MANAGEMENT
Progress in the implementation of
the nine OEAPs is outlined below,
highlighting key achievements from
headquarters and the field in 2019.
Strategic Leadership and Direction
UN Human Rights leadership bodies are
making timely, evidence-based strategic
decisions in line with results-based management principles.
• A UN Human Rights Global Meeting
was organized, in Geneva, in July, bringing together approximately 400 staff,
including over 70 colleagues from field
presences, to inspire, innovate, learn,
communicate and operate as One
Office. The Global Meeting furthered
the discussions from the 2019 Strategic
Leadership Retreat and confirmed
the commitment to the four “re-sets”
to sharpen the focus of the Office on:
1) Leadership and silo disruption; 2)
Technical cooperation; 3) Engaging
with Member States; and 4) Storytelling
and communication. In addition, a fifth
“re-set” was confirmed with regard to
how the Office can enhance its work
on the three priority areas identified by
the High Commissioner in 2018 (SDGs,
prevention and ESCR).
• The High Commissioner also launched
a number of initiatives to “re-set” key
operational issues, such as a review of
the terms and conditions for national
staff and General Service staff and the
launch of a UN Human Rights health
and well-being action plan. Three communities of practice were launched in
relation to communication (CommsNet),
administration (AdminNet) and leadership (LeadingNet) in order to foster
exchange, peer learning and information sharing.
72 UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2019
• Following the adoption of the Dignity@
Work Policy and Action Plan, in line
with the Diversity and Gender OEAP, a
Dignity Dialogue (2018) and a Diversity
Dialogue (2019) were rolled out to the
Office. Over 700 staff members took
part in each Dialogue. The Dialogues
are tools to encourage an open
exchange on the actions that could
be taken to improve the working environment, uphold respect and dignity
in the Office and accelerate change
to ensure that its demography is more
in sync with the world’s population.
Furthermore, in February, a Network
of Dignity Contacts was introduced to
provide UN Human Rights colleagues
with the full range of confidential formal and informal options that are
available to them in case of concerns
about how they are treated within the
Office, including prohibited conduct in
the workplace. Following a six-month
pilot period and an internal evaluation, the Network was expanded into
the field with approximately 20 new
trained volunteers from all corners of
the world. It went live in February 2020.
The Dignity@Work Policy was a finalist
in the 2019 Secretary-General Awards.
• In preparation for the Secretariat’s
move towards an annual programme
budget document in 2020, UN Human
Rights developed the 2020 Budget
Report programme plan. One element
of the new format entailed the drafting of narrative “results stories” from
the four sub-programmes reflecting
the entirety of the UN Human Rights
work programme. The preparation of
the document required a higher investment of time than in previous years due
to a complete change in its format. As
an example, the new format requires
the presentation of a fully achieved
and a planned result for each sub-programme. In addition, UN Human Rights
defined a strategy to engage with
Member States, which included a presentation of the programme plan to
Member States that was conducted by
the High Commissioner. The briefing
was well attended and many countries
from different regions took the floor to
support the programme. Nevertheless,
due to a lack of consensus on the new
format of the Secretary-General’s
programme plans, the Committee for
Programme and Coordination referred
the programme plans to the General
Assembly for review.
• In 2018, a 360-degree feedback mechanism was rolled out as a project with
19 senior leaders across the Office. The
mechanism was subsequently rolled
out to 130 managers supervising four
or more staff in Geneva, New York and
the field. The mechanism could be
relaunched in two years to allow for
benchmarking. Targeted training and
learning opportunities will be explored
to enhance skills on performance management with a focus on innovation,
change, communication and team
coaching, complementing the OEAP
on Talent and Career Management.
• To further enhance internal communications, senior management approved
a Standard Operating Procedure on
Internal Communications, which was
initially developed in 2018 and stipulated everyone’s responsibility to
inform and stay informed. Several
internal communications initiatives
were implemented during the Global
Meeting, including a Knowledge Fair
and a team building event. A new
intranet homepage was launched to
improve access to information. Weekly
and quarterly office-wide updates were
issued and regular Hardtalks and allstaff meetings were organized.
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