The Federation of International Civil Servants’ Associations (FICSA) was founded in Paris in 1952. Its earliest members were the Staff Associations of the United Nations, New York; the European Office of the United Nations, Geneva; UNESCO; ICAO; WHO; WMO and the Staff Union of the ILO. FICSA has since expanded to a federated group of 30 staff associations/unions belonging to the United Nations common system with full membership status; 18 staff associations/unions outside the UN common system as associate members; 19 staff associations/unions as consultative members and 27 Federations of United Nations Staff Associations (FUNSA) as observers. While its members are diverse, they all have many workplace issues in common (performance management, workplace conflict, industrial relations, contractual arrangements, benefits and entitlements, training and career development, staff well-being, access to grievance mechanisms, diversity and inclusion, recruitment and selection policies, equity and fairness in the application of policies, organizational changes, downsizing, outsourcing, etc.) and can benefit from the exchanges of information and ideas, updates on employment trends and best practices, a wide range of workshops and training and direct advice and support provided by the Federation at the local as well as global level.

Goals

FICSA seeks to foster the development of international civil servants in accordance with the principles set forth in the United Nations Charter and the constitutions of the specialized agencies.

The Federation does so by:

• Defending staff rights
• Ensuring that equitable conditions of service for all common system staff are maintained at a level which will ensure the recruitment and retention of the most qualified people
• Contributing to building a positive image of the international civil service

Structure

Much like other international organizations, FICSA operates under a set of statutes that determine its administrative bodies and rules of procedure. The main bodies in FICSA are the Council, the Executive Committee, and the Standing Committees.

Council

The Council consists of member association/union representatives and meets annually to define the Federation’s policy and to elect the Executive Committee as well as four regional representatives.

Executive Committee and Regional Representatives

The Executive Committee and the regional representatives are responsible for implementing the Federation’s policies and representing the Federation at all high-level meetings dealing with all facets of staff employment conditions and human resources policy issues. It also draws up the annual program of work, based on the decisions and recommendations adopted by the Council.

Executive committee

• President (Wadzanai Garwe)
• General Secretary (Cosimo Melpignano)
• Treasurer (Jérôme Zanga Foe)
• Members for Compensation Issues (Silvia Mariangeloni and one vacant position)
• Member for Regional and Field Issues (Oleksandr Martynenko)
• Member without Portfolio (Steven-Geoffrey Eales)

Regional Representatives

• Africa – Christian Stéphane Tounta
• America – Glenda Lopez
• Asia – Ritesh Kumar Singh
• Europe – Susan Murray

Standing Committees

There are eight standing committees whose officers are elected annually by the FICSA Council specializing in:

• Conditions of Service in the Field
• General Service Questions
• Human Resources Management
• Legal Questions
• Professional Salaries and Allowances
• Staff/Management Relations
• Social Security/OHS
• Programme, Budget, Administration and Strategy