MESSAGE FROM IAN RICHARDS, UN PARTICIPANT REPRESENTATIVE TO THE PENSION BOARD
GENERAL ASSEMBLY CALLS FOR SWEEPING REFORMS OF HOW THE PENSION FUND IS GOVERNED
(We're making progress, one resolution at a time)
- The pension system resolution was passed last night.
- It demands "unfaltering accountability" from the fund's Board members and asserts the GA's "existing prerogative…on matters pertaining to the Fund".
- It requires that conflicts of interest between the pension fund's management, the Board and FAFICS be addressed. One consequence is that the post of "CEO" will be split into "Pension Benefits Administrator" and "Secretary of the Board". Retiree representatives will now be elected.
- The resolution calls for "integrity and fairness" in selection processes, rebuking efforts by the Board Chair to recruit an Acting CEO outside the Fund's rules.
- The Board is to submit proposals on how it can be more representative of its members (currently UN staff, who account for two-thirds of all participants have only one-third of seats. IOM staff have none).
- It pushes back on efforts by the majority of Board members to remove the Board from the UN Appeals Tribunal jurisdiction, which would have led to a legal vacuum.
- It orders performance evaluation of the fund's management to be tied to how quickly pension payments are processed and requests a review of the IPAS payments system.
- Overall it vindicates the governance audit of OIOS as well as efforts of the six UN participants representatives on the Board and others, who have repeatedly pushed for integrity and equity in how the pension fund is governed. But there is more work to do in the coming year.
- Thank you for your support. It's made a difference!
- It requires that conflicts of interest between the pension fund's management, the Board and FAFICS be addressed. One consequence is that the post of "CEO" will be split into "Pension Benefits Administrator" and "Secretary of the Board". Retiree representatives will now be elected.
- The resolution calls for "integrity and fairness" in selection processes, rebuking efforts by the Board Chair to recruit an Acting CEO outside the Fund's rules.
- The Board is to submit proposals on how it can be more representative of its members (currently UN staff, who account for two-thirds of all participants have only one-third of seats. IOM staff have none).
- It pushes back on efforts by the majority of Board members to remove the Board from the UN Appeals Tribunal jurisdiction, which would have led to a legal vacuum.
- It orders performance evaluation of the fund's management to be tied to how quickly pension payments are processed and requests a review of the IPAS payments system.
- Overall it vindicates the governance audit of OIOS as well as efforts of the six UN participants representatives on the Board and others, who have repeatedly pushed for integrity and equity in how the pension fund is governed. But there is more work to do in the coming year.
- Thank you for your support. It's made a difference!
Link to General Assembly resolution:
No comments:
Post a Comment