Following an invitation extended in 2025, Jerry Barton the President of FAFICS (Federation of Associations of Former International Civil Servants) became the first FAFICS representative to attend a meeting of ExCo in person when he travelled to London for the March meeting. ExCo has a standing item on its agenda for FAFICS, and it was extremely beneficial to have the President attending. Jerry provided a rich set of observations and answered questions on a range of topics related to the UN Joint Staff Pension Fund, including its performance and management, and in particular the UN General Assembly resolution foreseeing an in-depth review.  He also spoke about the management of FAFICS, including in particular the upcoming elections to the Bureau in July, succession planning, communications, and its budget. A more complete article on his presentation will be included in the Autumn Newsletter. Jerry Barton confirmed the FAFICS view that the performance of the Pension Fund was excellent.  The Pension Fund is 111% funded and is one of the best ‘defined benefit’ schemes in the world. He noted that more could be done for surviving spouses, and he was in regular contact with the Pension Fund on that issue. In 2025, there had been 23,000 separations from the UN system, which was 30% higher than usual because of forced separations and early retirements.  Around 95% of separations were accomplished within 15 working days. The Pension Fund set up a special team to handle the forced separations, most of which were withdrawal settlements of those who had been in employment less than 5 years and therefore had to withdraw their contributions. In December 2025, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution inviting the Pension Board to lead a comprehensive review of the pension scheme, with a report due in 2028. The review will be led by the Pension Board, which would establish a specific Working Group. A focus group, with FAFICS representation, is in the process of determining the terms of reference of the Working Group. Jerry Barton explained that FAFICS had created a specific Working Group on Succession Planning for its own leadership, which had defined terms of reference for the main senior positions and created an expertise pool of potential candidates for various functions including the Standing Committees (Pensions, ASHIL/ASLI, Communications and Membership). The most senior positions including the President, some of the Vice-Presidents, Treasurer and Secretary are due for election in 2026, and he has now issued a call for candidates with nominations due by the end of May and elections to be held at the FAFICS Council in July being held in Vienna. Stephen Rudgard (Chair) informed Jerry Barton that he and Nicholas Rosellini (Vice-Chair) had contacted Darshak Shah (President, AFICS-New York) and Nancy Hurtz-Soyka (AFICS-NY and Vice-President FAFICS) and would be holding meetings with a few other member associations to discuss the succession process with a particular focus on finding a good candidate for the role of FAFICS President. Following ExCo in March, a series of conference calls were held in April with AFICS-NY and AFICS-Netherlands, which led to the former deciding that they would nominate Darshak Shah as a candidate for President of FAFICS. AFICS-NY asked whether BAFUNCS would support that candidature, and in particular co-sign a nomination letter along with the President of ASAFI-Senegal (L´Association des Fonctionnaires Internationaux Sénégalais). ExCo gave its approval for that action, and the nomination letter was submitted to the FAFICS Secretariat on 30th April. BAFUNCS will be represented at the FAFICS Council by Andy Flatt, including for the election of senior officers when it will be decided whether Darshak Shah is elected as President. Darshak Shah’s Personal Statement

On Tuesday 21 April the blazing sun contrasted with the raw, bitter wind, hence  we appreciated the warmth of  La Parisienne. Ten members held lively conversations, followed by silence when the food was served…….Conversations ranged from the annual reunion in Cardiff, with advice on interesting sites to visit from those who had been there.       We discussed possible dates and venues for the summer lunch and changing the usual Tuesdays to Thursdays to accommodate a couple of members. Current issues at the UN and Specialised Agencies were also debated. Claudine Pichon. SCL Regional Representative

Minutes of Meeting of Regional Representatives 9 October 2025

Minutes of Meeting of Regional Representatives 24 April 2025