Receipt of Honours, Gifts or Remuneration
As we enter the holiday period, this is a brief reminder to staff of the relevant provisions of staff regulations and rules governing the receipt of honours, gifts or remuneration offered to staff in their official capacity
Dear colleagues,
As we enter the holiday period, this is a brief reminder to staff of the relevant provisions of staff regulations and rules governing the receipt of honours, gifts or remuneration offered to staff in their official capacity.
Under staff regulation and rule 1.2, staff members shall not accept any honour or gift:
· from any sources having or seeking to have any type of contractual relationship with the Organization. Additionally, per the Procurement Manual, no procurement officer of staff member involved in any aspect of procurement may accept any gift from any outside source that is soliciting business with the United Nations regardless of value.
· from any government; the only exception to this prohibition is if refusal would cause embarrassment to the Organization; and
· from any non-governmental sources without the prior authorization for of the Secretary-General; exceptions include when circumstances do not allow for prior approval or when refusal would cause embarrassment to the Organization.
The process of disclosing honours and gifts is outlined in ST/AI/2010/1 on Reporting, Retaining and Disposing of Honours, Decorations , Favours, Gifts of Remuneration from Governmental and Non-Governmental Sources. In the event that a staff member is unable to decline an honour or gift, they must them make a formal disclosure in the Gift Registry which has been recently created for this purpose: https://giftregistry.un.org
Please note that staff members may accept, on behalf of the Organization, without prior approval from the Secretary-General, minor gifts of nominal value. Minor gifts are defined as representational or courtesy gifts of limited value. As the holiday season approaches, if you receive, for instance, calendars, wine, chocolates and candies that fall under the category of “minor gift”, you may retain those, provided that you disclose them in the Gift Registry. A good practice may be to share them with colleagues.
Please note that the above prohibitions, expectations and procedures related to gifts given in to staff in their official capacity, such as through relationships established while working for the United Nations, and not in their personal capacity, such as those given by family and friends. Staff members may exchange gifts with one another provided that such offers are not meant to cause the recipient to perform, fail to perform or delay the performance of any official act.
Officials at the USG/ASG level are reminded that accepting honours from government sources is prohibited, and that, if not accepting such honours would cause embarrassment to the Organization, they should then seek guidance form the Executive Office of the Secretary-General. Additionally, offers made to them concerning honours form a non-governmental source will continue to require the approval of the Secretary-General and should not be processed through the registry.
Kazumi Ogawa (Ms.)
Chief, Office of the Executive Director
United Nations Human Settlements Programme
Tel: +254 (0)20 762 5003