General Assembly calls for sweeping reforms of how the Pension Fund is governed, 23 December 2018

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!

Link to General Assembly resolution:

http://www.staffcoordinatingcouncil.org/attachments/article/0/C5_73_0m_DR_Item144_UN%20pension%20system_CLEAN.pdf

Tripping over its own feet: UN Pension Board flouts Fund Regulations in requesting the Secretary-General to appoint an Acting CEO

Whatever the results of the upcoming General Assembly resolution on the findings of the comprehensive governance audit of the UN Pension Fund by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (A/73/341), it doesn’t bode well for the Fund that those who are charged with its oversight seem congenitally unable to act with fairness, honesty and integrity.

Once more, the Board Chair is in the process of circumventing Fund Regulations as he requests the Secretary-General to appoint an Acting CEO.

The candidate is Janice Dunn Lee (a U.S. national) who served as IAEA Deputy Director General from 2012 to 2017. Dunn Lee has 40 years’ of experience in the nuclear policy and regulatory fields.

According to the recommendation memo from the Board’s Succession Planning Committee, which conducted the search (more on that below), “while Ms. Dunn Lee has rather limited technical and financial knowledge of pension funds, she demonstrated managerial mastery to oversee the UNJSPF during this transitional period”.  She would need, however, to be supported by “strengthening of the senior technical management” which “would require the timely identification of an experienced high level financial management specialist.” 

Pension Board Chair flouts Fund's Regulations - Recommends a candidate for Acting CEO leaving the Board in the dark, 14 December 2018

In their letter to the Secretary-General, the UN Staff Pension Committee Participant Representatives note an attempt by the Pension Board Chair to flout the Fund's Regulations by recommending a candidate for Acting CEO proposed by the Succession Planning Committee, leaving the Board in the dark about the candidate submitted on its behalf.

Quote: "It is essential that the Acting CEO you appoint is one that is known by the Board and one that enjoys the Board’s full confidence and support."

The UN General Assembly must resist the Pension Board's attempt to punish and bar whistleblowers by changing a 63 year old Fund regulation, 19 November 2018

Last July, at its annual meeting in Rome, the UN Pension Board forcefully rejected the most important findings of a UN internal comprehensive governance audit called for by the General Assembly (A/73/341, see link 1 below) that found structural deficiencies on the Board and conflicts of interest, and the appearance of collusion, in the Board’s oversight of the Fund.

The Board also moved to discredit the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) by unsubstantiated charges that the audit process was “flawed and unprofessional” and that the audit contained inaccuracies (see OIOS responses to the Board in link 2 below).

The Board further moved to reinforce its non-transparent and repressive practices by attempting to bar whistleblowers from participating on the Board. It hopes to do so by inducing the General Assembly to change a 63-year-old Fund regulation. The change would prevent appeals of certain Board decisions by limiting the jurisdiction of the United Nations Appeals Tribunal (UNAT).

UN Pension Fund: As goes the CEO, so should his enablers, 15 November 2018

It’s official: Chief Executive Officer of the UN Pension Fund Secretariat, Sergio Arvizu, will separate from the UN on 7 January 2019. This was predictable, given that he's been on sick leave for almost a year and a half. It wasn’t a matter of if; but of when he could negotiate the best exit package for himself.  According to a well placed source, the Acting CEO passed Arvizu's case through the IAEA Staff Pension Committee, against Fund rules, and it was approved.  Warm letters of gratitude (and self congratulation) have been received by Arvizu's enablers on the Pension Board and in the retiree organization, FAFICS (Federation of Associations of Former International Civil Servants).

We bid Arvizu adieu and wish him well. What’s next for our Fund, not acrimony for damage done, should concern us. And make no mistake: any remedial action depends solely on the General Assembly and the Secretary-General. The Pension Board and the Arvizu cabal among the Fund Secretariat management have shown themselves time and again to be solely concerned with preservation of their own self-interested prerogatives, including by their rejection of the most crucial recommendations in the OIOS (UN Office of Internal Oversight Services) comprehensive governance audit called for by the General Assembly, such as adjusting the imbalance in Board seats among member organizations; separating the functions of the CEO and Board Secretary to avoid conflicts of interest and collusion; and direct election of retiree representatives to the Board, in the interest of democracy and transparency (A/73/341).

UN Fifth Committee welcomes increased market value and urges Pension Fund to reduce payment backlog, 11 November 2018

Welcoming Increased Market Value of United Nations Pension Fund Assets, Speakers at Fifth Committee Urge Action to Reduce Backlog in Payment to Beneficiaries

"Speakers today welcomed a surge in the market value of the assets of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, 70 years after its establishment, but reiterated concerns about a backlog of payments to beneficiaries as well as governance issues, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) tackled the Organization’s multibillion‑dollar pension system, its operations and performance."

Some things to note in the summary of the Fifth Committee meeting on 9 November (link below to the full press statement):

See also the link to UN TV below and watch the full statements:

Several speakers flagged the continuing backlog in pension payments which Japan said “risked undermining the overall credibility of the Organization’s pension system”.

On the comprehensive OIOS governance audit (A/73/341) Uganda said “the OIOS recommendations are a road map for much needed improvements to the Pension Board’s structure and processes and the General Assembly must ensure the Board addresses issues raised by OIOS as a matter of urgency.” It’s noteworthy that Russia “voiced concern about the recommendations of OIOS, saying his delegation is unable to support most of them.”

The RSG for Investments noted that “While investment performance exceeded the long term rate of return goal of 3.5 per cent during the biennium 2016 2017, thanks largely to investment returns of 16.2 per cent in 2017, the Fund cannot realistically expect to always meet that objective, he said. Returns so far in 2018 are running close to zero amid significant financial market volatility. The Fund’s fully funded status provides a financial cushion to withstand a period of low returns, he said, confident that the Office of Investment Management, with the General Assembly’s support, can address whatever challenges the market presents.”

http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/general-assembly/main-committees/5th-committee/?fbclid=IwAR0WstCIiDERwrIA-3QU_eog9AUdBsSDoO0gJKmb88D0qFZpIF6l1sl4YAQ

https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/gaab4301.doc.htm?fbclid=IwAR3oqR28N2wKYh5QNlK9mDcZGm_Wj0H67wvVjttSk49f1j1Lpz8Aez1gVUI

UN internal auditors call out Pension Board's distortions of governance audit, 11 November 2018

UN internal auditors call out Pension Board's distortions of comprehensive governance audit (A/73/341)

It's difficult to  recall a UN document where the words "This statement is not true" appear once, let alone several times, as is the case with OIOS responses to the Board's comments on the governance audit. The Board, with the exception of the UN participant representatives, seems to operate on the basis of incompetence covered up by distortion and manipulation of facts. It's a shameful display by a UN body and particularly one charged with oversight of the life savings of active UN staff and retirees.

https://oios.un.org/resources/2018/11/bBzlau6P.pdf

https://undocs.org/A/73/341