The United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, the Regulations for which were adopted initially by the General Assembly at its third session, in 1948 (resolution 248 (III) - A|C|F|R|S), is administered by the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board, currently consisting of 33 members, one third of whom are elected by the Assembly and the corresponding legislative bodies of the other member organizations, one third by the executive heads of those organizations and one third by the participants.
The Fund comprises the United Nations and 20 other member organizations. As at 31 December 2005, the total number of active participants was 93,683 and there were 55,140 periodic benefits in award.
At its forty-sixth session, in 1991, the General Assembly decided to consider this item on a biennial basis, in even years (resolution 46/220 - A|C|F|R|S).
At its fifty-ninth session, the General Assembly approved two changes in the two-track pension adjustment system: (a) a phased approach in the elimination of the 1.5 per cent reduction in the first consumer price index adjustments after retirement; and (b) the addition of a new provision for an adjustable minimum guarantee at 80 per cent of the United States dollar-track amount, and requested the Board to report thereon to the Assembly every two years on the occasion of the actuarial valuations of the Fund; requested the Board to review the benefit of the two-track system vis-à-vis the United States dollar track for both the beneficiaries and the Fund as a whole, and to report thereon to the Assembly at its sixty-first session; urged the Board to explore the possibility of meeting annually for a shorter duration and to report its conclusions, including all financial and administrative implications associated with that possibility, to the Assembly at its sixty-first session; and requested the Secretary-General to report to the Assembly at its sixty-first session on the steps and efforts undertaken to increase, to the maximum extent possible, investments in developing countries (resolution 59/269 - A|C|F|R|S).
The Board held its fifty-third session in Nairobi from 13 to 21 July 2006. It recommended to the General Assembly that, as from 1 April 2007, the current reduction in the first consumer price index adjustments due under the Pension Funds Pension Adjustment System to benefits in award be lowered from 1.0 per cent to 0.5 per cent and that a 0.5 per cent increase be applied on the occasion of the next adjustment to the benefits being paid to existing retirees and beneficiaries who have already had the 1.0 per cent reduction applied to their benefits; and further recommended implementation, as from 1 April 2007, of its 2002 recommendation to eliminate the limitation on the right to restoration for existing and future participants, based on length of the prior contributory service.
The Board also recommended that the General Assembly concur with: (a) the revised United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund-World Bank Group Transfer Agreement, which would take effect 1 January 2007; and (b) separate new transfer agreements between the Pension Fund and each of the six coordinated organizations, with effect from 1 January 2007.
It further recommended to the General Assembly that the International Organization for Migration (IOM) be admitted to membership in the Pension Fund, effective 1 January 2007, subject to the Fund's Secretary/CEO confirming to the General Assembly that IOM fully satisfied all conditions for Fund membership.
The Board will meet its obligation under article 14 of the Regulations of the Fund to report to the General Assembly on the operations of the Fund at least once every two years.
