United Nations Common System Report of the International Civil Service Commission

A/RES/50/208View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 121 United Nations common system, published in 1996.

What other versions does this mandate have?

20 versions · 1984–2002

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/56/244

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2002	A/RES/56/244	United Nations common system :#report of the International Civil Service Commission	2,022	30%Compare
2001	A/RES/55/223	United Nations common system :#report of the International Civil Service Commission	2,414	19%Compare
2000	A/RES/54/238	United Nations common system :#report of the International Civil Service Commission	2,436	33%Compare
1999	A/RES/53/209	United Nations common system report of the International Civil Service Commission :	3,481	29%Compare
1998	A/RES/52/216	United Nations common system: report of the International Civil Service Commission	3,112	28%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report · 2002

Year	Symbol	Title		Mandate resolution
2002	A/57/612	Strengthening of the international civil service report of the Secretary-General		A/RES/56/244

What subjects does this mandate have?

12 subjects

General Service Staff International Civil Service Personnel Management Post Adjustment Professional Staff Recommendations Recruitment Salaries and Allowances Statistical Methodology Wage Surveys Work Programme Working Groups

What’s in this document?

18 operative paragraphs

I

Decides to defer its consideration of chapter III.A of the report of the International Civil Service Commission until its resumed fiftieth session, and requests the Commission to review its recommendations and conclusions, taking into account the views expressed by Member States in the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly, in particular regarding the appropriateness of reduction of dominance and the treatment of bonuses in determining net remuneration comparisons, so as to assist in that consideration, and to adjust its programme of work accordingly;

Takes note of the results of the study to identify the highest-paid national civil service, as set out in paragraph 172 (b) of the report of the Commission, bearing in mind the views expressed thereon by the Member State concerned;

Requests the Commission and the national civil service authorities concerned to resolve the outstanding difficulties in comparing differently designed civil services and grading systems, within the approved methodology, and to clarify the conclusions set out in paragraph 172 (b) (ii) and (iii) of its report, in order to complete the study on the highest-paid national civil service, and to report thereon to the General Assembly;

Takes note of the recruitment and retention problems faced by some organizations in respect of certain specialized occupations, recalls its endorsement in principle of the use of special occupational rates in organizations with problems of recruitment and retention, and, in this context, requests the organizations to collect data to substantiate those problems, and the Commission to make recommendations regarding the conditions for the application of such rates, as appropriate;

B. Post adjustment matters

Recalling its request in section II.G of its resolution 48/224 of 23 December 1993, regarding place-to-place surveys conducted at headquarters duty stations,

Taking note of the decisions reached by the International Civil Service Commission in paragraphs 280, 294, 296 and 297 of its report in respect of the operation of the post adjustment system,

Welcomes the establishment by the International Civil Service Commission of a working group to examine the post adjustment system;

Requests the Commission to establish in 1996, in respect of staff members whose duty station is Geneva, a single post adjustment index which is fully representative of the cost of living of all staff working in the duty station and which ensures equality of treatment with staff in other headquarters duty stations;

Also requests the Commission to address and refer to its working group on post adjustment, as appropriate, the concerns raised by Member States in the Fifth Committee regarding the operation of the post adjustment system, including, inter alia, the issue of the post adjustment at the base of the common system, management of the differential in net remuneration between the common system and its comparator, developments in the comparator civil service and the possible partial phasing out of the expatriate elements of the margin for staff with long service at one duty station, and requests the Commission to review all the issues relating to the post adjustment system based on the study by its working group and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session;

II.GENERAL SERVICE AND OTHER LOCALLY RECRUITED CATEGORIES

Recalling section III, paragraph 1, of its resolution 47/216 of 23 December 1992, in which it endorsed the reaffirmation by the International Civil Service Commission of the Flemming principle as the basis for the determination of conditions of service of the General Service and related categories,

Recalling also section IV.A of its resolution 49/223 of 23 December 1994, by which it requested the Commission to proceed with the current round of surveys at headquarters duty stations,

Notes that the International Civil Service Commission will provide a further report on the methodology for surveys of best prevailing local conditions of employment at headquarters duty stations following the completion of the comprehensive review of the salary survey methodology in 1997;

Requests the Commission, as part of its review of the methodology for salary setting for staff in the General Service and other locally recruited categories, to resolve, to the extent possible, inconsistencies between this methodology and the one which is applied pursuant to the Noblemaire principle, inter alia, by examining the question of overlap in remuneration between the two categories;

Takes note of the results of the salary surveys in New York, Geneva and Rome as reported in chapter IV of the report of the Commission; 1/

III.WORK PROGRAMME

Recalling section V, paragraph 2, of its resolution 48/224, in which it urged the International Civil Service Commission to devote further attention to personnel management issues,

Requests the International Civil Service Commission to examine means of reducing the costs of its studies;

Also requests the Commission and the executive heads of the organizations of the United Nations common system to ensure that adequate attention is given to all aspects of human resources management, including the improvement of non-monetary aspects of conditions of service, as set out, for example, in article 14 of the statute of the Commission;

Further requests the Commission to give priority to the matters addressed in section I of the present resolution in its programme of work;

IV.FUNCTIONING OF THE COMMISSION

Recalling section II, paragraph 5, of its resolution 49/223, in which it requested the staff bodies, the organizations and the International Civil Service Commission to review with all urgency how the consultative process of the Commission could best be furthered and to report thereon to the General Assembly,

Reaffirms the validity of the statute of the International Civil Service Commission and in particular article 6 thereof, whereby its members shall perform their functions in full independence and with impartiality;

Welcomes the Commission's decision, as contained in paragraphs 54 to 56 of its report, 1/ to implement a number of measures to improve its effectiveness and to introduce, on a trial basis, revised arrangements for the timing and length of its sessions, and, in that context, requests the Commission to enhance further the transparency of its work, taking into account the relevant articles of the statute and its rules of procedure;

Calls upon Member States and the Secretary-General, in the context of articles 3 and 4 of the statute of the Commission, to ensure through the selection process of candidates for appointment that the Commission has the requisite technical skills and broad managerial experience among its membership;

Notes that the representatives of the Coordinating Committee for International Staff Unions and Associations of the United Nations System and the Federation of International Civil Servants' Associations have both suspended participation in the work of the Commission, and calls upon those bodies to resume participation in the work of the Commission in a spirit of cooperation and non-confrontation;

Requests the Commission to ensure that its reports contain clear and readily understandable explanations of its technical recommendations.