UN
Mismanagement
Leaves
Retirees UNpaid,
Broken UMOJA
in Ban's Last
Year
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
Series
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 19
--
Mismanagement
at the UN in
the final year
of Ban
Ki-moon's
second term as
Secretary
General has
hit a point
where those
retiring from
the UN
haven't, they
say, been paid
their benefits
in six months
(see below).
Elsewhere
in the UN
system, staff
are told that
there's no
money in the
new-and-improved
UNOJA system,
only in the
old IMIS.
As to the
pension fund,
the botched
implementation
of a new
Enterprise
Resource
Planning
system called
IPAS has
resulted in a
situation
where newly
retiring
staff, and
this since
last April
have had to
wait an
average of isx
months to
receive their
first pension
payment. This
despite the
same retirees
still having
to pay rent,
medical bills
and other
expenses.
This
project comes
under the
responsibility
of Pension
Fund CEO
Sergio Arvizu,
who has still
not been
cleared by
OIOS of the
allegations
made against
him that Inner
City Press reported
last March and
April.
The
Pension Fund
board chair
has so far
refused to
call for an
extraordinary
meeting of the
fund to
resolve this.
As with more
and more
things in the
last year of
Ban Ki-moon,
they seem to
just be hoping
it will go
away.
This letter
has gone to
Ban Ki-moon,
heads of
agencies and
the Pension
Fund board:
Dear
Members of the
Board of the
United Nations
Joint Staff
Pension Fund,
Dear
Executive
Heads of UN
Common System
Organizations,
We
would like to
draw your
attention to
the now
well-known and
worrying
situation
facing
thousands of
new retirees
of the United
Nations common
system, former
staff members
of the
organizations
participating
in the United
Nations Joint
Staff Pension
Fund.
Since
the middle of
the last year,
we, and no
doubt you,
have been
receiving
complaints
about long
delays in the
disbursement
of retirement
benefits
following
separation. We
see a new
vulnerable
group being
created:
former staff
members
deprived of
the means of
subsistence
for many
months (in the
worst cases,
for one year
or more), and
especially
those in the
field.
We
understand
from junior
and mid-level
staff at the
Fund that
despite their
hard work and
lack of
support by
their senior
management,
the processing
time for a new
beneficiary,
once their
case reaches
the Fund from
an
organization
and in the
best of cases,
is four
months. This
is on top of
the time taken
by
organizations
to process
separations.
Many
retiring staff
live outside
their home
countries and
have diverse
and important
financial
obligations
(mortgages,
education fees
for their
children),
contracted on
the basis of a
reasonable
expectation of
retirement
benefits.
We are
sure you will
agree that the
situation
facing our
former
colleagues and
constituents
cannot be
accepted. For
many months,
they have been
deprived of
the legitimate
income
constituted by
their own
contributions
complemented
by the
contributions
of the
organizations,
for no other
reason than
managerial
inability to
process their
legitimate
claims.
That
the United
Nations common
system cannot
honor its
obligations
towards its
former staff
in a timely
manner weighs
heavily on the
image of our
system and
sends the
wrong signal
to those who
have dedicated
their lives to
the defense of
the values,
and the
achievement of
the goals of
the United
Nations.
We
therefore urge
you to take
resolute
action to put
an end to the
current
practice of
mismanagement
at the Fund
and to this
end propose a
series of
measures:
• A
faster
processing of
new claims
that allows
the
elimination of
the current
backlog as
soon as
possible,
through an
adequate
staffing and
management of
the Pension
Fund and
increased
coordination
between
participating
organizations
and the Fund,
including as
regards the
compatibility
of ERP
systems.
• The
use of
advances for
retirees who
do not receive
their long
overdue
benefits, paid
either by the
Fund or the
organizations.
• A
change to how
claims of new
retirees are
processed so
that the Fund
disburses the
first
retirement
benefit no
later than 30
calendar days
after the day
of the last
salary payment
and pays
penalties to
the retired
staff member
if this
objective is
not met.
• An
acknowledgement
by the Fund’s
CEO, Mr.
Sergio Arvizu,
to staff and
retirees that
there is a
serious
problem and
steps by the
Board to hold
the management
accountable
for the misery
it has caused.
To
this end we
call on the
Chair of the
Board, Mr.
Olusoji
Adeniyi, to
call for an
urgent
extraordinary
meeting to
address the
current
situation and
make sure it
never happens
again. We
regret that
to-date he has
declined to
hold such a
meeting.
We will
continue to
follow this.
, 
