had affirmed that in view of its international character, the policies and administrative methods of the Secretariat should reflect, and profit to the highest degree from, assets of the various cultures and the technical competence of all Member Nations,
Recalling
fundamental importance was attached to the universal nature of the
UN
and, hence, to the widest possible representation of all cultures and the diversity characteristic of Member Nations, so that the Secretariat would operate independently and fully reflect the richness of the UN ’s many components, while ensuring that no country or group of countries became predominant,
Recalling
that, in accordance with
Article VIII.3 of the FAO Constitution “in appointing the staff, the
Director-General
shall, subject to the paramount importance of securing the highest standards of efficiency and of technical competence, pay due regard to the importance of selecting personnel recruited on as wide a geographical basis as is possible”;
confirmed that, in the selection and appointment of Professional staff, the
Director-General
, while maintaining the paramount importance of securing the highest standards of efficiency and technical competence, should continue to give effect to criteria of equitable geographical and gender distribution, through a combined application of all these requirements,
Recalling
that at its Thirty-first Session in November 2001 in the context of its review of the Programme Implementation Report 1998-99
C 2001/8; C 2001/8-Corr.1-Rev.1; C 2001/LIM/4, C 2001/II/PV/1, C 2001/II/PV/6; C 2001/PV/14.
, the
Conference
noted the need for the preparation of a comparative study of staff recruitment practices of FAO and the
United Nations
, focusing in particular on geographic distribution aspects and requested that such a study be submitted to the
Council
at its Hundred and Twenty-third Session,
Recalling
that at its Hundred and Twenty-third Session, the
Council
had requested that the current formula used in FAO for the determination of equitable geographic distribution be reviewed taking into consideration the various methodologies used in the
UN System
and that at its Hundred and Twenty-fourth Session, the Council considered the different options formulated by the Secretariat for the revision of the current methodology
CL 124/15 - Add.1
and noted that further analysis of the options would be conducted by the
Finance Committee
at its Hundred and fourth Session in September 2003,
Noting
that in light of the recommendations made by the
Finance Committee
in this regard, the
Council
at its Hundred and Twenty-fifth Session decided to establish a Working Group to review further the options and determine the terms under which a revised methodology could be implemented and that this Working Group should meet and report to the Thirty-second Session of the Conference on the state of progress made,
Noting
that the Working Group on Equitable Geographic Distribution met several times during the Council and Conference in November and December 2003 and that in carrying out its review of the options, the Working Group also took note of the recommendation of the
Finance Committee
that the following issues be considered:
•
the number of posts that would be used as a base figure for the calculation of geographic distribution;
•
the weight that might be attributed to each of the factors included in the calculation methodology to be adopted; and
•
the timeframe and manner in which a revised methodology could be implemented,
Noting
that the Working Group also took note of developments elsewhere in the UN System regarding geographic distribution methodologies, and
Having examined
the Report of the Working Group on Equitable Geographic Distribution,
1.
Decides
to introduce in FAO a new methodology for the determination of equitable geographic distribution based on that used in the
United Nations
and with the following features:
The base figure for the calculations would be based on all Regular Programme-funded fixed-term and continuing posts established in the Programme of Work and Budget (PWB), with the exception of “language” posts and the post of the
Director-General
, however, no grade weighting would be applied (1 399 from PWB 2004-2005)
These figures would be updated on a biennial basis in accordance with the information in the PWB.
.
•
The weight of the membership factor would be 40 percent of the base figure and would be distributed equally among all Member Nations,
•
The population factor would be allotted a weight of 5 percent and be directly related to the total population of all the Member Nations and distributed among Member Nations in proportion to their population,
•
The contribution factor, accounting for 55 percent of posts, would be distributed among Member Nations in proportion to the Scale of Assessments,
•
The mid-point of the equitable range for each Member Nation would be calculated by adding the three factors,
•
The upper and lower limits of the equitable range would be based on a flexibility of 15 per cent upwards and downwards from the mid-point, but not less than 2.03/ posts up and down, the upper limit being not less than 7.53/ posts,
2.
Decides
that the new methodology would be introduced from
1 January 2004
, including proper arrangements to safeguard the interests of staff members serving in the Organization,
3.
Requests
the Secretariat to submit a Report for the consideration of the Hundred Twenty-seventh Session of Council through the
Finance Committee
on the results of the application of the new methodology, including for comparison purposes information on the outcome of adding a grade-weighting factor to the system,
4.
Confirms
that in order to address the concern of Members regarding the need to redress the under-representation of Member Nations, the Secretariat should report to the
Finance Committee
at its next session on the concrete measures being taken to improve recruitment from non- and under-represented Member Nations, including flexibility to recognize the special circumstances of all small developing states.
