Important Things To Know About The Incoming Mobility Exercise

By Dejan Stepanovic, Chief of Communications Unit, RSCE

The new administrative instruction on Staff Mobility, ST/AI/2023/3 came into effect on 1st October 2023, and will commence as of 1st of November 2023.

The global mobility exercise is for staff members in the Professional and higher categories up to and including the D-2 level and staff members in the Field Service category.

If you are a currently serving staff member who entered on duty before 1 October 2023 (effective date of ST/AI/2023/3), you will not be subject to mandatory mobility or to the respective maximum duty station occupancy limit.

Mobility is voluntary for currently serving staff members (staff members who entered on duty before 1 October 2023) until they retire. If you are interested in this Mobility exercise you will need to opt in.

As of 1st of November 2023, there will be a 4-weeks opt-in period during which you may request participation in the mobility exercise by logging into Inspira with your staff member account and navigating to [Main Menu –> My Career and Learning –> Mobility –> My Mobility].

The mobility positions into which the staff could be placed are across the global UN Secretariat. This includes UN offices in various duty stations, including Headquarters, Regional Commissions, subsidiary offices, special political missions and other field missions.

Only the positions of participating staff members will be included.

No vacant position will be included in the compendium. Vacancies will continue to be advertised and filled through the established competitive process.

Important: as the movements are dependent upon each other, you will be expected to move, even if you are not automatically matched. We will make utmost efforts to match staff members to positions they expressed interest in.

In the event that it is not possible to match you to a position that you have expressed interest in, you may be matched to another position in the compendium in which you had not expressed interest but for which the head of entity has determined you to be suitable.

If you choose to opt into the mobility exercise, you may only cancel participation during the opt-in window. Once the opt-in period is over, you will not be able to request participation or cancel participation.

If you however have valid reasons preventing you from participating in an annual mobility exercise, you must raise your concerns to the Special Constraints Panel.

If you fail to assume duties or to vacate your position following the reassignment decision, the head of the receiving entity may reassign another suitable participating staff member to the position you did not take up. Further, the heads of the releasing and receiving entities must inform the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources of any staff member’s failure to take up their duties within the time frame specified above.

If you do not comply with the reassignment decision, you will be subject to the appropriate administrative or disciplinary measures.

Staff members participating in a mobility exercise may apply and be considered for vacant positions advertised through the staff selection system.

As the Exercise results in lateral reassignments, heads of entities may, but are not required to, administer competency-based interviews and/ or other assessments.

If you are selected for a vacant position through the staff selection system while your mobility exercise is ongoing, you will no longer be considered for the current mobility exercise. However, the position you vacate will remain in the compendium for other staff members to express interest in.

You may only express interest in positions located in different duty stations from the one in which you currently serve.

Also, at least one of the positions you express interest in must be in a duty station with a different hardship classification than your current one.

One global mobility exercise will be conducted once a year.

The annual mobility exercise is expected to begin in the fourth quarter each year and final decisions will be made in the second quarter of the following year to allow staff members to prepare for moves throughout quarter three.

Learn more about mobility from these Frequently Asked Questions by clicking on the link here