Deputy Secretary-General meets Bangkok staff
Posted: Monday, 18 May 2009, Bangkok | Author: ESCAP
Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro last Friday met Bangkok-based staff members in a dialogue moderated by 
Under-Secretary-General Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
Ms. Migiro, who was ending a two-day visit to Thailand, following her mission to Viet Nam earlier in the week, also chaired a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM). The RCM, chaired by the ESCAP Executive Secretary, brings together about 30 UN regional offices and affiliate entities.
During the dialogue, the DSG discussed challenges facing the UN and addressed various staff issues raised by the Staff Council, among them the new internal justice system, new contractual arrangements and staff mobility.
In her opening remarks, DSG Migiro stated that given the current global economic crisis and the many challenges facing the Organization, the UN system needed to work together more closely and effectively than ever before.
Answering a question on challenges facing the UN, Ms. Migiro reflected on her own experience in addressing the lack of public 
awareness of the achievements of the Organization, recalling that her friends and acquaintances had wondered why she wanted to join the UN, which they thought was irrelevant and unproductive.
“As someone who comes from Tanzania – from Africa, and as a woman, I have seen the work of the UN first hand. I know what the UN has done,” Ms. Migiro told the staff members, adding: “We are all challenged with the duty of sharing… singing the work of the UN to others.”
The RCM is a good example of how the UN could deliver as one at the regional level, noted Ms. Migiro.
This is DSG Migiro’s second visit to ESCAP, and she took the opportunity to thank all UN staff for their efforts in servicing the Asia-Pacific region. Specifically, she noted the structural changes made by the ESCAP Executive Secretary to create more focused services to Member States, as well as the deepening relationship with sub-regional organizations such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Earlier on Thursday, the DSG chaired a meeting of the RCM, during which she exchanged views with members on the UN system-wide response to the global 
financial and economic crisis, including the nine joint initiatives for action endorsed by the Chief Executive Board in its April session [First Regular Session of 2009 - CEB/2009/1 (unedited version)].
Ms. Migiro placed particular emphasis on the Monitoring and Analysis initiative, which calls for the establishment of a UN system-wide vulnerability monitoring and alert mechanism to track developments and report on political, economic, social and environmental dimensions of the current crisis. In that connection, and following the last G20 Summit, the possible role of the RCM in monitoring the impact of the financial crisis on the poor and vulnerable groups was also discussed.
The DSG expressed her strong support for the established positive linkages and coordination of work between the RCM and the Asia-Pacific Regional Directors Team (RDT), and stressed her commitment to institutionalizing the linkages between the High-Level Committee on Programmes and RCM, in a similar way that the Regional Directors Team mirrors the UN Development Group at the regional-level.
DSG Migiro also met with the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand on Thursday.