The SG's 'Next Normal' Report - Implications for UNICEF's Massive Reorganization? : Nicholas Alipui

Editor's Note:  Nick Alipui is a member of the AFICS Board. He has forwarded both the Secretary-General's New Normal report and the Staff Council's Resolution supporting the plan outlined in the SG's report.  Below is his comment on the relevance of the the SG's report to the concerns earlier voiced in the article, "A Massive reorganization of UNICEF HQ Structure and Functions:  To What End?" by Nick Alipui, Kul Gautam, Alan Court, and Tom McDermott. We recommend reading the SG's report in the context of that discussion.  Please send us your own comments after reading the report.

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The UN Secretary General’s Next Normal report offers a set of principles and action points that are meant to enable effective flexitime, teleworking, and other creative work modalities including ideas for off-site functions, consolidation of office space for focused work, and coordination of real estate strategies especially for New York-based UN entities. This report, produced by a team of 130 focal points from across the UN secretariat, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, UN Women, and the New York Staff Union presents recommendations covering work modalities, ICT and cybersecurity, facilities and Real estate, Occupational Safety and Health, Mental health and well-being, Organizational culture and learning, Preserving the international character and diversity and inclusion of the United Nations, Communications and outreach, Staff engagement, Business process improvements, Preparedness for future emergencies, Member states support, and Support to the field.

Kind regards,

Nicholas Alipui

Staff Union - 12 August 2022
Dear colleagues,

With apologies for the late circulation due to an internal glitch, please find attached a Resolution adopted by the Staff Council regarding the Next Normal at the New York duty station. Annexed to the resolution is the executive summary of results for the Survey on the Next Normal, which provided the basis for many of recommendations you will find in the resolution. These recommendations touch on four main areas:

Support for the SG’s Next Normal plan and the need to remain guided by its valuable principles and to keep working on the concrete ideas it contains;
Flexibility and consistency in the approval of Flexible Working Arrangements, in favour of staff to the highest extent possible;
Support for reimbursement of the costs of utilities, materials and equipment related to telecommuting, in line with ILO guidance;
Attention to the use of office space, including a rejection of unpopular open-plan offices and the need to create more spaces for focused work.

All of these ideas are captured in the Next Normal plan, which was the outcome of extensive consultations at the height of the pandemic. We hope that this important work will not fall by the wayside and that colleagues at all levels will remain committed to building on lessons learned to keep improving how we work.

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out the Staff Union to share your opinions and concerns: newyorkstaffunion@un.org.

Aitor Arauz (Mr.)
President, United Nations Staff Union
General Secretary, UNISERV