict, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said.

Each year, the 2022 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award – named after the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen, scientist, diplomat and first High Commissioner for Refugees in the League of Nations, from 1920 to 1930, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922.

It is also 100 years since the creation of the Nansen passport, an identity document for refugees that enable holders to move across borders in search of work.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi lauded Ms. Merkel for displaying “great moral and political courage” in helping so many survive and rebuild their lives, who had been forced to flee brutal fighting at home.

In her acceptance speech, Ms. Merkel stressed that that she rejected the selfish instincts of some “with cold hearts”, who wanted Germany to be only for Germans.

“What is important is a future for the country to be self-confident and free”, a Germany which “is open to other human being [… and] can succeed if we do our best”, she said.

The former German Chancellor insisted that the accolade was “also an honour for all the people who have to grips with the tasks we faced.” “My thanks goes first and foremost to all those people”, she said.

Angela Merkel quoted Erich Kästner: “There is nothing good unless you do it.” At the time, many people in the cities and communities as well as many volunteers contributed to meeting the challenges. “From my point of view, this tribute is therefore addressed above all to the countless people who put their hand to the dough at the time, to whom we owe it to have mastered the situation, to have succeeded,” Merkel said.

For UNHCR, this distinction is above all that of “true leadership, appealing to our common humanity, firmly opposing those who preach fear and discrimination. In helping more than a million refugees survive and rebuild, Angela Merkel has shown great moral and political courage,” said Grandi. “Merkel has shown what can be achieved when politicians take the right course of action and strive to find solutions to the world’s challenges rather than simply blaming others,” Grandi added.

Ivan Elsmark
(UNHCR and Internet information)


Retirees’ reception, Thursday 8 December 2022

Category : Archives

Message from HR/POL:

Dear all,

After 2 years without being able to host this reception, HRD is happy to confirm that the next reception is planned on Thursday 8 December, from 17.00 to 19.30.  The invitation letter will be sent later this month.

Kind regards,

Fiona HR/POL


ILO access for retirees – badges

Category : Archives

Message received from the INTSERV Secretariat:

Dear Retired Colleagues,

Following the announcement made by the DDG/MR through broadcast dated 15 September 2022 (document attached) the ILO Building is once again open for entry to ILO retirees,
To be able to access the ILO, retired officials must update their access badge.
To do so, it will be necessary to go to the Accreditation office to activate the access rights of their respective badges.
Accreditation office’s opening hours: 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. / 1:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Localization: Parking P1, R2-North.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Best regards.
INTSERV secretariat.