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Le DG du BIT convie les retraités le 11 juillet pour une réception.

Invitation-retirees-11July19

ILO Centenary: Save the dates! 28 May and 11 July 2019

28 May 2019: Cocktail to celebrate the ILO Centenary

The Section of Former ILO Officials is organizing a programme of activities commencing at 15.00 in R3 Room II followed by a cocktail at 17.00 in Les Gobelins in celebration of the ILO Centenary on Tuesday 28 May 2019. The Director General, Guy Ryder, will address retirees during the afternoon.

11 July 2019: Centenary Lunch with the Director General

The Director General will be inviting retirees to a lunch to be held on 11 July 2019.

Full information and invitations to these events will be sent later but reserve the dates now in your agendas!

Other events

You may also be interested to know that a visit to the old ILO building, now occupied by the World Trade Organization, is being organized by the ILO for participants of the International Conference noted below which we believe is open to retirees to attend. We understand the visit is planned for 16 April. Anyone wishing to register for this Conference should do so directly with the ILO.

15-17 April: International Conference ILO100: Law for Social Justice, ILO Headquarters, Geneva

The Section of Former Officials is also looking into the possibility of organizing a separate visit to the old ILO buildings in the autumn and further information will be provided if and when available.

Reply from the Director General to the Section’s letter

• Reply from the Director General to the Section’s letter

Section’s letter

M. Guy Ryder
Directeur général
Genève, le 26 février 2019

Monsieur le Directeur général,

Le Bureau de la Section des anciens a pris connaissance en ce début d’année de la Directive du Bureau IGDS Numéro 533 (Version 1) datée du 10 décembre 2018. De même, il a eu copie de la lettre signée par plusieurs retraités et adressée A vous-même relative aux préoccupations des retraités concernant l’accès au BIT et à certains de ses services dont l’intranet.

Si nous comprenons le souci de sécurisation de l’accès au bâtiment, nous avons toutefois le sentiment que les retraités sont de plus en plus écartés et éloignés du BIT. Nous espérons, bien sûr, nous tromper. Les dispositions décrites dans la Directive IGDS 533 ont été discutées lors des deux dernières réunions de notre Bureau, instance de direction de la Section.

Nous nous reconnaissons dans l’énoncé du paragraphe 4 “Le BIT met A la disposition des fonctionnaires et autres collaborateurs, ainsi que des personnes qui participent aux activités de l’Organisation, une place de parking…”. Les activités de la Section des anciens participent à la vie du BIT, et en cette année de Centenaire nous avons répondu présent aux différentes sollicitations et coopérations suscitées au sein de l’Organisation. Les retraités bénéficient d’un badge “courtoisie”. Toutefois nous nous étonnons que ceux qui régulièrement consacrent des temps très importants de leur vie de retraité aux services des autres, soient considérés comme des “visiteurs” en franchisant avec leur voiture le contrôle. On constate que le paragraphe 10 limite à présent le temps de stationnement de 8h A I7h pour les visiteurs et que le paragraphe 15 accentue cette disposition pour les retraités.

Les retraités peuvent participer aussi aux activités de diverses sections de Sport et Loisirs du BIT dont les horaires dépassent le créneau proposé. Nous nous félicitons que les retraités puissent y participer ce qui maintient un lien entre des générations de fonctionnaires. Il ne faudrait pas que les dispositions mises en place et futures éliminent les retraités de ces activités, du fait de contraintes d’horaire. Certains retraités viennent au BIT pour des travaux de recherche et contribuent à écrire l’histoire du BIT. Nous en publions régulièrement des articles dans notre bulletin Message. A l’occasion du Centenaire nous avons reçu des dizaines de contributions. Ces retraités souhaitent bénéficier de possibilités d’accès au BIT  moins contraignantes que celles prévues dans la Directive ainsi que de pouvoir utiliser plus aisément l’Intranet.

Nous avons déjà eu l’occasion d’évoquer avec le service de Sécurité du BIT les problèmes liés à l’accès au bâtiment des conjoints de retraités et de membres de famille s’occupant de parents Ages et dépendants. Peu de progrès ont été faits et les dispositions récentes ne vont qu’accentuer les contraintes d’accès au bâtiment pour se rendre A la Caisse maladie est parfois problématique.

Aussi, le Bureau de la Section des anciens souhaite que les dispositions trop contraignantes soient revues au regard des relations que les retraités ont pu depuis un siècle entretenir avec l’Organisation ou ils ont travaillé. Un dialogue devrait pouvoir être instauré avec l’administration afin que les questions liées à l’accès des retraités au bâtiment et à certains services puissent être discutées avant que des décisions ne soient prises et imposées au détriment d’eux.

Recevez, Monsieur le Directeur général, l’expression de mes sentiments les meilleurs.

Frangois Kientzler Secrétaire exécutif du Bureau de la Section des anciens

CC
Mark Levin, Directeur, HRD
Catherine Comte, Présidente, Syndicat du personnel de I’OIT
Fiona Rolian, Co-administrateur, ILO friends Facebook group Gerry
Rodgers, retraité

Car Parking Policy at ILO Headquarters – from 10 January 2019

(Extract from Directive IGDS Number 533 (Version 1))
ILO retirees may only use the ILO car parks when issued with a visitor’s pass, in order to park their vehicles while visiting the ILO during working hours or for a specific event. Such vehicles may not be left in the car parks other than during these times. Visitors’ passes shall be valid from 8am to 5pm.

Any person who contravenes these rules will be requested to comply with the rules without delay. If he/she fails to do so, his/her vehicle may be immobilized or impounded at the owner’s expense.

Any vehicle owner who fails to respect the terms above may be subject to a penalty (wheel clamp or impoundment of the vehicle at the owner’s cost and risk). The ILO declines any responsibility for any damage caused during the impoundment or clamping of any vehicle in violation of these rules.

Charges and fees

Tuesday, 22 January 2019: Two events at ILO headquarters

The Protocol Service of the ILO has the honour to forward an invitation from the ILO Director-General to the following events, which will take place on Tuesday, 22 January 2019, at ILO headquarters in Geneva:

• the launch of the report of the ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work, at 10:30 a.m. in the ILO Governing Body Room (R3-south) [Retired colleagues who are in Geneva are kindly invited to follow the event from Room II (R3, south), where there will be live relay, so as to give constituents and invited guests priority access to the Governing Body room. The event can also be followed through the ILO website:  https://intranet.ilo.org or www.ilo.org], and

• the official ILO Centenary launch ceremony, at 4:00 p.m. in the ILO Colonnade (R2).

Launch of the report of the ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work:

The report of the Global Commission on the Future of Work will be available on the ILO website (https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/future-of-work/brighter-future/lang–en/index.htm) as from 10.30 a.m. (Geneva time) on 22 January 2019. Copies of the report (in the seven ILO working languages) will be available in the Governing Body room.

After the presentation of the report of the Global Commission at 10:30 a.m., the floor will be opened for questions.

Please note that a high level of attendance is expected, so participants are advised to arrive at the ILO at least 15 minutes before the start of the event. The event will be retransmitted in room II.

The official ILO Centenary launch (ILO Colonnade – R2):

The official ILO Centenary launch will commence at 4:00 p.m. in the ILO Colonnade with short introductory statements from the ILO Director-General and the Officers of the Governing Body. The ceremony will be followed by a reception.

Kindly note that access to ILO headquarters will be through either door 4 (R2-South) or door 5 (R2-North), on presentation of a valid ILO badge or photo ID and a copy of the invitation below.

Please confirm your attendance by 18 January 2019 at the following email address, indicating your arrival time: protocole@ilo.org

ILO Protocol

Latest on the UN Pension Fund

65^th Pension Board meeting in Rome

Soon after the publication of the previous update in Message 63, the UN Joint Staff Pension Board met in Rome from 26 July to 3 August 2018 to discuss the current situation of the Pension Fund, and in particular, the Office of Internal Oversight’s report on the governance of the Fund (see below).

Office of Internal Oversight Services Governance Audit

Of the thirteen OIOS recommendations, the Board accepted six and rejected seven, the most notable of which are mentioned below. The recommendations and the Board’s comments on these are taken from document A/73/341 to the 73^rd session of the UN General Assembly. The paper was discussed by the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) in November 2018 (https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/gaab4301.doc.htm).

Notable recommendations rejected by the Board :

• Proposed changes to the representation and rotation of member organizations on the Fund Board. The Board rejected the recommendation as currently formulated and stated that it intends to establish a working group to “consider issues of participation, rotation and fair and equitable representation, without any presumption of outcome and taking into account the Board’s previous review on the matter.”
• Proposed separation of the function of the Board Secretary and the Fund’s Chief Executive Officer, and creation of a new independent Board Secretariat. The Board indicated that it considers the creation of an additional body to serve as Board Secretariat to be unnecessary and could have bu8dgetary implications. The Board stated that it would establish mechanisms to ensure the proper segregation of roles, such as in relation to the setting of the Board’s agenda.
• The proposal that the Board should determine the number of seats to be allotted to retiree representatives and facilitate their direct election as full Board members with voting rights. Currently representatives from the Federation of Associations of Former International Civil Servants (FAFICS) defend the interests of retirees at the Board and fully participate in the Board with the exception that they do not have a vote. The Board rejected this recommendation because it would undermine the tripartite nature of the Board and because retirees are not affiliated with member organizations. Concerns were also expressed about the potential cost and the doubt that direct elections would in reality improve retiree representation.

See document A/73/341 OIOS Report to the UN General Assembly on the Governance Audit (http://www.undocs.org/A/73/341), document A/73/9 Report of the UNJSPF Board’s Report on the OIOS Governance Audit (https://undocs.org/en/A/73/9) and OIOS’ comments on the UNJSPF Board’s Report (https://oios.un.org/resources/2018/11/bBzlau6P.pdf) for further information.

Financial health of the Fund

Following the meeting in Rome the Board issued a communiqué, which confirmed the information given in our previous article: that the Fund is currently in sound financial health. The Fund assets at 31 December 2017 were $64.1 billion with a small actuarial deficit of 0.05% of pensionable remuneration. The investment performance for 2017 was extremely strong (due to buoyant financial markets during that year but which are unlikely to continue in the medium-term), achieving a nominal investment return of 18.6%, thus exceeding the 3.5% real rate of return needed to ensure the Fund’s long-term solvency. Now a mature Fund, the ratio of beneficiaries to active participants is growing and benefits exceeded contributions by some $272 million in 2017.  It should also be noted that the number of active participants actually fell in 2017 by 1.2% as against the actuarial assumption for 2017 of a 0.5% increase. The Board is aware that there is no room for complacency and that it is more vital than ever that the investment performance meets or exceeds the target of 3.5% annual real rate of return.

Operational issues

The Board stated that following the clearance of backlogs between August 2015 and the second half of 2017, IPAS is now functioning satisfactorily albeit with room for improvement. Nevertheless, only 62% – against a target of 75% – of cases had been processed in 2017 within 15 working days of the receipt of complete documents.

 Human Resources

In the last update we advised that the CEO, Sergio Arvizu, had been on long-term sick leave since August 2017. It has now been confirmed that he will leave the UN on 7 January 2019.  The Deputy CEO was due to retire at the end of August 2018 but was extended up to 31 December 2018 while the process to find his replacement was underway. Unfortunately, following allegations by the UN participants’ representatives of irregularities in the recruitment procedures and the selected candidate’s qualification for the post, the candidate withdrew his candidacy. At the time of writing we do not know where the process to replace the CEO and Deputy CEO currently stands.

Meeting with the Regional union delegates (Geneva, Friday, October 26, 2018)

On 26 October, François Kientzler, Executive Secretary, and Abdoulaye Diallo, Deputy Executive Secretary, met with regional ILO Staff Union representatives (see below) in the presence of Catherine Comte, Union President. The delegates were in Geneva to attend the Union’s GA but also for working meetings with the Staff Union Committee and with the Director-General.

We wanted to meet with the delegates because we are concerned about, and attentive to, the situation of pensioners in the regions, and in particular that of retired local staff. A round table discussion allowed some crucial points to be raised, such as problems related to the delay in reimbursement of health costs but also the non-recognition of the SHIF insurance card by hospitals and health centres in numerous countries. This card includes a toll free number but in fact the number is not free in Africa. Retirees in Africa also have difficulty in accessing the offices where they worked; it would be desirable for an access card to be issued to them, in the same way as at Headquarters in Geneva. There are often serious delays in determining pension entitlements; the Section, in coordination with the Staff Union Committee, is available to help speed up the procedures with the Pension Fund.

The Section’s Executive Secretary hoped that, as is already the case in Dakar and Lima, retirees’ sections could be set up within the ILO Local or Regional Trade Unions. This would help maintain relations between local retirees; the lifetime membership fee for local staff is US $ 50. The Section’s website, which is regularly updated, allows retirees around the world to stay in touch. Visiting the site – no password is needed to access it – convinced delegates of its usefulness and the value of its content for retirees. The Geneva-managed site (http://www.anciens-bit-ilo.org) is ready to receive information from the regions in order to give it the necessary publicity. Former civil servants residing in the regions may also join a national union which brings together all retirees of the various international organizations. These national unions are generally adherents to FAFICS (Federation of International Civil Servants Associations).

Regional Stewards:

• Africa: Roger Mavinga Nkambu (Abidjan)
• Americas: Maria Elena Lopez Torres (Lima)
• Asia and the Pacific: Razi Mujtaba Haider (Bangkok)
• Europe and the Arab States: Rania Bikhazi (Europe and Middle East)

ILO Art Circle’s 2018 exhibition

Friends of the Arts and Decoration Circle of the ILO came in large numbers – about a hundred people – to participate in the opening of the exhibition held from 17H00 to 19H00 on Tuesday, 2 October 2018 in the ILO Hall of Colonnades. The location of the exhibition is remarkable due to its large windows, letting light filter in unrestricted, and in being a busy passageway giving an opportunity for the artworks to be viewed by the greatest number of people possible. It was a great event and the participants were able to wander through the Hall of Colonnades and discover the fruit of the work of the 19 exhibiting artists. The name “Arts and Decoration Circle” has really been justified this year by the variety of works presented; abstract and representative paintings and pictures, sculptures, faience painting, jewellery and floral decoration (the latter courtesy of Madeleine Hamilton, Madeleine Brandt and Gudrun Jesse).

At the beginning of his address, François Kientzler, President of the Circle, gathered the exhibiting artists around him. After welcoming the guests, he recalled that the exhibition was the result of the work done by the artists of the Circle over the past months and that the exhibition was a privileged moment to present it. Artists often work in isolation, even in secret, and such an exhibition is an opportunity for friends and family to gather and share the artists’ pleasure and pride in their work.

Then the President thanked all those who participated in the preparation of this exhibition and allowed its realization, in particular the ILO’s DCOMM Service in charge of internal and external communication, Ms. Kiran Mehra-Kerpelman, Alexander Belopopsky and Marcel Crozet. The INTERSEV Services, FACILITIES, SECURITIES are also key elements in the organization of the exhibition with the final authorization being given by Mr. Guy Ryder, Director General, who permits the exhibitions to take place in the ILO. The President mentioned the three people exhibiting for the first time this year, two of whom are still working in the ILO. He warmly welcomed the opening up of the Circle to younger artists, which in his view confirms the interest in the Circle’s exhibitions. Five years ago when the Circle was rejuvenated, it was far from certain that it would be a success  but every year there is another step up in the quality of the exhibited works – which was also the general opinion of the guests present. The Circle currently has about 35 members.

Next year, 2019, will be the ILO’s centenary year. The Director General would like ILO retirees to participate in this event. The Bureau of the Section of Former ILO Officials, in meetings with the representatives of the administration, expressed the interest of the ILO Arts and Decoration Circle in contributing to the Centenary at some point during 2019.

In conclusion, the President thanked all the participants for their presence, which he emphasised is a great encouragement to the Circle to continue its activities and development. He wished everyone good luck in this exhibition and invited them join him for a drink in the Espace Gobelins. It was a very convivial moment shared between friends.