UN pension fund: FFOA, ILO, FAFICS: Unable to refute facts? Throw a tantrum! 1 November 2018

UN retirees and staff deserve to know the pathetic caliber of our pension representative/pension officials

Unable to refute facts (because they're facts!) in UN Pension Blog articles, as contained in the reports of UN oversight bodies, such as the Board of Auditors, Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) and the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), concerning mismanagement, conflicts of interest, and the appearance of collusion, between the Pension Board and our Fund management?

No problem, Do as the FAO retiree association president; an anonymous UN staff member at the ILO pension office; and the former FAFICS president (Federation of Associations of Former International Civil Servants) do:

Throw a tantrum! And scream "racism" (Pension/ILO)!

 “Your rubbish is dumb”, Gyongyver Prien, FFOA president

“A racist attack”, Pension/ILO

“Spiteful and vicious yarns”, Linda Saputelli, former FAFICS president 

“I would not share your rubbish with anyone”, Gyongyver Prien, FFOA president

Fortunately for the members of the Fund, the UN oversight bodies, such as the General Assembly's Fifth Committee and ACABQ, the Board of Auditors, OIOS, and the SG, have consistently demonstrated their concern with facts -- not tantrums.  

Protecting staff rights: Transcript - Information session on the UN Pension Fund, 26 October 2018

Six "Pinocchios" for the FAFICS President, 20 October 2018

SIX “PINOCCHIOS” FOR MARCO BRESCHI, FAFICS PRESIDENT (FEDERATION OF ASSOCIATIONS OF FORMER INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SERVANTS), 20 October 2018

Respect for facts is a prerequisite for any constructive "dialogue." There are numerous examples in Marco Breschi's dismal response to Lowell Flanders that demonstrate the consistent FAFICS approach of "Truth is not truth", i.e., the Pinocchio effect.

To demonstrate, here are six "Pinocchios" identified in his letter and factual responses for each (ref. OIOS governance audit A/73/341. https://undocs.org/A/73/341

Pinnochio 1: “I clearly stated that out of 13 provisional audit recommendations, FAFICS supported in varying degrees 7 while rejecting 6. No antagonism on our part.”

Fact: On the claim of “no antagonism”, FAFICS joined “The great majority of Board members [in expressing] serious concern regarding the process by which OIOS had conducted the audit, which many viewed as being flawed and unprofessional”, including claiming that the audit was "not based on fully verified facts" while, OIOS notes, "provid[ing] no evidence of factual inaccuracies." (Para. 88, table 3).

Pension Fund Information Meeting, 2 October 2018

PENSION FUND INFORMATION MEETING
TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY, 2 OCTOBER 2018
1.15 TO 2.30 PM, CONFERENCE ROOM 12

"From: STAFF UNION BROADCAST New York
Sent: Tuesday, 02 October, 2018 3:10 PM
Subject: Your Pension Fund - What's happening now, what future does it have?
Importance: High

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite you to an information meeting on the Pension Fund, this Wednesday, 3rd October 2018 from 1:15
pm to 2:30 pm in Conference Room 12. Retirees and delegates are also welcome.

At the session we will discuss the strongly critical OIOS audit of the Board of the Pension Fund (http://www.undocs.org/A/73/341http://www.undocs.org/A/73/341), which highlighted conflicts of interest, lack of representation, and a poor performance culture, and the implications this has on the future sustainability of the Fund. We will also discuss our concerns with how the Fund is being run outside its own regulations and rules.

This is an opportunity for you to learn what is happening at your Fund and ask questions to three of your representatives on the Pension Board.

Come and hear what happened at the 65th Session of the Board and what we hope will be accomplished over the next few months.

The agenda is below:
Remarks on the Report of the Pension Board 65th session
OIOS Governance Audit Report - highlights
Pension Fund Regulations and Rules - change alert!
Q & A

Panel members:
Ms. Patricia Nemeth (Moderator), 1st Vice President, UN Staff Union-NY
Ms. Michelle Rockcliffe, Participant Representative, United Nations Staff Pension Committee, (also Staff Council Member, Staff Union)
Mr. Ian Richards, Participant Representative, United Nations Staff Pension Committee, (also President of CCISUA and UNOG Staff Coordinating Council)
Mr. Ibrahima Faye, Participant Representative, United Nations Staff Pension Committee, UNSPC Vice Chair, (also Staff Council Member, UN Staff Union-NY)
Ms. Lorraine Rickard-Martin (Guest speaker), UN Retiree (Consultant on International Sanctions and Former Sr. Political Affairs Officer for the Security Council, DPA)
Mr. Aitor Arauz Chapman (Rapporteur), Secretary, UN Staff Union-NY

We kindly request that any technical questions you may have be emailed to: rockcliffe@un.org, ian.richards@un.org and fayei@un.org. However, this is not a requirement.

We look forward to your participation and thank you for your kind attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Patricia Nemeth
1st Vice President
United Nations Staff Union"

Smoke and mirrors in the UN Pension Board's communique, 21 September 2018

After roundly rebuking the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) and rejecting its findings and recommendations in July, the UN Pension Board has put its efforts in full swing to discredit OIOS and its governance audit (requested by the General Assembly) along with any publicity about its own dysfunction. https://www.passblue.com/2018/08/27/the-un-pension-fund-board-rejects-an-audit-of-its-work/

First the Chair of the Board, John Levins (WFP), joined in August with UN officials from management, human resources and legal, to block the UN participant representatives to the Board from disseminating information to their 85,000 constituents about the Board meeting through the UN internal broadcast system. http://unpension.blogspot.com/2018/08/what-un-participant-representatives-did.html

Now the Chair and his cohorts have taken the unusual step of publishing a communiqué that elevates the art of smoke and mirrors, being much more notable for information it omits than for what it includes. http://unpension.blogspot.com/2018/09/pension-board-communique-21-september.html

Readers will be none the wiser that the Board did not even consider three prior audits by OIOS (on the pension payment backlog; implementation of the troubled IT system; or irregularities in procurement management), because it’s audit committee didn’t submit them for consideration.

Pension Board communique, 21 September 2018

1. It has not been normal practice for the Pension Board to issue a Communique at the conclusion of its annual session. However, with information on matters considered by the Board not being generally available until the release of the Sessional Report and the Report to the General Assembly, some two months after the Board, and the need of Board Members to report to their constituents in a timely manner, this Communique is being issued.

2. The 65th meeting of the UN Joint Staff Pension Board (the Board) took place at the premises of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, Italy, from 26 July through 3 August 2018.

3. MATURITY: The Fund was established almost 70 years ago and presented its first financial statements in 1949. It has all the features of a mature defined benefit plan. The Board is confident that the Fund is actuarially and financially sound. The current strong situation is due largely to the initiatives developed by the Board’s 2013 Working Group on sustainability, endorsed by the Board and approved by the General Assembly, together with prudent management practices of the past.

Passblue: The UN Pension Board Rejects An Audit of Its Work

"The United Nations Pension Board’s recent meeting in Rome ended with a record number of disagreements and much acrimony. The chief cause of distress was the results of the internal governance audit requested last December by the General Assembly.

At the meeting, held July 29 to Aug. 3, board members directed much of their angst against recommendations to adjust the makeup of the board of the $65 billion fund to comply with General Assembly resolutions. The resolutions called for fairer and more equitable representation of member organizations, given that the UN secretariat, funds and programs control only a third of board seats despite accounting for two-thirds of pension fund members...."

Read full article here: https://www.passblue.com/2018/08/27/the-un-pension-fund-board-rejects-an-audit-of-its-work/