FYI Subject: letters from 1. FFOA president & 2. FAFICS president on PENSION MATTERS Dear FFOA members, 1. some of you may have heard about allegations or rumors regarding the operations of our Pension Fund (PF). 2. i would like to give you some reassurances. 3. firstly, the CEO (chief executive officer) of the PF, Sergio Arvizu is responsible for the income & disbursements of the PF, ie receiving contributions from serving staff & Organizations which participate, and paying benefits to those of us who qualify for pensions. 4. completely separate from the CEO is a different division of the UN Secretariat, called the Investment Division, headed by a Representative of the Secretary General (RSG). She, Carol Boykin, was appointed by & reports solely to the SG. Under guidance of the Pension Board (PB), the assets we have are invested conservatively & cautiously. 5. governing the operations of these 2 separate offices is what is known as a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the present text of which dates back to 2000. 6. last year, the CEO brought to the attention of the PB ( which i attended as your representative, when we met in the FAO in July) 4 changes which he was proposing to update the MoU: a. flexibility regarding the Mandatory Age of Separation(MAS) for serving staff; as you may know, the normal retirement age has been increased to 65 for new staff who enter now, but the lower ages of 60 or 62 still apply for serving staff in the UN Secretariat, under which Rules & Regulations the PF operates; at a time when there will be a transition to a new computer system for all of us, the CEO would like to have some flexibility to extend eg key staff as the changeover occurs this summer, & in fact, the ICSC & the PB have recommended such flexibility for serving staff, & i understand the SG is in favor of their recommendation, but the General Assembly has not yet approved their recommendation on this aspect; b. flexibility to grant exemptions from the rotation requirements of the UN Secretariat, whereby Professional staff have to change posts in order to be eligible for a promotion from P4 to P5; c. flexibility for PF staff to allow promotions to occur from G to P without having to undertake UN Secretariat examinations, which may not be entirely relevant to the staff involved in the pension processing & investments; d. permission for classification reviews to be undertaken by classifiers hired by the PF, under the operating authority of the UN Secretariat Office of Human Resources. 7. the PB approved in 2014 the CEO’s proposals to update the MoU. 8. some have alleged that this is a power grab, and spread various rumors about other aspects which do not have foundation, so far as i can see. 9. accordingly, i have had discussions with the serving Chair of the PB, Theresa Panuccio, who many of you may know, in her present capacity of Director of Administration at FAO, or in her previous role in the similar post at IFAD. I have also consulted with the Legal Advisor of the PF and others, including the President of FAFICS, who represents all beneficiaries around the world. Attached is a letter which she has asked me to share as widely as possible. 10. also relevant are other statements of reassurance posted on the FFOA website, specifically from the OIOS (the audit office equivalent in the UN), the USG for Administration, and the CEO. 11. in conclusion, i would like to reassure you that the impact of these proposed changes have been misrepresented by some & blown out of proportion beyond their relatively benign & administrative nature, and accordingly, if you receive from unknown parties requests or suggestions to sign a petition to the SG on these matters, IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO SIGN SUCH A PETITION. 12. i feel quite secure in saying that the Office of Human Resources (which is responsible for drafting the MoU) & the UN Legal Office, will ensure that no other nefarious aspects would be recommended for approval by the SG. 13. i shall provide any further information possible at our annual General Assembly on wednesday 27 may in the Green room at FAO . .yours sincerely, alan prien, president FFOA ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the FFOA4engWORLD-L list, click the following link: &*TICKET_URL(FFOA4engWORLD-L,SIGNOFF);