WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION EXECUTIVE BOARD 116th Session Provisional agenda item 6 EB116/INF.DOC./1 26 May 2005
Statement by the representative of the WHO staff associations Mr Chairman, honourable members of the Executive Board, Director-General, RegionalDirectors, colleagues, 1. Three years ago at the 110th session of the Executive Board, the staff associations put forward a request to be part of the Administration, Budget and Finance Committee of the Executive Board, stating that under “the existing procedure, when issues relating to staff are discussed at sessions of the Executive Board, the opinion of staff representatives is heard only after the Administration, Budget and Finance Committee has met and examined the issues”. Staff do not have a voice in this Committee and their input comes too late. 2. We would like to reiterate our request to be part of the committee, which is now called the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee of the Executive Board. This Committee met on 14 May and decisions have already been taken regarding the budget and WHO’s human resources policies. We feel that it is important that the staff associations participate in the discussions taking place in this Committee. WHO can only benefit from the participation of the staff associations in the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee. 3. More than half of WHO staff work under conditions of employment and human resources practices which would be either unacceptable or even illegal in your own countries. WHO has designed contracts to avoid providing staff with adequate and proper employment security. These false, 11-month short-term contracts hamper the ability of highly qualified staff to perform at their best. 4. To do the right thing, in the right place and in the right way, we believe that it is necessary to: • allow WHO staff associations to participate in the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee so that we can assist members of this Committee with their decisions on staff matters; • ensure that basic human resource mechanisms are in place and functioning, including the Grievance Panel and the Classification and Reassignment committees, with appropriate power to fulfil their mandates; and • provide staff with a proper safety net, which would qualify WHO as a socially responsible employer.
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5. We would urge serious consideration of the request we made in May 2002 and in previous years that the Executive Board should authorize representatives of the staff associations to participate in the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee when it examines matters of staff policy. = = =
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