LHE/20/8.GA/INF.1 - page 51

- 274. The delegation of Botswana sought to avert the deadlock by asking the Secretariat to resolve the wording issue as India very clearly accepted the amendment proposed by China, which would help the discussion come to a conclusion. It was thus unnecessary to return to subsequent proposals to tweak India's original proposal. The Secretariat could therefore clarify any technical difficulty they would see in implementing China's amendment.
- 275. The Secretary fully understood the floor in terms of recruitment. However, it was important to understand that the General Assembly of the Convention had no authority to override decisions of the General Conference and of the Executive Board, which governed the rules of staff recruitment. The Secretariat foresaw a technical problem with the wording of China's proposal as it was not fully in line with the principles of recruitment. The Secretariat was concerned that this would consequently render recruitment difficult. In addition, the Secretary endorsed the remark concerning the definition of a developing country, as there was no clarity in this regard, i.e. do lower middle-income or upper-middle income countries consider themselves as developing countries? The Secretary fully respected the spirit of the amendment, but the wording could significantly delay recruitment if it was not in line with the approved recruitment policy of the General Conference of UNESCO. However, it was noted that the principle of geographic distribution was understood and approved by the General Conference. Responding to the needs of developing countries did not pose a problem as such, but the Secretariat wished to include, ' to reflect the rules of recruitment of UNESCO ' . The problem lay in the fact that ' giving priority to capable candidates from developing countries' prioritized a specific group outside the principles of equitable geographical distribution, which was not a rule of recruitment and which may in fact impede it. Thus, it was important to make sure that the posts were subject to the approved rules of UNESCO, which was the case in the proposal by Algeria, Grenada and Germany. The Secretary suggested ' taking into account the rules of recruitment of UNESCO ' followed by ' keeping in mind priority to candidates from developing countries with a view to responding to specific needs of developing countries and improving geographical representation ' . This proposal would thus allow the Assembly to move ahead and ensure that the resolution was in compliance with the decisions of the General Conference.
- 276. The delegation of China asked the Secretariat whether the team dedicated to International Assistance, which was funded through extrabudgetary resources, still had to conform to UNESCO's rules of recruitment .
- 277. The Secretary explained that it was always necessary to conform with the house rules of UNESCO and that any recruitment, whether from the Regular Programme or extrabudgetary funds, was subject to the rules adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO. He reminded the Assembly that the so-called extrabudgetary funds still came from the ICH Fund, which was a multi-donor Fund and not country-specific like a Funds-in-Trust arrangement. The Secretary believed that the current proposal very much kept in mind the spirit of priority to candidates from developing countries, while remaining within the rules of UNESCO.
- 278. The delegation of China understood the need to conform to the rules of recruitment even though these were extrabudgetary resources. It therefore accepted the Secretariat's revised amendment. With regard to the reference to developing countries, it was noted that this was in the Convention and should thus continue to be underscored.
- 279. The Chairperson presented the amendment in paragraph 5 , which would read, 'c onforming with the rules of recruitment of UNESCO and keeping in mind priority to candidates from developing countries with a view to responding to specific needs of developing countries and improving geographical representation ' . It was noted that China, Algeria and India agreed with the revised proposal and that there was general consensus on the wording. The amendment was read out in full, ' Requests the Secretariat to initiate as soon as possible the recruitment procedures for the three posts to form a dedicated team to operationalize the implementation of International Assistance mechanism conforming with the rules of recruitment of UNESCOand keeping in mind priority to candidates from developing countries with a view to responding to specific needs of developing countries and improving geographical representation ' , which was duly adopted.