REPORT OF THE GROUP OF EXPERTS ON FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS

Transcription

1 Executive Board Hundred and seventy-sixth session 176 EX/FA/EG PARIS, 19 April 2007 Original: English/French REPORT OF THE GROUP OF EXPERTS ON FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS

2 176 EX/FA/EG INTRODUCTION 1. The Group of Experts on Financial and Administrative Matters of the Executive Board met from 11 to 13 April The Group of Experts was composed of the following 12 members: Mr Fatih Bouayad-Agha (Algeria), Mr Carlos Eduardo Meza Guarnizo (Colombia), Ms Bhaswati Mukherjee (India), Ms Setsuko Kawahara (Japan), Mr Abdellatif Bennani (Morocco), Ms Trudie Amulungu (Namibia), Mr Sergey Khalizov (Russian Federation), Ms Mutryce A. Williams (Saint Kitts and Nevis), Ms Marjutka Hafner (Slovenia), Mr Phillip Benade (South Africa), Ms Victoria Harris (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) and Ms Lisa Spratt (United States of America). 3. In the absence of Mr Abdellatif Bennani (Morocco), Chairperson of the Group of Experts, Mr Olabiyi Yai (Benin), Chairperson of the Finance and Administrative Commission, opened the meeting of the Group on 11 April Mr Fatih Bouayad-Agha (Algeria) was elected Temporary Chairperson. He chaired the meeting during the absence of Mr Abdellatif Bennani (Morocco) on 11 April Mr Abdellatif Bennani (Morocco) presided the session as of 12 April During its work, the Group was assisted by Mr Amine Khene, representative of the Director- General, and other members of the Secretariat who provided the relevant additional information requested. The Group of Experts also benefited from the presence of Ms Anne Mondoloni, representative of the External Auditor, who provided clarifications on the Report by the External Auditor on the procedures used to hire consultants for the restructuring of the Education Sector. The experts on financial and administrative matters expressed their gratitude to the representative of the External Auditor for her contributions to the debates, and to the representative of the Director-General and members of the Secretariat for their efficient cooperation throughout the meeting. They also welcomed the participation of the Member States that submitted items to the Executive Board for consideration. 5. The Group of Experts considered all items listed on the provisional agenda of the Finance and Administrative Commission of the 176th session of the Executive Board. Item Title and document 4 Report by the Director-General on the execution of the programme adopted by the General Conference (176 EX/4 Part II (Management chart), 176 EX/INF.3 (United Nations reform), 176 EX/INF.10, 176 EX/INF.17, 176 EX/INF.18, 176 EX/INF.19) 5 Report by the Director-General on the follow-up to decisions and resolutions adopted by the Executive Board and the General Conference at their previous sessions (176 EX/5 and Addenda, 176 EX/INF.4 (Medical Benefits Fund), 176 EX/FA/PX/DR.1) (Administrative and financial aspects) 6 Report by the Director-General on the implementation of the reform process (176 EX/6 Part I and Add. and Part II) 7 Report by the Director-General on the conclusions and recommendations of the expert team on the overall review of Major Programmes II and III (176 EX/7) (Administrative and financial aspects) 8 Migration and education: quality assurance and mutual recognition of qualifications (176 EX/8) (Administrative and financial aspects)

3 176 EX/FA/EG page 2 Item Title and document 11 Report by the Director-General on the evaluation of the first phase of the International Basic Sciences Programme (IBSP), and proposals regarding draft document 34 C/4 and draft document 34 C/5 (176 EX/11) (Administrative and financial aspects) 14 Report by the Director-General on the feasibility study for the establishment of a regional centre for shared aquifer resources management in Tripoli, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, as a category 2 centre under the auspices of UNESCO (176 EX/14) (Administrative and financial aspects) 15 Report by the Director-General on the feasibility study for the establishment of an international groundwater resources assessment centre in Utrecht, Netherlands, as a category 2 centre under the auspices of UNESCO (176 EX/15) (Administrative and financial aspects) 16 Report by the Director-General on the feasibility study for the establishment of an international centre for South-South cooperation in science, technology and innovation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as a category 2 centre under the auspices of UNESCO (176 EX/16) (Administrative and financial aspects) 17 Report by the Director-General on the feasibility study for the establishment of a sustainable energy development centre in Moscow, Russian Federation, as a category 2 centre under the auspices of UNESCO (176 EX/17 and Corr.) (Administrative and financial aspects) 24 Draft Medium-Term Strategy for (34 C/4) and recommendations of the Executive Board (34 C/4 Draft) (Administrative and financial aspects) 25 Consideration of the Draft Programme and Budget for (34 C/5) and recommendations of the Executive Board (34 C/5 Draft and Rev. of MP I and Add.) (Administrative and financial aspects) 27 Report by the Director-General on the UNESCO Evaluation Policy and elaborated elements of the UNESCO Evaluation Strategy (176 EX/27) (Item to be examined by the joint meeting of the PX and FA Commissions and by the Group of Experts) 28 Comments by the Director-General on the evaluations undertaken during the biennium and the cost-effectiveness of the programmes evaluated during the period of the Medium-Term Strategy for (31 C/4) (176 EX/28 and Add.) (Item to be examined by the joint meeting of the PX and FA Commissions and by the Group of Experts) 38 Comments by the Director-General on the implementation of the Internal Oversight Service (IOS) Strategy in : Annual Report 2006 (176 EX/38 and Corr.) (Item to be examined by the joint meeting of the PX and FA Commissions and by the Group of Experts) 39 Report by the External Auditor on the procedures used to hire consultants for the restructuring of the Education Sector (176 EX/39, 176 EX/INF.12) (Administrative and financial aspects) 40 Progress report by the Director-General on the implementation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) (176 EX/40)

4 176 EX/FA/EG page 3 Item Title and document 41 Annual report (2006) by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC): Report by the Director-General (176 EX/41) 42 Report by the Director-General on the use of consultant and fee contracts by the Secretariat (176 EX/42) 43 Progress report by the Director-General on extrabudgetary resources and activities (176 EX/43, 176 EX/INF.9) 44 Report by the Director-General, in cooperation with the Headquarters Committee, on managing the UNESCO complex (176 EX/44) 48 Reports by the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) of interest to UNESCO and the status of implementation of approved/accepted recommendations of Joint Inspection Unit reports (176 EX/48) (Item to be examined by the joint meeting of the PX and FA Commissions and by the Group of Experts) 53 Report by the Executive Board to the General Conference on the implementation of document 33 C/5 together with the results achieved in the previous biennium (34 C/3) (176 EX/53) (Item to be examined by the joint meeting of the PX and FA Commissions and by the Group of Experts) 54 Regular budget contribution by UNESCO to the International Bureau of Education (IBE) for (176 EX/54) (Administrative and financial aspects) 55 Proposal for the establishment of a UNESCO lifelong center for sustainable development in South-East Asia as a category 2 centre under the auspices of UNESCO (176 EX/55) (Administrative and financial aspects) 56 Implementation by UNESCO of the decisions taken by the African Union Summit on Science, Technology and Scientific Research for Development, held in Addis Ababa in January 2007 (176 EX/56 and Add. and Corr.) (Administrative and financial aspects) 57 Ibero-American Regional Centre for Dance, Music, Performing Arts and Audiovisual Communication, Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) (176 EX/57 and Corr.) (Administrative and financial aspects) 58 Use of languages in intergovernmental meetings at UNESCO (176 EX/58) (Administrative and financial aspects) 59 Preparation of a convention for the protection of indigenous and endangered languages (176 EX/59) (Administrative and financial aspects) 60 Intercultural dialogue between Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean (176 EX/60) (Administrative and financial aspects) 61 Universal code of ethics (176 EX/61) (Administrative and financial aspects) 62 Proposal for the establishment in China of a world heritage training and research institute for the Asia and the Pacific region (category 2), under the auspices of UNESCO (176 EX/62) (Administrative and financial aspects) 6. During the discussions, observers from the following Member States took the floor: Benin and Switzerland.

5 176 EX/FA/EG page 4 7. The Group expressed its appreciation to the Secretariat of the Finance and Administrative Commission, Mr Agapito Mba-Mokuy, Mr Sameer Pise, Ms Othilie du Souich, Ms Irina Zoubenko- Laplante, Ms Janet Boulmer and Ms Henriane Amorin, who efficiently assisted the Group in its work. 4. Report by the Director-General on the execution of the programme adopted by the General Conference (176 EX/4 Part II (Management Chart), 176 EX/INF.3 (United Nations reform), 176 EX/INF.10, 176 EX/INF.17, 176 EX/INF.18, 176 EX/INF.19) 8. The representative of the Secretariat presented a summarized introduction of the document which comprised two parts, i.e. budget adjustments authorized within the Appropriation Resolution and the Management Chart for the Programme Execution in In general, the format and the quality of information contained in the document met with appreciation by the Group. 9. Concern was expressed on the Participation Programme, which showed considerably low expenditure rates in the Arab region and for international non-governmental organizations. It was also pointed out that the low expenditure rates for the Participation Programme might have been due to rather cumbersome administrative procedures requested from the recipients, and thus suggested that the Secretariat might consider streamlining current paperwork under this programme. The representative of the Secretariat explained that the low expenditure rates were in fact due to the delays in receiving financial and evaluation reports on the prior year activities from the recipients, which the Secretariat must obtain before allocating new funds in the current biennium. While acknowledging the necessity to improve the situation, the representative of the Secretariat once again stressed the importance of meeting current administrative requirements, including submission of not only financial reports but also activity and implementation progress reports from the recipients, in order to ensure the quality and transparency of activity implementation. 10. An expert raised a question concerning fund transfers requested with regard to the mentoring and training exercise for field offices, inquiring as to whether it was not possible to foresee the necessity at the outset of budgeting and whether similar requirements were included in draft document 34 C/5. The representative of the Secretariat replied that this originated from unforeseen and inevitable needs identified only recently in order to further strengthen administrative and control environment in the field offices. It was also explained that this training was a special and rather ad hoc exercise outside the usual corporate training, and thus it would not be a customary item in the Organization s budget. 11. One expert expressed concern on the low expenditure rate for the $25 million special account supplementary programme package and also for overall extrabudgetary resources. The representative of the Secretariat explained that funds for the $25 million package were being allocated at a relatively slower pace than expected and this resulted in overall delays in the utilization of funds. With regard to the implementation of extrabudgetary projects, it was stressed that the funds are managed on an ongoing multi-year basis without an annual or biennial cut-off constraint for funds allocation, which results in a relatively lower expenditure rate than the timeelapsed theoretical rate of 100%. 12. While appreciating the quality and the usefulness of the information in Table 3 on decentralization of funds, an expert suggested that the Secretariat consider including information on decentralized staff costs. The representative of the Secretariat took note of the suggestion and commented that the introduction of the STEPS project on human resource management is expected to enable automatic extraction of such information on decentralized staff costs. With regard to the decentralized activity funds, a comment was made on the low expenditure rate in the Arab region and an inquiry as to whether more detailed information by each field office in the region was available.

6 176 EX/FA/EG page At the conclusion of its discussion, the Group decided to propose to the Finance and Administrative Commission the following draft decision: 1. Having examined the Director-General s report on donations and special contributions received since the last session of the Executive Board and appropriated to the regular budget, on between appropriation line transfers proposed within the budget appropriation, as well as the proposed transfers from Part IV to Parts I-III of the budget, in accordance with the terms of the Appropriation Resolution approved by the General Conference at its 33rd session (33 C/Resolution 96, paras. 1(b), (d) and (e), document 176 EX/4 Part II and the recommendations of its Finance and Administrative Commission thereon (176 EX/ ), I 2. Takes note that the Director-General has, as a consequence of these donations and special contributions, increased the appropriations to the regular budget by a total amount of $1,943,487 as follows: Part II.A - Major Programme I 519,606 Part II.A - Major Programme II 537,059 Part II.A - Major Programme III 75,706 Part II.A - Major Programme IV 156,727 Part II.A - Major Programme V 182,699 Part I.B - Direction (ODG) 44,987 Part I.B - Direction (IOS) 4,656 Part II.C - Programme Related Services (BSP) Part III Support for Programme Execution (indirect costs for field offices) Part III Support for Programme Execution (ERC) $ 13, ,837 75,106 Total 1,943, Expresses its appreciation to the donors listed in paragraph 6 of document 176 EX/4 Part II; II 4. Recalling the provision of the Appropriation Resolution by virtue of which transfers between-appropriation lines may be made by the Director-General with the prior approval of the Executive Board, 5. Approves transfers between appropriation lines of: (a) (b) (c) $1,500,000 from the Reserve for Reclassifications to Parts I-III of the budget; $748,035 from Part II.A Education Sector to Part II.A Social and Human Sciences Sector; $713,425 from Part II.A Social and Human Sciences Sector to a new division under Part II.C entitled Anticipation and Foresight;

7 176 EX/FA/EG page 6 (d) (e) (f) (g) $311,356 from Part II.C Bureau of Strategic Planning to Part II.A Social and Human Sciences Sector; $225,279 from Part II.A Social and Human Sciences Sector to Part II.A Culture Sector; $312,772 from Part II.A Social and Human Sciences Sector to Part II.A Culture Sector; $175,000 to be transferred to Part III.A for the mentoring exercise for 22 field offices, bearing in mind that the corresponding budget lines from which the funds would be transferred would be identified at the 177th session of the Executive Board; 6. Approves the transfer of $5,915,800 from Part IV to Parts I-III of the budget to cover increases in staff costs and in the costs of goods and services due to statutory and other factors; 7. Takes note of the revised Appropriation Table attached to the present decision in Annex I.

8 Annex I Revised Appropriation Table for Appropriation line 33 C/5 Approved 33 C/5 Approved as Adjusted (174EX/Dec.24) (175EX/Dec.3) I II Between line transfer Proposed Transfers III Transfers from Part IV Donations Transfer from Transfer between received reclassification reserve appropriation lines Staff costs Goods and services 33 C/5 Approved as Adjusted PART I GENERAL POLICY AND DIRECTION $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ A. Governing bodies 1. General Conference Executive Board Total Part I.A B. Direction (including: Directorate, Office of the Director-General, Internal Oversight Service, Office of International Standards and Legal Affairs) C. Participation in the Joint Machinery of the United Nations System TOTAL, PART I PART II PROGRAMMES AND PROGRAMME RELATED SERVICES A. Programmes Major Programme I - Education I. Personnel ( ) II. Activities I.1 Strengthening EFA coordination and planning I.1.1 Enhancing international coordination and monitoring for EFA I.1.2 Policy, planning and evaluation for achieving EFA I.2 Attaining basic education for all I.2.1 Universal basic education I.2.2 Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) and United Nations Literacy Decade (UNLD) I.2.3 Teacher education I.3 Enhancing quality education I.3.1 Quality education for learning to live together ( ) I.3.2 HIV/AIDS and education I.4 Supporting post-primary education systems I.4.1 Secondary and technical/vocational education I.4.2 Higher education for the knowledge society UNESCO education institutes UNESCO International Bureau of Education (IBE) UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE) UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE) UNESCO International Institute for Capacity-Building in Africa (IICBA) UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC) Projects relating to cross-cutting themes* Total, Major Programme I ( ) Major Programme II - Natural sciences I. Personnel II. Activities II.1 Science, environment and sustainable development II.1.1 Managing water interactions: systems at risk and social challenges II.1.2 Ecological and earth sciences for sustainable development II.1.3 UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) II.2 Capacity-building in science and technology for sustainable development II.2.1 Basic and engineering sciences, renewable energy and disaster mitigation II.2.2 Science and technology policies for sustainable development UNESCO science institutes UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education (IHE) - - The International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) Projects relating to cross-cutting themes* Total, Major Programme II Major Programme III - Social and human sciences I. Personnel (94 550) II. Activities III.1 Ethics of science and philosophy III.1.1 Ethics of science III.1.2 Foresight, philosophy and human sciences, democracy and human security ( ) III.2 Human rights and social transformations III.2.1 Promotion of human rights III.2.2 Social transformations Projects relating to cross-cutting themes* Total, Major Programme III ( ) EX/FA/EG page 7

9 Appropriation line 33 C/5 Approved 33 C/5 Approved as Adjusted (174EX/Dec.24) (175EX/Dec.3) I II Between line transfer Proposed Transfers III Transfers from Part IV Donations Transfer from Transfer between received reclassification reserve appropriation lines Staff costs Goods and services 33 C/5 Approved as Adjusted $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ Major Programme IV - Culture I. Personnel II. Activities IV.1 Protect and safeguard cultural heritage worldwide IV.1.1 Reinforcing capacity-building for the protection of World Heritage IV.1.2 Identifying and safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage IV.1.3 Protecting and rehabilitating cultural heritage IV.1.4 Protecting cultural property IV.2 Strengthen cultural policies, cultural industries and intercultural dialogue IV.2.1 Developing cultural policies IV.2.2 Promoting intercultural dialogue IV.2.3 Sustaining cultural industries and crafts Projects relating to cross-cutting themes* Total, Major Programme IV EX/FA/EG page 8 Major Programme V - Communication and information I. Personnel II. Activities V.1 Empowering people through access to information and knowledge with special emphasis on freedom of expression V.1.1 Creating an enabling environment for the promotion of freedom of expression and universal access V.1.2 Fostering community access and diversity of content V.2 Promoting communication development and ICTs for education, science and culture V.2.1 Fostering media development V.2.2 Advancing the use of ICTs in education, science and culture Projects relating to cross-cutting themes* Total, Major Programme V UNESCO Institute for Statistics Field - Management of decentralized programmes Total, Part II.A ( ) B. Participation Programme C. Programme related services 1. Coordination of action to benefit Africa Fellowships Programme Public information Strategic planning and programming monitoring ( ) Budget preparation and monitoring Anticipation and foresight Total, Part II.C TOTAL PART II PART III SUPPORT FOR PROGRAMME EXECUTION AND ADMINISTRATION A. Field management and coordination (Headquarters activities and field office operating costs) B. External relations and cooperation C. Human resources management D. Administration TOTAL, PART III TOTAL, PARTS I-III Reserve for reclassifications ( ) - PART IV ANTICIPATED COST INCREASES ( ) ( ) TOTAL APPROPRIATION APPROVED AS ADJUSTED * Cross-cutting themes: 1. Eradication of poverty, especially extreme poverty. 2. The contribution of information and communication technologies to the development of education, science and culture and the construction of a knowledge society. Figures may not sum exactly due to rounding.

10 176 EX/FA/EG page 9 5. Report by the Director-General on the follow-up to decisions and resolutions adopted by the Executive Board and the General Conference at their previous sessions (176 EX/5 and Addenda, 176 EX/INF.4 (Medical Benefits Fund), 176 EX/FA/PX/DR.1) (Administrative and financial aspects) 14. The representative of the Secretariat briefly introduced this item highlighting the main followup actions taken by the Secretariat on the various issues reported on in the document. 15. One expert observed that the reports on the reorganization of the Education Sector (Section IV) and on UNESCO s work on HIV and AIDS (Section II) could have been cast in the form of progress against expected results and could have made linkages to the overall objectives of UNESCO and the programmes designed to achieve it. In that context, one expert also suggested that the implementation contract for heads of field offices foreseen within the Education Sector reform be eventually applied and expanded to other sectors as well. 16. Several questions were raised about the reorientation of the UNESCO Office in Brasilia (Section VI), in particular regarding the legal opinions being sought by the UNCT about the immunity of the United Nations and its specialized agencies from jurisdiction, the new projects under preparation and staff training. 17. The suggestion was also made that, in light of the preceding discussions on items 14, 15, 16, it might be useful to partially revisit the guidelines on the category 2 institutes and centres (Section IX), adopted by 33 C/Resolution 90, in order to refine them in some areas, especially with respect to the content of the framework agreements which are signed between the governments concerned and UNESCO. It was also suggested that the forthcoming General Conference could be provided with a status report on the implementation of the revised principles and guidelines regarding the establishment and operation of UNESCO institutes and centres (category 1) and institutes and centres under the auspices of UNESCO (category 2) approved at its last session. One expert underlined the need for strategic criteria when assessing whether category 2 institutes and centres are providing a substantial contribution to the implementation of UNESCO s strategic objectives, and for determining if effective use was made of the Organization s resources in dealing with such entities. The same expert further asked that the role and contribution of category 2 institutes and centres be made more visible in the draft Medium-Term Strategy. 18. With regard to the Director-General s report on the status of the implementation of the global action plan for the UNESCO Medical Benefits Fund (176 EX/INF.4), one expert expressed regret that the Organization was obliged to defer to the next biennium the increase of the employer share of the MBF contribution, a measure that was foreseen in the Director-General s action plan to be implemented in three phases starting from January Although the measures put in place to rationalize and modernize the management of the Fund were deemed satisfactory as well as the current financial situation of the Fund, it was noted that there is still a huge financial obligation on the Organization that is likely to increase. 19. Concerning progress reported by the Director-General on the seventh consultation of Member States on the implementation of the Convention and the Recommendation against Discrimination in Education (Section I), the Chairperson of the Group of Experts expressed concern with regard to the very few replies received from Member States, as set out in paragraph 6 of document 176 EX/5, which has resulted in the postponement of the presentation of the analytical report to the 177th session. 20. With regard to Section VI of document 176 EX/5, Reorientation of the UNESCO Office in Brasilia, one expert said that the brief report presented was encouraging and recalled that a detailed report on the subject was to be submitted to the Executive Board at its next session. He also wondered whether the Secretariat was not proceeding over-hastily in developing some 20 new projects when the portfolio in progress still required completion. The representative of the Secretariat pointed out that all of the new projects brought added value, and that they had limited

11 176 EX/FA/EG page 10 budgetary implications and would essentially be funded by self-financed funds-in-trust. To the extent that 12 to 18 months were required for the preparation and negotiation of a project, it was important to launch the exercise as early as possible in order to ensure continuity and resources for maintaining the Office, whose size could, according to current forecasts, be reduced by half. In reply to a question concerning the source of financing for the institutional training received by the staff of the Brasilia Office, the representative of the Secretariat specified that the first training course which approximately 40 people had benefited from in the autumn of 2006 had been financed by the regular programme, whereas the recent training of 70 people had been financed by the agency fees generated by the Office s extrabudgetary resources. In reply to another question on the process of selecting and contracting the jurists called upon to give an opinion in the United Nations system s immunity from jurisdiction, the representative of the Secretariat recalled that it was a joint initiative of the United Nations Country Team, under the aegis of the Resident Coordinator, who was in charge of the contractual process, with a percentage for each agency calculated on the basis of a quota established by the Team. 21. On the issue of the accountability framework for decentralized programme funds, under Section IV of the document, results of the reorganization of the Education Sector, one expert stressed the merits of the concept of the implementation contract in enhancing accountability in the field offices with regard to the programme and suggested extending that approach eventually to all programme sectors on the basis of the results obtained. The representative of the Secretariat pointed out that the extension of the approach had been recommended by the Decentralization Review Task Force and that work was already in progress to integrate the approach in the Performance Agreements of field office directors, which were being finalized by the Bureau of Human Resources Management. 22. In answer to issues raised by several experts about the category 2 centres, the representative of the Secretariat gave a brief background on how the Secretariat approached this question, recalling 33 C/Resolution 1 which had invited the Director-General to define the contribution of category 2 centres to strategic programme objectives. The issue was therefore included in the 34 C/4-34 C/5 consultation questionnaire and subsequently, in document 175 EX/22, the Director-General outlined the approach he would follow with regard to such centres, namely to reinforce programme development and delivery and to cover certain areas where the Secretariat was not particularly strong. This then influenced the preparation of draft documents 34 C/4 and 34 C/5. Draft document 34 C/4 clearly states in paragraph 134 the engagement and involvement envisaged for category 2 centres, falling under the section dealing with partnerships. Detailed involvement proposed in programming and programme implementation is then integrated in the relevant portions of draft document 34 C/5. Focal points for category 2 centres are being designated within the sectors concerned and, with specific reference to water-related category 2 centres, a dedicated strategy is under preparation. No draft decision was proposed in document 176 EX/5, however the Finance and Administrative Commission might consider adopting a decision recommending that the General Conference review this programme in the implementation of 33 C/Resolution With respect to document 176 EX/5 Add. on UNESCO s role and the challenges of African migration, considering both the substantive nature and broad scope of this issue, the Group considered that it was not within its purview. Accordingly, the draft decision was not examined and the Group of Experts recommended to the Finance and Administrative Commission that it submit this item directly to the Programme and External Relations Commission. 24. The Group of Experts then considered a draft decision submitted by Afghanistan and India (176 EX/FA/PX/DR.1) on the UNESCO commemoration of the 800th birth anniversary of Mawlana Jalal-ud-Din Balkhi-Rumi. The representative of India presented this draft decision and indicated that it would be financed entirely from extrabudgetary funds, and thus would entail no financial obligation for UNESCO. The idea for seeking UNESCO s association with this project was to provide the initiative with the international recognition and acceptance that it deserves, while UNESCO would also be gaining visibility. The requirement for a focal point within the Secretariat, as set out in the proposed draft decision, was merely to ensure that a specific person or unit would

12 176 EX/FA/EG page 11 be entrusted with the handling of the issue if and when communications related to this project would arise. It was recalled that this proposal was set forth in pursuance of a decision made by the General Conference at its 33rd session to associate UNESCO with the celebration of the 800th anniversary of the birth of Maulana Jalal-ud-Din Balkhi Rumi (33 C/Resolution 63). At the conclusion of its discussion on this proposal, the Group recommended 176 EX/FA/PX/DR.1 for approval by the Finance and Administrative Commission, without modification. 25. The Group of Experts decided to recommend to the Finance and Administrative Commision that the draft decision contained in document 176 EX/5 Add. be passed to the Programme and External Relations Commission: I 1. Recalling 175 EX/Decision 57 on UNESCO s role and the challenge of African migration, 175 EX/Decision 20 on the second conference of Intellectuals from Africa and the Diaspora, and 175 EX/Decision 41 on UNESCO s cooperation with African subregional and regional organizations, 2. Further recalling that Africa, LDCs and young people are priority targets in UNESCO s programmes, 3. Having examined document 176 EX/5 Add., 4. Welcomes the report by the Director-General; 5. Emphasizes the need for an intersectoral approach involving each programme sector to address the challenge of African migration and development; 6. Expresses its support for the three-step action plan outlined in document 176 EX/5 Add.; 7. Stresses the necessity for UNESCO to continue exploring opportunities for new and innovative approaches and to enlist new partners in the implementation of practical solutions; 8. Invites the Director-General to further strengthen UNESCO s activities in its fields of competence, in particular the sciences, education, culture and communication, in addressing the issues of international migration and development. 26. The Group of Experts recommended that the decision contained in document 176 EX/FA/PX/DR.1 be adopted by the Finance and Administrative Commission without amendments: II 1. Referring to 33 C/Resolution 63 by which the General Conference decided that UNESCO commemorate the 800th anniversary of the birth of Mawlana Jalal-ud-Din Balkhi-Rumi (Mevlana Celaleddin-i Belhi-Rumi) and 175 EX/Decision 56 by which the Executive Board decided to issue a commemorative medal in his honour, 2. Noting that 2007 would mark the 800th birth anniversary of this illustrious poet, philosopher and mystic, whose message of love, peace and harmony reflects the raison d être of UNESCO,

13 176 EX/FA/EG page Believing that UNESCO should support projects that seek to further the message and vision of Mawlana Jalal-ud-Din Balkhi-Rumi and would help to construct the defences of peace in the minds of men and women, 4. Noting that moving images are very influential in shaping the historical consciousness of all peoples and is part of the overall dialogue between civilizations and cultures, 5. Thanks the Governments of India, Qatar, Afghanistan, Iran and Syria for their support and association with the notion of the production of a feature film on the life and works of Mawlana Jalal-ud-Din Balkhi-Rumi, being produced in a collaborative international effort under the direction of noted Indian filmmaker, Mr Muzaffar Ali; 6. Authorizes the Director-General to take steps to associate UNESCO with this project, which is to be financed from extrabudgetary funds to be provided by Member States and other organizations, and for this purpose designate a focal point in UNESCO to coordinate the technical and intellectual support that UNESCO may provide to this project. 6. Report by the Director-General on the implementation of the reform process (176 EX/6 Part I and Add. and Part II) 27. The representative of the Secretariat presented a comprehensive outline of the progress achieved to date in the implementation of the medium- and long-term staffing strategy since its adoption by the General Conference in November She also gave an update of the achievements in the Human Resource Policy Framework, and briefly outlined the staffing situation in UNESCO. She highlighted initiatives currently under way, such as the Performance Agreement for Directors/Heads of Field Offices (to be tested in 2007 with a few field offices), the completion of Phase 1 (Payroll) of the Human Resource Information System and the Ethics Programme which the Secretariat is keen to start implementing, as soon as funding is available. She mentioned the need to review the current rotation policy, as staff mobility is a key enabler of the One United Nations and of effective programme delivery in the field. To that effect, proposals will be submitted to the Director-General for implementation in She also briefed the Group on the proposed merit-based promotion and recognition schemes, detailing the criteria and modalities for these schemes. She recalled in particular the exceptional character of such promotions, which would be granted in a very limited number, based on clear and objective criteria (such as demonstrated results, performance, mobility) within an approved budget envelope. She also informed the Group that the ICSC was consulted on this scheme and provided its full support. She outlined the main training activities and the evaluation reviews of two major training programmes, RBM and HRBA (the human-rights based approach to programming), undertaken in 2006 and indicated that HRM, in consultation with BSP and IOS, is currently working on the development of a generic methodology for monitoring the impact of training programmes. 28. The Group thanked the representative of the Secretariat for the detailed presentation. 29. One member of the Group expressed concern about the decrease in the number of external candidates appointed to professional and above posts versus internal candidates, and stressed the need for a balance to be reached between internal and external appointments. On this issue, the representative of the Secretariat stressed the importance of providing career progression opportunities for qualified and competent staff, whilst maintaining an appropriate level of external intake to ensure renewal of talents. She also explained that the current higher ratio of internal appointments was due to the filling of several director/head of field office posts in 2006 for which experienced internal candidates are sought in priority. 30. Other points raised by members of the Group of Experts concerned the use of National Professional Officers. The representative of the Secretariat confirmed that they play a very valuable role in programme planning and delivery in the field and that increased use will be made

14 176 EX/FA/EG page 13 of NPOs. Some members of the Group questioned the need to extend contracts beyond the mandatory age of retirement, and stressed that this should not become a regular procedure. The representative of the Secretariat explained that contract extensions beyond the mandatory age of retirement are only granted on an exceptional basis and in the interest of the Organization. They must be approved by the Director-General. On average, such extensions are quite short (four to nine months) and constitute stop-gap measures to ensure continuity or completion of a project. Some members of the Group stressed the importance of rotation, in particular within the One United Nations context, and the need to increase the flow from Headquarters to the field. The need to encourage and facilitate movements between United Nations agencies was also mentioned. One member of the Group stressed the need to ensure full transparency and accountability in any merit-based promotion scheme. 31. The Group of Experts recommended that the decisions contained in documents 176 EX/6 Part I and Part II be adopted by the Finance and Administrative Commission as amended: 1. Recalling 171 EX/Decision 5 (I), 174 EX/Decision 5 (I) and 175 EX/Decision 5, 2. Having examined document 176 EX/6 Part I, I 3. Takes note of the work accomplished to implement the medium- and long-term staffing strategy and the human resource policy framework; 4. Further takes note of the proposed merit-promotion and recognition schemes and requests that the Director-General provide information to the Executive Board on the costs and mechanisms for ensuring accountability and transparency prior to the implementation of the said schemes; 5. Notes the need to make further efforts to appoint external candidates to professional level and above posts and requests the Director-General to ensure a reasonable balance in such appointments; 6. Invites the Director-General to include in future draft C/5 documents an assessment of staff requirements based on an analysis of required competencies and deployment of posts between field offices and Headquarters; 7. Requests the Director-General to ensure that job descriptions, recruitment, posting procedures and promotion criteria give due emphasis to the principles of staff mobility and rotation; 8. Invites the Director-General to pursue the implementation of the medium- and longterm staffing strategy, and to report to the General Conference at its 34th session; 9. Requests the Director-General to continue to work towards equitable geographical representation and improvement of gender balance at all staffing levels; 10. Invites the Director-General to pursue the implementation of the human resource policy framework, taking into account wider United Nations reform efforts [and the concerns and comments of Member States], and to report on an annual basis, at its autumn session.

15 176 EX/FA/EG page 14 II 1. Recalling 174 EX/Decision 5 (II), 2. Having examined document 176 EX/6 Part II, 3. Takes note of the progress made in the implementation of the integrated management information system, covering programming and budgeting (SISTER), finance and accounting (FABS) and human resources management (STEPS); 4. Further takes note that the funds identified so far are insufficient to complete the deployment of the system, in particular as regards the completion of the FABS roll-out to the field and the implementation of STEPS; 5. Notes the need to identify within the C/5 document, appropriate resources, both financial and human, required for the development and implementation of a comprehensive long-term IT strategy; 6. Reiterates meanwhile its appeal to the Member States for voluntary contributions (174 EX/Decision 5) so as to enable the Secretariat to complete the integrated management information system as well as to rationalize the overall IT system and the development of any new IT tools; 7. Invites the Director-General to pursue the implementation of the integrated management information system and to submit to it at its 179th session a progress report thereon. 7. Report by the Director-General on the conclusions and recommendations of the expert team on the overall review of Major Programmes II and III (176 EX/7) (Administrative and financial aspects) 32. In introducing this item, the representative of the Secretariat noted that an Information Meeting had been held for Permanent Delegations on 4 April to present the Overall Review Committee s recommendations and to explain how they have been reflected in the current draft documents 34 C/4 and 34 C/5. During this Information Meeting, the Director-General s response to the recommendations was also clarified to Permanent Delegations, in particular his view that the Scientific Advisory Committee proposed by the Review Committee needed a more comprehensive analysis, taking into account the prerogatives of UNESCO s governing bodies, the mandates of the scientific boards and committees of the intergovernmental and international scientific programmes, and the responsibilities of IOS. It was also pointed out that structural changes to the sectors are fully within the prerogative of the Director-General in his capacity of chief administrative officer of the Organization; and that, while mentioned in the report, the majority of the Committee opposed the merging of the science sectors. 33. Following the presentation by the representative of the Secretariat, several members of the Group of Experts provided comments. While one expert expressed concern with the entire report, others supported the recommendations, as clarified by the Secretariat, and thus focused their remarks on the need for the recommendations to be better reflected in the current draft documents 34 C/4 and 34 C/ In response, the representative of the Secretariat indicated that the actual implementation of the Committee s recommendations would be the object of UNESCO s own planning process over the next six months.

16 176 EX/FA/EG page One member of the Group of Experts observed that the report emphasized the natural sciences over the social and human sciences and that the draft decision in document 176 EX/7 needed substantial strengthening. Other comments by experts related to the responsibilities of the Director-General s proposed Task Force, the budget implications of the Committee s recommendations and the role of the Committee in the Regional Consultations of National Commissions in draft documents 34 C/4 and 34 C/5. One expert thanked the Deputy Director- General for explaining that a majority of the Committee members were not in favour of merging the two science sectors. Some experts expressed the view that such a proposal was not possible. 36. The Group of Experts decided to pass the decision contained in document 176 EX/7 to the Finance and Administrative Commission without debate: 1. Recalling 33 C/Resolution 2, concerning the review of Major Programmes II (Natural sciences) and III (Social and human sciences), 2. Having examined document 176 EX/7 and its annexes, 3. Expressing appreciation to the Overall Review Committee for its comprehensive report, 4. Taking note of the Director-General s comments on the report, 5. Recommends to the General Conference at its 34th session that it approve the broad thrusts of the Committee s Recommendations 1-8, bearing in mind that the Director- General (i) does not concur that UNESCO should establish a science for peace prize at present (para. 68) and (ii) considers that Recommendation 9 requires further analysis (para. 71). 8. Migration and education: quality assurance and mutual recognition of qualifications (176 EX/8) (Administrative and financial aspects) 37. The representative of Norway introduced this item. 38. The representative of the Secretariat welcomed Norway s suggestion, in principle, but underlined that the issue was already included in document 34 C/5 in paragraph 01015, with the recognition of qualifications and quality assurance being a long-standing activity of UNESCO. 39. The representative of the Secretariat added, however, that the Secretariat had not foreseen funds for a working group and, should this be the decision adopted, extrabudgetary funds should be sought to include extensive geographic coverage of both sending and receiving countries of migrant populations. 40. One expert expressed serious reservations on the proposal, and pointed out that these issues were already covered by the UNESCO/OECD Guidelines for Quality Cross Border Higher Education. 41. One expert expressed that this was both a substantive and administrative issue and that developing a code would require several intergovernmental meetings which in turn would require much additional resources that were not available. 42. One expert was against convening a working group as stated in the decision. 43. One expert requested the deletion of paragraph 11 and was not in favour of the proposal as a whole.