I thought this tidbit of information might be of interest to XUNICEFers.
Kul
Until about a decade ago, the UN Secretary-General used to present to the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly a detailed annual report of how nationals of all UN member states were represented in the staff of the UN Secretariat. The detailed report, listing all staff members by nationality, gender, grade, etc. is no longer published as a voluminous UN document, but a summary of the breakdown of the Member States that are over-represented, under-represented, un-represented, and within the "normal" range of representation is still presented to the 5th Committee.
It is to be noted that the criteria for the level of representation take into account both the size of the country's population and its financial contribution to the UN, thus trying to strike a balance between "developed" and "developing" countries.
Among qualified candidates of various nationalities, the UN is supposed to give priority to those from under-represented and un-represented nationalities in its recruitment policy. More recently, other factors also are considered to ensure gender parity, geographic and linguistic diversity, etc. Needless to say, at the senior-most levels, various political considerations also play a huge role.
As of March 2020, the following was the status of the level of representation:
Overrepresented (27 Member States) Austria Finland Mexico Belgium France Philippines Bulgaria Germany (December 2017: within) Portugal Cameroon Ireland Spain Canada Italy Trinidad and Tobago Chile Jordan Uganda Ecuador (December 2017: within) Kenya United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Egypt Lebanon Uruguay Ethiopia Malawi (December 2017: within) Zimbabwe
Unrepresented (21 Member States) Afghanistan (December 2017: under) Lao People’s Democratic Republic Saint Lucia Andorra Liechtenstein Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Angola Marshall Islands Sao Tome and Principe Belize (December 2017: under) Monaco Timor-Leste Equatorial Guinea Nauru Tuvalu Kiribati Palau United Arab Emirates Kuwait Qatar Vanuatu
Underrepresented (40 Member States) Antigua and Barbuda Grenada Papua New Guinea Bahrain Guinea-Bissau Republic of Korea Belarus Indonesia Russian Federation Brazil Iran (Islamic Republic of) Saudi Arabia Brunei Darussalam Iraq (December 2017: within) Solomon Islands Cabo Verde Japan South Sudan Cambodia (December 2017: un) Lesotho Suriname Central African Republic Liberia Syrian Arab Republic China Libya Thailand Comoros Luxembourg Turkmenistan Cyprus Micronesia (Federated States of) United States of America Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Mozambique Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) Dominica Norway Gabon Oman
Within range (105 Member States)
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Until about a decade ago, the UN Secretary-General used to present to the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly a detailed annual report of how nationals of all UN member states were represented in the staff of the UN Secretariat. The detailed report, listing all staff members by nationality, gender, grade, etc. is no longer published as a voluminous UN document, but a summary of the breakdown of the Member States that are over-represented, under-represented, un-represented, and within the "normal" range of representation is still presented to the 5th Committee.
It is to be noted that the criteria for the level of representation take into account both the size of the country's population and its financial contribution to the UN, thus trying to strike a balance between "developed" and "developing" countries.
Among qualified candidates of various nationalities, the UN is supposed to give priority to those from under-represented and un-represented nationalities in its recruitment policy. More recently, other factors also are considered to ensure gender parity, geographic and linguistic diversity, etc. Needless to say, at the senior-most levels, various political considerations also play a huge role.
As of March 2020, the following was the status of the level of representation:
Overrepresented (27 Member States) Austria Finland Mexico Belgium France Philippines Bulgaria Germany (December 2017: within) Portugal Cameroon Ireland Spain Canada Italy Trinidad and Tobago Chile Jordan Uganda Ecuador (December 2017: within) Kenya United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Egypt Lebanon Uruguay Ethiopia Malawi (December 2017: within) Zimbabwe
Unrepresented (21 Member States) Afghanistan (December 2017: under) Lao People’s Democratic Republic Saint Lucia Andorra Liechtenstein Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Angola Marshall Islands Sao Tome and Principe Belize (December 2017: under) Monaco Timor-Leste Equatorial Guinea Nauru Tuvalu Kiribati Palau United Arab Emirates Kuwait Qatar Vanuatu
Underrepresented (40 Member States) Antigua and Barbuda Grenada Papua New Guinea Bahrain Guinea-Bissau Republic of Korea Belarus Indonesia Russian Federation Brazil Iran (Islamic Republic of) Saudi Arabia Brunei Darussalam Iraq (December 2017: within) Solomon Islands Cabo Verde Japan South Sudan Cambodia (December 2017: un) Lesotho Suriname Central African Republic Liberia Syrian Arab Republic China Libya Thailand Comoros Luxembourg Turkmenistan Cyprus Micronesia (Federated States of) United States of America Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Mozambique Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) Dominica Norway Gabon Oman
Within range (105 Member States)
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Interesting info. Would be useful if they published separate lists of professional and GS staff in the Secretariat.
ReplyDeleteI see my friend Joseph beat me to it! We are told that UNICEF now has over 22,000 staff in its offices and that both in terms of gender and nationality diversity it is reaching parity. Would be very nice to get a recent update on the UNICEF staffing situation broken down by different categories; HQ locations, Regional Offices, Country Offices; nationalities; gender, IPO/NO/GS.
ReplyDeleteFouad
Since retirement in 2012, have done a couple of stints, both paid and volunteer in emergency duty stations, always interesting to see the make up of the mid to junior levels of staff in these duty stations were drawn mainly from non OECD countries...wonder if that is the case. The really smart ( careerwise folks) ensure that they are posted in posts with the right designation, for example Bangkok was once considered a field posting, and then the are despatched where ever, more a slot game than optimal HR practice...Just asking. Developed such great respect for those who toil in complex and difficult to say nothing of insecure stations, not just UNICEF but also UNHCR and WFP - deserve our salute and a system that works!!!
ReplyDeleteInteresting information. Would be great to have names of countries (within range) as well
ReplyDelete