On August 4, I published a post on the UN Pension Blog asking some uncomfortable questions about FAFICS (the Federation of Associations of Former International Civil Servants) representation of UN retirees, and whether our interests are actually being defended on issues that matter enormously to us, specifically pension and after-service health insurance.
In Facebook posts and circulated emails, on 7 and 20 August, I asked UN retirees to join me in writing to FAFICS on the topics of pension and health insurance, and to HLIS (the UN Health and Life Insurance Section) on health insurance. My blog article and suggested emails focused on questions of accountability and representation regarding FAFICS, and also made suggestions about actions UN retirees could take with their local FAFICS association.
I have received no response to my own emails to the FAFICS president or to HLIS. I don’t know whether other retirees have received responses. Today, it came to my attention that there are two letters from the FAFICS President, dated August 31 and September 4, apparently addressed to the heads of local AFICS associations, posted on the AFICS/NY website, to which we should pay attention.
Are we having an impact?
As noted, the FAFICS President’s letters are addressed to its association heads. They are not addressed to association members, and are not necessarily in response to UN retirees’ collective writing campaign. Let’s just say that the timing is interesting.
The August 31 letter is significant because the President is explicitly asking member association heads to send him their concerns, ideas and suggestions about what FAFICS should address at the next Council Session in Geneva. Significantly, he asks how FAFICS can become more responsive to the needs and expectations of its members and how the concerns of retirees can better shape its work.
The September 4 letter goes further. It acknowledges that many retirees have written to their associations and to the FAFICS President directly about the changes to the UN Headquarters-administered health-insurance plans. He says that their concerns are legitimate and sets out what FAFICS says it is doing in response.
However, while there’s some recognition that UN retirees are raising concerns, it’s also notable that the letters contain no specific answers to our questions. In other words, there’s no evidence that the President has taken those concerns on board or that they’ll be addressed.
It’s important to note that FAFICS has a long history of making statements about its advocacy and commitment to retirees. The gap between words and effective, transparent and sustained action has always been the issue.
It's also important to note that the Council Session is scheduled for almost a year from now: July 2027.
Health insurance: some answers, but not the answers we asked for
The FAFICS President’s letter dated September 4 describes a number of things FAFICS says it has done, as follows:
It has advocated with senior UN management for stronger funding arrangements, full voting representation for retirees on health-insurance committees, “better-value coverage” and an opportunity for the FAFICS President to address the High-Level Committee on Management on retirees' concerns. It also reports that FAFICS surveyed more than 2,400 retirees from 48 associations about claims processing, appeals and long-term-care awareness and developed seven recommendations from that work.
He doesn’t inform the association heads what the seven recommendations gleaned from the survey are, or what FAFICS’ interventions may have achieved. Most important, the letter does not address the questions raised in the letters UN retirees sent last week concerning cost containment, independent auditing and the late communication of the changes.
So while it’s encouraging that the President wants to take retirees’ concerns to the High-Level Committee on Management, we don’t know what concerns he’s taking, or whether our stated concerns are included.
Pension
Here’s something else that’s not very encouraging. There’s little mention of pension in either of the President’s letters, except that next year’s Council Session will provide an opportunity to interact with Pension Board officials and
As you know, the General Assembly has called for the Pension Board to undertake a broad review of the UN pension scheme, including its design and ways of lowering costs and contributions that may have enormous consequences for current and future retirees.
The questions we raised with FAFICS in our 20 August letter include the implications of moving away from the existing defined-benefit structure, the protection of accrued rights, and whether COLA is regarded as an integral part of those rights. We also asked about the stated “quick wins” including pension reform that the US government has stated (Devex article in April 2026) it wishes to achieve.
It’s important for UN retirees to know not just what FAFICS says about pension reform, but what it actually does to defend the existing system and accrued rights. The President’s January letter to the heads of FAFICS associations was not reassuring.
Who does FAFICS represent?
FAFICS describes itself as the unified, system-wide voice of all UN retirees and says it raises issues that individual associations cannot address alone. As I noted in my “FAFICS reality check” article, there are legitimate questions concerning consultation, accountability and transparency regarding FAFICS. Given that so far there has been no genuine system of consultation between FAFICS, its member associations, and the associations’ members, is it even worth raising the issue of consultation of UN retirees who are not members of an AFICS association?
It appears that the FAFICS President is attempting with his 31 August letter to association heads to address some of these issues, and that’s encouraging.
What have we learned?
I believe the most important development of the past month of UN retirees’ letter-writing campaign is that it appears we can make ourselves heard. The FAFICS President’s August 31 and September 4 letters indicate that we have the attention of the FAFICS leadership even if our questions are not being addressed. It’s a start.
What’s next?
The August 31 letter says a small working group has been set up, led by the FAFICS Vice President and the Secretary to design the programme for the 57th Council Session, and input from the association heads is requested by 25 September 2026, via a Google form link.
I believe the least we can expect is that he’ll forward the content of our recent letters to his colleagues who are preparing next year’s meeting.
But, again, the FAFIC’s 57th Council session takes place almost a year from now.
So our primary question should be: What action can we expect the FAFICS president, who is also the president of AFICS/NY the last time I checked, to take in the meantime on the important issues of pension and after-service health insurance that we’ve raised?
If you haven’t already done so, please send the emails and take the other actions suggested in my “Reality Check” post (link below) to the FAFICS president and copy the local AFICS association. See also a list and contact numbers below for local associations.
For now, I think we should be encouraged that our collective voices may have had an impact; see if answers are forthcoming to the questions we've asked; continue raising our concerns, and hold accountable the organizations that say they speak in our name. I welcome your thoughts and perspectives.
https://www.aficsny.org/post/letter-from-fafics-president
https://fafics.org/member-associations/list/.
https://unpension.blogspot.com/2026/08/a-reality-check-on-fafics-un-retirees.html
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