Gratis personnel provided by Governments and other entities

57 281. Gratis personnel provided by Governments and other entities

The report indicates a total of 1,149, of type I gratis personnel in 2003.

Type I gratis personnel must be recruited in accordance with the relevant guidelines established by the General Assembly.

She reassured the Committee that the guidelines and principles relating to the appointment of gratis personnel were being respected.

Gratis personnel were not part of the Secretariat and should therefore not be discussed in the report on its composition.

He requested updated information on the functions performed by type I gratis personnel and the departments to which they were assigned.

Of the 200 people interviewed, all had FDA permits, some gratis , however only 10 per cent were authentic the remainder were photocopies.

The Advisory Committee has considered the report of the Secretary General on gratis personnel provided by Governments and other entities (A 59 716).

In its resolution 51 243, the General Assembly had decided that type II gratis personnel would be accepted only in two exceptional sets of circumstances.

The Committee maintains that information concerning gratis personnel is a logical component of the report of the Secretary General on the composition of the Secretariat.

Those principles must be maintained when engaging gratis personnel and personnel loaned should be assigned to technical cooperation and extrabudgetary activities approved by the General Assembly.

In particular, type II gratis personnel were generally contracted for very short periods and to carry out functions for which no expertise existed within the Secretariat.

(d) Biennial report of the Secretary General on the use of gratis personnel, indicating nationality and summarizing duration of service and function performed (A 59 716)

Mr. Berti Oliva (Cuba) said that while he had no substantive objections to the report on gratis personnel, the format of which had been significantly improved, he pointed out that the increase in the number of nationalities represented by type I gratis personnel did not necessarily translate into an improvement in Member States' representation status, because the posts occupied by such personnel were not permanent.

It requests once again that in the future, details on gratis personnel be integrated into that report on a biennial basis, in the first year of the biennium.

Mr. Elji (Syrian Arab Republic) said that the use of gratis personnel was an unhealthy practice that should be restricted to extraordinary situations, particularly since such personnel were not subject to the Organization's Staff Regulations and Rules.

The Advisory Committee notes that this utilization of type II gratis personnel for short periods in the context of humanitarian emergencies is in line with the terms of General Assembly resolution 51 243 of 15 September 1997.

In its previous report on this subject (A 57 735) the Advisory Committee had recommended that information on gratis personnel be presented on a biennial basis in the context of the report on the composition of the Secretariat.

4. Notes that gratis personnel were still used in the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in 2000, and emphasizes that the provisions of General Assembly resolution 51 243 of 15 September 1997 on this issue must be strictly adhered to

While previous reports on gratis personnel had presented a snapshot of data as on a given day of the final month of the reporting period, the methodology and scope of data analysis used for the current report had been significantly expanded, thereby making it possible to display much broader trends.

Ms. Haji Ahmed (Director of the Operational Services Division of the Office of Human Resources Management), introducing the report of the Secretary General on gratis personnel provided by Governments and other entities (A 59 716), said that the report provided data for the period from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2004.

The report is submitted in accordance with General Assembly resolution 57 281 B of 18 June 2003, by which the Secretary General was requested to provide information on a biennial basis on the use of gratis personnel, indicating, inter alia, their nationality and duration of service, department where employed and functions performed.

However, the General Assembly had not accepted the Advisory Committee's original recommendation that information on gratis personnel should be presented on a biennial basis as part of the Secretary General's regular report on the composition of the Secretariat because such a practice would contradict the exceptional nature of such appointments and would threaten the stability and continuity of the Organization.

Having considered the annual report of the Secretary General on gratis personnel provided by Governments and other entities, covering the period from 1 January to 31 December 2001,A 56 839. and the related report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,See Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty sixth Session, Supplement No. 7A (A 56 7 Add.1 11), annex.