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

Administrative Issues 61
countries and a decrease in 15 countries. In five countries stipend rates remained at
the same level. Response rate was at 37%. 100 countries with established fellowships
stipend rates had remained unchanged since 1989. Of the 59 submissions, 13 had
been revisited and 15 had been established for countries which never had fellowships
stipend rates. Currently, a total of 174 countries had established fellowships stipend
rates. Ms. Del Rosario observed a slight improvement over the 2004 global review but
still considered the response rate to be low. Several follow-up communications had
been dispatched by both UN and UNDP to encourage field offices to carry out the review,
putting emphasis on its importance. Some information provided in the questionnaires
items had gone beyond the basic, essential incidentals intended to be covered
by the stipend. No statistics were available on the number of UN fellows in the field,
the frequency of fielding UN fellows and the length of their studies. Ms. Del Rosario
noted that at the past meeting, Senior Fellowships Officers had emphasized the need
for adequate annual reviews of stipend rates. Nevertheless, it seemed that not enough
measures had been taken to guarantee fruition of that goal. The question remained
whether it would still be cost-effective to carry out a review if the frequency of fielding
UN fellows was low.
211. Ms. Del Rosario suggested a number of measures for consideration by Senior Fellowships
Officers. A decision should be taken allowing any UN agency in the field to conduct the
review of fellowships stipend rates in the event that the UNDP country office could not
carry out the task. Such a decision would have to be brought to the attention of HLCM
and its approval would have to be obtained. The possibility should be considered to determine
and apply a fixed percentage of the first 60-days DSA rate to those fellowships
stipend rates that had not been updated from 1989 to 2003. Ms. Del Rosario noted
that among the original 100 countries with non-reviewed stipend rates, two countries
had stipend rates lower than 10% of the countries DSA; 12 countries had stipend rates
lower than 10% to 19% of the respective DSA; 18 countries had rates lower than 20%
to 29%; rates in another 20 countries were lower than 30% to 39%; 19 countries had
rates between 40% to 49% and 29 countries had rates of 50% to 70% of their relevant
DSA. Ms. Del Rosario encouraged SFOs to consider maintaining the current level of
fellowship stipend rates in those countries where stipend rates consist of 40% to 70% of
the respective DSA. With regard to the other brackets, especially those with the lowest
percentages, it would seem logical to upgrade those rates. SFOs could exceptionally come
to an agreement to ascertain the most reasonable percentage to be applied in order to
align those countries with the others. Ms. Del Rosario pointed out that it would, however,
have an impact on those countries with low fellowships stipend rates. It would be an
exceptional measure applicable in that particular case. The review should still be observed
and adhered to in the future. UN fellows should also be properly briefed that stipend is
an allowance intended to cover the cost of lodging, board and essential incidentals only
and that the purpose of the fellowships stipend was to enable the individual to defray
modest but reasonable living expenses during the fellowships period.