CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

Is UNESCO a model employer ?

By Charles Perera

The UNESCO came recently into attention of the Sri Lanka media with the appointment of Ms.Chandrika Kumaratunga as a Special Consultant of the Organisation. It was mentioned in an article that appeared in the press subsequently that the Director General is reviewing the appointment in the light of the allegations made against her appointment. This show the good intention of the Director General, but it would be appreciated, if he would not only reviews the appointment procedures of the Special Consultants, but also the appointments and promotion procedures of the whole of the personnel of the UNESCO, as there is at the moment a growing dissatisfaction and frustration among the personnel with regard to the management of human recourses in the Organisation.

These International Organisations adhere to certain Constitutional requirements that have been set up for the administration of its personnel which assures that there is no discrimination , or denial of human rights and privileges in appointments and promotions of their personnel, which make them model employers above the public and private sector employers who are often accused of practice of discrimination, harassment, and denial of human rights to their employees.

The International Organisations require , that their personnel are not discriminated against for their, caste, sex, colour, religion, ethnicity or Nationality, and provide them with equality of chance, without denying them social justice. The social ills which these International Organisations like UNESCO fight against to make a better world may not be observed when it comes to their own personnel management, because the lofty constitutional ideals are after all interpreted and executed by ordinary human beings with personal prejudices and arrogance.

The UNESCO has three categories of personnel, the Professional Staff Category, which consists of Administrators , Programme Specialists to Directors . The General Service Category, numerically the larger consists of Clerical Staff and the Secretaries, and lastly the Technical Staff. The Professional Grade Staff are the more privileged with regular promotions, and other financial benefits such as Installation Grants, Post Allowances, Special Post Allowances, home leave, children’s Education Allowance, a compensatory rent allowance, a de-taxed ration of alcohol such as Whiskey, petrol coupons at special rates, purchase of motor vehicles at diplomatic rates, in addition to a respectable salary not to mention missions abroad.

The General Service staff on the other hand gets their salary according to their grades and nothing more. They are recruited on a grade system, and promoted within the Grade as and when vacancies occur. Some of them may stagnate for years at the same grade at which they were recruited and retire at the same grade, or a few grades higher, with perhaps a three to six months extension of service as a special compensatory measure depending on the whim and fancy of the Chief of the Division, and the Director of the Personnel .

They are of course eligible for annual salary increments and a few bottles of Whisky as a Christmas Gift at the end of the year. They do more of the work- the ground work for reports, annual statements, and projects, but their promotions to professional grades are denied to them. A General Service Staff member who has worked for several years in the same Section, and knows the work well will be denied a promotion to a Professional Grade Post, when one becomes vacant in the Section, preferring him or her to a complete outsider who knows nothing of the work. And on such an appointment instructions are issued to the General Service Staff member, who should have been , if justice and fair play is exercised, appointment to the post, to show the work and train the new recruit, as a part of his/her duty.

The few lucky ones from the General Service Staff, who gets the opportunity of getting promoted to a post in the Professional Category, may stagnate in the grade to which he was promoted until retirement.

Some years back the General Service had six grades and some, who with hard work reached the top Grade 6, of the service had the opportunity to get a post equivalent to his grade in the Professional Service –a P2 or P3. That was faire and reasonable and many staff members from the General Service profited from this and it was an incentive for others in the General Service to give of their best, expecting to be compensated by a promotion to the Professional Grade, at lease when they approach the age of retirement.

But this opportunity was denied to them by creating a Grade 7, in the General Service so that those who reach the sixth grade would be promoted to Grade 7, without letting them stagnate in Grade 6. That helped some but denied them a promotion to the Professional Grade. Thus the Professional Grades became the exclusive privilege of those recruited directly to Professional Service.

When a person is recruited into the Professional Service he will be placed at the P2 grade, soon thereafter he would be promoted to P3, and eventually, with the correct contacts in the hierarchy he may end his carrier as a P5 or as a Director. But, never so a member of the General
service, the highest position he will get is GS 7 , or in a few exceptional cases get to Grade P3 of the Professional Service, just before retirement and that with lot of luck and some one in the correct place to give him a hand.

This must be seen in the light of the call for equal opportunities for all, of which the UNESCO is a champion.

Described above is the main cause of frustration among the General Service Staff. Besides, the new rules and regulations that have come into effect initiated by the Director of Personnel, cause many more disparities and more injustice and unfair administrative dealings. The latest is the encouragement offered to staff members who have put in 25 years or more service at 50 years of age, for early retirement.

The UNESCO moves away from the old beliefs persisting in some parts of the old world that inspire respect and affection to the Senior Citizens. In these societies the old are respected because they are the repositories of the wisdom of the community, from whom the young learn to respect the old customs, and live a disciplined life. But in UNESCO the old are encouraged to leave, as they do not fit into the in-house technology, and the Administration perhaps believes, that after fifty the staff members are rendered inutile and that they cannot contribute much to the Organisation or
to the generation of staff members that follow them. This new thinking is applied more generously to the detriment of the General Service Staff, where as Professional Staff Members are taken back as Consultants on special contracts.

That is about the management of human recourses in UNESCO. The UNESCO represents nearly 195 member States, and becomes as such a miniature Universe. But is this miniature world, an example of unity and cordial relationship between the different cultures of the world it represents ? Is there a cultural integration of the staff members coming from different cultures, and willingness among them to understand each other and build bridges of unity and friendship? Does the UNESCO encourage tolerance, and fraternity among them ? Are they socially integrated within the Organisation and work together as a united team as equal partners in the service for others, or those of higher grades keep a safe distance from those of lower grades, building their own social difference- prestige and a class system ? These are matters for the Director General to review , along with that he has promised in the case of appointment of Special Consultants.

There is a Cafeteria and a Restaurant within the UNESCO premises, but one never sees a Director in the Cafeteria. The presence of the members of the UNESCO hierarchy in the Cafeteria should be encouraged to develop good relations among the staff members without dividing them according to grades.
The year end parties organised by the Staff Associations and the Association of Retired Staff members have to be subscribed to for participation, and the staff members of the technical grade are not often among the participants at these functions. The outings and Excursions organised by the Associations of Retired Staff are too expensive for at lease some retirees of lower grades to participate. Hence the barriers between the haves and have-nots are carried over, even after retirement.

At cafeteria or Social gatherings there is very little international socialising, each National group tend to keep to themselves, without showing a willingness to mix. The staff members of higher Grades, happily sit on their high horses. An African Staff member wanted to see a Director and sent a note asking for an appointment. As he had no response he knocked on the Directors door, and politely reminded him of the note he had sent.

The Director said, that he was not the Chief of the Village to see the staff members whenever they want !! That sort of mentality is difficult to change, even at UNESCO. The Director was an Irishman. The Constitutions make the Organization a Noble Institution, but it is the mentality of its personnel that give the Institution its Nobleness- its Grandeur.

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