The World Food Programme Staff Magazine

N. 47June 2010

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Working in the Shadows:Meet WFP’s Interpreters

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Peter Farrell, veteraninterpreter for UNagencies, as heprepares in the HQAuditorium booth

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WFP has been presented with two Salamat Po ('Thank

You') awards by the Philippines Department of Social

Welfare and Development (DSWD) for its contributions

to the relief effort for the people affected by Tropical

Storms Ondoy (Ketsana) and Pepeng (Parma) last

year.

The Salamat Po award is the highest recognition

conferred by the department to its partners for the

support provided to the department in fulfilling its

mandate to delivering social services that improve the

quality of life for the Filipino people.

Country Director Stephen Anderson and Deputy

Country Director Alghassim Wurie received the award

on behalf of WFP in the international organization

category at a ceremony in January (pictured right).

Senior Logistics Officer Bernard Kerblat, who was the

WFP support Logistics Cluster government operations

liaison during the height of the relief operations, picked

up his own Salamat Po in the individual category.

“It’s a tremendous honour for WFP to be recognized by

DSWD as a key partner during the relief operation that

assisted millions of affected persons in the aftermath of

the typhoons," said Stephen.

“This award is also a credit to the dedication and

unfailing commitment of WFP staff including national

staff, temporary duty staff and consultants who worked

literally around the clock to ensure that relief

assistance could be mobilized and distributed in close

coordination with the DSWD. Likewise, generous and

timely support from donor countries, private companies

and individuals was absolutely critical to WFP’s ability

to gear up and perform,” he added.

In the aftermath of Tropical Storm Ondoy and Typhoon

Pepeng, WFP launched an emergency operation to

provide food relief to severely affected populations

along with logistics, telecommunication and air

transport assistance. Immediate food relief was

provided to over 1 million people staying in evacuation

centres and in submerged houses in six regions of

Luzon. WFP continues to provide early recovery support

through Food-for-Work to restore livelihoods and

rehabilitate community structure and agriculture as

well as through supplementary feeding programmes

targeted for vulnerable groups such as children under

two.

Mary O'Neill is WFP's port captain in Dar es Salaam,

Tanzania. Originally from County Wicklow in Ireland,

Mary has served in three posts for WFP over the last

nine years. Here she tells us about the joys and

frustrations of the job and how she felt when her story

was picked up by the British media last year.

Describe an average day.

I get up about 5:45, have breakfast and drive to the

port. It’s a beautiful drive along the coast which takes

15 minutes if you can time it right with traffic. First stop

at port is the warehouse close to the quayside where we

store up to 16,000 metric tonnes of foodstuffs ready for

quick dispatch up-country. The port team are briefed

daily about dispatches for the day, whether by road or

rail, and on any immediate issues such as cargo for

reconstitution, equipment maintenance and staffing

matters.

Then it's to the port office to get the coffee pot going

and any scheduled meetings with port stakeholders.

Daily administration to ensure customs clearance is a

must – you can never let an issue sit for even a few

hours, or a deadline may be missed which translates into

storage charges.

Working right through the day I don't break for lunch

but, since I'm Irish, I drink tea all day long until quitting

time. By 16:00 I get away but I stay on call for the

evening, which draws in quickly here – it's dark by

18:15. But there's always enough time for a swim and a

‘sundowner’.

What are the greatest challenges you face?

Pushing through the pipeline urgent food consignments

given the restrictions which can occur in any port

situation is always onerous. You can't control the local

geography, port congestion, weather or availability of

the workforce. So you find people who know a bit more

about the local obstacles than you do, and you push

them to assist as firmly as you can.

What do you like best about the job?

Having a good team around to revitalise me every time

the frustrations (and there are many) set in. And

knowing the right people are at my back when it is

decision time.

What do you dislike?

Frustrating issues that don't go away despite efforts to

resolve them, and the need to remain patient no matter

how tired one gets, to "soldier on". Many such issues

occur in the business of shipping operations. I constantly

have to remind myself that I’m also on a learning curve

and to think outside the box in order to remedy

deteriorating situations as fast as possible.

How, if at all, does being a woman affect your job?

I've been working in shipping for about 20 years. In the

early years I was one of three women in Ireland who

were qualified as chartered shipbrokers in an industry

dominated by men. This has changed significantly, and

women now represent a large percentage of the shipping

industry workforce worldwide. So nowadays being

female does not really affect how this job is done. As

long as you know your stuff, the expectation is there

that you will prove yourself, male or female.

What is the security situation like in Dar es

Salaam? Do you feel safe moving around?

Dar es Salaam, like any city, has its share of

opportunistic crime for which it's normal to take the

usual precautions.

Do you have your kids with you in Dar es Salaam?

How have they acclimatised to the move?

My ‘kids’ are aged 26, 24 and 20, and my daughters now

live independently of me. Mike, the youngest, is resident

in Tanzania but away at college at present. Mike spent

the summer of 2009 volunteering with the ICT unit at

Tanzania Country Office, and he really enjoyed the

experience. There is a large Irish expat community

around Dar and they have regular get-togethers with a

great deal of support to newcomers. Similarly, the WFP

‘family’ here ensures no newcomers have the time to

feel homesick for too long.

What do you do in your spare time/how do you

relax?

The girls or my mother often call so Skype is essential

for long gossips. I also enjoy poetry, jazz, crime novels,

knitting and art (sketching and oils). Dar es Salaam has

a thriving cultural scene open to anyone with an interest

in the Arts.

Do you miss about anything about Co. Wicklow?

Co. Wicklow is a beautiful part of Ireland, I grew up on

the coast so as long as I am close to the sea I feel ‘at

home’ no matter where I am. I miss the people rather

than the area because I come from a large family.

Last year you made headlines as the Irish mum-of-

three, “housewife-at-heart” who swapped the

quiet life in County Wicklow to take control of

thousands of tonnes of food aid being shipped in

to east Africa. How did you feel about being in all

the papers? What did your family think?

It must have been a quiet news day all round, because

I don’t believe I have led an extraordinary life. My last

job as a shipbroker involved a long train commute daily

and I used to read Metro (a free daily paper in the UK

among those that published the story) to pass the time.

I imagined myself on that old commute reading the

story, and at that point I realised I had taken the right

decision to follow my instinct and rejoin WFP.

As for my family – my Dad bought his Sunday

newspaper and went into the pub after Mass to have his

usual pint of Guinness and a quiet read, so he was

surprised and delighted to see a big spread about WFP

and his eldest daughter. I believe he enjoyed free

Guinness all week on the strength of that article.

How long do you see yourself staying in Dar es

Salaam?

I can hardly believe that a year has already passed. My

contract is for two years and all going well I shall fulfil

that and perhaps stay a bit longer. I have hopes that in

my time here I can improve on WFP initiatives started

by my supervisor. I’m very interested in the education

of the local staff in international shipping matters.

Seeing such ideas fulfilled would bring my time here to

a natural and satisfying conclusion.

Profile: Port Captain, Dar es Salaam,Tanzania

WFP Receives'Salamat Po'from Philippinesby Diana Donato

Mary O'Neill Quick CVAge: 49

Nationality: Irish

Languages: English, French

WFP assignments:

2009-present: Port Captain, WFP Port Office,

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

2003-2005: Consultant, Ocean Transportation

Service, HQ, Rome, Italy

2001: Port Captain, WFP Massawa, Eritrea

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Contents

Pipeline: WFPgo In Print is a product of Internal

Communications, a unit of the Communications,

Public Policy and Private Partnerships Division. This

newsletter comes out several times a year, sharing

the most interesting, relevant news and features

from WFPgo, with a new cover story. We welcome

ideas for future stories. If you have suggestions,

please write to internal.communications@wfp.org Pip

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Staff responded enthusiastically to our

final Photo, Story and Video

Competition of 2009, giving us

interesting new insights into our work

around the world.

Round Six of the competition sought to

draw the world's attention to the

impact of changes in climate on WFP’s

work. An impressive array of contest

entries illustrates the ways in which our

work is affected by an increasing

number of natural disasters.

We congratulate the following contest

winners: Marc Sauveur, regional

procurement officer in Khartoum,

whose photo dramatically illustrates

working conditions during flooding;

Sharmarke Mohamed, a senior

programme assistant for Monitoring

and Evaluation in Kenya, whose article

documents an irrigation project in

Somalia; and Thet Naing, a senior food

monitor in Magway, Myanmar, whose

video Food, Trees and Climate in the

Central Dry Zone of Myanmar features

tree-planting to combat deforestation.

The 123 photo submissions show

floods, drought, soil erosion and tree-

planting, among other aspects of

changes in climate. Some are powerful

and moving, some painful, and others

inspiring. Photography Unit Head Rein

Skullerud and his colleagues rated

them based on connection to the

theme, composition, clarity, content

and technical quality.

The winning photo illustrates both the destructive nature of fast-rising waters – witness the sign in the upper

right of the photo – and WFP’s ability to provide assistance during flood conditions. It is a carefully arranged

photo taken in September within the country office compound in Khartoum during the worst floods in 30

years. “It’s creative,” Rein says. “It’s grabbing what you have and asking, How can we reflect climate change

in a different way?"

Second place goes to programme officer Yukako Sato in Sana’a, Yemen. Her dramatic photo, taken at the

Food-for-Work project site in North Darfur in 2008, shows a water reservoir being constructed amidst arid

emptiness. “The aerial shot shows an amazing effort by human beings to put together this reservoir, in a

region where you can see miles and miles of drought,” Rein says.

And we extend an Honourable

Mention to an excellent depiction of

efforts to use hand-pressed clay to

prevent seawater from entering rice

paddy fields in northern Guinea-

Bissau. This photo was taken by

Carlos Schwarz, executive director of

Accao de Desenvolvimento, a WFP

partner.

The stories submitted are a

testament to the breadth of

encounters experienced by WFP staff

every day around the world – and to

the lives we touch in the process.

The winning article explains how WFP

helped strengthen a weak and aging

irrigation system along a canal in

north-eastern Somalia, in the process bringing new life to the communities that depend on fruits and

vegetables from nearby farms. Its author, Sharmarke Mohamed, has worked for WFP for five years.

The winning video by Thet Naing, shot during routine monitoring visits, illustrates different types of greening

efforts underway in Myanmar. “This video story provides a rare glimpse of how WFP is helping the vulnerable

in Myanmar,” says Jonathan Dumont, who heads WFP’s Rome-based Video Unit. Thet joined WFP in February

2008.

First Place winners will receive a Flip-Cam (the popular lightweight video camera), an award certificate –

and WFP’s thanks for helping us reach new audiences with our work. To the many others who entered,

Thank You for helping us tell our stories. We plan to use some of the articles and photos in future

communications activities. We hope you will enter subsequent competitions, so please look for details on the

next one in the spring.

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Staff Winners Document ClimateChanges on Our Workby Steve Taravella

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Haiti: How Staff Member Dug Out his Children

One Minute in the Santo Domingo Ops Room

They’re Behind You: Meet WFP’s Interpreters

Field Blog: Crocodiles in Equateur

Province, DRC

Snowed Under in Central Afghanistan

2009: Fifteen Deaths in the Line of Duty

Global Webchat with the Ombudsman,

Georgia Shaver

DRC Country Office Moves to New Building

WFP’s New Language Websites Flourishing

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Haiti National Staff Receive US$189,000

National staff in Haiti whose lives were dramatically

impacted by January’s earthquake have now received

funds donated by colleagues globally.

The Professional Staff Association (PSA) and the Union

of General Service Staff (UGSS), which organised the

fundraising drive, said that a total of US$189,093 was

transferred to the WFP Haiti bank account.

“In accordance with a request from our colleagues in

Haiti who wanted to have proper mechanisms in place

before receiving the funds collected by the staff

associations, the transfer was made on 15 April,” said

Laura Lo Cicero of the PSA.

The Haiti Country Office held a series of meetings with

all national staff, who reached a majority agreement to

divide the money equally among the 186 national staff

who were employed by WFP prior to the earthquake. The

vote was observed by PSA President George Aelion.

"The response from staff around the world was

amazing," said Sacha Cooper of the UGSS, commenting

on the fundraising effort. "The amount raised is an

incredible demonstration of solidarity and of the desire

to help our colleagues who lost family, homes and

possessions in the quake."

The staff associations said the bank account set up for

contributions would remain open for a further month in

case any last donations come in, and that these would

be wired to Haiti at the end of May before the account

is closed definitively.

Ramiro Lopes da Silva, a veteran of key WFP emergency

operations around the world, was named the agency's

new Deputy Executive Director of External Relations in

February.

"Ramiro is the ultimate paradigm of loyalty and

devotion, not only to WFP but to the United Nations and

the world’s vulnerable people,” ED Josette Sheeran said.

“He inspires a similar loyalty and devotion from his

troops, wherever he serves. His word is gold and this is

known inside WFP and throughout the world.”

Lopes da Silva had been WFP’s Deputy Chief Operating

Officer (COO) and Director of Emergencies, was

deployed to Haiti to lead the emergency response there

and was concurrently acting as WFP's Special Envoy to

the Greater Horn of Africa. He replaced Staffan de

Mistura, who stepped down following his appointment as

Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in

Afghanistan.

De Mistura, who joined WFP in July 2009, took up his

new position on 1 March.

“WFP wishes him safety and success in his new posting,”

Sheeran said, adding that De Mistura has been a tireless

worker and leader for the United Nations since joining as

a young man, including in many difficult posts.

The announcement of Lopes da Silva, a Portuguese

national, as Deputy Executive Director came at the

opening of WFP's Executive Board meeting in Rome on 8

February. He took up his new duties on March 1.

Since Lopes da Silva joined WFP in 1985 as a food aid

logistics coordinator in Cameroon, he has served as WFP

Country Director in Angola, Head of Logistics, Special

Envoy to Afghanistan and UN Humanitarian Coordinator

for Iraq.

Prior to joining WFP, Lopes da Silva worked for the

Mozambique Port and Railways (CFM) from 1975 to

1983. While he started as a Port Equipment Maintenance

Engineer, by 1978 he was the Director-General of the

CFM-South, with 17,000 workers reporting to him and

managing a budget in excess of US$100,000,000.

Lopes Da Silva has a Masters in Electrical Engineering

from the University of Mozambique.

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WFP'sEmergencyVeteran TappedFor DeputyExecutiveDirector Slot

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When the earthquake hit Haiti at 16:53 on 12 Jan.,

Programme Officer Gumel Henry was working in WFP's

Port-au-Prince office. The first thing he did was run

home. He knew that school had finished for his four

children, Girard, Graham, Emeline and Ralph, and they

would have been back at home when the quake struck.

When he got there, he found his two-storey house in

ruins, the children trapped beneath the rubble. Gumel

ran back to the country office to fetch some tools and

then ran back again to what was left of his house to

begin the frantic task of digging out his family.

It took him five hours to pull his eldest son, 15-year-

old Girard Gumel Jr, from the ruins. He was in a

life-threatening condition. Thirteen-year-old Graham

had broken a leg, while Ralph, Gumel's youngest son,

had head trauma.

His daughter Emeline and the children's mother

escaped without injuries.

Girard was evacuated to hospital in Santo Domingo,

Dominican Republic, accompanied by WFP Medical

Officer Sergio Arena, on 18 Jan. Graham and Ralph

were also evacuated.

According to Logistics Project Manager Peter Casier,

who was among staff sent from Rome following the

disaster, Graham needed an urgent blood transfusion,

but his blood type was not available. Jayne Adams,

officer-in-charge in Santo Domingo, appealed to WFP

staff until she found someone with the same blood

type, who agreed to donate.

"I am a hardened emergency guy, but when I heard

that story my heart turned," said Peter. "This is an

excellent example of how WFP staff pulls together in an

emergency situation, and how we take care of each

other."

Girard and Graham are now recovering in hospital,

while Ralph has been discharged.

Many other staff were not so lucky. Augustin Jocelyn,

one of WFP's drivers, found the body of his 24-year-old

daughter in the ruins of her university the day after the

quake. The next day, he was back at work. "Everyone

is driving. Everyone is suffering. It is painful, but that

is our job," he told The Washington Post.

WFP's staff association arranged a global collection for

our colleagues in Haiti. See article on page 3.

Haiti: How Staff MemberDug Out His Children

Clockwise from top left:Girard, Graham, Emelineand Ralph before theearthquake; Girard beingpulled from the debris;digging out Girard; JosetteSheeran with Graham and Gumel

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All staff in the Haiti office have sad stories to tell of the

earthquake – of friends, relatives and loved ones killed,

of family members injured and of homes and livelihoods

destroyed.

Raymond Macean, a WFP driver, lost cousins on Jan. 12,

and two of his road fleet colleagues lost children. But

Raymond also has a happy tale to tell. And he knows

how lucky he is to have been able to salvage something

beautiful from all the loss and suffering.

Exactly one week after the quake, Raymond’s wife,

Lassalette, gave birth to a healthy baby girl. They have

called her Equatoura.

Lassalette had been in their house on the outskirts of

Port-au-Prince with their four year old daughter, Larah,

when the building partly collapsed around them. Apart

from a few scratches, neither mother nor daughter was

harmed.

Raymond was driving me back from a TV interview at

the airport when he told me about the recent addition to

his family. His wife had given birth at the Argentine Air

Force Mobile Field Hospital – the same facility that had

treated so many hundreds of injured people in the days

following the quake.

“Would you like to see my new daughter?”, asked

Raymond as we returned to the UN Logistics Base where

all UN personnel had been relocated. I was busy but

didn’t have to be asked twice. The doctor in the hospital

lobby didn’t seem too keen on allowing us in but

Raymond sweet-talked her into giving us a few minutes

with his wife. We found her sitting up with her new-born

daughter sleeping in her arms.

“I’m so happy”, said Lassalette. “This has been such a

terrible time for everyone in Haiti. I know we’re so lucky

to have such a lovely new baby”.

The next day, the family moved to live with Raymond’s

sister whose house was undamaged. The last time I saw

him, they were all doing well.

Staff have been working out of a local hotel in Santo

Domingo, Dominican Republic, to support our response

in neighbouring Haiti since the 12 Jan. earthquake that

devastated Port-au-Prince. The main focus of the team

is to ensure that relief supplies and aid workers both

from WFP and other humanitarian agencies get into Haiti

fast. Coordinator Peter Casier sent us this snapshot of a

random minute in the Santo Domingo operation room,

where we have staff of 30 different nationalities from as

many different country operations working together:

what Peter describes as "WFP at its best".

George on the phone: "No, one mill ion, not one

thousand, one million bracelets I need for Haiti on the

plane tomorrow."

Gwyneth to her neighbour: "The travel mailbox is what

you need to use."

Tony to Jayne: "The best structure of the admin and

travel unit would be..."

Drowned out by Beverley to a candidate: "Could you

please tell me what you have been doing so far in your

professional career?"

Mario to Maria Luisa: "Make sure we test the printer

before we use WINGS."

Carlos to a desperate looking lady I have never seen

before: "So then you click here, register, and then fill in

your name!"

Michael to Patrick: "I found the 22 inch screen!"

Jose to Irving: "About the meeting with the minister of

aviation this afternoon!"

Marina on the phone: "No, please, I need three rooms,

for tonight. Not two. Can you give me three?"

Henrik to Cecilia: "Can you tell me when the food

supplies for the staff base camp will be ready for pickup?

I have the cold chain truck ready!"

Veronica to the driver: "No, first pick up Elizabeth at the

UN house, and then get Cecilia to town as she needs to

find 30 megaphones for Haiti."

Eva to her screen: "Something something" (I don't

understand it, as it's probably Norwegian)

Eva now to Irving: "70 trucks, is that it?"

Paolo to someone booking a flight, on the phone: "No

sir, for air cargo, you can book on a different email

address, but let me help you."

Mike to Thomas: "Call Port-au-Prince. Caravan took off,

ETA 10:40, eight on board," and then to Maria-Luisa:

"No, I have to close the manifest at noon. I can not

stretch it longer, but until then, you have a seat!"

Sheryll to me: "Any news on the security clearance?"

New Baby Brings Hope toHaitian Staff Member by David Orr

One Minute in theSanto DomingoOps Room by Peter Casier

Snapped:Staff in ActionPort-au-Prince Fleet Manager Eliezer

Auguste photographed on the back

of a truck handling several calls at

once.

"Auguste has been an extremely

calm and supportive local staff

member, providing support to the

many hundred WFP staff making

innumerable requests each day,"

says Zambia Deputy Country

Director Purnima Kashyap, who was

on mission in Haiti. "This is how he

works. Hats off to him!"

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Every year, an unsung army of freelance interpreters

provides a vital service to WFP, allowing colleagues from

across the world to communicate at executive board

meetings, informal consultations and high-level

meetings in headquarters. Few of us spend much time

thinking about the complicated planning behind the

events or the people in this high-stress role sitting in the

booths. So who are the men and women behind the

microphones?

Head of Conference Servicing Keiko Izushi has only high

praise for the interpreters on her roster. “They are very,

very nice colleagues; so professional,” Keiko says.

Part of her job involves the extremely complex task of

juggling the interpreters so that the right languages are

covered at each event – which for Executive Board

sessions means all six of the official UN languages.

Interpreters usually have several ‘passive’ languages,

meaning they can interpret out of them, but they always

interpret into their mother-tongue language.

“The challenge is to work out the right combination of

passive and active languages so we can avoid a lot of

what we call ‘relays’,” Keiko says. “For example, a

speaker may be using Arabic, and the interpreters in the

Arabic booth might translate this into French. But if the

interpreters in the Russian booth don’t speak French,

they have to wait for the English interpreters to interpret

it into English before then interpreting the English into

Russian.”

During executive board meetings, we have 28

interpreters who work in two teams of 14: two people

each in the English, French, Spanish and Russian booths,

and three each in the Arabic and Chinese booths. Keiko

explains that these last two booths require three

interpreters because they are so-called ‘exhaustive

languages’: unlike interpreters in other booths who may

get a break when the speaker is talking their language,

the Chinese and Arabic interpreters are working almost

all the time.

Because of the intense nature of the job, interpreters

work in shifts and in pairs, interpreting for 20 minutes

and then breaking for 20 minutes. There are also strict

rules set by the international interpreting body about

how long one team can work in any one day: six hours,

with a break in the middle of at least 90 minutes. During

the five days of the executive board meetings, only eight

sessions are permitted because of the stressful nature of

the work.

While the Conference Servicing Unit tries to

get all documents to the interpreters in advance so that

they can fully prepare, Keiko says there are some things

WFP staff can do to help the interpreters – and

themselves.

“When you talk, be aware of the interpreter behind the

scenes and make your meaning clear. Realise your

message will be interpreted into five languages and

sometimes in relay, so be as crystal clear as possible so

your message won’t be lost,” she says. Avoiding

acronyms and idiomatic expressions can help

considerably, she adds.

As well as getting all material to the Conference

Servicing Unit well beforehand, it can be useful to give

the interpreters copies of talking points. “Some staff are

reluctant to do this because of their confidential nature,

but the interpreters will destroy them before leaving the

booth,” Keiko says. “They would also never just read

from something they’re given: they always interpret

what’s being said,” she adds.

Speed of delivery is another major bone of contention

for the interpreters. “If a speaker is reading a statement

they haven’t seen before at full speed, it’s very difficult

for them,” Keiko says. “But it’s in our agreement with

them that if they can’t keep up, they’re allowed to skip

a sentence. So it’s in our interest to make sure we speak

at a reasonable speed and pause between sentences and

between speakers”.

“It’s very important to remember that they aren’t

machines doing Google translation but human beings

behind the booths, and they can only do what’s humanly

possible,” she says.

MEET THE INTERPRETERSIn the Arabic booth…

Name: Larbi Bennacer

Age: 50

Born: Algiers, Algeria

Languages: Arabic/ French/ English/Spanish/Italian

Interpreting: Freelancing since the early 1980s.

Best thing about the job? It allows enough room for you

to do many other gratifying things.

Worst thing about the job? Stress; short-notice technical

meetings (organizations for whom we do not work very

often mainly); nervous delegates who deliver their speeches

at supersonic speed; organizers who tend to think that the

interpreter is just "another insignificant clerk" even though

in most cases they do not have half of the interpreter's

qualifications and diplomas.

What would make your life easier? Nice smiles all

around the place.

Larbi says: WFP is one of the very few organizations where

one feels that one is doing a job which has direct, useful

impact on poor peoples’ lives.

In the English booth…

Name: Peter Farrell

Age: 63

Born: New York City, United States

Languages: Into English from French, Spanish and Italian

Interpreting: Since 1972. I’ve worked for the UN agencies,

the Vatican and others, and I also teach interpreting at the

Libera Università degli Studi San Pio V in Rome.

Best thing about the job: The intellectual challenge and

the sense of gratification when listeners understand. The

most difficult job is always your next one, because there are

so many variables that can go wrong.

Worst thing about the job: Trying to cope with people

who don't understand what interpreting is all about – both

participants and so-called organisers.

What would make your life easier: People slowing down

when they speak, especially when there are lots of figures

involved. They need to ask themselves, how much is

Myanmar or Sweden going to understand at this speed? And

as interpreters we need to prepare, so we know, for

example, that an EMOP has nothing to do with a cleaning

lady.

Peter says: I'm a linguistic mercenary. Need language? Got

money? You got me. This is a self-eliminating profession –

everyone has two or three chances but after that they don’t

get called back.

In the French booth…

Name: Marie-Christine Baudouin

Age: 59

Born: Casablanca, Morocco

Languages: From English and Spanish into French and

from French into English.

Interpreting: Since 1976. I’ve worked for the Canadian

government, the UN in New York, UNESCO and OECD in

Paris, and FAO, IFAD, WFP and NATO in Rome.

Best thing about the job: Total absence of routine,

endless learning curve, new faces and human experiences

day after day.

Worst thing about the job: It’s very difficult to make plans.

What would make your life easier: Knowing a bit longer

in advance if, where and when I will get work.

Marie-Christine says: I find working for WFP interesting

because of the humanitarian dimension and the challenges

of feeding the world.

In the Spanish booth…

Name: Marilena Foladore

Age: 68

Born: Tripoli, Libya

Languages: From English/French/Italian into Spanish and

from English/French/Spanish into Italian

Interpreting: For 28 years for the UN and European

Community. I was a freelance interpreter in Brussels for 20

years.

Best thing about the job: Before I became an interpreter,

I spent 20 years as a translator, and although I loved

translating, it’s like you’re in prison day and night.

Interpreting was a wonderful liberation. Once you switch off

your microphone, you can forget about it and you’re happy

and free.

Worst thing: You can’t be as accurate as when you’re

translating. You have to let it go and not be too finicky,

while obviously being as accurate as you can.

What would make your life easier: Getting speeches or

notes beforehand, and people speaking more slowly. You

ask them to slow down and they do for one second, but the

next second we’re back to square one.

Marilena says: I like interpreting at WFP because you

feel like you’re at the vanguard of the news and all the good

work people do here. The accents can be quite challenging,

because we have English spoken by people from Africa,

Asia… sometimes we have to use our experience to guess.

They’re Behind You:Meet WFP’s Interpreters

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Field Blog: Crocodiles in Equateur Province, DRCby Abdi Farah

Abdi Farah, area programme officer in the Democratic

Republic of Congo, sent this blog while waiting for a

plane in Equateur Province, where he was on a

feasibility mission to develop an agricultural value

chain to help small farmers sell products at markets.

It's Tuesday here in Basankusu, in the Equateur

Province of DRC, and I am waiting for a small plane for

the 50-minute flight to Mbandaka, the provincial

capital city, with WFP Area Coordinator Francois

Djissou, Mbandaka Sub-office Head Mohamed Sheikh

and Senior Programme Advisor Robert Dekker.

It is terribly hot, reminding me of the weather back

home in Dijbouti. We have finished our mineral water

provisions and are looking forward to having a decent

meal in the only restaurant in Mbandaka if our flight

isn't delayed. If we're late, the meal could end up

being snake or crocodile meat with some cassava or

banana – very weird indeed.

In this old, small and empty airport building, I'm

putting my thoughts in order about the people here

before we start writing a full project proposal. Who will

coordinate the various activities? How can we help

them to sell their produce? How can we offer them

more hope that they will improve their income? What

to plan as a priority within the budget? I'm thinking

too of all the incredible, heartbreaking stories we have

heard in the past seven days from small farmers and

farmers' associations.

Equateur Province is fertile land that has regular

rainfall and is one of the least developed provinces of

the country, with large tropical forests and long rivers

with many small tributaries. The majority of the

people here live by subsistence agriculture, fishing and

hunting from the bush, cassava being the staple food.

At their best, communities we have seen here can

easily produce more than enough food for themselves.

But we have listened to many poor people who could

improve their livelihoods if they were only able to sell

their produce at far distant markets.

Reaching out to these farmers in the middle of tropical

forests, at the end of long roads where no car or truck

has passed for years, it was a unique experience to

see the sorrow of rural communities living in the bush

and who now see WFP's planned interventions as a

beacon of hope.

It was also an opportunity to see the 235 km of rural

road built and rehabilitated by WFP through a food-

for-work scheme, and which is seen here by almost

everyone as hope in the midst of darkness. This road

is the only means for WFP to reach food-insecure

communities that benefit from programmes such as

school feeding.

It's on these field visits that we realize more and more

WFP's incredible and important work in locations

where there are no basic services such as health

centres, clean water and roads. Nearly eight million

people can reach DRC's capital city, Kinshasa, to get

essential supplies only via a network of rivers using

floating platforms or outboard motor-powered boats. A

trip can take two weeks.

Some of our visits to villages 200 km away from

Mbandaka took more than six hours by road, and in

most cases WFP monitoring visits are done by boat

through rivers full of crocodiles – though local people

say the crocodiles are afraid of humans because they

are hunted. It became clear to us that the biggest

problem people are facing here is transport, a vital

need and something WFP is working hard to help with.

We see our plane coming and I'm already thinking

about the long, hot nights in Mbandaka, without a

noise except the humming of the fridge in that large

room I share with Robert, where we both dream of

how we could best design a range of interventions to

address the multiple challenges around bringing small

farmers' food production to distant markets:

transportation, rehabil itation of feeder roads,

marketing, putting in place a warehouse receipt

system in seven territories, and the resilient and

patient poor communities who we have promised to

help.

It is time for boarding and I should turn off my

Blackberry, which amazingly is still working in this

remote village.

Francis Banda, the head of our sub-office in Mongu,

Zambia, had a close encounter with a lion recently as he

was driving to the office, which is on the outskirts of the

Kafue National Park.

During the dry season, lions are hardly ever seen near

the road, but during the rainy season they come closer

because they’re fond of lying on the tarmac for warmth,

Francis explains.

“I was on a WFP vehicle on the way to Mongu through

the park, and after crossing a bridge we suddenly met a

male lion who was about five metres from the left hand

side of the road,” Francis says.

“I had a digital camera to hand and took these photos.

It’s very rare for lions to stop and turn around for a

photographer to take pictures, but that’s what he

seemed to do.

“As we were watching and taking photos, we spotted

another male lion almost the same distance away on the

other side of the road. A game ranger at the barrier

explained that lions normally sit on both sides of the

road for safety, so if you see one lion, you should always

check the other side of the road for more.”

“Apparently they come out of the jungle during the rainy

season because the grass is too high and there’s too

much water. Lions are proud and do not usually walk on

water”.

Ten kilometres down the road, Francis also spotted three

cheetahs who turned away and disappeared into the

thick bush, but not before he was able to take their

photo.

Sub-office HeadComes Face toFace with Lion

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The e-mail came in with a plaintive subject line: “Is

anyone available to have Christmas with my children?”

Five days before he was supposed to leave Afghanistan

to spend the holidays with his family, WFP Logistics

Officer Tony Freeman was stranded in the Nili sub-office.

“It’s been snowing for 18 hours straight,” the e-mail

continued. Snow in Afghanistan’s remote Central

Highlands means flights canceled, roads closed, no way

out.

Tony had accompanied Kabul Area Office Chief Joe

Manni and Field Monitor/Programme Assistant Sayed

Jalil Hussaini to the town of Nili, the capital of Daikundi

province. They were there to close down the sub-office

for the winter, when heavy snowfall makes most of the

province inaccessible for months.

There hadn’t been much snow yet, and they thought

they’d be able to get in and out for a quick two-night

trip. But the night before they were due to leave, their

luck ran out. The snow arrived, and the two-night trip

turned into a week.

The next UNAMA helicopter wasn’t scheduled to arrive

until five days later – the same day Tony was supposed

to fly out of Kabul so he could be home in Kenya in time

to celebrate his six-month-old son’s first Christmas.

His second e-mail sounded even more desperate: “The

road through the mountain passage out of here is

closed, too much snow!! The other road out leads to

Kandahar, you may have heard of it…” For staff in

Afghanistan, there’s no need to explain why one

wouldn’t drive south to one of the most dangerous parts

of the country.

“My daughter’s waiting to show me the silver medal she

won in the 200 [metres],” he wrote. “I hope I can

change my flights.”

Daikundi is one of the most remote, impoverished and

food-insecure provinces in Afghanistan. The 2007/2008

National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment found that

between 41 percent and 60 percent of the population

are food-insecure; in some districts, it’s more than 60

percent.

WFP has fed more than 133,000 households in Daikundi

in 2009, through programmes that include food-for-

education (including take-home rations and wet

feeding), food-for-work, food-for-training, support for

tuberculosis patients and a new supplementary feeding

programme.

“Basically, we do everything there. We do it all,” Joe

said. “It’s a unique and challenging province like the rest

of Afghanistan.”

But in the snowbound winter, there is no practical way

to keep working there – and no way to get staff in or

out. WFP starts pre-positioning food in late summer to

make it possible to shut down the seasonal sub-office

until spring. By December, Joe said, “all the food has

been dispatched,” and the warehouse rub halls are

empty.

The programme staff are sent on TDY to other offices for

the winter, and the drivers are either reassigned to other

areas or go on mandatory contract breaks.

The only staff that remain in Nili are security guards who

keep an eye on the office and the rub halls, where this

winter WFP is allowing other UN humanitarian agencies

to store non-food items for their own winter

programming.

Stuck in Nili for longer than planned, the team kept busy

by making sure the rubhalls were in good shape for the

winter, and then did a lot of data entry, reconciling

dispatches for 2009 into the master spreadsheets. “We

got a lot of work done,” Joe said.

The only distraction was found in an odd little shop

selling bootleg CD copies of obscure Hollywood B-

movies. For stress relief, the men “borrowed” a

barbecue grill from another agency, and decided to have

a wintry cookout. “We bought about 14 kilos of lamb,”

Sayed said, and Joe added they ate barbecue for two

days.

As he contemplated being stranded in Nili well into 2010,

Tony’s e-mails to friends and colleagues expressed his

frustration, but also showed his deep admiration for Nili

itself, and for its people – as well as for the WFP

colleagues who work in the rugged sub-office, and

others like it. Nili, he wrote, grapples with “poor road

infrastructure, and a relatively short window of

opportunity to get the food in, due to the harshness of

the weather & terrain.”

“Yet deep in the heart of all this, WFP has a sub-office,

a small band of Afghans [who] battle the elements,

moving food, monitoring projects and bring a little bit of

hope to the people… It happens all across the globe,

everywhere we work conditions may vary but the goal is

the same – get it done, do it again, hope that what we

are doing is of benefit to those recipients of WFP aid.”

The story has a happy ending, though. A special

chartered helicopter tried to get in to pick the three WFP

staffers up on Saturday, but turned around because of

bad visibility. But the chopper made it on Sunday, and

whisked them back towards Kabul.

“We were very happy when it came,” Joe said. “We

heard afterwards that the scheduled flight on Monday

was canceled,” and so was the one two days later. “So

there are still people stuck there. We would have been

stuck there for three weeks.”

Tony caught his flight to Dubai, and made it home in

time to spend Christmas with his wife and children.

Snowed Under in CentralAfghanistan by Challiss McDonough

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Snapped: Staff in ActionStaff from our Jacmel sub-office in Haiti in

front of 70-year-old sailing vessel the Tres

Hombres, whose Dutch crew volunteered to

take much-needed food from Port-au-Prince

to the southern port of Jacmel for WFP’s

supplementary feeding programme in the

tented camps. “WFP staff marked with great

satisfaction the arrival of the first-ever

emission-free vessel transporting

humanitarian aid for WFP, UNICEF and FAO,”

said WFP Public Information Officer Maria

Gabriela Flores in Haiti.

Kabul Area OfficeChief Joe Manni beforeboarding the chopper

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In his 22 Dec. letter to UN staff, Secretary-General Ban

Ki-moon described 2009 as a "year of sadness" for the

UN family. More than 30 UN staff were killed in the line

of duty, including the five WFP staff killed in Islamabad.

"We mark their sacrifices with sorrow but remember

them with pride and deep gratitude," he said.

Fifteen people lost their lives advancing WFP's work in

2009. They had a range of employment ties to WFP –

staff members, contractors and casual workers – but in

one way or another, each was helping WFP feed the

hungry. In terms of service-incurred deaths of those

holding WFP contracts, 2009 was WFP's single most

catastrophic year this decade.

On 5 Jan., a driver of a contracted truck, Mahrous

Ameen Mohammed Saleem Shuhaiber, was killed in

Rafah, Occupied Palestinian Territory.

On 6 Jan., Food Monitor Ibrahim

Hussein Duale, a 44-year-old

Somali national, was killed while

monitoring school feeding in a

school in Yubsan, a village near

the Gedo region capital of

Garbahare, Somalia. A 12-year

veteran of the Somalia Police

Force, Ibrahim joined WFP in

2006 as a food monitor in Gedo region, which borders

Kenya and Ethiopia. Witnesses say three gunmen

approached him while he was seated, ordered him to

stand up and shot him. Ibrahim left a wife and five

children.

On 8 Jan., Food Monitor

Mohamud Omar Moallim, a 49-

year-old Somali national, was

killed at a food distribution site

north of the Somali capital

Mogadishu by three unidentified

gunmen. After shooting him,

they put his body in a WFP

vehicle and drove away, later

pushing his body from the vehicle.

A Somali national, Mohamud worked for WFP from

1993 to 1995 as a logistics assistant, and rejoined WFP

in 2006 as a food monitor. In a previous incident, he

had been abducted in September 2008 for 16 hours

outside Mogadishu. He left two wives and 11 children.

On 6 April, a driver of a contracted truck, Abdul Rashid,

was shot and killed in Askar Koot, Afghanistan.

On 8 April, a driver of a contracted truck, Nasirullah,

was shot and killed in Madaba, Afghanistan.

On 19 May, a driver of a contracted truck, Siddig

Ibrahim, was killed in Ed Daein, Sudan.

On 2 June, Mamuka Kandelaki, a Georgian warehouse

worker, died as a result of an accident at the WFP

warehouse in Gori, Georgia. Mamuka fell from a truck

after loading and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The accident happened on his first day working for

WFP.

On 11 June, Mawlid Astur, an Ethiopian porter, died as

a result of an accident at the WFP warehouse in our

Degehabur sub-office in Ethiopia. A stack of food

collapsed upon him, and he later passed away at

Degehabur hospital.

On 5 Oct., five staff members died in a suicide bomb

attack at our country office in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Iraqi national and Information

and Communication Technology

Officer Botan Ahmed Ali Al-

Hayawi, 41, joined WFP in

northern Iraq in 1991 and had

also worked in Jordan, Sudan

and Dubai. He left behind a wife,

two sons and a daughter. Botan

had been among those injured in

the 9 June bombing of the Pearl

Continental Hotel in Peshawar,

Pakistan.

Logistics Assistant Farzana

Barkat, a 22-year-old Pakistani

national, joined WFP as a

volunteer in the public

information unit and was later

offered a contract, first with that

unit and then with logistics. She

left behind a brother.

Senior Finance Assistant Abid

Rehman, a 41-year-old Pakistani

national, joined WFP in 1998. He

left a wife and five children.

Office Assistant Gul Rukh Tahir,

a 40-year-old Pakistani national,

had worked at the office's front

desk since November 2003. She

left behind a husband.

Finance Assistant Mohammad

Wahab, a 44-year-old Pakistani

national, had been working for

WFP since January 2006. He left

a wife, two sons and a daughter.

On 5 Oct., two staff members of a contracted truck

company, Ahmed Mohamed Hussein and Ibrahim Islaw,

were shot and killed during an ambush in Mogadishu,

Somalia.

2009: Fifteen Deaths in the Line of Duty

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A new WFP-led IT hub has opened in Maputo,

Mozambique, as part of the "One UN" initiative to bring

agencies together to respond more effectively to

national development and humanitarian challenges.

WFP was selected by the UN Country Team to

implement the project in Mozambique, one of eight

pilot countries in the One UN initiative that aims to

reduce duplication and pool resources so that agencies

can better help countries achieve their development

goals.

"This is a historic event," said Rome-based Director of

Information Technology and Management Services

Ernesto Baca. "A lot has been said about the

'Delivering as One' initiative across the UN system, but

the team in Mozambique are the ‘ones delivering’,

showing that with commitment, strong partnership and

talent, it can be done."

WFP Mozambique IT Officer Karen Barsamian led staff

from 12 different UN agencies in setting up a common

IT infrastructure to provide IT services that include

Internet access, inter-agency satellite (VSAT) services,

a common radio network, and a UN documents library,

among many others.

"I believe this is the first time that so many UN

agencies have decided to join their internal networks

together into something bigger, which makes it

possible to provide common IT services on a large

scale,” Karen said. The project, begun in August 2008,

was funded by the One UN fund at a cost of

US$ 405,000.

Representatives from the UN Country Team, the UN

Development Group and the Mozambique government

earlier this month attended an opening ceremony at

the new common IT office on the ground level of a

building in the UNDP compound in Maputo.

Country Director Lola Castro congratulated all those

involved in making the process possible in the country

office, the IT Working Groups in Mozambique, the

regional bureau, HQ and New York.

In the future, Karen said there are plans to develop

common first-level Help Desk support for all UN

agencies and print shop services, among other things.

Other One UN pilot initiatives in Mozambique include

common human resources implemented by UNDP and

common administration and procurement implemented

by UNICEF.

WFP Opens 'One UN’ IT Hub in Mozambique

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WFP Ombudsman Georgia Shaver joined staff for a live

webchat on 15 April. Georgia, who has spent 30 years in

four different country posts and three HQ assignments,

has been in her current role since 2005, helping to

resolve work-related grievances and conflict. “Visitors

raise issues about feedback and communications,

performance appraisal, respect and treatment,

harassment, career opportunities, promotion,

reassignment and managerial weakness among others,"

Georgia says. "The absolute golden principles of my

work are independence, confidentiality, neutrality and

impartiality."

Georgia answered your questions during the chat, with

those submitted anonymously asked by the moderator

on your behalf. See part of the chat below. The full

session can be found on WFPgo.

GS: Hello Everyone! Thanks for your questions. As there

are quite a lot of them now and we only have 30

minutes, I will try to address as many as I can. I notice

there are some questions more suited to HR and would

have no problem sharing them with the appropriate

person who might be able to answer them in a future

global webchat. In reviewing the questions I am going to

reply not in the order they may appear so let's start!

Moderator: What are the top complaints - in what

categories or themes?

GS: The top complaints every year fall in three

categories: career development (including reassignment,

promotion, contract duration, separation); relationships

with supervisors (including problems with feedback,

communications, climate of the workplace, harassment,

respect, trust, etc.); and harassment in general

(including abuse of power, bullying/mobbing). For 2009,

there was an increase in complaints around

organizational management that includes change

management, leadership, communications,

organizational climate. For international professional

staff the issues of reassignment, security, career

development and promotion are raised regularly; for

locally-recruited staff the issues are career development

and contracts - type and duration.

Question: If one is unhappy in their working

environment whether the reason is due to the nature of

work, fellow colleagues, subtle harassment or

authoritative supervisor, how can one transfer or change

to another working place if there are no available

positions? Who does one turn to?

GS: I might ask a question back: would you consider

first addressing the cause of the unhappiness and then

looking at a wider set of options that might include

asking for a reassignment? But to address the specific

question, one can turn to the immediate supervisor and

or the head of the office/department after which or if not

preferred, one can go to HR. Different contract

categories have different reassignment options - some

more formal than others. The harassment policy speaks

to a complainant having the right to "being offered

reasonable and appropriate support to deal with the

impact of any harassment or abuse of authority" that

would not exclude a change in assignment.

Question: What percentage of office disputes are settled

informally and what happens if they're not?

GS: This is a good question but I have not reviewed my

data along these lines. What I have said every year in

my report is resolution is quite subjective. Some visitors

do not get their problem resolved but are satisfied with

having had the opportunity to talk about the problem,

look at options to resolve, yet they decide not to do

anything so there is no resolution per se. There are

occasions however when an unresolved problem does

come back and the visitor will return maybe with the

initial problem plus a variation on that problem

depending on what time has brought.

Question: The Ombudsman role was to run for 5 years

which are up in 2010. How do you feel after 5 years on

the role? Will you be seeking an extension? If not, will

you recommend that the next Ombusdman be a current

staff member or an external candidate? What would you

say are the 3 main qualities that the person should have?

GS: After 5 years, I know this role is very important to

WFP; informal resolution works on a preemptive/

prevention basis and reduces the consequential costs

caused when the problem is ignored. It promotes self-

empowerment. The annual report on trends observed

and recommendations made for system change is

available to all staff so transparency, communications

are reinforced. HR has received key documents

highlighting selection process, vacancy announcement,

qualifications etc. from the many UN system-wide

ombuds recruitment that has taken place over the last

few years. What process is opted can be decided based

on broad and best practice and experience. Above all,

the process should be fair and transparent. There are

more than 3 main qualities. A few would be having the

ability to act impartially, confidentially and with integrity

(dispute resolution); balanced judgement; builds trust,

strong client orientation and communication and

negotiation skills. Of course one can't leave out team

building and management skills.

Question: After five years as Ombusdman, do you really

think that WFP is now dealing with harassers in the way

that it should? Do you think more should be done? What

happens if the harassers are senior staff?

GS: WFP has a zero tolerance for harassment policy - a

revised policy was issued in 2007 after issues of

harassment were raised in both global staff surveys

(2004 and 2006). There is harassment in WFP, therefore

WFP has more work to do to reach the zero tolerance

commitment. I wil l be saying quite a lot about

harassment in my 2009 annual report [now on the

Ombudsman’s section of WFPgo], as I have said in every

report I have issued since this office was opened. A

group of colleagues from HR, Legal, Investigation and

myself have been meeting periodically to review the

application of the H-SHAP policy with the objective to

provide amendments/revisions to the policy based on

several years’ implementation. The group spent time

looking at cultural issues. A lot more work is required to

train on what is harassment, what are our

responsibilities to prevent and/or to respond if it

happens, as well as a discussion needs to be held on

consequences if we don't do what is expected as spelt

out in the policy or in the standards of conduct of the UN.

Question: Do you think that a training course for

Respectful Workplace Advisers could be run at HQ?

GS: This training for those of you not aware, was started

together with the Ombudsmen at UNICEF and UNHCR

and has been conducted jointly since 2007. This is a

great idea to hold one in HQ and I take note. The next

one is in southern African around September 2010.

Trainees are selected in a vote by their peers against a

set of criteria. They get skills in cultural diversity,

conflict resolution with special emphasis on listening and

optioning. They are not peer support volunteers as their

job description is limited to being available to discuss

and advise but cannot take any action or refer to anyone

else in the office, except the Ombudsman. They support

the work of the Ombudsman. The original programme

was started and continues to be actively used in the

World Bank.

Question: Do you think it's relevant to train WFP HR

staff on 1) coaching, counseling and team development,

& 2) dispute resolution, conciliation, mediation and

arbitration? If yes, who should take the lead to organize

it in the most efficient way: HR at HQ/Ombudsman/RBs?

GS: Some of the most useful and pertinent skills I have

acquired came from my conflict resolution and mediation

course work. Knowing how to listen actively, how to

negotiate, how to communicate for problem solving are

skills that can serve a useful purpose in the workplace or

at home. I believe that as conflict is very costly to an

organisation, the more skill development we can offer in

these areas the better we will be able to proactively

address conflict, maybe even prevent more and be more

efficient and effective as a result. The lead should be

with the organisational unit responsible for corporate

learning, as well as with individual managers and

supervisors; in addition staff can ask for these skills.

Question: I have been working for WFP Georgia office

since 1995. I have the following questions. Why does

WFP consider local staff as external candidates for

internally announced posts? Is the WFP JPO Policy

discriminatory to local staff for external posts, when

JPOs - with 2 years’ working experience - a priori are put

in a preferential condition against local staff

candidatures despite latter’s skills, competences and

experience? How much longer will WFP use UNDP

contractual arrangements for administering local staff

with the provision that changes in the UNDP regulations

benefiting staff are not applied by WFP but the others

are immediately implemented? In this regard, what are

your views about eliminating the opportunity for local

staff to be promoted despite their performance? Is it not

discriminatory vis-à-vis the rules and regulations applied

to the international staff? [edited]

GS: To our colleague from Georgia, many of your

questions - in fact all of them - I will share with the

Director of HR to reply. If I can summarise your

concerns, you do not see WFP having a career

development programme for locally-recruited staff

where a more structured process to access international

professional jobs is available to all. You do not

understand why there is such a difference between rules

for professional staff and locally-recruited staff. As there

is not enough space to explain the history of the UN and

the basis and justification for the various contracts,

benefits and entitlements between locally-recruited and

international, I suggest we let HR handle the reply.

Regarding career development, I believe HR is looking

into this and your concerns would be an important input

into their efforts. There are many locally-recruited staff

who do hold international professional contracts today.

Many are urged and welcomed to do TDYs here at HQ as

well as in other country offices. Again, HR is the right

division to get more information about how you could be

on the TDY roster. Finally, in my 2009 annual report I

have noted that many questions similiar to yours are

being asked by locally-recruited staff during my field

visits: here is an opportunity to strengthen information

sharing with local staff on job opportunities, career

opportunities, things you should know about the

administration of local staff, etc. I make a

recommendation along these lines.

Question: I have been working for WFP since 2003. I

joined as a G4 and I am still a G4. I note that there are

no written guidelines on the promotion of general

service staff and the length in grade for one to be

eligible for promotion. The international staff annual

promotion guidelines states: “The PPP will also review

staff that have been in grade 4 years or more. Should a

promotion recommendation not be forthcoming, a

manager must provide written justification to the panel

for the non-promotion. Staff in this category may also

submit a staff input form directly to the learning and

performance branch to accompany their file.” Could the

Ombudsman advise on the above matter?

GS: I don't know if the writer of the question is a locally-

recruited field staff or a HQ GS because my reply will

vary. I am going to assume it is a locally recruited field

staff who is a fixed-term contract holder. As you applied

for a position, against a vacancy and was selected for

that position at that grade, in order to get a higher

grade the process is the same - to apply for a vacancy

at a higher grade and be selected. Another option is if

the work has changed a lot over the 7 years, a review

of the function could be asked to see if in fact the grade

should be the same for the job performed. It might

happen the position can be upgraded and you would get

a higher grade based on rank in post, i.e. you are

compensated for the work being carried out.

Question: As careers and working opportunities in WFP

solely depend on official feedback given from direct

supervisors (the so-called confidential PACE): (1) Why

isn't there any WFP policy to ensure that personal

workplans are set up at the beginning of the year and

not compiled retroactively? (2) What mechanisms are in

place to protect staff against the inherent subjectivity of

Global Webchatwith theOmbudsman,Georgia Shaver

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by Stephanie Savariaud

Our Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) country

office in Kinshasa in March moved to a new building

where staff will have more space and greater security.

For the past ten years, the WFP office was located in

the downtown Losonia building, together with other

agencies such as the United Naitons Development

Programme and the Office for the Coordination of

Humanitarian Affairs.

“This move was necessary for us to work in a more

coherent way with a space entirely for WFP staff,

proper meeting rooms and greater opportunities for

social exchange as well as a dedicated cafeteria”, said

DRC Country Director Abdou Dieng, who initiated the

move to the new building after his arrival in Kinshasa

in January 2009.

The move was also necessary to ensure security

measures meet WFP standards, with better control

over access gates and a fuel station inside the

compound.

Kinshasa is a Phase Three security location and

movements are restricted from certain times and

locations.

“The new building offers a more discreet set-up and

allows us to fall in line with WFP security rules”, said

Alain Pietrantoni, WFP's DRC head of security. The

Field Security Division allocated a specific budget for

the security upgrade.

The new building was inaugurated on 2 March by

Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-

General and Humanitarian Coordinator Fidèle

Sarassoro, who cut the ribbon in the presence of

representatives from all UN agencies in DRC. Among

those present was the executive director of the United

Nations Office for Project Services, which was

commissioned to renovate the building.

The DRC country office's new address as of

Monday 8 March is:

Programme Alimentaire Mondial (PAM)

Immeuble MIBA

116 Boulevard du 30 juin

Kinshasa, Gombe

République Démocratique du Congo (DRC)

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by Fiona Winward

A new building for the Pakistan country office has

been chosen inside Islamabad's diplomatic enclave

following the bomb blast in October that destroyed the

old office and killed five colleagues.

Staff have been working out of a hotel since the

suicide attack at the office, which was based in a

residential area of the city.

Country Director Wolfgang Herbinger says staff, who

were informed in January, are "very pleased" at the

prospect of moving to the new office.

The new office inside the high-security enclave will be

situated in a free-standing three-storey building

currently being used by a bank. Larger than the old

office, the building will accommodate 120 work

stations for WFP staff and the UN Humanitarian Air

Service team, who are currently housed in a separate

office in Islamabad.

"Each floor has its own washroom facilities and there

will be a restaurant and staff dining area, a

gymnasium, a reading room and a small prayer

room," Rome-based chief engineer with the security

upgrading implementation team Desmond Page says.

"We hope the facilities will be far superior to those

that were available in the old office."

Security measures will include a range of new

construction, equipment and entry arrangements

intended to provide a safer, more secure working

environment.

"Staff entering and leaving the office will have to

undergo more rigorous security checks when entering

the enclave," Desmond says. "This won’t be as

convenient as before, but that's the nature of the

challenge WFP staff face while working in Pakistan at

the moment."

Since the office is inside the diplomatic enclave, it will

also benefit from security measures invested by the

government in the entire area, which houses most of

the embassies and diplomatic organisations in the

capital.

In keeping with the WFP Tread Lightly initiative, the

new office will include measures to decrease our

carbon footprint and save on energy costs. "We are

also considering some interior design feature, such as

a water feature – something that will prompt a sense

of peace and tranquillity," Desmond says.

The new location will provide sufficient parking for all

operational vehicles, and WFP is negotiating

supervised parking for private staff vehicles in an area

next to the compound currently owned by the

government.

"Some 70 of the WFP Islamabad staff went through

the traumatic experience of the suicide attack in our

old office, and I hope that they will be able to leave

behind their security fears in the new office,"

Wolfgang says. "The improved layout should help us

to keep up the work productivity that is required for

running what is currently one of the largest WFP

programmes in the world."

The office is thinking of placing a memorial plaque in

a prominent part of the new building. "We will never

forget the five colleagues we lost," Wolfgang says.

New Islamabad Office Chosen after Bombing

DRC CountryOffice Moves toNew Building

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the PACE - considered as the main criterion for

promotion (and ultimately reassignment)? (3) How can

the organization ensure that objective credit is given to

people for their accomplished work, especially in (but

not limited to) difficult duty-stations?

GS: There have been over the years many directives

regarding the need for workplans to be prepared not

only as a starting point for performance reviews but also

as a critical tool for programme management and

results. All management courses cannot over emphasise

the importance of workplans. Compliance in WFP is

another issue. To do workplans retroactively undermines

the tool's purpose and effectiveness. As for PACE, I

reviewed the WFPGo and there are some good learning

tools about performance dialogues so if done well there

might be less subjectivity referred? Performance

appraisal is so much more than just a document for

promotion - time to reconnect with the purpose?

Objective credit for work accomplished lies in more

quantitative and less qualitative (or more defining

examples) information that can be captured through

active staff input as well as regular conversations in

which performance expectations and achievements are

discussed - can this be made to happen? It would

certainly lead to more objectivity in all work areas and

duty stations.

Question: The PACE is an evaluation given from our

direct supervisor. How can we evaluate our direct

supervisor? Once there was the 360 evaluation survey

for senior managers, is that not valid anymore?

GS: The 360 degree evaluation survey for supervisors

by supervisees has been under discussion since HR

carried out a review of the PACE process and tool last

year (I believe). As for the 360 for senior managers, I

also don't know why it was not continued. In my 2009

annual report there’s a lot on performance management,

the PACE and to urge a 360 degree evaluation tool to be

rolled out and sustained.

Question: How can WFP improve the recruitment of

international staff and make it more transparent. What

is the usefulness of the WFP roster when it is not used?

Some people remain in the roster for over 5/10 years

without being interviewed, although being in the roster

means the person is qualified for different vacancies

within WFP (if available). Why did HR create an online

application system for all staff when no feedback on

application progress is provided except for international

staff. [edited]

GS: I promise to share your question on recruitment

transparency and roster effectiveness with HR.

Recruitment is the key first step to ensuring the right

human resources for the performance success of WFP so

thanks for raising your concern.

Question: In the India ServiceDesk, people have

suffered due to contractual matters because of many

issues, through no fault of their own. Some of these

were due to the change of management from FESO to

HQ, different interpretation of the same rules by

different stakeholders, from having no process to a very,

very slow process, failure on the part of HQ

management on meeting obligations, and perhaps many

more. In general, staff feel a sense of desperation, a

loss of trust in management, they feel very low in

priority for anything, and there are obvious feelings of

exploitation. How do we correct a situation of such

emotional damage to staff and the other question is

"why" as an organisation, do we let it happen.

GS: Let me quote a few lines from the Standards of

Conduct for the International Civil Service: "managers

and supervisors are in positions of leadership and it is

their responsibility to ensure a harmonious workplace

based on mutual respect; they should be open to all

views and opinions and make sure that the merits of

staff are properly recognised. They need to provide

support to them.... Managers are also responsible for

guiding and motivating their staff and promoting their

development.... it is naturally incumbent on managers

and supervisors to communicate effectively with their

staff and share information with them. International civil

servants have a reciprocal responsibility to provide all

pertinent facts and information to their supervisors ....

defend any decisions taken, even when these do not

accord with their personal views." At the heart of

disappointment and lack of trust is communications and

teamwork as well as mutual respect. Much more effort

is required in these areas to get back on the right track.

The important point is to get back on the right track; not

feel defensive but appreciate the benefits not only for

the individuals but the work performance and the

organisation as a whole.

by Barry Came

Since its launch last December, WFP’s new French

language website has proven to be a runaway success.

Traffic has more than doubled, jumping from a weekly

average of 1,500 visits to 3,500. In the week following

the earthquake in Haiti, visits peaked at 8,500.

“This new website has brought massive change,” says

Tamara Kummer, public information officer at the French

Liaison Office in Paris. “We have many more visitors and

we are also now able to collect donations online. So far,

we’ve raised more than $12,000.”

Like the new French site, each of the three other newly

launched non-English sites is flourishing. The Italian and

the Spanish sites, launched last October, continue to

register increased visits and donations, while the Korean

site, activated in December, is helping to raise WFP’s

profile in that country. “People now know we are here,”

says Hannah Lee, partnerships manager at WFP’s Seoul

office.

In the following weeks, WFP added several new languages

to the organization’s ever-expanding list of websites that

are not published in English.

“Only 28 percent of internet users speak English,” says

Pierre Guillaume Wielezynski, head of online

communications for WFP. “It is critical, given our global

nature, that we have a presence, even if basic, in as

many languages as possible. At a minimum, people need

to be able to understand who we are, what we do and

why it matters.”

Nordic languages — Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and

Swedish — were activated next, followed by Russian,

German, Korean and Arabic. Further down the road, there

are plans for Portuguese and Farsi. A Chinese site

(pictured below), developed independently by WFP’s office

in Beijing, already operates. Ultimately, the goal is to

convert all 17 of the official non-English sites currently

available at WFP’s global site to the new system.

The new sites are similar to WFP’s interactive global site

— wfp.org. They are aligned with the main site’s look and

feel and offer, depending on the editors’ capacity, fresh

content that is updated on a daily — sometimes even

hourly — basis, video and audio material from the field,

and an easy interface for fundraising.

“They are also flexible enough to allow us to align content

and key messages across several sites,” says Roberta

Ragazzoni, who coordinates the development of language

sites and training of editors. “Every Monday morning, all

of the web editors at the non-English sites are informed

about the planned content and messages that will be

going up during the week on the English site so efforts

can be coordinated.”

Like the English site, all of the other language sites are

running on an open source content management

platform. The free software package allows users to easily

publish, manage and organize a wide variety of content at

very low cost. Roberta says that it takes about 4-6 weeks

to get a site online.

Tamara, who helps to manage the French website in

Paris, is certainly a fan. “The technology has allowed the

French site to rapidly establish itself as a critical vector for

WFP’s communications throughout the Francophone

world,” she says, noting that WFP’s Francophone offices

outside of France were not slow to recognize the value of

the new site. They quickly agreed to join forces to fund a

web editor to manage the project in Paris.

WFP's New LanguageWebsites Flourishing

by Amjad Jamal

Villagers working on a WFP food-for-work project in

northern Bangladesh last weekend uncovered a rare

statue believed to date back to the 12th century AD.

The villagers were excavating a community fish pond

near an ancient Hindu temple in Mirapur when they

made the exciting discovery.

“The paritcipants were working and suddenly Mr

Kadab, one of the project workers, found something

hard under his spade,” said Anwarul Kabir, WFP’s

coordinator in the north-west of the country.

“Imagining it to be a large stone or rock, he called for

the help of the other workers. They removed the earth

to discover the statue,” he said.

Only a section of the statue has survived and shows

the legs and feet of a larger figure flanked by two

smaller female forms.

A specialist from the Bangladesh National Museum who

saw a photo of the statue said it appeared to be a

sculpture of the Hindu god Vishnu. “While a closer

inspection would be needed to determine beyond doubt

its origin, age and value, it seems to be made of black

stone and could date back to the Pal dynasty in the

11th or 12th centuries AD,” the expert said.

Bangladesh Country Director John Aylieff said the find

was “a rare and remarkable by-product” of the work

WFP is carrying out in Bangladesh. “We are proud to

see our project participants contributing to what seems

to be an important achaeological discovery,” he said.

The food-for-work project near Rohanpur was launched

in November 2008, as part of WFP’s emergency

operation to respond to the impact of high food prices

on poor families in Bangladesh. Since the start of April

this year, more than 350 villagers – 70 percent of them

women - have been excavating the pond in exchange

for rice rations.

Ancient HinduStatue Found onWFP Project

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