Hundred and sixty-first Session
161 EX/52
PARIS, 17 April 2001 Original: English
Item 9.6 of the provisional agenda
PROGRESS REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL
ON THE NEGOTIATIONS TO REACH AN AGREEMENT WITH CANADA CONCERNING THE UNESCO INSTITUTE FOR STATISTICS (UIS)
SUMMARY
In conformity with 160 EX/Decision 9.2, the Director-General submits to the Executive Board a progress report on the negotiations to reach an agreement with Canada concerning the permanent location of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS).
Decision required: paragraph 19.
United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization Executive Board
Background
1. The Executive Board of UNESCO decided, by 159 EX/Decision 8.2, that the UIS should be located in Montreal (Canada) provided that the Director-General determines that the agreement negotiated with Canada is based on the assumptions underlying the evaluation.
2. At the 160th session the Director-General submitted a progress report on the negotiations with Canada concerning the relocation of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics in Montreal (160 EX/43).
3. The Executive Board took note of this report together with the supplementary information provided by the representative of the Director-General indicating that significant progress had been accomplished towards reaching a satisfactory agreement with Canada concerning the location of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) in Montreal. The Executive Board noted that, although intensive negotiations continued, an agreement had not yet been reached with Canada, despite the urgent need to settle the future of the Institute. The Executive Board invited the Director-General to submit at its 161st session a further progress report on the negotiations to reach an agreement with Canada concerning the permanent location of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (160 EX/Decision 9.2).
4. This report should therefore be considered a continuation of document 160 EX/43. Any update on this report will be included in the oral report of the Director-General to the Executive Board.
The legal texts
5. A draft Agreement between the Government of Canada and UNESCO concerning the privileges and immunities of UNESCO in Canada and the establishment in Canada of the Seat of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics was received from Canada on 20 July 2000. This document was discussed extensively within UNESCO and a redraft was sent to Canada for consideration. The Administrator of the UIS held discussions with the Canadian Federal authorities on the redraft in November 2000. High-level officers from the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs came to Paris in February 2001 for a two-day meeting with the Director of the UIS and relevant administrative units of UNESCO to discuss the issues raised in this document. Agreements were reached on most of the issues raised and at the conclusion of the meeting a draft from the Canadian authorities dated 21 February 2001 was submitted to UNESCO. Most of the outstanding issues were clarified in this draft. Two issues only remain to be finalized – one relating to the rights of retired UNESCO staff and their dependants to receive residence permits in Canada and one relating to the procedures for handling any disputes which may arise over the agreements between Canada and UNESCO.
6. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada wrote to the Director-General on 14 February 2001 to confirm the commitment to an ongoing financial contribution to the UIS as per the Canadian offer and the indexation of this contribution to the cost of living to be effective from 2001. Subsequently, on 19 February 2001 UNESCO received a draft of the administrative arrangements between Canada and UNESCO for the financial contributions from the Canadian and Quebec Governments relating to the establishment of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. This document was also discussed by the officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Canada and UNESCO during the two-day meeting mentioned above.
7. The document on administrative arrangements proposes a satisfactory way of index- linking the financial offer to ensure that it does not diminish in value in real terms and it also clarifies that the Canadian Government is committed to funding the UIS indefinitely under the
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same or better financial conditions. This answers the specific issues raised by the Executive Board during discussions on this item at its 159th session. Although UNESCO has suggested some changes to this document, these are not critical but simply aid its interpretation.
8. Final versions of these two documents are expected soon and their acceptance and signature will take place as soon as the Director-General is entirely satisfied with them. This could be before the start of the 161st session of the Executive Board.
9. A draft Entente between the Government of Quebec and UNESCO concerning the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the exemptions, tax advantages and prerogatives of courtesy granted to the Institute, to its staff members and the members of its Governing Board was received from the Quebec Provincial Government on 29 September 2000. As with the Seat agreement, this document has been discussed extensively within UNESCO and a redraft with comments was sent to Quebec for consideration. Officials from the Provincial Government of Quebec held a meeting in Paris on 23 November 2000 with the relevant administrative units in UNESCO to discuss these comments. Another meeting with the Quebec authorities is planned to take place in April 2001 to complete the review of this Entente.
Accommodation
10. The Institute for Statistics will be hosted at the University of Montreal. Detailed discussions at numerous meetings and via electronic mail have already taken place with the architect who has been appointed by the University to design the accommodation for the UIS and with the University team in charge of this project. An excellent working plan for the accommodation has already been drawn up. According to the refurbishing schedule the accommodation will be ready by 4 September 2001. It should be noted that this accommodation will also house core outreach and information functions formerly carried out by UNESCO’s office in Quebec. The two moves will be coordinated.
11. UNESCO received a draft lease agreement in November 2000 from the University of Montreal. As with the other agreements, this document has been carefully examined within UNESCO. The Administrator of the UIS discussed this document with the relevant authorities of the University of Montreal during his last visit to Montreal in January 2001. A redraft with UNESCO’s comments was sent to the University of Montreal for consideration. The main issue has been to ensure that the accommodation will be available to the UIS long term and that, were the University to require the UIS to move at any point, the resultant costs would be met by the Canadian authorities or the University.
Date of move and preparation
12. The office accommodation in Montreal will be ready on 4 September 2001. The move of the UIS staff and effects will take place in late August in order for the Institute to be fully operational as soon as possible after 4 September. This means that the UIS will have to reduce its activities from mid-July to make all necessary preparations.
13. In view of the preparations for the move, in December 2000 the UIS employed a consultant in records management to review the existing administrative records and documents of the UIS and to formulate a plan for the selection and removal of documents to Montreal. Statistics Canada provided the services of their Assistant Director, Informatics Technology Services Division, in February 2001 to assess the UIS Information Technology provision and to advise on the move of statistical and other databases to Montreal. This expert has also participated in meetings in Montreal and has advised the UIS on the organization and
support of IT services for the UIS in the future in relation to the cooperation with the University of Montreal.
Staffing
14. The UIS has organized several meetings with the Bureau of Human Resources Management to discuss staffing issues related to the move of the UIS to Montreal in order to develop an appropriate policy. Consideration has been given to supernumerary staff as well as to members of staff in established General Service and Professional staff posts.
15. The Director-General has approved the procedures to be applied for the redeployment of the staff members who will not be moving to Montreal as well as the recruitment process for the new staff of the Institute.
The redeployment of staff
16. Several meetings have been held with staff of the Institute, collectively and with individuals at their request, in order that they be kept abreast of the progress of the relocation and that negotiations take their needs into account. A meeting of all UIS staff was organized by the Directors of UIS and HRM to inform the staff members about the staffing policy related to the move of the UIS to Montreal. The UIS and HRM are cooperating to find appropriate alternative positions in UNESCO for the Professional and General Service members of staff who have decided not to or are unable to move to Montreal.
Recruitment of staff
17. The management of the UIS has reviewed the structure of the UIS and has identified posts to be established for 2001-2003. The UIS Governing Board at its second session in November 2000 approved this structure and strongly recommended expediting the recruitment process for these posts.
18. In view of the urgent need to strengthen the staffing of the Institute and to replace those staff members who will remain in UNESCO Paris, the UIS and the Bureau for Human Resources Management have agreed on a timetable for the recruitment of:
(i) Key professional posts through an open international recruitment procedure to ensure that the new staff will be appointed as soon as possible in order to work in Paris before the move of the Institute and to maximize overlaps of staff and assimilate new staff into UNESCO;
(ii) GS-level staff through local recruitment to ensure that they are appointed by early September 2001. As these posts will be recruited locally, the UIS has reached an agreement with ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) in Montreal whereby they will assist in the whole recruitment process, thus ensuring that it is carried out in collaboration with a United Nations agency which has a long- standing knowledge of the local labour market conditions. It also provides an opportunity for the UIS to enter into an inter-agency agreement with a United Nations agency based in Montreal. All General Service posts will be advertised in Montreal and will also appear on the UIS website in April 2001. The UIS has decided to publish these vacancy notices in the two main local newspapers (The Gazette, English and La Presse, French). The UIS is expecting to complete this recruitment programme by mid-June 2001.
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19. In light of the above, the Executive Board may wish to adopt the following decision:
The Executive Board,
1. Recalling 159 EX/Decision 8.2 and 160 EX/Decision 9.2, 2. Having examined document 161 EX/52,
3. Takes note of the information provided by the Director-General;
4. Invites the Director-General to report to the Executive Board at its 165th session on the establishment and its first year of operations of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics in Canada.
