We all are UNICEF : Ivan Donoso

By Ivan Donoso

I would like to share an experience with young staff or those that recently joined UNICEF. It should demonstrate that everyone can help to get things in order, regardless of rank, hierarchy or where orders have come from. We need to remember that we are the custodians of public money.

In 1999, I was asked to support the Kosovo office as Operations Manager, and I had to go back to the burned and looted office. I never had been in a recently burned and looted office, but I was equally surprised to find a parallel operations/supply structure in place managed by SRSA, the Swedish relief agency. It was an experiment by UNICEF, with the aim to allow staff to devote time and attention to programmes and not to operational issues, as normally practiced and mandated by the United Nations and UNICEF itself. This entailed all procurement, from cars to office supplies; even the catering for staff was under the responsibility of this organization.

All our three daily meals were cooked and served by Swedish staff, using Swedish products, including bread. Any radio communication would be provided by Swedish staff, as was the access to a nurse. I had to assert my delegated authority over a retired military person heading the “platoon” of all-round staff doing many different jobs. The contract was valued at about 2.6 million USD – and it also paid for instantly delivered top-of-the-line Nissan Patrols with two-tone leather seats, which did not endear us to anyone.

I learned that all this was decided by higher-up and in the best interest of the organization; though every day I could see that this was not the case. In my view, it was not good for the UNICEF image, and not a good use of UNICEF resources. I contacted everyone I knew in Headquarters to put an end to this experiment. Eventually, a mission from HQ came to check. It took a while, but the contract was stopped shortly after I left, and the parallel structure got dismantled.

If you are in Operations or Programmes and you recently joined UNICEF, it is important to build a strong network of colleagues that are known to be reliable and committed to the mandate of UNICEF. Know the rules well. UNICEF is a hierarchical organization, but we should not be afraid to raise the  alarm when things go wrong. We all are UNICEF.

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