VOL. 67, NO. 3 - AAFI-AFICS, Geneva - UNOG

an election process: first the Committees of each Association were elected by the retirees who were
members, then the delegates from these Associations, in their turn, elected the FAFICS representatives to
the Pension Board at the FAFICS Council session.
Nevertheless, the Federation recognised that the election of the representatives of all retirees by universal
suffrage was a process that could be envisaged, albeit different from the current system, when the voting
status was eventually afforded to the representatives of the retirees. The Federation was ready to accept if
that was the wish of the Board.
On the other hand, a general election of the representatives of all retirees should not take place if it were not
preceded by the granting of full Board member status to these representatives. The more so, since the
election was for only two of the four representatives of the retirees.
Will there be elections for the retiree representatives ?
In 2007, the Chief Executive Officer of the Fund and Secretary of the Board published for the Board’s 54 th
session a “Study on Possible Process for the Election of Retiree’s Representatives”. He considered that an
election would require that a complex and costly (up to $ 150,000 per ballot) procedure be put in place for
which the Fund had neither the funds nor the necessary expertise; it would thus have to be outsourced to a
specialist consultant under the control of the Fund.
In conclusion: “Because of the very substantial efforts and expenses involves, in the view of the
Secretary/CEO, elections of UNJSPF retiree representatives should be mandated by the Board only when
those representatives have been granted member seats on the Board and the Standing Committee. Until
then, their representation, and the selection of representatives, should continue to be done by FAFICS, in
consultation with the Pension Fund’s CEO”. The Pension Board did not contest this conclusion.
Some figures will show the evolution, over the last 30 years, of the Pension Board and the range of its
decisions.
31.12.1976 (first year in which the President of FAFICS participated in the Board)
No. of active participants 42,917
No. of retirees and beneficiaries 10,515
Assets of the Fund
US $ 1.3 billion
31.12.1986 (granting of official status to FAFICS representatives)
No. of active participants 54,289
No. of retirees and beneficiaries 25,434
Assets of the Fund
US $ 6.3 billion
31.12.2004 (Working Group on the role and composition of the Fund)
No. of active participants 85,285
No. of retirees and beneficiaries 52,496
Assets of the Fund
US $ 29.4 billion
31.12 2007 (last updated statistics)
No. of active participants 106,566
No. of retirees and beneficiaries 58,084
Assets of the Fund
US $ 41.4 billion
Our representation cannot be only symbolic
The figures confirm that more than ever, the retirees grouped around the Federation have an important role
to play in the governing bodies of the Pension Fund: they are fulfilling that role today by making full use of
the status they have been granted.
Several members of AAFI-AFICS asked, in the course of the Association’s General Assembly on 4 th March
2008 (see report below) that FAFICS continue to seek full member status for the representatives of retirees
in the Pension Board. Naturally, the goal has not and will not be lost sight of by the Federation.
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