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

Administrative Issues 63
who were intended to stay longer. The definition of a Fellowship had been agreed upon
during the 14th Meeting in Vienna 23 . Study Tour 24 and Group Training 25 had been defined
in the 15th Meeting in Geneva.
215. IAEA noted that its definition was very strict. Study tours were allowed to a maximum
of two weeks and DSA was applied.
216. DDA added that its fellows were appointed on very short notice and moved around the
entire globe. In 1999 the fellowships stipend rates were found to be particularly low.
DDA tried several approaches to counter that situation. In the end it was agreed to base
stipend rates on a certain percentage of the DSA. The percentage was professionally
established and reviewed on a recurring basis.
217. DESA suggested endorsing the proposal of applying a percentage of the DSA in order
to determine the stipend rate. DESA further clarified that the existing stipends were
based on the rates established by the review. A multiplier was estimated, which applied
to the DSA, allowed the calculation of the stipend rate. The proposal suggested
reviewing the stipends and defining the percentage of the DSA to be applied.
218. WMO realized that stipend rates in many countries were considerably higher than
what other sponsors, like the European Commission, provided. Consequently, WMO
requested the host institutions to advise on what would be a reasonable stipend rate
for a fellow and did not therefore apply the high official rates. That was an attempt to
be in line with the other sponsors who sent fellows to a given training institution.
219. DESA responded that stipend rates were established to be applied throughout the
United Nations system in order to guarantee parity. If one UN organization applied
different stipend rates, that would bring about inconsistency within the United Nations
system. Disparity would appear not only in comparison to external programmes
but also within the United Nations itself. That would go against the spirit of harmonizing
the UN fellowship conditions within the United Nations system.
220. IAEA explained that it applied two stipend rates, a lower rate for fellows who were accommodated
inside the host institution and a higher rate for fellows accommodated
23 “A Fellowship in the United Nations System is a specially tailored or selected training activity that provides a monetary
grant to a qualified individual for the purpose of fulfilling special learning objectivities; such training, which may be
of at least 30 days duration (except in the case of WHO and some other agencies) […]” Final Report, 14 th Meeting of
Senior Fellowship Officers of the United Nations System and Host Country Agencies, 18-20 November 2002, IAEA
Vienna, Recommendation 1, p. 26.
24 “A Study Tour in the United Nations system is an award for a development cooperation activity given to an individual
or group of individuals to visit pre-arranged sites and institutions in one or more selected countries for a short duration
(normally no more than two weeks and even in exceptional cases never exceeding two months) to observe developments,
gather information and exchange experience with host counterparts in fields pertaining to specific country
agreements or project documents.” Final Report, 15 th Meeting of Senior Fellowship Officers of the United Nations
System and Host Country Agencies, 13-15 October 2004, WHO Geneva, Recommendation 1, p. 59.
25 “A Group Training in the United Nations system is a flexible arrangement made to meet the requirements of two or
more nationals working in a project or programme whereby they (a) receive practical training within the country designed
to upgrade the skills, or (b) attend specially designed, practical training courses, seminars, symposia, workshops
or technical meetings outside the country.” ibid, Recommendation 2, p. 59.