The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolutions 45/242 of 21 December 1990, 46/192
of 20 December 1991, 47/203 of 22 December 1992 and 48/224 and
48/225 of 23 December 1993,
Having considered the report of the United Nations Joint
Staff Pension Board for 1994 to the General Assembly and to the
member organizations of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension
Fund, chapter III.A of the report of the International Civil Service
Commission for the year 1994, the report of the Secretary-General
on the investments of the Fund and the related report of the Advisory
Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,
Recalling section II of its resolution 47/203 and section
II of its resolution 48/225,
1. Welcomes with appreciation the changes made by the United
Nations Joint Staff Pension Board in the presentation of the results
of the valuation of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund
as at 31 December 1993, in response to requests made by the Panel
of External Auditors and pursuant to discussions with the Board
of Auditors, so as to provide (a) the valuation results in dollar
terms, as well as in the form of percentages of pensionable remuneration,
(b) additional disclosures regarding the values of the assets
and liabilities, and (c) statements by the Consulting Actuary
and the Committee of Actuaries regarding the sufficiency of the
assets of the Fund to meet current and projected liabilities;
2. Takes note of the increase in the actuarial imbalance
from 0.57 to 1.49 per cent of pensionable remuneration, reflected
in the valuation of the Fund as at 31 December 1993, of the elements
that contributed to the increase in the imbalance, including in
particular the increase in the life expectancy of pensioners,
and of the observations on the valuation results by the Consulting
Actuary, the Committee of Actuaries and the Board;
3. Takes note in particular of the opinions provided by
the Consulting Actuary and the Committee of Actuaries, as reproduced
in annexes IV and V, respectively, to the report of the Board,
that there was no requirement, as at 31 December 1993, for deficiency
payments under article 26 of the Regulations of the Fund, and
that the current contribution rate of 23.7 per cent of pensionable
remuneration could be maintained for funding purposes, pending
a review at the time of the next valuation, as at 31 December
1995;
4. Takes note of the review by the Board of the interest
rate and mortality table used to determine lump-sum commutations,
and of its decisions, under article 11 of the Regulations of the
Fund, (a) to retain the current 6.5 per cent interest rate, which
would be reviewed again by the Standing Committee of the Board
in 1995, and (b) to request the Committee of Actuaries to develop
a revised unisex mortality table, based on the longevity assumptions
used in the actuarial valuation of the Fund as at 31 December
1993, for the approval of the Standing Committee, and to be implemented
in determining lump-sum commutations as from 1 July 1995;
5. Approves, with effect from 1 July 1995, an increase
in the maximum number of years of creditable contributory service,
so that the years of contributory service in excess of 35 and
performed as from 1 July 1995 shall be creditable at an accumulation
rate of 1 per cent per year, subject to a maximum total accumulation
rate of 70 per cent, and amends accordingly, with effect from
1 July 1995, article 28 of the Regulations of the Fund, as set
out in annex I to the present resolution;
6. Concurs with the transfer agreements with the Asian
Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development, approved by the Board under article 13 of the Regulations
of the Fund, with a view to securing continuity of pension rights
between the Fund and each of the banks, as set out in annex VII
to the report of the Board;
Recalling section II of its resolution 45/242, section
III of its resolution 46/192 and sections IV and VI of its resolution
47/203,
Approves, with effect from 1 April 1995, amendments to
article 54 of the Regulations of the United Nations Joint Staff
Pension Fund, as set out in annex I to the present resolution,
to include the latest scale of pensionable remuneration for staff
in the Professional and higher categories, to define the pensionable
remuneration of ungraded officials and of participants in the
Field Service category and to include references to, and place
limitations on, the extent to which merit and/or longevity step
increments are deemed to be pensionable;
Recalling section IV of its resolution 46/192, section
V of its resolution 47/203 and section I of its resolution 48/225,
1. Takes note of the reviews carried out by the United
Nations Joint Staff Pension Board, described in section VI of
its report, on various aspects of the pension adjustment system
and of its intention to pursue additional studies at its next
regular session, in 1996;
2. Takes note also of the results of the first monitoring
by the Board of the costs of the longer-term modification of the
pension adjustment system that entered into effect on 1 April
1992, based on the actual costs during the period from 1 April
1992 to 31 March 1994, which indicated a long-term cost estimate
of 0.26 per cent of pensionable remuneration, as against the earlier
estimate of 0.30 per cent, and of the intention of the Board to
review the matter further at its next regular session on the basis
of the second assessment of the actual costs, in the context of
the valuation of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund as
at 31 December 1995;
3. Approves, with effect from 1 July 1995, the reduction
of the "120 per cent cap" provision under the pension
adjustment system, which is described in paragraph 166 of the
report of the Board, to 110 per cent for participants separating
from service on or after 1 July 1995, and the consequential changes
in the pension adjustment system, as set out in annex II to the
present resolution;
4. Approves also, with effect from 1 July 1995, the application
to staff in the General Service and related categories of the
longer-term modification of the pension adjustment system that
entered into effect on 1 April 1992, the consequential revisions
in the schedule of cost-of-living differential factors and the
schedule for special adjustments for small pensions under section
E of the pension adjustment system, and the consequential changes
in the pension adjustment system, as set out in annex II to the
present resolution;
5. Takes note of the decision taken by both the Board and
the International Civil Service Commission, to defer until 1996
the submission to the General Assembly of recommendations on possible
changes in the special index for pensioners, in the context of
the comprehensive review of the pensionable remuneration and consequent
pensions of the various categories of staff;
Decides to admit the International Centre for Genetic
Engineering and Biotechnology to membership in the United Nations
Joint Staff Pension Fund, in accordance with article 3 of the
Regulations of the Fund, with effect from 1 January 1996, subject
to the adoption by the Centre, before that date, of staff regulations,
rules and salary scales that conform to the common system of salaries
and other conditions of service;
Approves additional expenses of 390,200 United States
dollars net for the biennium 1994-1995, chargeable directly to
the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, for the administration
of the Fund;
1. Requests the member organizations of the United Nations
Joint Staff Pension Fund, the Executive Secretary of the United
Nations Administrative Tribunal and the Registrar of the Administrative
Tribunal of the International Labour Organization, in pursuance
of section VI, paragraph 7, of General Assembly resolution 48/224,
to inform the Fund of any pending cases that have direct or indirect
implications for the Fund, to ensure that the interests of the
Fund are adequately represented;
2. Notes with satisfaction that the Board of Auditors has
indicated, inter alia, that the presentation of the financial
statements of the Fund for the biennium 1992-1993 is consistent
with a number of the United Nations System Accounting Standards,
and requests that the changes recommended by the Board of Auditors
in this regard be implemented at the earliest opportunity so as
to bring the statements fully into line with those Standards;
3. Takes note of the action taken by the United Nations
Joint Staff Pension Board regarding the recommendation of the
Board of Auditors on the provision of an internal audit function,
and the comments of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and
Budgetary Questions thereon;
4. Requests the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board
to report to the General Assembly, in the context of the revised
estimates for the biennium 1994-1995 and the estimates for the
biennium 1996-1997, on the arrangements made for internal audits
of the Fund and the costs thereof;
5. Also requests the Board to continue to review the monitoring
and control procedures for payments from the Fund in order to
strengthen the verification process, including those related to
the payment of benefits to widows and widowers, and to report
thereon to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session;
6. Takes note of the observations of the Board in section
VII of its report on the continuing representations made by former
participants affected by the application of the Transfer Agreements
with the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Ukrainian
Soviet Socialist Republic and Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic,
and of the steps taken thus far by the Board, through its Secretary,
to enter into consultations with the Permanent Mission of the
Russian Federation to the United Nations, as well as with the
appropriate national authorities, with a view to ascertaining
the extent to which the problems that had arisen with regard to
the interpretation and application of the Agreements could be
resolved;
7. Notes that the Fund has transferred to the Social Security
Fund of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics the actuarial
value of the pension rights accrued by individual former participants,
as required under the Agreements;
8. Welcomes the establishment of a working group composed
of high-ranking officials representing relevant ministries and
agencies of the Russian Federation, as well as of representatives
of former Fund participants, with a mandate to address the problems
mentioned above;
9. Calls upon all parties concerned to continue their efforts
to resolve the problems that have arisen in respect of the interpretation
and application of the three Agreements, in a manner consistent
with the letter and intent of the Agreements;
10. Takes note of the decision of the Board not to propose
changes at the present time in the size and composition of the
Board and of its Standing Committee, but to keep the subject under
review and to submit a further report on the matter to the General
Assembly at its fifty-third session, in 1998;
11. Also takes note of the observations of the Board on
attendance at Board sessions and on the frequency of, and attendance
at, meetings of the Standing Committee, as well as the changes
made in the rules of procedure of the Fund with respect to attendance
at meetings of the Standing Committee;
12. Further takes note of the other matters dealt with
in the report of the Board;
1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General
on the investments of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund,
and of the observations made by the United Nations Joint Staff
Pension Board in its report on the investments and custodial arrangements
for the assets of the Fund, and on the membership and size of
the Investments Committee;
2. Welcomes any proposal on how the long-term performance
of the investments of the Fund might be enhanced and reviewed
in the future, taking into account the interests of the participants,
the importance of the amounts involved and the established criteria
of safety, profitability, liquidity and convertibility, and, in
this respect, invites the Secretary-General to review the arrangements
for the provision of institutional advice;
3. Requests the Secretary-General to present in future
reports to the General Assembly on the investments of the Fund
a fuller analysis of the performance of those investments and
their significant components, including, where applicable, means
of comparing performance with relevant benchmarks and other pension
funds;
4. Notes with appreciation that the new custodial arrangements
are expected, inter alia, to produce cost savings, and requests
the Secretary-General to keep under review the costs of those
arrangements, bearing in mind the custodial costs of other pension
funds;
5. Notes with satisfaction that several Member States that
had not previously granted tax exemptions for income from the
investments of the Fund have decided to grant such exemptions,
and appeals to those Member States that do not grant such exemptions
to make all possible efforts to do so as soon as possible.
Replace paragraph (b) (iii) with the following:
"(b) (iii) The next 25 years of his contributory service, by 2 per cent of his final average remuneration; and"
Add a new paragraph (b) (iv) reading:
"(b) (iv) The years of his contributory service in excess of 35 and performed as from 1 July 1995, by 1 per cent of his final average remuneration, subject to a maximum total accumulation rate of 70 per cent."
Add a new paragraph (c) (iii) reading:
"(c) (iii) The years of his contributory service in excess of 35 and performed as from 1 July 1995, by 1 per cent of his final average remuneration, subject to a maximum total accumulation rate of 70 per cent."
Replace paragraph (b) with the following:
"(b) In the case of participants in the Professional and higher categories, the scale of pensionable remuneration effective 1 November 1994 shall be as set out in appendix B hereto. It shall be adjusted on the same date as the net remuneration amounts of officials in the Professional and higher categories in New York are adjusted. Such adjustment shall be by a uniform percentage equal to the weighted average percentage variation in the net remuneration amounts, as determined by the International Civil Service Commission."
Add the following text:
"(c)(i) In the case of participants who are appointed or elected as ungraded officials on or after 1 April 1995, their pensionable remuneration shall be established by the competent legislative organ which determines their other conditions of service, in accordance with the methodology recommended by the International Civil Service Commission and endorsed by the General Assembly, and shall be subsequently adjusted in accordance with the procedure in paragraph (b) above;
"(ii) In the case of participants who are ungraded officials on 31 March 1995, their pensionable remuneration shall be maintained, without adjustment, until surpassed by the level of pensionable remuneration derived from application of the methodology referred to in subparagraph (i) above;
"(d) In the case of participants in the Field Service category, the scale of pensionable remuneration effective 1 November 1994 shall be as set out in appendix C hereto, and shall be subsequently adjusted in accordance with the procedure in paragraph (b) above;
"(e) No step increments beyond the top step of the gross pensionable salary scale or the scale of pensionable remuneration established according to the methodology approved by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the International Civil Service Commission shall be recognized for participants entering or re-entering the Fund on or after 1 January 1994. Nevertheless, any step increments awarded in conformity with the provisions of the appropriate staff regulations or rules of a member organization to a staff member in service in that organization before 1 January 1994 shall be recognized by the Fund for pension contribution and benefit calculation purposes."
Replace appendix B with the following:
(United States dollars)
(Effective 1 November 1994)
Effective 1 November 1990
S T E P S
Level I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X
XI XII XIII XIV XV
USG 156 115
ASG 144 445
D-2 120 837 123 738 126 471 129 310 132 212 135 180
D-1 106 539 108 954 111 419 113 834 116 306 118 758 121 131 123
554 126 022
P-5 94 577 96 744 98 819 100 934 103 126 105 156 107 321 109 819
112 055 114
152 116 289 118 465 120 681
P-4 77 753 79 814 81 862 83 814 85 936 87 980 90 056 92 359 94
472 96
712 98 207 100 322 102 483 104 690 106 946
P-3 63 710 65 688 67 600 69 424 71 306 73 163 75 143 77 511 79
063 81
154 82 688 84 513 86 402 88 333 90 308
P-2 51 492 53 137 54 695 56 366 58 034 59 556 61 214 63 160 65
001 66
665 67 956 69 274
P-1 40 378 41 764 42 992 44 243 45 624 46 861 48 344 50 277 51
908 53
397
Add the following new appendix C to the Regulations of the Fund:
APPENDIX C
PENSIONABLE REMUNERATION FOR STAFF IN THE FIELD SERVICE CATEGORY
(United States dollars)
(Effective 1 November 1994)
Steps
Level I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X
XI XII XIII XIV XV
FS-7 74 691 76 772 78 853 80 936 83 016 85 099 87 179 89 262 91
341 93 424
95 377 97 585
FS-6 61 605 62 984 64 365 65 745 67 126 68 506 69 886 71 266 72
646 74 028
75 407 76 788
FS-5 48 702 49 971 51 240 52 509 53 780 55 048 56 317 57 586 58
857 60 124
61 394 62 663 63 933
FS-4 39 941 41 051 42 163 43 272 44 384 45 494 46 607 47 715 48
828 49 938
51 050 52 159 53 271 54 381 55 493
FS-3 32 285 33 337 34 416 35 483 36 550 37 615 38 707 39 828 40
934 42 055
43 162 44 322 45 483 46 644 47 804
FS-2 28 329 29 247 30 164 31 084 32 000 32 930 33 889 34 835 35
794 36 750
38 667 39 624
FS-1 25 143 25 846 26 545 27 250 28 060 28 882 29 691 30 515 31
325 32 135
Replace paragraph 6 (b) (v) with the following text:
"(b) (v) The applicable cost-of-living differential factor is finally derived from the following tables, the result being interpolated, where necessary, between the factors applicable to the next higher and the next lower ratio in the applicable table:
"Benefits based on separation or death in service before 1 July 1995 and other benefits derived there from
Cost-of-living
Ratio of midpoint differential factor
net salaries (percentage)
Less than 122 0
122 3
128 7
134 12
141 17
148 22
155 28
162 34
171 40
180 or more 46
"Benefits based on separation or death in
service on or after 1 July 1995 and
other benefits derived therefrom
Cost-of-living
Ratio of midpoint differential factor
net salaries (percentage)
Less than 105 0
105 3
110 8
116 14
122 19
128 25
134 31
141 38
148 45
155 52
163 60
171 68
180 76
189 85
198 94
208 or more 104"
Replace paragraph 7 with the following text:
"7. Whenever the standard annual rate of a retirement or disability benefit under the Regulations of the Fund, before any commutation, is less than the highest dollar amount in the applicable table below, the benefit shall be subject to a special adjustment as follows:
"Annual amount of pension Special adjustment (United States dollars) (percentage)
Separations before 1 April 1993
4 000 0
3 800 3
3 600 7
3 400 12
3 200 17
3 000 22
2 800 28
2 600 34
2 400 40
2 200 or less 46
Separations on or after 1 April 1993 up until 1 July 1995
6 500 0
6 250 3
6 000 6
5 750 9
5 500 12
5 250 15
5 000 18
4 750 21
4 500 25
4 250 28
4 000 31
3 750 34
3 500 37
3 250 40
3 000 43
2 750 or less 46
"Annual amount of pension Special adjustment
(United States dollars) percentage)
Separations on or after 1 July 1995
6 500 0
6 250 3
6 000 7
5 750 12
5 500 17
5 250 22
5 000 28
4 750 34
4 500 40
4 250 52
4 000 60
3 750 68
3 500 76
3 250 85
3 000 94
2 750 or less 104"
Replace paragraph 23 with the following text:
"23. Where a beneficiary resides in a country other than the United States, the determination of the amount of the periodic benefit payable in a given month is as follows:
"The dollar amount, as initially determined under subparagraph 5 (a) above and then adjusted under section H above, is converted to the local currency equivalent by using the exchange rate in effect for the month preceding the calendar quarter of that payment. The resultant amount is compared with the local currency amount, as initially determined under subparagraph 5 (b) above and then adjusted under section H above. Except as provided for in paragraph 25 below, the beneficiary is entitled, until the next quarter, to the greater of the local currency amount or the local currency equivalent of the dollar amount, subject to a maximum of: (a) 120 per cent of the local currency amount with respect to benefits payable on account of separation or death in service before 1 July 1995 and other benefits derived therefrom; (b) 110 per cent of the local currency amount with respect to benefits payable on account of separation or death in service on or after 1 July 1995 and other benefits derived therefrom."