WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION EXECUTIVE BOARD 117th Session Provisional agenda item 8.2 EB117/25 9 January 2006
Reports of the Joint Inspection Unit Previous reports: implementation of recommendations Report by the Secretariat
1. The present document details, in the Annex, progress made in implementing the recommendations of the report of the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) entitled “Multilingualism and access to information: case study on the World Health Organization”, submitted to the Executive Board at its 115th session.1 Information is presented in the format of the tracking chart devised by the JIU Secretariat.2 The paragraphs below provide additional information on related, but broader, issues of multilingualism in WHO, debated by the Board at its 115th session.3 2. With regard to dissemination of material in languages other than the official languages of WHO, the Secretariat arranges for many translations into numerous languages.4 Since adoption of resolution EB105.R6 on use of languages in WHO, consideration is being given to framing a policy on distribution of material in the major languages of the world. 3. Under the auspices of the Publishing Policy Review Group, major languages have been mapped to show which ones can convey essential messages to the greatest number of people. The language data, provided by a not-for-profit organization, indicate which languages or groups of languages are similar enough to allow mutual understanding, thus further spreading the word. This resource is a useful tool in preparing strategies for public-health communications. The Secretariat can provide advice on the targeting and prioritizing of languages, for specific health issues and geographical areas.
ACTION BY THE EXECUTIVE BOARD 4. The Board is invited to note the report.
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Document EB115/24. See document EB115/23. See document EB115/2005/REC/2, summary record of the twelfth meeting, section 2. See document EB103/20.
ANNEX IMPLEMENTATION OF APPROVED/ACCEPTED RECOMMENDATIONS JIU/REP/2003/4: Multilingualism and access to information: case study on the World Health Organization Approved1 or accepted2 Unit responsible for implementation Official in charge of implementation Expected impact of implementation
JIU recommendation number Rec. 1: The World Health Assembly could: Rec. 1(a): better define the expectations of Member States with regard to the implementation of resolution WHA50.32 (1997) on respect for equality among the official languages, by being more selective about the information products to which the Secretariat should give priority, taking into account both existing provisions relating to multilingualism and budgetary constraints;
Timetable
Remarks
Accepted in part
Evidence and Information for Policy (EIP)
Assistant DirectorGeneral/EIP
Rec.1(a): mostly implemented. Since January 2005, the toplevel pages of the WHO web site (www.who.int) are available in all six official languages, and the volume of content so available has increased. That content now includes news releases, the media centre, information on disease outbreaks, features (e.g. fact files and photo stories), governing-body documentation and the World Health Day site;
Rec.1(a): wider and more rapid access to WHO’s technical information and publications in multiple languages;
Rec.1(a): high-impact publications are now issued in all six official languages, with multilingual pages on web site; there is access to scientific publications in multiple languages for developing countries through the WHO Library.
1 2
Recommendations approved by legislative organs. Recommendations accepted by executive heads without legislative action.
JIU recommendation number Rec.1(b): invite the DirectorGeneral to submit to the Fiftyeighth World Health Assembly a draft medium- and long-term plan of action setting out measurable indicators linked to predetermined objectives and concerning the Organization as a whole; Rec.1(c): decide to establish, as part of such a plan, a special fund for the purpose of gradually translating into the official languages those information products deemed to have priority. Rec.2: The Executive Board and the World Health Assembly might care to re-examine the scope of resolution WHA50.32 (1997) in order better to define their expectations regarding the strict application of rules setting out linguistic practice applicable within the Secretariat, given that, contrary to the practice of several other organizations within the United Nations system, there is no formal document that defines the working languages of the Secretariat of WHO.
Approved1 or accepted2 Accepted
Unit responsible for implementation Office of the DirectorGeneral (DGO)
Official in charge of implementation Assistant Director-General, Office of the Director-General (DGO)
Timetable Rec.1(b): a proposal containing several new initiatives will be submitted to governing bodies upon completion;
Expected impact of implementation Rec.1(b): improved transparency and better information for Member States regarding multilingualism-related initiatives and improvements;
Remarks
Accepted
DGO
Assistant Director-General (DGO)
Rec.1(c): establishing a special fund will be part of the above proposals to the governing bodies and might also incorporate production costs (print + online). Not applicable
Rec.1(c): expanded and more secure funding for sustainable multilingualism-related initiatives.
Not accepted, as further explained in document EB115/24 (Annex)
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
JIU recommendation number Rec.3: The Director-General should review, in close consultation with the Directors of the regional offices, the information production and dissemination processes and mechanisms with a view to: Rec.3(a): ensuring greater respect for the multilingual approach to the content of information products and remedying the lack of coordination and communication among the various departments of the Secretariat responsible for overall information management, by carrying out, if appropriate, the required structural adjustments on the basis of the relevant recommendations made by the internal audit of publications policies and procedures carried out in 1999;
Approved1 or accepted2
Unit responsible for implementation
Official in charge of implementation
Timetable
Expected impact of implementation
Remarks
Accepted
EIP
Assistant DirectorGeneral/EIP
Rec.3(a): almost completed. Establishment of a Department of Knowledge management and sharing, WHO Press, a new WHO Policy Review Group, and a Task Force on Multilingualism;
Rec.3(a): better coordination of WHO’s overall information management and consistent policy formulation for WHO publications;
Rec.3(a): the mandate of the Publishing Policy Review Group is to create a common policy on language use, leaving each office to put it into practice. The Group will advise the Director-General on which items might be translated (in full or in summary form). The decisions thus taken will govern the activities of WHO Press, the web team, translation services, and the publications-related activities of WHO’s technical programmes.
Rec.3(b): reporting to the Executive Board and to the Health Assembly within the framework of the plan of action proposed in recommendation 1(b) above.
Accepted
DGO
Assistant Director General/DGO
Rec.3(b): report to the governing bodies.
Rec.3(b): easier access by Member States to information relating to multilingualism in WHO.
JIU recommendation number Rec.4: The Director-General should issue a standing instruction to the departments responsible for human resources management and Internet sites to ensure that: Rec.4(a): on-line or paper vacancy announcements are issued simultaneously in at least two of the Organization’s official languages; Rec.4(b): the basic information currently available in English under the heading “Employment” on the Organization’s home page should gradually be translated into the other official languages covered by the web site and reproduced on the sites of the regional offices by means of hyperlinks.
Approved1 or accepted2
Unit responsible for implementation
Official in charge of implementation
Timetable
Expected impact of implementation
Remarks
Accepted
General Management (GMG)
Assistant DirectorGeneral/GMG
Rec.4(a): already implemented;
Rec.4(a): wider dissemination of WHO’s employment opportunities; Rec.4(b): same as for (a) above.
Partially accepted
GMG
Assistant DirectorGeneral/GMG
Rec.4(b): implemented for French and Spanish; efforts are under way to publish and maintain this site also in Arabic, Chinese and Russian. Some regional office web sites publish regional employment offers in official languages other than English (e.g. Arabic on the web site of the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Spanish on the Region of the Americas web site, Russian on the European Region web site). Regional links to the WHO web site home page still need to be expanded.
JIU recommendation number Rec.5: The Director-General should, after having heard the views of the different departments concerned, both at headquarters and in the regional offices: Rec.5(a): update the evaluation of current processes and practices in respect of online publishing with a view to determining the most appropriate ways and means of improving access to information and the multilingual content of the Organization’s web sites, and report thereon to the governing bodies within the framework of the plan of action referred to in recommendation 1(b);
Approved1 or accepted2
Unit responsible for implementation
Official in charge of implementation
Timetable
Expected impact of implementation
Remarks
Accepted
EIP
Assistant DirectorGeneral/EIP
Rec.5(a): completed: detailed policies and guidelines for publishing on the WHO web site have been made available on WHO’s Intranet. The guidance includes an editorial style guide for the web site, image guidelines, a draft domain name policy and a copyright notice. A policy is currently being drafted for multilingual content on the WHO web site that will define which content should be published simultaneously in all six official languages and which content can be published in any of the six languages. Further improvements will be included in the proposals to be submitted to the governing bodies;
Rec.5(a): easier and more professional development of content by WHO staff for webbased information;
JIU recommendation number Rec.5(b): draw up uniform rules, in the form of an administrative circular, setting out general instructions for online publishing, duly taking into account the potential for linkage between the sites maintained at headquarters and those of the regional offices, and between WHO sites and those of other bodies.
Approved1 or accepted2 Accepted
Unit responsible for implementation EIP
Official in charge of implementation Assistant DirectorGeneral/EIP
Timetable Rec.5(b): an information note will be issued to all staff members defining the unit responsible for this area of work, outlining policy and providing contact information for follow-up.
Expected impact of implementation Rec.5(b): clarification of policy and process ownership for on line publishing, including contact information for follow-up.
Remarks