16th Meeting of Senior Fellowships Officers of the ... - Development

Operational Issues 13
a formal endorsement by the respective Head of Human Resources, or alternatively,
the Senior Fellowships Officers representing the agencies would have a formal delegation
of authority by the respective Head of Human Resources on that subject.
That procedure would avoid submitting to the Human Resources network recommendations
that the Heads of Human Resources would see for the first time, therefore,
requiring full repetition of the discussion on the subject. Consequently, when
reaching a consensus among Senior Fellowships Officers of the organizations on harmonization
and related issues, CEB would suggest that endorsement was sought,
where needed, from the respective Head of Human Resources.
E. Report on the Implementation of the Recommendations of the
15th Meeting of Senior Fellowships Officers, by Mr. Tom Rudi,
Fellowships Officer, UN/DESA
Recommendation 1: The Approval of the Harmonized Policies, Procedures and
Entitlements of Trainees by CEB Committees.
53. Mr. Rudi rated this recommendation as the most challenging of all. Both DESA and
the CEB High Level Committee on Management had been in constant contact in
search of a solution. Mutual understanding had prevailed on numerous actions and follow-ups
had been undertaken by both parties. Nevertheless, progress had stalled. It was
no longer the High Level Committee on Management that made the decision on the
recommendations of the Meeting of Senior Fellowships Officers of the United Nations
system and host country agencies but, rather, the Heads and Senior Management of
the agencies. They formed part of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board
for Coordination. It was, therefore, a collective decision which had to be taken by all
agencies. Explaining the new mechanism, Mr. Rudi recalled that in 1998 the Administrative
Committee on Coordination was replaced by the United Nations System Chief
Executives Board for Coordination. At that time, a decision was made to establish a
High Level Committee on Programmes and a High Level Committee on Management
(HLCM). The latter would be responsible for ensuring coordination in administration
and management areas previously carried out by standing bodies such as Personnel or
Finance and Budget. To Senior Fellowships Officers, this meant a change in the reporting
line. Final reports of meetings and the convocation of future meetings no longer
needed CEB/HLCM approval. When there would be a need to bring some specific
issues requiring policy advice or a more formal follow-up or a common approach in administrative
and financial areas, such issues could be brought to the attention of CEB
High Level Committee on Programmes or CEB High Level Committee on Management.
In accordance with that new practice, UN/DESA as Focal Point for fellowships
coordination submitted for approval to the Secretary of the High Level Committee
on Management the harmonized policies, procedures and entitlements of the 15th
Meeting. In December 2004, the Secretary of HLCM sent the recommendations to