nouvelles de notre association - aafi-afics - UNOG

een able to adjust itself in a flexible way to the
changes in the various factors which have an
impact on its equilibrium. There is no reason to
doubt that it will continue to do so in future.
This vigilance, however, should not be the
exclusive responsibility of the Pension Board. It
should be common also to the representatives of
the retirees. So, let us consider three questions
which are for us a constant concern: the reduction
of 1,5 percent which has been made to pensions
for many years now, the surviving spouse benefit
and the adjustment of pensions.
The situation appeared very favourable in 2001
for the abolition of the 1,5 percent reduction: a
recent valuation of the Fund had revealed a
comfortable actuarial surplus, and a working
group created by the Board had proposed
consequent positive action. Alas, the actuarial
situation deteriorated thereafter and the General
Assembly of the UN, as the supervisory body of
the Fund, was led to defer any measure which
might have a negative impact on the financial
soundness of the institution until there appeared
to be a clear trend to an increase in the actuarial
surplus. The GA decision was however drafted in
such a way that we may expect the abolition of
the reduction if the result of the next actuarial
valuation (end of 2003) is positive.
Until April 1999, the surviving spouse benefit had
been governed by simple rules. On that date, new
rules were introduced in the form of Article 35bis
which provided, under certain conditions, a
sharing of the benefit between the surviving
spouse and surviving divorced ex-spouses. The
provision will be reviewed by the Pension Board in
2004 and, anticipating on this review, AAFI-AFICS
submitted proposals to the last Council of the
Federation of Associations of Former International
Civil Servants (FAFICS). Having carefully studied
and discussed the provision, it had been found
that it was far from satisfactory from the point of
view of legality, efficiency and equity. The
Federation agreed that our proposal would be the
basis on which a working party should endeavour
to build a consensus among the associations in
order to put forward a well balanced proposal for a
review of article 35bis.
The adjustment of pensions is a matter of
paramount importance for the retirees, who are
the victims of the inadequacy, malfunctioning or
mishandling of the system. The Pension Board
has requested the Secretariat of the Fund to
review this system. AAFI-AFICS has promptly
shown readiness and availability to participate in
the review and our Association has been selected
to co-ordinate the efforts of the Federation to
prepare a positive contribution to the work of the
Secretariat and the debates of the Pension Board
on the subject. To that end, we have worked out a
commentary and a questionnaire on the
adjustment system which is to be forwarded
shortly to the other associations of former
international civil servants.
These are the present concerns of our
Association, which remains constantly aware of
our interests. In fact, our concerns cover much
more than these three questions, which relate to
the present or the immediate future. Just like the
pay-as-you-go schemes, our Fund is not shielded
from the consequences of the various crises
which affect the international economy, finance
and politics. Our immediate interests, jeopardised
by these crises, are our most direct concerns, but
we also have the duty to ensure that, upstream,
the Fund remains able to discharge its statutory
obligations. One may wonder how and by what
means we could fulfil that duty, but this is another
story, to which we intend to come back very soon.
J. Hanus
43