TheBAFUNCSNewsletter

September 2016 No 70

• The 39th Annual Reunionand General Assembly

• UNDP & field programmes

• Members again write toThe Times on diverse topics

• Regional activities

• Report of the ExecutiveCommittee for 2015/2016

• Membership news

British Association of Former United Nations Civil Servants

In this issue

One of the Saturday outings at this year’s Annual Reunion in Bournemouth was to Kingston Lacey house at nearbyWimborne

Note from the Editor

Our 39th Annual Reunion in Bournemouth was a greatopportunity to relax by the beautiful English seaside. To

emphasise that the social aspects are the main reason that mostof us go to reunions, we print a description of that aspect beforethe formal report of the Annual General Assembly.

The speakers at this year Reunion were perhaps more seriousthan they often are, but none the less held our attention. Sir

Mark Lyall Grant gave us great insight into current thinkingon international security, while Clare Short fascinated us witha more personal view of the UK’s role in international relationsover the past 40 years or so. As usual, their presentations were ahighlight of the Annual Reunion.

Once again, Sheila Macrae has gathered interestinginformation from all the regions and sent in the pictures.

She was also the creator of the 40th anniversary questionnaire,which appears in the centre of this issue. Please take the time topull it out, fill it in and send it to Sheila, by mail or scannedinto an email. She has put all the details at the bottom of thelast page. The Executive Committee hopes that your responseswill shape the future of our Association.

Alan hall has contributed another reminiscence from his timein Rome: more work-related this time. He outlines the

major impact that the establishment of UNDP had on the wayAgencies ran their field programmes.

The deadline for contributions to the March 2017 issue isMonday, 6 February, If you wish to try out an idea beforewriting, I can be contacted by phone: 0033 68 117 5387, byletter: Magheross, Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, Ireland or,preferably, by e-mail (editor@bafuncs.org) easily accessed byclicking on the link on the contacts page of the BAFUNCSwebsite.

Clyde Reynolds

BAFUNCS Newsletter No 70September 2016

The Editor and the Executive Committee of the British Association of Former United NationsCivil Servants accept no responsibility for the opinions expressed in reports, articles andadvertisements published in the Newsletter or for the accuracy of the information given.Furthermore, mention of any product, service, organization or company in the Newsletterdoes not necessarily represent an endorsement by the Association.

Website: http://www.bafuncs.org, e-mail: editor@bafuncs.org

BAFUNCSc/o International Maritime Organization4 Albert EmbankmentLondon SE1 7SR, UK

Officers of the AssociationPresidentEdward Mortimer CMG (UN)Vice-PresidentsDavid Axford (WMO)Ron Chamberlin (UN)Sheila Cooper (WHO)Sir Richard Jolly (UNICEF/UNDP)Bryan Suitters (WHO)Honorary Vice-PresidentsIrene Chamberlain (ILO)Erik Jensen (UN)Sir Richard JollyMichael Kaser (UN)Executive CommitteeChairmanRobert England (UNDP)Vice-ChairmanJune Hargreaves-Beer (WHO)Secretary Annie Kean (IMO)TreasurerMichael Davies (IBRD/FAO/)Elected MembersAndy Flatt (UN[ECA]/ESCAP)Bill Jackson (UNV)Joyant Mitra (FAO)Clyde Reynolds (FAO/WMO)John Stares (UNFCCC)Enid Steward Goffman (UN/WHO)Co-opted MembersMarilyn Carr (UNIFEM/UNDP)Colin Davis (UNICEF)Ziaul Islam (WHO)Sheila Macrae (UNFPA)David Nott (ILO)OthersMichael Askwith (UNDP)Special Coordinator UNCRPSheila Cooper/Colin Davis, website managersHow to contact BAFUNCSMembership (other than subscriptions)Membership Secretary, Forge HouseBeenham Berks RG7 5NXE-mail: membership@bafuncs.orgManagement of subscriptionsSubscriptions Secretary John Stares7 Cheney Hill, Heacham, Kings LynnPE31 7BLe-mail john2bonn@yahoo.co.ukPensionsAndy Flatt, Southgarth, 2 Caister RdBarton-upon-Humber DN18 6AHE-mail: pensions@bafuncs.orgHealth insurance and related mattersMichael Davies, Meadowcroft, Field Road, Kingham, Oxon OX7 6YRE-mail: mikedvd@hotmail.comNewsletter and publicationsClyde Reynolds (see contact details right)Administration and related mattersThe Secretary, Hayward House 18 Pelhams Walk, Esher, Surrey KT10 8QDE-mail: secretary@bafuncs.org Welfare supportNational Welfare/Support Coordinator 43 Godwins Close, Ashworth, Wilts SN12 8LDE-mail: welfare@bafuncs.org Website:E-mail: website@bafuncs.org

Features

8 National Security and the United Nations SystemSummary of a Presentation by Sir Mark Lyall Grant

9 Geneva 2018, advance notice of annual reunion

10 Britain’s role in the world – the need for a fundamental rethink?Presentation by Clare Short

17 King’s Lynn 12–14 May 2017: our 40th annual reunion

22 How UNDP increased its power at the expense of the executing agenciesAlan Hall takes a backward glance at developments in field programmes

24 Dear Sir, continuedMichael Davies presents more of members’ press musings

25 Bored – moi?Marjorie Richardson muses on an active retirement

25 Progress on global warming agreementUN SG congratulates China and the USA

26 Our Pension FundMessage to BAFUNCS members from ExCo

Reports

2 Report of the 39th Annual Reuniona good time in Bournemouth

4 Report of the 39th Annual General Assembly by Marylin Carr

18 Responsibilities of Executive Committee members and advisersby Annie Kean

19 Regional activitiescompiled by Sheila Macrae

27 Irene Chamberlain and Pat BrownObituaries for two very active members now sadly missed

Columns

28 Membership newscompiled by Joyant Mitra and the Editor

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THE BAFUNCSNEWSLETTER the contentsNo 70

The 39th BAFUNCS Annual Reunion and General Assembly

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The 2016 Annual Reunion was held in the Norfolk Hotelin Bournemouth, an imposing building whose comfortablelounges greeted arrivals on the Friday afternoon.Registration accomplished and rooms occupied, theparticipants settled down to tea and conversation until itwas time for a welcome drink and a pleasant buffet dinner.The Norfolk Hotel proved to be very comfortable and itsinformal buffet meals on Friday evening and for breakfastwere much appreciated.The Saturday dinner was as festiveas usual. The food was good and the staff proved friendlyand helpful.

As usual, the business part of the meeting, the AnnualGeneral Assembly started promptly on Saturday morning:the President opening the session with the minimumformality. As there were no particularly contentious issues,the agenda was swiftly consumed, leaving only a minorportion for Sunday. This allowed the participants plentyof time for questions after the two speakers had madetheir presentations.

We were priviledged to be able to hear an informativeand surprisingly frank talk on Security from Sir MarkLyall Grant, the prime minister’s National SecurityAdvisor, which generated plenty of interest.

As well as the two interesting and lively speakers, thereunion provided an opportunity for members to meetand converse. Then there were three splendid excursionson the Saturday afternoon.

Kingston LacySome of us went to Kingston Lacy, a National Trustproperty near Wimborne originally owned by the Bankesfamily, whose desire was to surround themselves with fine art and sculpture. Within this beautiful house wecould look at its important collection of art, includingworks by Rubens, Titian and Tintoretto, in our own time.Knowledgable volunteers in each room provided excellent

guidance. As well as the famous paintings, we wereenthralled by a collection of exquisite carvings and thelargest private collection of Egyptian artefacts in theUnited Kingdom. Outside there are sweeping lawns,woodland walks, a Japanese garden and a kitchen garden.ideal for a leisurely stroll on a warm day. However, thehouse was so interesting that no-one had time for muchof a stroll or to try out the tea room or gift shop.

Exbury GardensThose who visited Exbury Gardens enjoyed a verypleasant scenic drive through part of the New Forest,helped by the sunny weather. The Gardens, a spectacular200 acre site, hold the world-famous RothschildCollection of rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and raretrees and shrubs. May is possibly the best time of year tovisit these beautiful gardens as the rhododendrons andazaleas are in bloom at this time. The tea room and giftshop provided awelcome rest stop.

Salisbury The group who travelled to Salisbury were treated to acaptivating tour on foot. It is a very old and historic city,which received its city charter in 1227, under the name ofNew Sarum. BAFUNCS members were enthralled by themany historic buildings in a great state of preservationand were delighted to meet the the city’s newly electedMayor. The magnificent cathedral, which has the tallestchurch spire in England, dates back to 1092 and thefoundation stones of the present building were laid in1220. It has the largest cloister and Cathedral Close inBritain. Its Chapter House contains the best preserved ofthe four original Magna Carta manuscripts dating from1215 A.D. Disappointingly, what might have been thehighlight of this tour, this was not available to be viewedat the time of our visit.

Kingston Lacy’s formal gardens BAFUNCS party greeted by the newly-elected Mayor of Salisbury

Saturday evening saw 80 people sit down to a three coursebanquet, which was appreciated by all. At the end of themeal, the Loyal Toast was proposed by Clare Short, ourSunday speaker, followed by our President’s proposing thetoast to the Association. The evening ended with a musicrecital by Sheila Colby playing a Paraguyan harp. Thisblended some lively exciting pieces with more restful musicand rounded off the evening very pleasantly.

Sunday morning started with the customary twominutes’ silence in tribute to those who have given theirlives in the service of the United Nations and the cause of peace. The floor was then given to our speaker, the Rt. Hon. Clare Short, Politician and formerly MP forBirmingham and Secretary of State for InternationalDevelopment. The title of her speech was “Britain’s Rolein the World, the need for a fundamental rethink”, which

was very well received. Clare Short outlined thedevelopment of foreign policies since the end of theSecond World War, and called for much greaterinternational cooperation to solve the evident problemsof poverty and conflict in today’s world. To this end, shewould like to see the creation of a new network around whichall those who shared an alternative vision could cluster andwork together to elaborate a more constructive role for Britainin the world – which could in time influence the mainstreamUK foreign policy outlook.

After a lively and involved question and answer session,the meeting turned to any other business, including a reporton the Second and Third Witness Seminars.

After the valediction, the President closed the meeting andwe all fell to final conversations with our friends andcolleagues before leaving for our own homes.

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Saturday night’sdinner was enjoyedby all and roundedoff with a charmingrecital of Paraguayanharp music

Item 1: Opening by the PresidentThe President, Edward Mortimer, welcomed allparticipants and advised the meeting that apologiesfor absence had been received from David and DianaAxford, Rosemary Ap Rees, Robert and SandraEngland and Erik Jensen.

The President welcomed those members who werepresent from overseas: Sue Block-Tyrell, Coby Sikkensand Richard and Carol Saynor from Geneva andneighbouring France, Else Larsen from Denmark andSusan Katzmann from Vienna.

The Annual Reunion sent a message of best wishesto Dame Margaret Anstee a BAFUNCS Vice-President, who was recovering from a dislocated hipand would shortly reach her 90th birthday.[Sadly,Dame Magaret passed away on 25th August.]

Sue Block-Tyrrell delivered a message from theWHO Association of Former Staff Members inGeneva, observing that her Association continued toensure that returning WHO retirees were madeaware of BAFUNCS’ work.

Item 2: “National security and the UNsystem”

The president introduced Sir Mark Lyall Grant who wasformerly UK Representative to the United Nations and iscurrently the Prime Minister’s National Security Adviser’who spoke on the above subject and answered subsequentquestions. The presentation is reported upon inAppendix 1.

Item 3: Reports, accounts and budget

(a) Report of the General Assembly held in Hollingbourne,May 2015

The Report was contained in Newsletter No. 68 and wastaken as read.

(b) Report of the Executive Committee for 2015/2016(AR/2016/04)

The Report of the Executive Committee was containedin Newsletter No. 69 and was taken as read. Members ofthe Committee were introduced by the Chairman,Michael Davies.

(c) Report of the Treasurer - Accounts for 2015 andProposed Budget for 2016 (AR/2016/05)

The Treasurer Bryan Suitters presented the accounts andthe budget which were circulated in Newsletter No 69

Report of the 39th Annual General Assembly The Norfolk Hotel, Bournemouth13–15 May 2016

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The President, Edward Mortimer

Bryan Suitters

Marilyn Carr Rapporteur

and which were taken as read. In answer to a questionfrom Maggie Heraty, the Treasurer explained the workingsof the Life Membership Fund which was used to payassessed annual subscriptions for those who had taken outlife memberships and which was an internal accountingmechanism. Increases in the life expectancy of memberswould probably require a subvention from the regularfunds of the association in the near future.

Bryan Suitters was standing down as Treasurer after25 years of service to the Association and the Presidentthanked him for his long service and presented him witha gift in recognition of his work.

The Assembly also expressed its thanks to Mrs ElsaBrathaug who was also standing down as HonoraryAuditor, for her work over the past several years.

Item 4: Resolutions

The following resolutions, having been duly proposed andseconded, were put to the Assembly and approvedunanimously. a) That the Report of the General Assembly 2015 be

acceptedb) That the Report of the Executive Committee

2015/2016 be acceptedc) That the accounts for 2015 be accepted and the budget

for 2016 be approved.

Item 5: Elections for 2016/2017(AR/2016/06)

The following, having been duly proposed and seconded,were elected by acclamation:

National OfficersPresident Edward MortimerVice-Presidents Ronald Chamberlin

David Axford Sheila Cooper Bryan Suitters

Vice-Chairman June Hargreaves-Beer Secretary Annie KeanTreasurer Michael Davies

Members of the Executive Committee Andy Flatt Bill Jackson Joyant MitraClyde ReynoldsJohn StaresEnid Steward-Goffman

The position of Chairman remained vacant as it was notpossible to comply with the requirements of the

Constitution in proposing a candidate this year. RobertEngland had agreed to become Chairman and will beappointed by the Executive Committee through the co-option process. The meeting agreed with that proposal byacclamation.

Item 6: Report on the BAFUNCSBenevolent Fund 2015(AR/2016/07)

The report of the Benevolent Fund was presented byCyril Groom, Chairman of the Trustees. The Trusteesheld their Spring and Autumn meetings in IMO Londonand met informally on the afternoon of 13th May 2016.Audited accounts can be found in the Fund’s formalreport in Newsletter No 69. Cyril noted that there hadbeen changes to the Trustees this year, Brenda Suiterswas standing down after many years work and her placewas being taken by Teri Jezeph. Geoff Ward had alsobeen appointed as a Trustee and taken over as Clerk to theBenevolent Fund following John Miller’s untimely death.

Cyril noted with satisfaction that the Fund’s assets hadbeen drawn down somewhat due to the grants approvedthis year. He felt that this would satisfy the CharityCommission which does not like to see a charity buildingup its funds without using them. Four grants totalling£17,000, included one for respite care, two for necessaryhome improvements to ensure that the recipients couldremain in their own homes, and one for a mobility scooter.The ‘petty cash fund’ scheme operated by six regions hascontinued to provide small gifts to the elderly,housebound and sick as an encouragement and assurancethat they are not forgotten. The fund was consideringproviding a similar funding to the Overseas Region.

Cyril expressed thanks to members who havegenerously made donations to the Fund and the Trusteesfor their support and valuable inputs during the year.

Annual General Assembly 2016 continued(Items 4, Resolutions, 5: Elections for 2016/2017 and 6: Report of the BAFUNCS Benevolent Fund)

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Cyril Groom

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Item 7: Report of the meeting ofRegional Representatives(held on 13th May, 2016)

A report on the Regional Representatives meeting on13th May was made to the AGM by Sheila MacraeRegional Convener.

The primary focus of the meeting had been theproposal to undertake a review of BAFUNCS’activities on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of theAssociation. Some initial ideas were discussed but itwas agreed that a simple ‘questionnaire’ should becirculated to members (in the centre of thisNewsletter) to elicit their opinions as to the suitabilityof current BAFUNCS activities and ask for theirsuggestions for future changes to meet the needs ofretirees in the present century. The regions would beincluded in this process by providing them withdiscussion points for any meetings that they may wishto hold about reform and including their comments inthe final analysis. This could be supplemented byregional meetings on the same theme and anyconclusions would, in due course, be presented to theAnnual Reunion. The possibility of a suitablecelebration of the 40th anniversary, and some ideas forthe same, was also discussed.

The meeting also discussed the need for regions tobecome more active in the nominations process and tothis end the Executive Committee was requested toinitiate the process of obtaining regional proposalsbefore the names of centrally nominated names wascirculated as it was felt that the current procedure ‘pre-empted’ regional names from being proposed.

The meeting was also advised of an improvedprocess for updating the BAFUNCS website, as Colin Davis had been co-opted to the ExecutiveCommittee to act, inter alia, as a conduit for regionalcommunications both in respect of the website andfrom the Committee to the regions.

Marilyn Carr explained the work she had beenundertaking in respect of UNA youth groups withthe principal aim being to impart an understandingof what a career in the UN system meant rather thanhow they could enter the system. A successful trialhad been concluded at the London School ofEconomics which would continue this year andwhich had resulted in two participants receivinginternships at the UN. A second was due tocommence with Reading University with the supportof Oxford Region. There were possibilities for otherregions (such as at Edinburgh or GlasgowUniversities) and Marilyn would be interested to hearfrom members who wished to support this work,bearing in mind that expansion of the programmewhile desirable, should not outstrip the ability of theAssociation to support it

Annual General Assembly 2016 continued(Items 7: Report of the meeting of Regional Representatives;

The General Assemblyparticipants joined inlively discussions onthe Reports and withthe guest speakers

Item 8: Commemoration

The President requested Philomena Guillebaud toread the Preamble to the UN Charter, following thepractice of previous meetings and then invited thosepresent to observe a minute’s silence in memory ofthose who have given their lives for the UN and thoseof our members who died in the past year, particularlyPat Brown our former Chairperson.

Item 9: Britain’s role in the World, theneed for a fundamental rethink

The President introduced Clare Short, Britain’s firstInternational Development Secretary and respectedLabour politician, who resigned from the Blair governmenton a matter of principle over its non-involvement of theUN during the build up to the Iraq invasion. Ms Shortspoke on the above subject and answered subsequentquestions. The presentation and discussions are reportedupon in Appendix 2.

Item 10: Any other business

i) Report on Second and Third First Witness Seminars

The President informed the meeting on the results ofthe three Witness Seminars held to mark the UN’s 70thanniversary. He considered them all to have beensuccessful and noted that the number of participantshad grown from seminar to seminar with some 100persons attending the final seminar in Church House,Westminster. The conclusions from each seminar hadbeen forwarded to the appropriate British governmentministry and in the case of the seminar on the UN’sHumanitarian activities, also to the Secretariat of theWorld Humanitarian Summit. He thanked MichaelAskwith, Martin Barber and Richard Jolly for the workthat they had put in to the seminars.

Michael Askwith then told the meeting about theintention to publish the seminars’ deliberations in aspecial edition of the Bulletin of the Institute ofDevelopment Studies, University of Sussex. Bill Jacksonadvised the meeting on the progress in producing theGuide to the UN Careers Record Project holdings. ii) 2017 Annual Reunion

John Stares of the Cambridge Region organizingcommittee invited those present to the next AnnualReunion to be held in Kings Lynn from 12 to 14 May2017.iii) The League of Nations centenary book project

Michael Davies updated the meeting on the progress inresearching and writing the book to record the legacy ofSir Eric Drummond and his League Secretariat

colleagues. He indicated that it was hoped to hold aworkshop on the team’s findings later this year or earlyin 2017. On a suggestion by the President there wasgeneral agreement that if at all possible the book shouldbe launched in 2018 when we hold the Annual Reunionin Geneva.iv) Annual reunion in Geneva?

The members present were asked to indicate their interestin attending an Annual Reunion if it were to be held inGeneva, possibly in 2018, and a majority indicated theirinterest in Geneva as a venue.v) Humanitarian Aid Workers memorial

Maggie Heraty briefed the meeting on progress in creatinga memorial for humanitarian aid workers to be situated onthe South Bank, London, near the Globe theatre. Theproject was entering the design phase and a total budget ofaround £250,000 was required to bring the project tocompletion. She also noted that World Humanitarian Daywas being celebrated this year on 18th August.vi) UNJSPF

Philomena Guillebaud asked why the UNJSPF annualtax statements had not yet been received. Sue Block-Tyrrell advised that she had asked the Geneva UNJSPFSecretariat about this, but had not received a reply.

Item 11: Valediction and vote of thanksMichael Askwith gave the Valediction and proposed avote of thanks to the South Central Region for organizingthis year’s reunion.

Michael Davies then proposed a vote of thanks to thePresident for presiding over the Assembly and, there beingno further business, the President declared the meetingclosed.

8: Commemoration, 9: Britain’s role in the World, the need for a fundamental rethink,and 10: AOB and 11: Valediction and vote of thanks)

Maggie Heraty talking on the Humanitarian Aid Workers memorial

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Sir Mark introduced his speech by commenting that weobviously lived in a very dangerous and unpredictableworld, which had become only too clear to him duringhis five and a half years as UK Ambassador to the UnitedNations. As a result, he was very pleased that during thefirst few months in his new role as National SecurityAdviser in the UK, he had been able to contribute toputting together a new Five Year National SecurityStrategy (alongside the Strategic Defence and SecurityReview), which sets out a very positive vision for thecountry.

He noted that, in addition to emphasizing some of the‘hard’ power aspects of national security such as nucleardeterrence, the strategy also put a lot of emphasis onenhancing ‘soft’ power aspects including the use ofdiplomatic services and of development assistance. Itreaffirmed the UK’s commitment to meeting the 2% ofGDP target for defence spending and the 0.7% of GNItarget for development assistance, which makes the UKthe only G20 country to meet these two targets andincreases its influence around the world when talkingabout development issues. The strategy also focuses onmultilateralism (in a way that the previous Five YearDocument did not) and sets out very clearly that the UK– being the only country to be a Permanent Member ofthe UN Security Council as well as part of the EU, NATO,the Commonwealth, G7, G20, OECD, WTO, IMF andthe World Bank – sits at the heart of a rules-basedinternational order. The strategy gives top priority tohelping to strengthen this rules-based international orderand its institutions, including encouraging reform toenable further participation of growing powers.

He pointed out that the Government recognised thevalue of multilateralism and the value of the UnitedNations, and noted that, at the recent press conferencegiven by David Cameron and President Obama inLondon, both drew attention to some of the jointchallenges to security that they had overcome over the lastsix years, including the Iran Nuclear Agreement; the firstever global and legally binding deal on climate change;turning around prospects for Somalia (including defeatingpiracy); and helping the countries of West Africa to defeatthe Ebola outbreak – all issues in which the UnitedNations was absolutely critical to the success of theinternational community.

But the rules-based international order faces a lot ofchallenges. He had been struck during his time at theUnited Nations how, after a shift towards a more liberaldirection at the end of Cold War (including a series ofnew initiatives such as the International Criminal Court,the Human Rights Council, and the Beijing Platform forWomen), there has been a push back against what manycountries saw as being Western Liberal values. Thiserosion of a rules-based international order (making it

harder to reach consensus and to tackle many globalthreats), was in fact identified in the UK National SecurityStrategy as being one of the four overarching challengesand threats facing national security in the UK.

He noted that challenges facing the UN SecurityCouncil had been one of the issues discussed at the ThirdWitness Seminar (on Security and Peace) co-organized byBAFUNCS in London in January 2016, and that one ofthe conclusions of that meeting had been that the SecurityCouncil is only as good as its individual members allow itto be. In recent years, Russia has undoubtedly challengedthe effectiveness of the Security Council throughviolations of international law in Crimea and Ukraine, aswell as its actions in Syria, and now China threatens to doso through militarization of the South China Sea.

However, he said he believed that the United Nationsis an indispensible forum for resolving hard securitychallenges – pointing to Syria, Libya and the Yemen asexamples. In all three cases, the international communityis relying on three individual UN Envoys, backed by theinternational system, to find solutions.

Sir Mark then highlighted two topical issues which arehigh on his agenda as National Security Adviser andwhich have a strong international resonance. The first ofthese was counter-extremism, which (together withcounter terrorism) was identified as one of the four topthreats in the National Security Strategy. He pointed tothe narrowing gap between terrorism and extremism

Annual Reunion 2016 continued (Appendix 1)

National Security and the United Nations SystemSummary of a presentation by Sir Mark Lyall Grant

Sir Mark Lyall Grant

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which resulted in authorities having less and less time topin down plots during the planning phase, and felt thatthis increased scope and pace was being exacerbated bythe new global infrastructure of the internet which allowsextremism to cut through all traditional nationalprotections and reach into the homes of vulnerable people.He mentioned plans to embark on an approach togalvanize international action on the back of theSecretary-General’s UN Plan against Violent Extremismwhile progressively expanding consensus beyond this totackle extremism itself.

The second of the topical issues was migration withthe situation in Europe having dominated the headlinesfor the past year, but which very much needs to be seen asa global issue. He pointed out that of the world’s 244million migrants, only 25% are displaced forcibly and only20 million of those qualify as refugees. The issue has beencomplicated by a new upsurge in the numbers of economicmigrants which makes it more difficult for existingmechanisms to respond to those who are genuine refugees.There is a need to break the link between genuine refugeesand economic migrants, which will involve (global)measures to reduce the need to migrate, bettermanagement of migration flows and more support forhost countries. Last year, some headway was made with theSustainable Development Goal (SDG) target to ensuresafe, orderly and regular migration including through wellmanaged policies. This year presents an importantopportunity to build on this through a series ofinternational conferences looking at the nexus ofhumanitarian support and migration. These include: the

World Humanitarian Summit to be held later in May;the G20 summit to be held in early September; and twointernational conferences on Large Movements ofRefugees and Migrants to be held at the United Nationslater that month (one hosted by the Secretary-Generaland the other by President Obama). This is a realopportunity to turn what at the moment looks like aEuropean crisis into something which the internationalcommunity as a whole needs to recognize and manage,and will involve the crafting of a new internationalconsensus around the principles of the 1951 RefugeeConvention, including measures to reduce ‘irregular’migration which undermines the system to protectgenuine refugees.

Sir Mark concluded his talk by mentioning two thingson the United Nations he would like to see as NationalSecurity Adviser. The first was a better understanding ofthe UN system pointing out that organizations such asBAFUNCS had an important role to play in this. Thesecond was the need for the next Secretary General to bea strong one. He pointed out that the UK has pioneeredthe move towards greater transparency in the selectionprocess, including, for the first time ever, rounds ofhearings in the General Assembly, where candidates putforward their platforms to UN member states.

Edward Mortimer thanked the speaker and opened thefloor for questions.

We were all honoured by Sir Mark's confidence in speakingto us, given the sensitivity of his current office. This is why,exceptionally, we must apologize to readers for giving only asummary of his remarks rather than the usual full text.

Annual Reunion 2015 continued (Appendix 1)National Security and the United Nations System

The Geneva members of the Overseas Region aredelighted to welcome the 2018 Annual Reunion andGeneral Assembly. For those members of BAFUNCSwho either know or have worked in the RégionLémanique, the AR will be a wonderful occasion torevisit their favourite haunts. And for those memberswho have not had The Great Good Fortune to visitthe city of Calvin, the AR provides just the opportunityto correct this oversight.

The beauty of the environment, the majesty of theAlps and Mont Blanc, the splendour of lake Léman,the charm of the Jura - all combine in making thisbeautiful region the heart of Europe. And Geneva isof course the home of many specialised agencies,the European Office of the United Nations,numerous international NGOs and multinationalcorporations: Genève internationale will be awonderful host for BAFUNCS in May 2018.

The Overseas Region has established a smallorganizing committee to plan the Annual Reunion.

The meeting will most likely be held in the verycomfortable facilities of the Novotel, located on rueZurich in central Geneva on the right bank: the hotelis close to both the railway station and the Lake. Thereare good connections to Geneva (Cointrin) airport.The Novotel is in the area of Geneva known as “lesPâquis”, full of cafes, restaurants and small shops.

The committee is planning a rich programme forthe annual reunion, taking advantage of theproximity of UN organisations in Geneva. There is avery wide choice for the Saturday afternoon visitsgiven the many cultural, historical and scientific sitesof renown in Geneva and the wider area.

The reunion will be held on 11, 12 and 13 May2018. Please reserve these dates for what will be agreat weekend for BAFUNCS members in Geneva.Further information will be provided in the next issuesof the Newsletter in 2017 and early 2018.

John Burley

Annual reunion, Geneva, May 2018:

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Clare Short introduced her presentation by saying that thecase she wanted to argue was that the world is facing somevery serious dangers, and that the UK is – in many ways –acting to exacerbate those dangers rather than making acontribution to mitigating and resolving them. The UK is amiddle ranking power with considerable diplomatic, militaryand development competence. It could do a lot by workingwith others to reinforce the international rules-based systemthat it claimed to believe in, rather than desperately hangingon to an increasingly threadbare claim to ‘global reach andglobal influence’.

Changes in the UK since the Second World WarShe said that the UK had seen its role in the world changemassively over the past 70 years. At the end of the SecondWorld War, the country was economically exhausted, but theEmpire was still intact. It managed to disentangle the reinsof Empire reasonably well, pushed by a US that did not atthat stage believe in colonialism, and even more by theresistance of colonized people. But she feared the UK was leftwith a hangover of an unhealthy desperation to be a majorplayer on the world stage, encapsulated in that deeplyunattractive image of itself as wanting to ‘punch above itsweight’. She believed it was this that had led to an obsessionwith its special relationship (with the US); being a nuclearpower; and retaining a seat on the Security Council, at allcosts. She referred to a very readable book by Peter Riddell,the former assistant editor of the Times, entitled Hug themclose , which showed that every prime minister since 1945had been obsessed with maintaining the special relationshipwith the US, apart from Edward Heath – whose whole focuswas fixed on getting the UK into the EU.

She thought it hardly surprising that Britain should havetreasured its relationship with the US, as it adjusted to itsreduced role in the world – a reality reinforced by thedivisions of the Cold War. But in the post-Cold War world,where the US itself had an increasingly muddled sense of itsplace in the world and the problem of adjusting to its relativedecline and the rise of Asia, it had become increasinglyembarrassing for Britain to be so focused on hanging ontoAmerica’s coat tails. She was not suggesting that the UKshould fall out with the US or become hostile to it; rather thatthe UK should consider afresh the major dangers facing itand the world in general, and consider how better to manageits own interests and to contribute to a safer, more sustainableglobal order. She felt that such a fundamental rethink of UKpolicy would increase its effectiveness and make it a betterfriend of the US.

Foreign Policy in the United StatesShe pointed out that it was not uncommon for those whomake this argument to be attacked as anti-American, thoughit was surely not friendship to encourage an old friend intoever increasing folly. In describing the problems of the

current US position, she felt she could not do better than toquote from the very articulate lecture given by AmbassadorCharles W. Freeman2 on The End of the American Empireon April 2nd 2016

‘In the Cold War, we ruled the roost in a sphere of influence calledthe ‘free world’ – free only in the sense that it included everycountry outside the competing Soviet sphere of influence, whetherdemocratic or aligned with the United States or not. With the endof the Cold War, we incorporated most of the former Soviet sphereinto our own, pushing our self-proclaimed responsibility tomanage everything within it right up to the borders of Russia andChina. Russia’s unwillingness to accept that everything beyondits territory is ours to regulate is the root cause of the crises inGeorgia and Ukraine. China’s unwillingness to acquiesce inperpetual U.S. dominance of its near seas is the origin of thecurrent tensions in the South China Sea . . .

These American conceits are, of course, delusional. They are allthe more unpersuasive to foreigners because everyone can seethat America is now in a schizophrenic muddle – able to openfire at perceived enemies but delusional, distracted, andinternally divided to the point of political paralysis …

Congress may be on strike against the rest of the government, butour soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines remain hard at work.

Annual Reunion 2016 continued (Appendix 2)

Britain’s role in the world – the need for a

Clare Short

11

Since the turn of the century, they have been kept busy fighting aseries of ill-conceived wars – all of which they have lost or arelosing. The major achievement of multiple interventions in theMuslim world has been to demonstrate that the use of force is notthe answer to very many problems but that there are few problemsit cannot aggravate. Our repeated inability to win and end ourwars has damaged our prestige with our allies and adversariesalike. Still, with the Congress engaged in a walkout from itslegislative responsibilities and the public in revolt against the messin Washington, American global leadership is not much in evidenceexcept on the battlefield, where its results are not impressive.

Diplomacy-free foreign policy blows up enough things to liven upthe TV news but it generates terrorist blowback and it isexpensive. There is a direct line of causation between Europeanand American interventions in the Middle East and thebombings in Boston, Paris, and Brussels, as well as the flood ofrefugees now inundating Europe. And so far this century, wehave racked up over $6 trillion in outlays and future financialobligations in wars that fail to achieve much, if anything, otherthan breeding anti-American terrorists with global reach.

We borrowed money to conduct these military activities abroadat the expense of investing in our homeland. What we have toshow for staggering additions to our national debt is fallingliving standards for all but the ‘one percent’, a shrinking middleclass, a rising fear of terrorism, rotting infrastructure,unattended forest fires, and eroding civil liberties. Yet, with thenotable exception of Bernie Sanders, every major partycandidate for president promises not just to continue – but todouble down on – the policies that produced this mess’.

The speaker recommended that everyone should read thewhole of the lecture – and indeed Freeman’s lectures on theMiddle East in general – but hoped that this extractsummarized clearly what serious difficulties the US iscurrently facing, and pointed out that it is to this muddledthinking that British foreign policy is centrally dedicated.

Foreign Policy in the United KingdomThe recently published National Security Strategy andStrategic Defence Review commits the UK to almost everyobjective one can think of, but on the US relationship it says

‘the US is the leading global economic and defence power, andthe world continues to look to it to shape global stability and tolead international responses to crisis. The Prime Minister andthe President of the United States have recently reaffirmed theessential nature of our special relationship. The US is our pre-eminent partner for security, defence, foreign policy andprosperity. Our contribution to the special relationship includes:our European and global reach and influence; intelligence; thestrategic location of our overseas territories; as well as militaryinteroperability, and the UK’s ability to undertake war fightingindependently or as a lead nation in a coalition’.

The speaker pointed that that the document goes on tocommit to strengthening the interoperability with the US ofour Armed Forces so that they are better able to worktogether when required through regular planning andtraining together – and thus, it would seem, shows anintention to join in more failed wars.

She feared that Ambassador Charles Freeman was closerto reality than the UK’s Strategic Defence Review. The USwas in difficulty, making serious mistakes that exacerbatedthe problems of the Middle East and the danger of terroristattacks, and UK’s unconditional support simply enlarged theproblem. This, she felt, imposed a duty on those of us whounderstand the mistakes that are being made to cometogether and work to persuade public opinion that the UKcould make a much more useful contribution and that thecountry should refocus the central thinking on its foreignpolicy.

The adjustment of the 1997 government to the post Cold War world was a commitment to the establishment ofthe Department for International Development (DFID).This arose from Labour’s traditional commitment tostrengthening departmental arrangements on developmentbut this was the first establishment of a separate departmentheaded by a Cabinet Minister. DFID was allocated a growingbudget, but almost as importantly, as a full department it wasentitled to challenge UK policy on trade, environment, armssales, conflict resolution and so on. This was sometimesuncomfortable, The Foreign and Commonwealth Office wasvery upset by the establishment of the new department andwent out of its way to try to destabilize it; and the oldleadership in the Department of Trade and Industry wasastonished to find its views on Britain’s trade interestschallenged by this upstart department. There were similarreactions in other parts of Whitehall – on arms sales inparticular – but over time, the new department was seen to bea success and both the Chancellor of the Exchequer and thePrime Minister began to identify themselves with thedevelopment work of the government. It was in thegovernment’s second term, after 9/11, that the commitmentto the special relationship (with the US) took overwhelmingpriority and the disaster of the Iraq war unfolded.

The New Aid Strategy in the United KingdomIt was remarkable that the incoming Coalition governmentin 2010 committed to retain the separate department (fordevelopment) and the commitment to a budget of 0.7% ofGDP. And the Conservative government which took powerin 2015 retained that commitment. Cynics said that thishappened because the Conservative party was so anxious to‘decontaminate the Tory brand’, and that may have been partof the motive, but nonetheless, the UK ODA budget hasrisen from about £2.5 billion in 1997 to £12 billion in 2016.The speaker felt that a price had been paid for this. There hadbeen constant attacks in the media and from the right wingof the Conservative party on British development work and

fundamental rethink Presentation by Clare Short.

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this had led to defensiveness, aversion to risk, and massivebureaucratic regulation.

A new aid strategy alongside the Government’s NationalSecurity Strategy had been presented to Parliament by theChancellor of the Exchequer, with the support of (ratherthan by) the Secretary for International Development, inNovember 2015 as part of the Spending Review. Thefollowing are its priorities:l to allocate 50% of all DFID’s spending to fragile states and

regions – the current target is 30%;l to increase aid spending for the Syrian crisis and the

related region – this being hardly surprising – reflectingTreasury determination to minimise Syrian costs;

l to end all traditional general budget support – (which wassad, as budget support is the means to help countriesstrengthen their government systems rather thanparachute in aid which then comes to an end);

l to use an expanded cross-government Conflict, Stabilityand Security Fund (CSSF) to underpin the UK’s securityobjectives by supporting the international work of theNational Security Council (NCS) – this is to be a massivefund of over £1 billion per annum which is not to bemanaged by DFID and is to be focused on UK securityobjectives;

l to create a £500 million ODA crisis reserve to allow stillgreater flexibility to respond to emerging crises such as thedisplacement of Syrian refugees – the DevelopmentAssistance Committee of the OECD, which sets the ruleson what counts as official development assistance, allowsthe first year of spending on refugees to be counted;

l to fund a new £1 billion commitment to global publichealth (the ‘Ross Fund’) which will fund work to tacklethe most dangerous infectious diseases;

l to use a new cross-government Prosperity Fund, led by theNational Security Council, to drive forward the UK’s aimof promoting global prosperity – this being another majorfund not managed by DFID.The speaker said it would be interesting to see how this

policy rolled out. More and more money was being allocatedthrough departments other than DFID, and thedevelopment effort was to be tied in more tightly togovernment security policy objectives. However, she pointedout that the commitments to implement the SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs) and their focus on poverty hadbeen maintained.

Her conclusion was that there was a clear tension betweencommitment to a world that is more safe and stable becausepoverty is reduced, public services improved and conflictsresolved – which grows out of the core commitment tointernational development – and the support for a big growthin military spending, an expanding NATO and the currentmuddle of a military aggressive US foreign policy. Shethought it important to note that the UK’s increasedcommitment to development, which has now been

maintained for 20 years, had created this tension at the coreof UK foreign policy and therefore opened the opportunityto enhance the policy framework that follows from thedevelopment perspective. Following this course of actionwould require a shift in the UK relationship with the US to one where the UK felt able to disagree, vote differently in the Security Council, and refuse to join misguidedwarmongering (as Harold Wilson did to his eternal credit inthe case of Vietnam).

Current and Future CrisesThe speaker then turned to an outline (rather than anexhaustive account) of the crises facing the world so as to betterfocus on the way in which UK foreign policy should be shifted.

The first set of gathering crises she highlighted result fromclimate change. She said that suffering was already beingexperienced in increased droughts and floods and these werelikely to escalate and lead to the displacement of very largenumbers of people and the risk of more conflict. On this, theUK had adopted a different position to that of the US – andPresident Obama had bravely attempted to shift the USposition. On climate change, EU leadership had been strongand principled and for this reason, as well as many others, shebelieved we should do all we could to maintain the UKmembership of the EU – whatever the flaws in some of itsarrangements. She said there had been some backsliding bythe present government in relation to this policy within theUK but development policy was strongly committed to workon climate change, adaptation and resilience. She feared thatthe UK position on this question would be likely todeteriorate if the referendum were to result in a vote forBREXIT (which she thought unlikely).

The second major crisis that might well intensify and was(in her opinion) unlikely to be resolved for many years wasthe cluster of crises in the Middle East – and its links to thegrowth of Islamist terrorism worldwide. On this, she thoughtthat the US was tied to a massively unbalanced commitmentto Israel which was helping to inflame the region andthreaten Israel’s long-term future. And, just when PresidentObama seemed to be calling into question the USrelationships with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, the UKappeared to be determined to strengthen these alliances. Theclaim of UK support for an international rules-based systemwas called into question by our failure to take any action totry to require Israel to abide by international law. An EUpolicy that gave Israel privileged access to EU markets andvarious funds and programmes, without requiring it to abideby the commitments to international norms and humanrights (which are a condition of its trade treaties) led tojustified claims of hypocrisy and causes resentment andhostility to the EU in the region.

On this issue, the speaker felt that the UK could play amore constructive role and had historical responsibility thatshould encourage it to do so. It should be willing to: separatefrom US policy; help to push the EU to apply the conditions

Annual Reunion 2015 continued (Appendix 1)

Britain’s Role in the World – the Need for a Fundamental Rethink

13

contained in its trade Treaty; work with other allies todevelop a coalition committed to a just future for thePalestinians; and call for a halt to Israeli expansionism.

She felt that the UK also should work with others to bringan immediate end to the Syrian war rather than follow thecomplete muddle of US policy. The UK should similarlywork to try to defuse the growing Iranian/Saudi orSunni/Shia conflict, which had been exacerbated by theconsequences of the Iraq war and which threatenedprolonged instability and conflict in the region. The UK haddone well to support the Iranian nuclear deal but there weremany dedicated to undoing it. The UK’s increasedconcentration on its relationship with Saudi Arabia – whichshe presumed was led by an unhealthy focus on arms sales –made UK interventions unbalanced and unhelpful.

The third crisis arose from the prospects of the doublingof Africa’s population and the risk of a growth of instabilityin a very youthful, urbanizing continent on Europe’sdoorstep. This required a much more concentrated effort topromote jobs, public services and hope for the future. TheUK’s development efforts made a contribution here but thisissue required more focus from all relevant internationalinstitutions to prevent instability and conflict and give thepeople of the continent the chance of a better future.

The speaker’s view of the migration crisis was that theUK should commit to a renegotiation of the 1951Convention so that it was no longer necessary to arrive inorder to apply for asylum. It was this requirement that wasleading to the current system being run by criminals whospecialise in people smuggling. This requirement also madeit difficult to return economic migrants to their countries,and thus was undermining public support for a decentasylum system. But this renegotiation would only be possibleif each country agreed to receive reasonable numbers ofasylum seekers in a properly organized and fair way.

She thought that the issue of Al Qaeda/Isis terrorismwould remain a problem for some time to come, but could becontained and resolved if the UK’s policy towards the MiddleEast were intelligently reconsidered. She pointed to the UK’sprevious experience of Irish terrorism and to the experiencein continental Europe of various left wing groups – fromwhich lessons could be learned and applied.

She also felt that the expansion of NATO up to Russia’sborders should be reconsidered. She could not understandwhy Ukraine could not be encouraged to trade with bothRussia and Europe rather than to hope for membership ofthe EU and NATO. And in the South China Sea, where theUK is a very marginal player, she thought it was surely ineveryone’s interests to keep shipping lanes open rather thanescalate military spending and tension across the region.

Future Prospects and a Call for ActionIn the speaker’s view the future was not hopeless. She felt thatthe progress made in Paris on climate change was importantand that advances taking place in renewable energy

technologies were encouraging. She thought that currentpolicies towards the Middle East were so obviously flawedthat they had to change – but that it could get worse beforeit got better. Also, that the prospects for development inAfrica were considerable and with a large, young, educatedpopulation keen to embrace new technologies and a betterfuture, the prospects were bright. However, business as usualwould create intensifying problems. She agreed that the UKdid not have the capacity to change all of this alone but if itwere willing to shift focus, including being willing to considernegotiating away its nuclear weapons and to support arevamp of the UN Security Council to better reflect themodern world, it could help defuse some of the currentproblems, and even help the US to reconsider some of theerrors of its current policies. This would also be a shift inpriorities that the citizens of one of the most diverse countriesin the world could be proud of.

She concluded by suggesting that although there were manyvoices of criticism of UK foreign policy – on nuclear weapons,arms sales, Israel/Palestine, the special relationship, the EU,NATO, development policy, etc. – there was a lack of positivevision on how the UK could play a more constructive role thatwould better serve our own interests and those of the widerworld. There was no significant political party that was likely– as yet – to put forward such a strategy. And the establishmentthink tanks made their contributions within the existingconventional wisdom. Therefore, she wanted to suggest thatthose who were critical of current UK foreign policy – andthey are many – should try to create a new network aroundwhich all those who shared an alternative vision could clusterand work together to elaborate a more constructive role forBritain in the world – which could in time influence themainstream UK foreign policy outlook.

The President thanked the speaker and opened the floor toquestions:

Edward Mortimer asked whether, or why, given the changein leadership in the Labour Party, which should bring it morein line with the things the speaker had talked about, she did notthink it capable of putting forward a new approach on foreignpolicy and development assistance. Was a new extra-parliamentary body really needed to do this? Clare Shortreplied that the Labour Party is very divided over the Corbynleadership. Ironically, it was the Blairites who had supportedthe £3 membership system, where anyone could declarethemselves a “supporter” of the party and vote in all of the bigelections, because they thought that the party was too left wingand that bringing in the public would make it more moderate.But what happened was that the young and disgruntled alljoined up and voted for Corbyn, who then had to lead thewhole party. He used the right words about being inclusive, butthe office around him is not, and the Parliamentary LabourParty has been acting very badly. So the lead that should havecome has not materialized. What needs to be done is to saythat there are different points of view in the party – which ishealthy – and agree the process by which policy is to be

Presentation by Clare Short.

14

decided. The final decision will then be voted on at Conferenceand it would not be up to Corbyn or any other individual. – Butthis is not happening.

In addition, the Labour Party could never get a majoritygovernment having lost 40 seats in Scotland, yet the Toriescould easily lose the next election. We do need a changebecause at the moment we have what Quintin Hogg hadcalled an “elective dictatorship”, with very concentrated power.Labour needs to say – we will fight for every seat, but willrespect the outcome that the electorate gives us and if we needto make coalitions we will do so – around the principles westand for. With the probability that the Tories will be badlydamaged by the internal battle over the EU, the odds are thatthe next election will result in no overall control by any oneparty. If Labour play it sensibly they could be part of a goodcoalition government, and that is where British politics needsto go. She said that having seen concentrated power ingovernment, a bit of pluralism would be very healthy. So,Labour are under-performing and, although some of thechanges (including in foreign policy and developmentassistance) she sees as being needed should come from them,they probably aren’t going to. But this is where the bulk ofpublic opinion lies, so if we could articulate the needed changesmore intelligently – not just by criticizing, but by puttingforward a positive vision, then change could be promoted.

Maggie Heraty framed her question about theRussia/Ukraine conflict in the context of the Ukraine justhaving won the Eurovision song contest with a song whichcomplained about the Soviet expulsion of Crimean Tatars.She wondered if, in light of the speaker’s remarks aboutexpanding NATO up to the Russian borders, the fact thatUkraine would now host the next contest would inflame theexisting conflict. Clare responded that there is too muchmuddling up of entertainment with real life, but theUkraine/Russia conflict is a serious one which has to bedefused. She felt that this was true for all former SovietUnion states where there are substantial minorities ofRussian speakers. Of course, countries are entitled to theirindependence, but we also must respect those minorities ifthere is not to be endless trouble.

Susan Katzman kept with the theme of ‘info-tainment’and remarked that coming from Austria (where she lives) tothe UK, she is always struck by how much newspapers andother media in this country focus on what amuses people.She wondered what could be done to get young peopleincluding those in school to think seriously about importantissues facing the UK and the world in general. How couldpolitics become a significant part of the school curriculum?She also thought that the ‘youth’ vote on the EU would beaffected by the fact that the referendum is to take placeduring the Glastonbury Festival, and while universitystudents (mainly registered in the university towns) are onvacation. Clare pointed out that until very recently we hadschool curricula under the charge of Mr Gove, who wantedto change the history curriculum to reflect Britain’s greatness,and now wants us to leave the EU. However, young people

are overwhelmingly in favour of an open country, are nottroubled by increasing migration, and generally want to stayin the EU. But there is the issue of getting them to vote ---and there should certainly be postal votes for universitystudents and other measures to promote the ‘youth’ vote. Inaddition, they are a much smaller proportion of thepopulation than the over 60s Although this generation isseen as a fairly progressive one, older people who have tendedto vote for Labour are those who have lost out – the whiteworking class whose incomes have dropped. In fact the samegroup who in the US are voting for Mr Trump and whothroughout Europe are throwing up right wing sentiments.These dangerous sentiments shouldn’t be appeased – theyshould be listened to and managed. A large part of theproblem is growing inequality and the failure of governmentto find a way to help people to manage the changes that areresulting from globalization and new technologies. Everyoneneeds help to adjust to change so that large groups of thepopulation do not continue to lose out.

On the issue of the influence of the media, she felt thatnewspapers are deteriorating and being read by fewer andfewer people, and yet are influencing other media such asRadio 4 more and more. For instance, they had inflated theissue of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party and the BBCpushed it out as if it was the greatest crisis facing the country.The newspapers also tried to influence the election of theLondon Mayor through Muslim-smears, but Clare wasproud of Londoners who said quite clearly that they weregoing to have none of that.

Philip Daniel raised the question whether it is still correctto say that Britain’s foreign policy is influenced by theaggression of US foreign policy when, in fact, some wouldargue that since 2008 this is no longer the case and somethingelse has begun to emerge. Having lived in Washington DC forthe past 9 years, he said that one is aware not only of a liberalinclination to withdraw (which might be represented by theObama White House), but now also of the isolationistcampaigns of Trump and, to a lesser extent, Sanders. He askedthe speaker’s views on the approach for British foreign policytaking account of this redirection of US foreign policy of akind not seen since the 1920s/1930s. Clare agreed that therewere some interesting trends in US foreign policy, but wouldnot call it a redirection. Clearly the Obama administration,some of the press and various important people are talkingabout the instinct to immediate military action being notright and a mistake. Trump has voiced isolationist views, butthen suddenly says the opposite such as ‘bomb the hell out ofISIS’. But many senior Republicans are in favour ofwithdrawing from the Iran deal, and think that Obama isuseless because he didn’t authorize enough bombing in Syria.However, the American public has noticed what AmbassadorFreeman has noticed – that there have been lots of wars, lotsof money spent on wars, the world is a more dangerous place,and the US didn’t exactly win or achieve anything very much.This is where American public opinion lies, but the opinionof the political elite – including Hillary Clinton – does not.

Annual Reunion 2015 continued (Appendix 1)

Britain’s Role in the World – the Need for a Fundamental Rethink

Next year, 2017, marks the 40th Anniversary of the founding of BAFUNCS in 1977. The Executive Committeeproposes that this milestone be celebrated and commemorated nationally and/or in the Regions. In addition, thisRuby Anniversary offers an occasion for self-assessment to ensure that the Association is still relevant to the needsof current and future members. The Executive Committee has therefore prepared this survey for members tocomplete individually and for regions to discuss collectively at regional events.

Thank you for taking the time to think about the future of BAFUNCS and completing this survey for us.(If Joint Members wish to respond individually, please photocopy this form) Deadline for Completion: 31 October 2016

1. Respondent's Personal Details a) Name of Member (optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

b) Are you a: Single member (or surviving spouse) With a spouse/partner

Life member

c) Member's Date of Birth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

d) Sex: Male Female

e) Email address (if any) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

f ) Member's former UN Agency(ies) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

g) BAFUNCS Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2. BAFUNCS as an Organisation in the 21st Centurya) Please rank (using numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, where 1 is the top ranking) the main functions/roles of BAFUNCS

in their order of importance to you:n social networking/Annual Reunions . . . . . ..

n welfare support . . . . . . ..

n pensions/tax/benefits/medical insurance advice . . . . . . ..

n other: specify (e.g. Information Sheets, keeping abreast of topical UN issues) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

b) Is its current structure (President, National Executive Committee, Regional Groups) still appropriate? YES NO

If NO, what changes do you suggest? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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3. Membershipa) Do you have any suggestions as to how we could attract, encourage and engage new (especially younger)

members?

If YES, please give your ideas: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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BAFUNCS @ 40Have Your Say! Survey of Members

b) BAFUNCS provides new members with seven Information Sheets on different aspects of retirement.These are:1. Guide to BAFUNCS2. When a Pensioner Dies3. Accommodation for Older People4. Planning for Retirement in the UK5. Taxation in the UK6. Personal Information Checklists7. Guide to Welfare Support that BAFUNCS can provide

Is there any other information you would like to have (e.g. on Making a Will or a Lasting Power of Attorney)?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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4. CommunicationsThis is one area which has seen enormous change in recent years. BAFUNCS needs to keep up with this changeand to modernise its methods of communication (and possibly also to embrace social media, such as Facebook andTwitter in the future).

a) EmailsThis is the current preferred method of communication with members, but many of our older members donot have electronic links. The Regional Representatives are being asked to provide statistics on this.

Please tell us if you use email: YES NO

If YES, would you be happy to receive BAFUNCS communications by email? . . . . . .YES NO

b) NewsletterThe Newsletter in its present glossy hardcopy format is much appreciated by Members but is veryexpensive to print and post to all members.

Should we continue producing it in its present format, content and frequency? . . . . . . .YES NO

If NO, what would you change?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Would you accept/prefer receiving it electronically, with a copy on the website? . . . . . .YES NO

c) Website This has developed well in recent years but now needs both a dedicated webmaster (and support team)and also modernising to be more user-friendly and inter-active.

Do you use the website, even occasionally? YES NO

If YES, do you have suggestions for how it could be improved and re-structured and what informationcould be on it? (e.g. a Members' only section; an inter-active debate forum; email alerts whenever anew posting is added to the website, information on wider UN issues, etc.)?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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5. Benevolent Fund & Welfare Support; Advice on Pensions, Tax & Medical Insurance A group of Trustees (BAFUNCS members) manages the Benevolent Fund. BAFUNCS also has an ExCo member who liaises with Age UK as well as a National Welfare Officer

and Welfare Officers in the regions. These Officers give welfare and social support to members andsurviving spouses and help identify those who could benefit from the Benevolent Fund, or from advice onpensions, tax and medical insurance from the ExCo member responsible.

a) Do you think this current system of support and referral works well? YES NO

If NO, can you suggest how it could be improved?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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b) Have you asked for advice on pensions, tax or medical insurance? YES NO

If YES, was it useful? Please comment:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6. Annual ReunionThe Annual Reunion currently consists of lectures, dinners, excursions and the General Assembly/AGMover two nights (Friday-Sunday), hosted by a different region each year.

a) Have you ever attended an Annual Reunion? YES NO

b) Are you happy with the current format and frequency? YES NO

If NO, please say what you would like changed or why you have not attended. For example:

l Does this format need changing in style, frequency, or duration? Can it be simpler, shorter and thereforecheaper?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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l Should the AGM/General Assembly be part of the event? YES NO

l Could the AGM/General Assembly be held more simply - e.g, attached to an event in a region with noor only one night's accommodation? Is this feasible?)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

l Do you have other suggestions?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7. BAFUNCS Regional Aspectsa) Are you happy with the current regional structure and the activities (lunches, outings, etc)? YES NO

If NO, what would you like to change? For example:l Is the regional structure still appropriate or needed? YES NO

l What current activities (outings, two-day gatherings, lunches, talks, welfare support, etc.) interest you most?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .l What new/different activities would you like to see and which could attract members?

(e.g., theatre outings. talks to schools, get out into the community, etc.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .l How can regions within UK create better links and integration with Overseas (OVS) members?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .l Do you have any other suggestions?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8. Other ActivitiesIncluding the UN Careers Record Project, Witness Seminars, liaison with UNA and working with UNA Studentgroups, Surrey Region publication "Travellers' Tales", a forthcoming book on the Centenary of the League of Nations,and similar.

a) Have you contributed/are you currently contributing to one of these activitiesand/or would you be willing to do so in the future? YES NO

If YES, which activities? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

b) What other activities should BAFUNCS be involved in in the future? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

9. Do you have any other comments or suggestions, on any aspect of BAFUNCS or can you offer to help withanything? If so, please have your say here—and on additional pages if you wish

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Thank you very much for your time and your comments! Please remove these pages from the Newsletter and either:

l Scan and email them to sheilamacrae@gmail.com (preferred, if possible); orl Mail them to: Dr Sheila Macrae, 37 West Hill Court, Millfield Lane, London N6 6JJ

To be received by 31 October.

THANK YOU!!

She thought that Mrs Clinton was likely to be the nextPresident, but she would need to do some sort of deal withSanders to get the young Democrats to support her, and thisshould result in a more interesting package on foreign policy.So – there is some shift in thinking on foreign policy in theUS, and if we could also promote a more intelligent debatehere in the UK, then there seems to be an opportunity forchange in the right direction.

Omar Noman said that when Clare Short left, we lostone of the strongest voices in the Labour Party. He asked forher views on the BREXIT debate. Clare said that sheremembered (as would most people in the audience) theHarold Wilson referendum – for exactly the same reasons –it had nothing to do with national interest, but focused onmanagement of party divisions. The Tories took us into theEU, and then Labour was divided as to whether or nor it wasdesirable to stay – so Harold Wilson won the election on thebasis of a commitment to a referendum. At that time, thepolls showed that people were hostile to the EU, and in theCabinet people such as Barbara Castle, Tony Benn andMichael Foot opposed it while others supported it. Therewas no such thing as a social Europe, it was entirely a FreeTrade Europe, and in the end, people voted to stay in basedon economic arguments. She felt that this was probably goingto happen again this time. Since then, we have developedinto a social Europe, and the unions and the Labour Party arein favour of staying in because we now have some basicstandards that the market cannot erode. Labour’s voice isweaker than it should be, but Gordon Brown had come outin favour of remaining, and Corbyn had been campaigningamongst the youth. Although Labour is in favour of stayingin the EU, it (the EU) will certainly need reform. Themanagement of the euro has been a disaster and, the bestthing that Gordon Brown ever did was to keep us out of theeuro, despite Tony Blair pushing for us to join.

John Doherty said he was also from Birmingham andwent to a boy’s school close to Clare Short’s school. He askedwhether, now that the Mayor of London elections were over,there might be a Mayor of Birmingham election and if so, ifwe could vote for the speaker. Clare said that Birminghamdid have a referendum on whether to have a Mayor and votedagainst this. But she said that George Osborne was nowtrying to create ‘strategic regions’ and that there would be agood case for the West Midlands to be one of these becauseit is linked up with the Black Country with its problems ofdeclining industry and the need to reinvent itself. There istalk of an overall figure (not a Mayor) for the whole region.She wasn’t terribly keen on standing for such a post at themoment, pointing out that most government cuts inexpenditure are focused on local government, with budgetsbeing slashed by 30 per cent.

Sheila Macrea referred to the speaker’s comments onAfrica as being the next growing power. Based on her yearsof living and working in Africa, she pointed out that Britishdevelopment assistance had not been as effective as it mighthave been in the region because of institutionalised

corruption, and that that this would continue to be the caseuntil this problem was addressed. She asked how this mightbe done so that people in African countries could begin tohope for a better future with resulting impact on migrationfigures. Clare agreed that corruption is a big problem inAfrica and pointed out that until 1999, it was normal forOECD countries (apart from the US) to make bribes topublic officials abroad tax deductible. One reason for thiscorruption relates to the nature of the (colonial) institutionswe ourselves created to oppress, govern and extract, andwhich were handed over at independence. And corruption isa two-way street. As the new President of Nigeria pointedout recently to David Cameron, he is trying to fightcorruption, but he could do it more effectively if Britainplayed its part and did not let monies acquired throughcorruption in Nigeria be paid into British bank accounts.Britain is a big part of the problem as so much of the corruptmoney comes through London. If money has to stay incountry, then it is much more difficult to hide the proceedsof corruption.

But there has been progress in Africa – in terms of politicalinstitutions, public services and economic development – anda significant lower middle class now exists. It is not universaland countries rich in oil and minerals tend to have moregovernance problems. One of the results of this progress isthe nearly doubling of the population. This has broughtAfrica to the brink and could be very dangerous – withmillions of young educated people and massive numbers ofgraduates linked up to the world and needing lifeopportunities and becoming frustrated and angry if they donot get them. Fortunately, the new generation is very opposedto old corrupt practices

Edward Mortimer followed up on this question byreferring back to the speaker’s reference to wanting to keepbudgetary support as part of development assistance becausethis allows us to influence the way in which ministries runthings and lets us impose conditions. He thought thissounded somewhat ‘imperialist’. Clare said this was definitelynot the case and referred to Rwanda where all institutionswere destroyed as a result of the genocide. Britain steppedforward then because it has no history there and wastherefore less suspect than some other donor countries.Together with the national government, the UK agreed onthe development priorities of the country such as education,health and managing the economy. Then, in the case ofeducation, instead of building schools and sending in somepeople, it said …here is our £30 million per annum to putinto your budget to help build recruitment systems, teachertraining systems, etc. – but we have to scrutinise this becausewe have to show our taxpayers that the money is being wellspent. She emphasized that this helped to build robustinstitutions which maintain themselves. In too manycountries, the problem is one of weak institutions staffed bytoo many people who are badly paid.

Edward Mortimer then asked if she thought this was agood trade off – ending up with an authoritarian ruler with no

Presentation by Clare Short

15

checks and balances (as in Rwanda) versus less corruption?Clare felt that it was not a perfect situation, but pointed outthat Rwanda’s economic performance and improvements inhuman development have been amazing. Authoritarianism isregrettable, but you cannot overlook the improvements madeto the lives of large segments of the population.

Ron Skeldon referred to the previous speaker (Sir MarkLyall Grant) who finished his talk by asking where the Statewas going and left it hanging there. He asked the speaker forher opinion as to where the national state is going in thecontext of the reconstructed political movement she wastalking about and also in the context of growing tensionsbetween state and city governments. The latter are becomingmuch more important because this is where most people live,where housing issues are more severe and where mixing ofdifferent groups is most intense. What does this mean forState governments and what does it imply for the UnitedNations if metro-governments [large cities] emerge as bigplayers on the international stage. Clare pointed out that thenational state is actually quite a new phenomenon which didnot come about until the late 19th and early 20th centurieswith various events including the end of the Ottoman andAustro-Hungarian empires. Now, with the opening up ofmarkets and global market forces, the nation state has muchless power than it did in its brief history. City-states haveexisted historically, but this is the first time that over 50% ofthe world’s population (on all continents) live in cities.

In the UK and most African countries nearly all financialmanagement and taxing is done at the central level. In theUK, for example, 80% of money spent by local governmentscomes from the Centre, so the amount of autonomy exercisedby city governments is limited. In Birmingham, the firstcouncil houses, sanitation systems and gas supplies were allinitiated by local government, but that couldn’t happen today.There is no simple answer as to where the Nation State isgoing. On the one hand we seem to be pulling back to theNational State with nationalism and putting up barriers; butwe also have a trend towards regional cooperation with thelikes of the EU and the African Union and towards strongermunicipal governments.

In some ways, we could be seen to be going back tonationalism rather than strengthening internationalism, butit is all very fluid.

Michael Askwith asked whether the speaker had anydirect contact with Justine Greening and, if not, was theresome way in which her own very good ideas could beintegrated into current and future thinking on developmentpolicy. Clare said that she had no direct relationship withJustine Greening, but pointed out that it was very clear from the latest government document on InternationalDevelopment that she ( Justine) was becoming a “second tier”cabinet minister, with the document being presented byGeorge Osborne rather than by herself. She seems to be wellliked in the Department and believes in creating conditionswhich promote economic growth (which is sensible), but itdepends on how you read this. For example, some would

argue that the most powerful thing to do for economicgrowth is to educate girls. The Department is currently underassault from the media, and from the rest of Whitehall whichwants to grab its money. She felt that she personally could notshape development assistance policy, but that informedcommentary could do so. Taking millions of pounds out ofDFID’s budget to be managed by others will not succeedsimply because managing large sums of money needsappropriate institutional arrangements. This could behighlighted through public commentary. Many young peoplenow are interested in international development and want towork in this field, but they tend to separate it from foreignpolicy and so are silent on the latter. But the two are totallyintertwined and there is a need for more influential debate tosort out the muddle.

Edward Mortimer said that unfortunately time was up,but he wanted to end on a personal note which was that hehad left the Labour Party in the early 1980s going first to theSDP and then eventually the Liberal Democrats. He saidthat the speaker was one of the people who had given himfaith and interest in the political process in this countrythrough her career. He said it was very inspiring to listen tothis kind of talk and that it was not the kind of talk heardenough from the leadership of any of the parties at themoment. He felt the idea of a cross-party movement whichwould try to change the common assumptions on whichforeign policy is currently based was very important and hehoped that it might be possible for some of us to moveforward with this. It would, of course, need a figurehead withname recognition and, although he was not mandated orauthorized by anyone to say so, he thought that Clare Shortwould be an ideal person.

16

Annual Reunion 2015 continued (Appendix 1)

Britain’s Role in the World – the Need for a Fundamental Rethink

1 Peter Riddell: Hug them Close: Blair, Clinton, Bush and theSpecial Relationship. Politico, 2003.

2 Ambassador Charles W Freeman completed 30 years servicein the US foreign and defence service. He was Ambassadorto Saudi Arabia from 1989 to 1992 during the Gulf War. Hewas nominated by President Obama to chair the NationalIntelligence Council, but after criticism from what he calledthe Israeli lobby, he withdrew his name.

For all Freeman’s speeches google: Speeches Chas W. Freeman Jr.

Animated discussions on the top table

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King’s Lynn 12–14 May 2017: our 40th Annual ReunionIn the 40th anniversary year of BAFUNCS, the CAM region is pleased to invitemembers to the 2017 Annual General Assembly and Reunion in King’s Lynn,Norfolk, from 12 to 14 May 2017.The venue chosen is the Duke’s Head Hotel, anelegant Georgian hotel facing the market square in the town centre. Most of theaccommodation is in a modern annex at the back of the hotel and has step-freeaccess. The original part of the hotel has a few more traditional rooms without step-free access. Please note, the hotel does not accommodate dogs (except guide dogs).

King’s Lynn was for centuries one of the most important seaports in England anda key member of the Hanseatic League that dominated maritime trade along the coastof northern Europe from the Baltic to the North Sea from the 13th to 17th centuries.It is also close, for example, to the Queen’s private residence at Sandringham; toCastle Rising castle, which was the home (and prison) in the 14th century of QueenIsabella, the wife of King Edward II and mother of Edward III; to Houghton Hall,the home of Robert Walpole, England’s first Prime Minister; to Norfolk Lavender,Britain’s major lavender farm, at Heacham; and to wildlife reserves and stunningbeaches along the north Norfolk coast. So if you wish to extend your stay, there is arich variety of places of interest to visit.

Programme

Apart from the Annual General Assembly of the Association, the highlights of theprogramme will include a civic reception in the medieval King’s Lynn town hall,hosted by the Mayor of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk. In addition, three excursionshave been arranged for Saturday afternoon: a walking tour of old King’s Lynn, a visitto Sandringham House, and a visit to Houghton Hall. More details are provided onthe Registration Form.

• We are still in discussion with potential speakers, but you can rest assured thatthe will be both informative and entertaining.

• As usual the arrangements include all meals: full breakfasts, buffet lunch onSaturday, tea and coffee in the breaks, buffet dinner on Friday and a gala dinneron Saturday.

Planned excursionsOn Saturday afternoon you canopt for one of our three plannedexcursions:

• KING’S LYNN A walking tour of old King’s Lynn ledby knowledgeable Blue-Badgeguides. The tour starts about 15minutes’ walk from the hotel, andends back at hotel. It lasts about 2 hours, but there are lots of stops tohear interesting stuff from the guide

• SANDRINGHAM HOUSEThe Queen’s private residence atSandringham is about 10 miles (30 minutes’ drive) from the hotel.From the entrance gate you can walkor take the shuttle bus through thegrounds to the house. Wanderthrough the ground floor rooms,which have the appearance of justbeing left by the family, with a bookopen beside an arm chair or anunfinished jigsaw on a side table.There are guides in each room to tellyou interesting facts

• HOUGHTON HALLHoughton Hall is about 13 miles (30 minutes’ drive) from the hotel. It wasbuilt in the 1720s for Great Britain’s firstPrime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, andit remains one of England’s finestPalladian houses. The Staterooms areall on one level, with easy access by lift.A room in the stable block houses theModel Soldier Museum, the largestprivate collection of model soldiers inthe world, with many reconstructions ofbattles, such as Waterloo. And there is abeautiful walled garden and a hugedeer park. There are knowledgeableguides in each room

1818

Chairman: Robert England

Vice Chairman: June Hargreaves-Beer

Secretary: Annie Kean (Deputy Secretary, Ziaul Islam)

Treasurer:Michael Davies

Regional Convenor: Sheila Macrae(a) convenes the annual meeting of Regional Representatives at the

General Assembly of the Association;(b) collects and edits the reports of regional activities for the

Newsletter;(c) issues to Regional Representatives such briefs on ExCo activities as

are desirable; and(d) represents the regions at ExCo on such matters as they wish to

bring, jointly or severally, to the attention of the Committee.(Regional Representatives should keep the Regional Convenorinformed on such matters as social activities and changes in themembership of their Regional Committee, especially any changesafter the AGM.)Pensions and health insurance: Andy Flatt, with the assistance ofMichael Davies for health insurance matters(a) keeps the brief on all pension matters by liaison with the

Secretariat of the UNJSPF in Geneva and New York, and withFAFICS;

(b) provides assistance to individual members with any problems theymay have on pension matters;

(c) keeps the brief on all health insurance matters by liaison with thevarious schemes provided by the UN and its agencies; and

(d) is responsible for contact with FAFICS on technical matters.(Confidentiality is assured in all cases. Members are advised tocontact Andy Flatt before resorting to the Offices mentioned in (a)above as this may save time.)

National Welfare / Support Coordinator: David Nott(a) coordinates all BAFUNCS welfare activities and advises on

general and individual matters referred to him by RegionalWelfare Support Officers;

(b) coordinates and administers the fund for reimbursement ofWelfare Support Officers’ expenses;

(c) advises members on the health insurance schemes and facilities,public and private, available in the UK, including shelteredhousing, nursing and convalescent accommodation; and

(d) responds, in association with the Pensions Officer, to requests foradvice from the newly bereaved who have difficulty in dealing withimmediate matters, personal and administrative, consequent onthe death of their spouse.

(Members seeking advice on a personal problem should ordinarilycontact their regional Welfare Support or Help Officer, but may, if theyprefer, approach the National Welfare Support Coordinator directly.In all cases strict confidentiality will be observed.)

Membership Secretary: Joy Mitra (a) maintains the membership records;(b) prepares, together with the Editor, the Membership List and reports

in the Newsletter on the membership;(c) supports all member recruitment activities; and(d) keeps stocks of the Newsletter, the Membership List and

BAFUNCS documents.

Subscriptions Secretary: John StaresHandles the financial aspects of member recruitment andsubscriptions in liaison with the Membership Secretary.

Editor: Clyde Reynolds(a) edits and produces the Newsletter, and arranges its distribution;(b) in association with the Membership Secretary, prepares and

distributes the Membership List; (c) edits all other official documents of BAFUNCS for which

responsibility is not otherwise allocated; and(d) submits relevant material to the BAFUNCS website.

Annual Reunions Coordinator: Enid Steward-Goffman(a) oversees the general organization of Annual Reunions; (b) liaises with the regional convenor of each Annual Reunion and

provides advice on any organizational matters; and(c) maintains and updates the Annual Reunion Guidelines.

Assistant Secretary and Communications: Colin Davis

(a) Assumes the role of Secretary in the absence of the Secretary;(b) Acts as a channel of communication between the Executive

Committee and the Regional groups;(c) Keeps the BAFUNCS website under continual review and

provides the website ‘manager’ with the text of necessarychanges;

(d) Receives from the regional groups any notices for the website,edits and forwards them to the website manger as needed; and

(e) Makes suggestions to ExCo for improving the website.

Overseas Members Representative: Coby SikkensServes as the representative for all overseas members. (Overseas members should correspond directly on any mattersaffecting them personally or which they wish to bring to the attentionof the Executive Committee.)

UN Career Records Project (UNCRP) Coordinator: MichaelAskwith, with assistance from Bill Jackson(a) promote and advocate for the collection of personal recordsand memoirs of former UN staff; (b) assist in the completion of the UN at 70 Witness Seminarprogramme, and its corresponding reports and publications;(c) prepare a Guide to the UNCRP, consisting of career summariesof contributors;(d) Liaise with the Weston (Bodleian) Library, University of Oxford, inrelation to the storage, safe-keeping and use of the UNCRPcollection.

Relations with United Nations bodies and other organizations:Michael Davies

Liaises with FAFICS and its member Associations on policymatters, particularly those calling for support from BAFUNCS.

Marilyn CarrLiaises with the UNA.

Ziaul Islam (also Deputy Secretary)Liaises with Age UK (formerly Age concern and Help the Aged)on all matters related to the welfare of the elderly.

Michael AskwithLiaises with those NGOs, particularly VSO, that use thevoluntary expertise of retired UN professionals in developingcountries.

Responsibilities of Executive Committee members and advisers 2016/2017 by Annie Kean

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Report Regional activitiesCompiled by Sheila Macrae, Regional Convenor

Cambridge RegionJohn Stares

The CAM region held its AGM on Thursday 3 March.This was our best-attended event to date since we startedactivities again in March 2014, with 21 membersgathering at the Bell Hotel, Thetford, Norfolk, to enjoy asplendid lunch before the business meeting. Among thetopics discussed was the Annual Reunion that we will behosting in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, in May 2017. TheChairman thanked the Secretary, Nicky Rodgers, for allher work during the year on organizing trips and eventsand taking care of members' welfare needs. John Stares

and Nicky Rodgers were re-elected as Chairman andSecretary, respectively.

Our second event of 2016 was a visit to Houghton Hall,Norfolk, on 16 June. Only six members and two guestswere able to take part in this visit, but all of us enjoyedseeing the house built by Sir Robert Walpole, England’sfirst “Prime Minister”. After gathering for coffee and cakein the café, we were met by the Head Guide, JohnMarchant, who gave us an interesting introduction to the

house and its gardens. Built in the 1720, Houghton Hallis still one of the finest Palladian houses in England.Walpole amassed a huge art collection but in 1779 hisgrandson, the 3rd Earl of Oxford, was forced to sell thecollection to Catherine the Great of Russia to pay offdebts. (The collection was returned to Houghtontemporarily in 2013 for a six-month exhibition visited by115,000 people.) Houghton Hall is presently the homeof the Marquess of Cholmondeley and his family; theMarquess holds the office of Lord Great Chamberlain.Another feature of Houghton Hall is the amazing SoldierMuseum housing the largest private collection of modelsoldiers in the world. Of course we had lunch togetherbefore departing!

Kent/Sussex regionMichael Askwith

Our AGM was held on 18 February 2016 and theCommittee is now made up as follows: Regionalrepresentative: Joan Wilson; Treasurer: Sheila Cooper;Deputy Treasurer: Elsa Brathaug; Membership Secretary:Margaret Bills; Welfare Officers: Sheila Cooper, Terri Jezeph,Grania Skeldon with Anne Daniel and Joan Wilson.

Michael Askwith is still very occupied with his work forExCo on the UNCRP Witness Seminars project, butkindly continues to assist the KSX Region when we arefaced by knotty problems.

Report on activitiesThe KSX June meeting took place in the Old PoliceCells Museum in Brighton, where we were shownround the cells by an excellent guide, who allowed usto depart in liberty at the end of a fascinating hour.The six of us, David and Terri Jezeph, Grania andRon Skeldon, Heather Johnson and I then retired to

CAM members at Houghton Hall, Norfolk

Impressive plaster work at Houghton Hall

Participants at the KSX AGM, White Hart Hotel, Lewes, 18 February 2016.L to R Michael Askwith, Clare Willmot,, Jenny Brooke-Kearns, RichardJolly, Joan Wilson, Philip Daniel, Mary Cattermole, Anne Daniel,Heather Johnson, , Elsa Brathaug, Grania Skeldon, David Jezeph,Terri Jezeph, Sheila Cooper, Henning Brathaug. Ron Skeldon

20

The House Restaurant in the Lanes for an excellentlunch and good conversation. UnfortunatelyMichael Askwith, Sheila Cooper and JenniferBrooke were after all unable to join us, owing tounexpected family commitments and dentalappointments.

Update on the IDS launch eventDuring our AGM on 18 February 2016, it was agreedthat Sir Richard Jolly and Michael Askwith would arrangea launch meeting on the future of the UN at IDS,Brighton. Michael has kept ExCo informed of progress,and has forwarded a text for information, which isreproduced below:

A launch event of the IDS Evidence Report (instead ofBulletin) on “The UN at 70 and the UK: DevelopmentCooperation, Humanitarian Action and Peace andSecurity” resulting from the three BAFUNCS UNCRPWitness Seminars in 2015 and 2016, is planned by IDS,BAFUNCS and UNA-UK at the House of Lords on Wednesday afternoon, 20 October 2016. Details arestill being finalized, but any members who would beinterested in attending should contact Michael ataskwith_michael@yahoo.co.uk or by telephone on 01243670 259. Final details will be shared separately whenknown.

Forthcoming eventsl KSX will be visiting Borde Hill Garden, Haywards

Heath RH16 1XP, on Thursday, 8 September.l The second Thursday of each month is our Get-

Together Day and details of all our activities can befound on the website.

MembershipThis year we have welcomed one new member, Mrs.Valerie Kernick and trust that she will be able to join usfor some of our events.

London regionPauline Barrett-Reid

The London region held its Annual General meeting on7June 2016 at the Sherlock Holmes Hotel Baker Street.The meeting was informed of the sudden death of ParmeetSingh (Deputy Chairperson ad interim) whilst on holiday.Zia Islam had visited the family and a letter of condolenceshad been sent to his family on behalf of the region. Reportswere presented by the chairperson, the treasurer and onbehalf of the welfare officer. It was decided to arrange avisit to the Regents Park Mosque before Christmas.

David Mitchel, on behalf of BAFUNCS, had laid awreath at the Cenotaph on 30 May at a ceremony inRemembrance of the International Day of United NationsPeace Keeping

Northern regionRobert England

By the time you read this, the NOR Gathering in Chesterwill have taken place, 12-14 September. This year it hasbeen organised jointly with the West Midlands and WalesRegion, onto whose territory we have encroached. At thetime of writing, we have more than 20 members - a nicecombination of the two regions, plus others- signed up forthe event, which will include a trip to Jodrell Bank onthe middle day.

There have been several membership changes sincethe last national newsletter: We have two new members:Ms. Rozanne Chorlton and Ms. Pamela Baillie. However,we have unfortunately lost Sue Shaw, as well as Mr &Mrs Ackerley, so our current NOR membership nowtotals 124.

The NOR Committee is likely to evolve at the ChesterMeeting, since Robert England NOR's currentConvenor/Secretary has recently taken on the role ofnational ExCo Chair and will therefore be relinquishinghis NOR responsibilities. Nikki Feirn (RegionalRepresentative) and Sara Mehta (Treasurer) have bothconfirmed their willingness to stay in position for thenext year. Watch this space for further announcements!

Overseas regionCoby Sikkens

On this hot July day I re-read the piece I wrote on 29December last year for the March newsletter and try toremember all the things related to the OVS Region thathave happened since then. I settled back definitively inthe Geneva region in early April of this year and we hadour spring lunch on 23 April. As 23 April is St George’sday, I decided that it would be nice to have real Englishpub grub in a real English pub. The Lady Godiva (namedafter the legendary countess of medieval Mercia who rodenaked through the streets of Coventry, watched only bypeeping Tom) in Plainpalais, welcomed us with lots of

Regional activities – continued

The Lady Godiva pub in Geneva hosted the OVS Spring lunch

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English beer and such staunch English dishes as fish andchips and steak and ale pie and cottage pie. The weatherwas horrid and we all enjoyed the nice warm pubatmosphere, unusual for Geneva, and between St Georgeand the Lady Godiva we were doing very well. The talkwas about the upcoming referendum and no one believedor wanted Brexit to happen, but then who are we, livingOverseas!

Furthermore we have started to think about the AR2018, which will be organized by the OVS Region in oraround, but hopefully in Geneva. An organizing committeehas been formed of four persons, Richard Saynor will bethe treasurer, John Burley will take care of “public relations”and Patricia Brice will coordinate the excursions whereas Iact as the Convenor. We have been busy scouting forsuitable hotels and by the time you read this I hope we shallhave succeeded. I also hope that nearer the time we canenlist some more volunteers to help run the first OverseasAR. I am writing this to encourage those of you who livefar away to plan your travels if you can, in such a way thatyou can be here in May 2018.

There have not been many membership changes thisperiod. Betty Morris moved back from Geneva to Scotlandand Evelyn Lansky gave up her membership of BAFUNCSand Susan Anthony moved from Lyon back to the UK

Oxford regionBill Jackson

We last met on March 3rd, when nineteen members andtwo guests attended a pleasant lunch-cum-AGM at thevery aptly named restaurant, The Talk House, in StantonSt John. Loyal as ever, Stan Cornford battled the A34 tobe with us, although now living on the south coast. Wevery much look forward to seeing some of our newermembers attend these functions for the first time. Addedto our numbers in recent months have been MarionJenning (ILO); John and Maria-Antonia de Renzi (UNDepartment of Peacekeeping Operations); Admira MaraDavis (FAO), who lives just outside the borders of ourregion, but has been welcomed to us nonetheless; Douglasand Susan Wilson (IAEA/ICAO) who moved into theregion in mid-March, and Jeffery Crisp (UNHCR) atthe end of April. On the debit side, John Innes (WorldBank) moved to Pembrokeshire, and Vagn Dinesen(FAO) returned to Denmark.

Our members are active both in and outside theregion. Edward Mortimer was a speaker at an Aprilpublic meeting of Oxford UNA on ‘The refugee crisis –principles and practicality’. Michael Davies is workingwith Marilyn Carr from London region and DavidMacfadyen of North on a book about Sir EricDrummond, the first Secretary-General of the Leagueof Nations. We were represented at the enjoyableAnnual Reunion in Bournemouth by Michael and JoanDavies, Cyril and Marion Groom, Bill and Maggie

Jackson, Joy and Vicky Mitra, Edward and ElizabethMortimer, Jane Reeve and John and Annabel Rodda.And, living closer to London than most members, weare helping keep down the carbon footprint ofBAFUNCS’ Executive Committee, where one findsEdward Mortimer ex officio as President, MichaelDavies, now as Honorary Treasurer rather thanChairman, Joy Mitra as Membership Secretary, ColinDavis working as Deputy Secretary on communicationsto the regions and assisting with the website, and BillJackson compiling the Guide for researchers to the UNCareer Records Project at the Bodleian Library, to bepublished this autumn. And of course Cyril Groomcontinues to chair the Benevolent Fund. All grist to theBAFUNCS mill!

South Central regionJune Hargreaves-Beer

Continuing our routine of meeting for lunch roughly fourtimes a year, we had an enjoyable Spring lunch in April atthe Brookfield Hotel in Emsworth when sixteen membersattended, including one from the London Region and onefrom Kent Sussex, and our Summer lunch was held onceagain at the lovely old Rose & Crown Hotel in Harnham,on the outskirts of Salisbury. This hotel is a popular venuefor a summer lunch (assuming we have some summerweather!) as it has a lovely terrace on the banks of theRiver Avon, with a view of Salisbury Cathedral whichappears in a well-known painting by John Constable.Once again, we had sixteen attendees who enjoyed a verygood buffet lunch (and a bit of sunshine).

The rest of our time was taken up with preparations forthe Annual Reunion which our Region hosted inBournemouth, at the Norfolk Hotel. We were pleasedthat, after a number of last-minute cancellations and oneor two late registrations, we achieved our target number of80 participants. More would have been welcome but thehotel was very strict about imposing their deadline forregistration. The meeting went off well and membersenjoyed hearing our speakers, Sir Mark Lyall Grant andClare Short. Good weather on the Saturday afternoon forthe excursions – to Kingston Lacy, Exbury Gardens andSalisbury – meant that everyone was able to walk round incomfort and could leave their umbrellas behind!

South West regionRosemary ap Rees

We had a lunch at The Strode Arms,W. Cranmore onApril 14th 2016. There were 17 members present. This wasalso our AGM. Rosemary ap Rees was voted in as the newRegional Representative, Peter Lees now becomingMembership Secretary. The other posts remain the samewith 2 vacancies. Rosemary thanked Peter for his hard workover the last six years, and his wife for all her help too.

Regional activities – continued

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We had three big birthdays this year, Elizabeth Bartonwas 95 last February and Irene Chamberlain was 95 in April.Dorothy Austen was 90 in May.

Sadly I have to tell you that Irene died at the beginning ofJune, we also lost Denis Frampton and Mr and Mrs Eichner.

The next meetings will be 15 September 2016 at TheStrode Arms at 1230 and the

Autumn Reunion will be at The Royal Seven Stars Hotel,Totnes on 23 October 2016. This will be a dinner at 7 pm,meeting for a chat, tea or drinks from 4.30pm. TheChristmas Lunch will be at The Strode Arms on 15December 2016 at 1230.

Anyone wishing to come and join us at any of thesegatherings, please contact Rosemary and she will give you allthe details

Surrey regionAnn Chaplin

Our AGM at the beginning of March was, once again,held at the Hand and Flower Pub in Ham, followed byan excellent lunch. However, we noted a further drop inattendance. The Surrey Region, despite the influx of afew new members in the last year, has an ageingmembership and several members have mobilityproblems and find it difficult to travel far especially in thecold wet weather. Recent meetings of the Committeehave taken place at committee members’ homes and wehave adopted the practice of lunching together at a localrestaurant afterwards. We feel the resulting exchangesof conversation over lunch have been useful.

An outing is being planned to visit Hogarth’s housein West London towards the beginning of October.When the date has been confirmed, full informationwill be put on the Website and Surrey members will beinformed

We were all very sorry to hear of the death of long-term EXCO and Surrey member, Patricia (Pat) Brownin April. Several Surrey members were able to attendher funeral in Esher and join together for lunchafterwards. A floral tribute was sent from the Region.The Eulogy prepared and read by Bernadette Rivettgave us an insight into a large part of Pat’s varied life andservice to the UN which most of us were unaware of.

We welcome Mrs Patricia Tambuza, a new Surreymember; Mrs. Doreen Ledwidge has resigned and thedeath of Patricia Brown gives us a current membershiptotal of 74.

West Midlands and WalesMichael Davies

This spring we met at the Stagg Inn, Titley, on theShropshire/Powys border. Twelve of us enjoyed one ofthe best lunches we have had for a number of yearsbefore moving on for tea with Dame MargaretAnstee, who had kindly invited us to see her finegarden. Unfortunately Dame Margaret had justdislocated her hip and was confined to her chairduring our visit. At the lunch we discussed thepossibility of hosting the BAFUNCS AnnualReunion in 2019 and it was agreed that we wouldexplore this as a possibility. We will not be holdingour regular autumn lunch but instead, will meetjointly with the Northern Region in Chester for a fullprogramme of events on 12-14 September, which willinclude a visit to Jodrell Bank observatory as well as adinner in the evening. We hope this will be anopportunity for our North Wales/Shropshiremembers to participate in a regional activity, even ifonly joining us for an evening meal.

Regional activities – continued

When, in 1963, I was first appointed to my EPTA-fundedpost in Mauritius, working relations between headquarters,field and (at a distance) UN in New York, were very muchon a personal basis, and could hardly have been smoother.But cosy, informal relationships (which necessarilyincluded the key man on the government side of eachproject) were already then being challenged; and reform– in my time at least – came in two waves. Firstly, from

the UN, in the Jackson Report, which set up the CountryProgramming system (ie. the conception and formulationof projects at country level, rather than by FAO specialistsin Rome) in, or about, 1969. The effect of thisrevolutionary innovation was to capture power for theUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP). And

secondly, from the developing countries, in the ‘NewInternational Economic Order’, a rather vague Declarationadopted by the UN General Assembly in 1974 intendedto redress the subordinate position that developingcountries found themselves in vis-a-vis the UN Agencies(such as FAO, UNESCO, etc.).

Although I was myself a strong supporter of CountryProgramming and the establishment of OperationsDivisions at Agency HQs – and indeed saw much meritin the post-Jackson reforms, I came to believe, inretrospect, that the net result was a most seriousweakening of the UN technical assistance agencies, andparticularly of FAO. The influence and authority of theOrganisation, in the preparation and conduct of field

How UNDP increased its power at the expense of the executing agencies by Alan Hall

projects, suffered a decline which can most easily be seenin contrast with the position it earlier held during FAO’sgreatest period of expansion and influence: a period ofexuberant fecundity, which owed its success to three mainfactors:a) in project formulation: direct contact by technical

divisions with decision-makers in the correspondinggovernment Ministry responsible for the project;

b) for programme co-ordination: very weak, or non-existent government planning units, and very little orno UNTAB [precursor of UNDP] representation atcountry level;

c) a steadily expanding supply of financial resources.These three factors immensely strengthened FAO’s

position vis-a-vis its partners, and ensured anoverwhelmingly ‘technical’ orientation to the fieldprogramme.

In 1963, when I joined the Organisation, the chiefactors on today’s scene were either absent or playing verydifferent roles from what they did then. UNDP did notexist; its predecessors, the UN Special Fund and theExpanded Programme of Technical Assistance (EPTA),considered individual projects, in New York, largely onthe basis of proposals submitted to them by the Agencies,and very largely had to go along with whatever was fed tothem.

This was, therefore, in FAO, a golden age for thetechnical divisions: funding was not a constraint, andenterprising Branch chiefs could build up substantialprogrammes in their own fields of specialisation. Theprojects resulting from these programmes were thenoperated, with much professional enthusiasm andinitiative, by the same technical branch as had taken thelead in formulating them.

The disadvantages of that system are now well known,and were elaborated in great detail by the Jackson Reportof 1970. In retrospect, however, it is clear that the majorreorganisation occasioned by that report was designed tomeet a situation within the developing countries whichwas already changing and later became very different fromthe conditions which Jackson was considering.

At that time, few of the developing countries had aneffective planning mechanism within the government.Ministers – even departmental heads – could thereforequite easily get (or themselves give) official governmentendorsement for ‘their’ projects, regardless of how theymight – or might not – fit into the government’s overallbalance of priorities (if it had any). With the availabilityof funds expanding in real terms from year to year (partlyowing to slow delivery) project ‘salesmanship’ was a primeelement in gaining project approval.

Under those circumstances it was perhaps inevitablethat the initiative in programme development should be(rightly) taken by the Agencies, and that even UNDP(with decisions taken in New York) should find its role

confined to one of more or less automatically having toapprove projects about which it knew very little – exceptthat the government had ‘requested’ funds whichUNSF/UNDP was only too anxious to provide.

These conditions were temporary. During the ’seventies,government planning and co-ordinating mechanisms,although frequently imperfect, became in many countriesmuch improved, and certainly much more assertive; and,as we all know, the money dried up. The two main reasonsfor setting up Country Programming as a new proceduretherefore ceased to apply: government planning capabilityremoved the need for a UN co-ordinating mechanism atcountry level; and a shortage of funds effectively returned‘control’ from the Executing Agencies to the UNDPpaymaster.

It seems clear now that the considerable strengtheningof UNDP at country level, and the establishment ofcountry programming with all its procedural ramifications,were sledgehammers to crack a nut that was alreadycracking of its own accord. Country Programming, inshort, became unnecessary very soon after its introductionas a standard procedure. UNDP, however, found virtues inthe system quite additional to those which were adducedwhen it was first set up.

Country Programming introduced into the business ofproject financing a panoply of bureaucratic procedureswhich (intentionally?) stifled professional initiative withinthe Agencies, weakened their technical impact, and placedthem in a position of administrative and financialsubordination that would previously have beenunthinkable. But FAO’s new, subordinate role had little todo with UNDP’s own role as keeper of the purse strings:FAO had always depended on external financing of thefield programme, without this having seriously impairedits authority. The two new elements in the FAO/UNDPrelationship were:1) programming was now done at country level - which

inevitably it had to be; no argument about that, but2) virtually all field programme discussion, and

correspondence between country and the Agencyheadquarters was conducted with the operatingdivisions (ie. people like me, when I was a ‘projectoperations officer’ in Rome) – which in practice werepurely administrative and non-technical.The effect of these two circumstances was to invest

UNDP with the authority of ‘local knowledge’, and largelyto deprive FAO of its authority as the ‘expert’ partner. Anutritionist spouting generalities from Rome was nomatch for a UNDP Res. Rep. who had just been speakingto the Minister of Health. Whether, in the interveningyears between now and then, the Agencies have managedto reposition themselves to provide a more effectiveheadquarters technical input to the field programme,perhaps a younger generation of BAFUNCS pensionerscan provide an answer.

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24

A final collection of letters from our own correspondents (GAR – Garth ap Rees and JD -John Doherty) this time returning to the whimsical and concluding with a letter from a non-BAFUNCS member relevant to JD

Sir, I was a playing member of the Geneva cricket team in the mid-1950s. We playedtwo annual one-day fixtures against the Paris Cricket Club in Paris in late August(“Team of mostly French cricketers seek to avenge a hundred years of pain”, Apr 13).The venue was the Standard Athletic Club at the Stade de Meudon. We fielded noSwiss players and there were no Frenchmen in the Paris side.

The ground and facilities were superb. The original pavilion was the only Parisbuilding deliberately destroyed by the Germans in the Second World War. Afterreconstruction, it was finally opened by the Queen during an early State visit. As yourreport says that the forthcoming match is being organised “outside Paris” it wouldappear that the Stade de Meudon is regarded by the French cricket authorities astoo much of an away fixture.

My daughter is an unpaid intern in Geneva. Given the shock increase in value of theSwiss franc (Report, 16 January), is she now working for nothing plus 30%?

You report (telegraph.co.uk, January 7) that Suzi LeVine, the American ambassadorto Switzerland, complained on social media that chaos reigns at Swiss ski lifts.

She commented on Facebook: “We enjoyed a great day at Adelboden but I wasso puzzled by the scrum heading to the lift (and the inefficiency in terms of how manypeople were on each lift).”

Has she ever been to Italy?

Ernest Simpson was not the first husband of Wallis Warfield (Diary February 17).From 1916 to 1927 she was married to E.W. Spencer Jnr. She divorced him andmarried Simpson in 1928.

This led to the explanation at the time of the abdication that Spencer was the FirstMate, Simpson the Second Mate, Edward the Third Mate, Cosmo Gordon Langthe Primate and Stanley Baldwin the Checkmate.

Traffic jams in Rome rival those of Lagos (diary March 20) forentrepreneurial activity. This morning, driving to my office, which overlooksthe Colosseum, I was able to have the car windows washed, buy paperhandkerchiefs and a newspaper. I turned down offers of flowers, cigarettelighters and sunglasses.

Delays, due to road repairs for the World Cup, allowed me to read the wholenewspaper and arrive refreshed, well informed and only an hour late.

Sartorial standards can be just as exacting in the Australian tropics as thoseexperienced by Sir Christopher Edwards in London (letter 25 July).

On moving to far north Queensland I was invited to a function requiring ‘formaldress’. Anxious to fit in, I inquired of my hosts what this implied.

‘No bare feet mate’ was the crisp response.

Philip Collins opposes votes at 16 to give two more years for ‘political reflection’ andthe attainment of political maturity.

At 16 I took politics seriously and was in correspondence with my MP (RoyJenkins), who replied seriously and at length.

Fifty years later I cannot take politics or politicians seriously.

I have noticed an increased number of letter from Stratford-upon-Avon. Does thismean that it has displaced Tunbridge Wells as the ‘Disgusted’ centre of dissent?P. Brennan, Oxhill, Warks

Dear Sir, continued

Compiled by Michael Davies

The original cricket pavilion wasthe only Paris building

deliberately destroyed by theGermans in the Second World

WarGAR - The Times, April 18, 2012

JD - The Guardian, January 19, 2015

JD - Daily Telegraph, January 12, 2014

All the Duchess’s menGAR - The Times 4 March 1998 ≈

Captive MarketJD - The Times, 21 March 1990

JD – The Times, 27 July 2013

And a final word, given thecurrent political situation:

JD – The Times 22 October 2012

Footnote:From Unpublished letters to the

Telegraph (Iain Hollingshead, Hasthe world gone completely mad?

Bored – moi? Marjorie Richardson

25

It dawned on me recently that (having taken earlyretirement at 55) I had been retired longer than the 28years I worked for the UN. Reflecting on what I had donewith my life since retiring the list just kept growing andgrowing.

At first, having travelled the world with the UN, Idecided it was time to explore previously unvisited parts ofthe UK and discovering all they had to offer.

I soon realised I needed something to stimulate mymind particularly during the long winter evenings:stimulating my body was no problem for I took up keep-fit again (one of my teenage pastimes) and the 3 miles ofSouthsea promenade (only 5 minutes walk from my home)provided the opportunity for plenty of exercise. But whatto do for my brain?

Having the most appalling handwriting I had alwaysadmired those who could produce a beautiful hand. Entercalligraphy. I attended classes for several years and canproduce a reasonable piece of work though my everydaywriting still leaves much to be desired. Having worked myway through various stages of calligraphy to illuminationI decided it would help if I knew more about painting.And so it was off to art classes. Sketching enthralled meand I was fascinated by the different effects one could getjust by shading a shape with a pencil. But I also neededcolour in my life so progressed to painting. Landscapes,life drawing and portraits left me cold but I was fascinatedby the detail needed for botanical painting and still lifeand the next few years were devoted to this. Running outof wall space I then turned my hand to painting miniatures(all done with dots believe it or not)

With the art world opened up I began to look at othercourses and the words “beginners welcome” in a brochure

attracted me like a moth to a flame. Over the years I triedmy hand at pottery, glass engraving, silk painting andwoodwork and while I didn't pursue any of them learninghow to do them and listening to the talks given duringcourses increased my appreciation of those arts and I nowwalk around galleries and museums with a much keener eye.

I was lucky to have two excellent residential adulteducation centres nearby – Earnley Concourse (recentlyclosed) and West Dean College – and whereas others witha free weekend might think “Where shall we go” I wouldget the college brochures out to see what courses were onthat weekend and if there were vacancies I'd be off.Excellent accommodation, food and facilities, to saynothing meeting of people with a wide range of interests –what better way to pass a weekend. In addition to all theart courses, over the years I have tried my hand at chinesecookery, chocolate making, archery, swimming, tai chi,singing, keep-fit, scrabble, as well as attending lectures oninnumerable subjects.

I then discovered cruising and so far have clocked upover 30 cruises all over the world and all on small ships(some only carrying 40 passengers – not for me the floatingcities with over 4000 and non-stop food andentertainment).

Most recently, in the hope it would improve my memoryand my breathing (which it did), I joined a choir, part ofNatural Voice. Enjoyed it so much I have joined 2 moregroups.

If I do have a few moments free there are always CodeWords, Suduko and Crossword Puzzles

And at the grand old age of 88 I have become (for thesecond time) a Company Director of the block of flatswhere I live. Bored – moi? Never!

Progress on Global Warming agreementOn 3 September in Hangzhou, China, United NationsSecretary-General Ban Ki-moon commended the leadersof China the United States for joining the ParisAgreement on climate change.

“Now, by formally joining the Paris Agreement, youhave added powerful momentum to the drive for theAgreement to enter into force this year,” the UN chief saidin a ceremony, in which he received the relevant legalinstruments from the world's two largest greenhouse gasemitters.

“With China and the United States making this historicstep, we now have 26 countries, accounting for 39 per centof global emissions, who have ratified,”

The Paris Agreement, adopted by 195 parties to the UNFramework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)last December in Paris, calls on countries to combatclimate change and to accelerate and intensify the actionsand investments needed for a sustainable low carbonfuture.

The agreement will enter into force 30 days after at least55 countries, accounting for 55 per cent of globalgreenhouse gas emissions, deposit their instruments ofratification or acceptance with the Secretary-General.

The UN chief is convening a special event on 21September at the UN Headquarters in New York for thedeposit of instruments of ratification, acceptance, approvalor accession to the Paris Agreement on climate change.This will provide an opportunity to other countries topublicly commit to the agreement before the end of 2016.

With the Paris Agreement, the world has an equitable,durable yet flexible global framework for reducingemissions, strengthening climate resilience and providingsupport to developing countries to build low-carboneconomies and adapt to inevitable climate impacts, theSecretary-General said.

This is an encouragingly positive step towards thegrowth of clean energy and the start of world-wide actionto stem global warming.

26

Members

Over the summer, a number of you may have receivedan online petition addressed to the UN Secretary-General and the United Nations Joint Staff PensionBoard by FICSA, CCISUA and UNISERV, the threefederations of staff associations within the UN system,asking for your signature. Its alarming title – Protect ourPension Fund; Stop its Exit from the UN andOutsourcing to Banks and Hedge Funds” – may haveprompted some of you to sign it (as, it is claimed, didsome 11,000 worried people). Some of you may alsorecall a petition with a similar narrative circulated lastyear in relation to amendments to the Fund’s HumanResource policy proposed by its Secretary/CEO, SergioArvizu. Despite the CEO’s being cleared of theallegations of fraud against him (following aninvestigation by the UN Office of Internal OversightServices), they have resurfaced in this latest petition,now embroidered by assertions that new financial rulesbeing proposed to the Pension Board will enable theCEO to take over the Fund’s investments and outsourcethem to Wall Street.

The BAFUNCS Executive Committee has decided thatits members should be informed of the facts, whichdiffer significantly from the impression created by thosedriving the scare-mongering petitions. Members shouldbe aware that BAFUNCS is a longstanding member ofthe Federation of Associations of Former InternationalCivil Servants (FAFICS) – the umbrella organisationfor associations of retired UN system staff. FAFICSholds its annual Council meeting in the week before theBoard session and its most recent meeting, includingQ&A sessions with senior Pension Fund managementon a wide range of subjects, was held in Vienna from 8-13 July this year.

Following are some of the points that came out of themeeting with the Fund’s Secretary/CEO and his staff:

l The allegations in the petition were strenuously deniedand the point was made time and time again that theywere having a negative effect on staff morale. It shouldbe explained that the CEO has no authority over, theFund’s investments.These are the responsibility of theRepresentative of the Secretary-General for Investment(RSG) who, as the title implies, reports directly to theSecretary-General, whereas the CEO effectivelyreports to the Board. Therefore, unless the CEO isasking the Board to place the RSG under his control –which he is not doing – he cannot influence investmentdecisions. This bifurcated structure is backed up bynumerous internal and external checks and balancesbuilt into the governance of the Fund.

l Close perusal of the financial rules throws up nothingthat could justify the claims made by the petition-writers. Well-placed and trusted participants in theBoard and the Fund also deny the motives imputed tothe CEO.

l A number of staff unions, as well as elected participants’representatives on the Pension Board, have declined tosupport the petition circulated in the name of all threestaff federations.

l FAFICS has issued a statement saying that it cannotsupport a petition that distorts facts. It will continue torepresent the best interests of retirees at the PensionBoard, including the proposed amendments to thefinancial rules, the HR policy and other issues beingdiscussed by the Board which are continuously beingaddressed at all levels. BAFUNCS fully supports theFAFICS position.Having said this, there is no doubt that the

Pension Fund has some practical problems. UnderMr Arvizu, Pension Fund staff-managementrelations have not always run smoothly, but this isno excuse for unprofessional behaviour by those whopurport to protect staff rights. The Fund and itsCEO should be left to get on with their top priority,which is to deliver pension benefits to retired andretiring staff in a timely manner. Delays in pensionpayments to new retirees and surviving spouses arebeing addressed by the Fund, which claims to havecleared the backlog resulting from the introductionof its new integrated pension adjustment system(IPAS). However, things are not yet back to normaland complete applications are still taking six to eightweeks to process.

At the conclusion of its 63rd session, the Board issueda communiqué stating that the Pension Fund is in asound financial position and is in a positive actuarialsituation. It wished to reassure participants, retirees andbeneficiaries that the Fund is able to meet its pensionand benefit payment obligations over the long term. Itexpressed its confidence that the Fund is safe and theFund’s future is secure.

The Board supported the measures introduced by theFund to improve caseload processing and welcomedinitiatives to improve client services and communications.It had also taken extraordinary measures, approvingadditional temporary resources and accepting that theFund look into making provisional payments.

The full text of this communiqué has been posted onthe BAFUNCS and the Pension Fund’s websites. Thepurpose of the present note is to provide additionalbackground to our readers on certain aspects, whilereaching out to those who may not receive electronicmessages.

BAFUNCS is fortunate to have several memberswith extensive experience of these issues. They willcontinue to monitor the situation closely and we willkeep you informed of developments.

BAFUNCS Executive Committee

Our Pension Fund: Message to BAFUNCS members

27

Irene Chamberlain Pat Brownby Larry Kohler by Bernadette Rivett

Irene was born in 1922 and trained as a shorthandtypist. Her first job, as described in a BAFUNCSNewsletter, was as a verbatim reporter in a tribunalcase of national interest. What was not known formany years, until the official secrets act was relaxed,was that she was one of the staff supporting thedecoding of Nazi messages at Bletchley Park, althoughnot stationed at Bletchley Park itself. She was proud tohave been belatedly recognized for this work throughthe award of the Bletchley Park medal.

Rene (as she was known in ILO) devoted manyyears of her long career to the ILO’s programme ofIndustrial Committees. Regardless of her official title :“Clerk”, she was most certainly the lynch-pin toorganizing the preparations for and the smoothrunning of all the major ILO Tripartite IndustrialCommittee meetings during those years. She wasinvolved in the tracking of the preparations of theseveral reports required for each meeting: i.e. thedrafting, editing, translating, printing and distributionprocesses. She was also involved in the process ofensuring that the invitations to the Workers’,Employers’ and Government participants went out ontime and the travel arrangements were made and thetravel costs were paid. She did this, year after year, andwithout any of today’s electronic conveniences: nofaxes, no mobile phones, email or internet. It was quitethe ‘drill’ which she and her colleagues had developedover the years. During the meetings she was alwaysthere to ensure the smooth running - or as smooth aspossible running - during an active tripartite industrialsector debate. She was also there to enthusiasticallyshare stories from her long history of ILO meetingsand Conferences to reassure new Industrial Specialiststhat whatever was going wrong was nothing to bealarmed about as « her » meetings always ended ontime and with a tripartite agreement!

In 1969, the ILO celebrated its 50th Anniversary.Rene was the driving force behind the staff party heldduring that celebration. As an active member of theSocial Activities Group and Welfare Committee of theILO she was concerned that no arrangements hadbeen made to include the staff in those celebrations.As a result of her active and very persuasive lobbyingwithin the Governing Body a great event was held forthe staff, including retired officials. She wellremembered the evening and especially the fact thatshe had the first dance with the Director-General!

On retirement to the UK, Rene became an activemember of BAFUNCS serving as Secretary and thenAnnual Reunion Coordinator from 1982 to 1990 atwhich point she was made a Vice-President andcontinued to play an active part in the Association. Inlater years, as her health declined and she was unableto play such an active part in our activities, she wasmade an Honorary Vice-President.

Rene loved her many years living in Geneva and had anextensive network of friends and as usual in Geneva,many of these friends became ‘family’. She was veryactive in the local English Church. She bought andrestored an old and tiny alpine barn in the centre ofChampery in the Alps and loved to get away from herhectic working life in the ILO to enjoy walks in themountains. Rene was back in Geneva a few years ago forher last visit to attend a Retired ILO Officials reunion,and my wife and I had the opportunity to take her backup to Champery to see her chalet and to discover howmuch Champery had changed. But Rene was still thesame inquisitive, active and determined personcommitted to the ILO and the UN system and proud ofthe contribution she had personally made to thoseorganizations.

Patricia Brown was born in 1932 in Romford where herfather worked for the Ford Motor Company as did hermother, following his early death. After school, Pat tooka secretarial course and for her first few working yearswas employed by the Dalgety Corporation in London.In the late 1950s she applied for a job with WHO andwas successful, moving to Geneva to commence work asa secretary. However, after a few years she felt she neededa change and moved to New York to work for the UNScientific Committee on the Effects of AtomicRadiation. She was attending the General Assemblydebate when Nikita Khrushchev removed his shoe andbanged it on his desk.

In the mid-1960s Pat returned to Geneva to work forthe WHO Radiation Health Section but in 1974 she wasinvited by the Director of the WHO Regional Office forthe Western Pacific region to take up the post of ReportsOfficer. She therefore, moved to Manila with both hermother and her dog Katie for company.

Pat left Manila in 1983 on transfer back to WHOGeneva where she worked in the Publications unit.However, when Hiroshi Nakajima became Director-General in 1988 he asked her to become his PersonalAssistant at the grade of P6. Thus in 30 years Pat hadrisen from the lowest General Service ranks to thesenior-most Professional level a true measure of herabilities.

Pat retired in 1994 and joined BAFUNCS almostimmediately. She was an active member assisting in anumber of committee functions before being elected asChair in 2005, a position she held for 4 years. She wasmade a Vice-President in 2009 and an Honorary Vice-President in 2015. She brought to these positions thesame dedication and energy that she had brought to herwork in WHO, and BAFUNCS owes her a debt ofgratitude for this. Her contribution was considerable andshe will always be remembered with appreciation andaffection.

28

Membership newsCompiled by Joyant Mitra, Membership Secretary (e-mail: membership@bafuncs.org) and the Editor

We have been looking at the trends in membership.There was a large increase in membership followingthe efforts of Michael Davies through the PensionFund. Since, however, the numbers have fallen again.

In summary the number of new members in the lastfew Newsletters have been :-

9 in September, 201416 in March, 201538 in September, 201516 in March, 2016 16 in September, 2016Obviously another recruitment drive is necessary.

So please spread the word and encourage friends,colleagues and acquaintances to join BAFUNCS.Members usually enjoy catching up with old colleaguesand making new friends with similar background andexperiences.

We also have a reduction in membership throughdeaths and lapses owing to ill health. This is the saddestpart of this publication. A list of such members appearsin the adjacent column and a list of new members isprinted below.

The Membership List is issued with this Newsletter.Please see if there are any errors or omissions and let meknow. My email and address are at the beginning ofthis Newsletter.

In Memoriam

BAFUNCS offers its deepest sympathy and sincere condolences tothe families and friends of the following members who have diedsince the issue of the March 2016 Newsletter:

MR. PLUMBRIDGE, W.H.G. KSX ILO/UNDPMR. SHAW, JOHN LON WFPMR. COLLINS, JOHN SCL ILO/ITC/GATTMISS BROWN, PAT SRY WHOMISS ALLEN, M.J. LON UNICEF/ILOMISS WRIGHT, E.J. (NOREEN) SRY WHOMISS SHAW, SUE NOR WHOMR. & MRS. ACKERLEY, J. NOR ITUMR. GARWOOD, RICHARD CAM WHOMR. SINGH, PARMEET LON UN/UNDPMISS CHAMBERLAIN, IRENE SWT ILODR. FLACHE, STANISLAS OXF WHOMR. SILVERS, E.L. WMW UNESCO

Just as the Newsletter was being readied for press, we receivedthe sad news of the death of two of our longstanding memberswho were committed to service with BAFUNCS: Honorary vicepresident Margaret Anstee and Nanda Wijayatilak, pastclerk/treasurer to the trustees of the BAFUNCS BenevolentFund.We will publish full obituaries in our March edition.

Resignations and LapsesMRS. LEDWIDGE, DOREEN SRY UNMISS BENTLEY, JOAN NOR WHOMR. DINESAN, VAGN OXF FAOMR. DYANKOV, ALEXANDER OVS UNESCO/UNDPMR & MRS. SUNDERAM OVS ITU

New members since the publication ofNewsletter No 69

We extend a hearty welcome to all our new members; and allBAFUNCS members will look forward to meeting them atregional gatherings and at the annual reunions.1752 MS. BAILLIE, PAMELA NOR WHO1753 MS. MARA, ADMIRA OXF FAO1754 MR. & MRS. GALLACHER, R. SWT FAO1755 MS. TAMBUZA, PATRICIA SRY UNHCR1756 DR. CRISP, JEFFERY OXF UNHCR1757 MRS. KERNICK, VALERIE KSX FAO1758 MR. CLEMENT, GORDON LON UNEP1759 MRS. NEWSUM, ASHA LON ASIAN DEV BANK1760 MR. SHAHANDEH, BEHROUZ

& MRS. PARNIAN, MITRA LON ILO1761 MRS. MITCHELL, ISABEL NOR UN1762 MR. BOND, STEPHEN KSX UNICTY1763 MS. McCUTCHEN CIUFFI, C. KSX FAO1764 MR. & MRS. CRAYSTON, J. OVS ICA0Some members have new membership numbers as they haveconverted to Single memberships on the sad death of theirspouses. These have not been included in this list, but they arein the Membership List which is issued together with thisNewsletter.

The BAFUNCS Newsletter.The Newsletter is created for you, the members. You canuse it to find out what’s going on in your region and whatthe Association’s officers are doing on your behalf.

However, we can only publish information we receivefrom members. If you have information or ideas you thinkcould interest your fellow members, send it to us or askyour regional rep to pass it on.

The BAFUNCS website (www.BAFUNCS.org) haslots of information as well; and it is naturally more up todate. You can e-mail it at website@bafuncs.org

BAFUNCS membershipBAFUNCS exists to facilitatecommunication between former UNemployees both for socal purposesand to provide prectical help andadvice. Members are urged to recruitfriends and former UN colleagues.Members receive the Newsletter inMarch and September and theMembership List in September.BAFUNCS also issues sevenInformation Notes: INF1 Guide to BAFUNCSINF2 When a pensioner diesINF3 Accommodation for older

people INF4 Planning for retirement in

the United KingdomINF5 Taxation in the UK INF6 Personal information

checklists INF7 Guide to welfare support

that BAFUNCS can provide The annual subscription is £14 forsingle membership or £21 for jointmembership (couples). From 1 January 2012, Life subs are£210 and £315 respectively.Application forms and InformationNotes can be obtained from:BAFUNCS Membership Secretary,Forge House BEENHAMBerks RG7 5NXe-mail: membership@bafuncs.org

BAFUNCS Benevolent Fund

TrusteesChairmanCyril Groom (FAO)Clerk/Treasurer to the TrusteesGeoff Ward (ILO)MembersDr John Doherty (FAO/IAEA)Susan Idreos (WHO)Penny Ratcliffe (WHO)Terri Jezeph(FAO/ESCAP)CorrespondencesAll correspondence with theBenevolent Fund, is treated asconfidential and should beaddressed to:Clerk/TreasurerBAFUNCS Benevolent FundMargallaHigher Gunville, Milbourne PortSherbourne, Dorset DT6 5AWTel: 01963 250 206The Fund is a registered charity. It welcomes contributions through the Gift Aid Scheme. The Fund canreclaim income tax on all donationsas long as a Gift Aid Declaration iscompleted and the donor has paidincome tax and/or capital gains taxat least equal to the tax the Fundreclaims on the donation duringthat tax year. Forms and/or furtherinformation are available from theFund’s Clerk/Treasurer (see above).

REGIONAL OFFICERS OF BAFUNCS

Contact details for all BAFUNCS officials are in the Membership List

CAMBRIDGERegional Representative John StaresSecretary Nichola Rodgers

KENT AND SUSSEXRegional Representative Joan WilsonTreasurer Sheila CooperDeputy Treasurer Elsa Brathaug Membership Secretary Margaret BillsSocial Secretaries Heather Johnson, Joan Wilson Welfare Officers Brighton Grania Skeldon, assisted by Anne Daniel

East Sussex Joan WilsonKent Sheila CooperWest Sussex Terri Jezeph

LONDON Regional Representative/Chairman Pauline Barrett-ReidSecretary Nguyet Anh HoTreasurer Corinne BeverleyWelfare/Social Support Officer Asha Singh-Williams

NORTHERNRegional Representative Nikki FeirnSecretary Robert England Treasurer Sarah Mehta Welfare contact RR or Secretary

OXFORD Regional Representative Bill JacksonSecretary/Treasurer Cyril GroomWelfare Officer (west) Diana Axford

SOUTH CENTRAL Regional Representative/Secretary/Treasurer June Hargreaves-Beer

SOUTH WEST Regional Representative Rosemary ap ReesDeputy Regional Representative Barbara WhiteheadMembership Secretary/Meetings Adviser Elizabeth ObileyeTreasurer Eileen WaitSocial contact (Bath area & East Wiltshire) Rosalie J LeesSocial contact (Bristol and North Somerset) vacant, call Rosalie J. LeesSocial contact (Cornwall) call Peter LeesSocial contact (East Devon and West Dorset) Elizabeth Barton Social contact (Plymouth and Torbay) Barbara WhiteheadSocial contact (Somerset) Rosemary ap Rees

SURREY Regional Representative Ann ChaplinGeneral Secretary Alison HusaunndeeTreasurer Isobel TaylorMembership Secretary Hazel ParsonsSocial Programme Secretary Pat MukhtarHelp Line Pat Mukhtar

WEST MIDLANDS & WALES Coordinator ad interim Michael DaviesTreasurer Elizabeth SearleRegional Welfare Officer contact RRLocal Welfare contact, Cheltenham Sheila Rashed-Angelini

OVERSEAS Regional Representative (to be contacted on all matters) Coby Sikkens

Published September 2016Printed by Foxprint, Loughgall, Co Armagh BT61 8LY

This Newsletter is printed on environmentally friendly paper

On Saturday, enjoy anafternoon excursion to:Sandringham House,

Houghton Hall,

orOld King’s Lynn

Invitation andregistrationform inside

Meet oldfriends, make

new ones

Explore King’sLynn and the

beautiful West Norfolkcountryside

BAFUNCSAnnual Reunion

2017

DUKE’S HEAD HOTELKing’s Lynn 12 to 14 May

Photos © Surya Hotels and Borough Council of King’s Lynn& West Norfolk