AFICS BULLETIN NEW YORK ASSOCIATION OF FORMER INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SERVANTS Vol. 48 ♦ No. 1 ♦ Spring / Summer 2016 Governing Board Elects JOHN DIETZ as the New President of AFICS/NY “The mission of AFICS/NY is to support and promote the purposes, principles and programmes of the UN System; to advise and assist former international civil servants and those about to separate from service; to represent the interests of its members within the System; to foster social and personal relationships among members, to promote their well-being and to encourage mutual support of individual members." CONTENTS 4 NOTES FROM THE NEW PRESIDENT 5 NOTES FROM THE FORMER PRESIDENT 6 AFICS/NY IN ACTION 46th Annual Assembly and Reception 19 COMMITTEE REPORTS 19 Social Committee 19 Committee on Ageing—Estate Planning Presentation 21 WORLDWIDE REUNIONS 21 Meetings of Florida Chapter of AFICS/NY 22 BOOK REVIEWS 22 AFICS/NY Member Wins Award 23 AFICS/NY Library adds books by UN authors 25 UN IN ACTION 25 Refreshments Return to DC-1 & UN Buildings 25 North Lawn off Limits until April 2017 26 FAFICS IN ACTION 26 NEWS YOU CAN USE Appealing a Medicare Hospital Discharge 28 OBITUARIES 36 USEFUL INFORMATION Published quarterly by the Association of Former International Civil Servants/NY Editor Design & Layout Proofreader Mary Lynn Hanley Laura Frischeisen Herminia Roque Please submit news, views, photos and letters to the Editor by E-mail: [email protected] AFICS/NY webpage: www.un.org/other/afics 2 AFICS Bulletin Spring / Summer 2016 ASSOCIATION OF FORMER INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SERVANTS/NEW YORK HONORARY MEMBERS OTHER BOARD MEMBERS Martti Ahtisaari Thomas Bieler Kofi A. Annan Gail Bindley-Taylor Ban Ki-moon Barbara Burns Aung San Suu Kyi Mary Ann (Mac) Chiulli Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Frank Eppert Anthony J. Fouracre Joan McDonald GOVERNING BOARD Dr. Sudershan Narula HONORARY MEMBERS Dr. Agnes Pasquier Nancy Raphael Andrés Castellanos del Corral Federico Riesco O. Richard Nottidge Warren Sach Edward Omotoso Christine Smith-Lemarchand George F. Saddler Linda Saputelli President of AFICS/NY Charities Foundation Jane Weidlund J. Fernando Astete Office Staff OFFICERS Jamna Israni President: John Dietz Veronique Whalen Vice-Presidents: Deborah Landey, Jayantilal Karia Librarian Secretary: Marianne Brzak-Metzler Dawne Gautier Deputy Secretary: Demetrios Argyriades Treasurer: Angel Silva Unless otherwise noted, throughout the Bulletin the term “AFICS” is used to refer to AFICS/New York. The views and opinions expressed in the various reports, articles and illustrations in the Bulletin do not necessarily represent those of AFICS /NY, its Bureau or Governing Board, nor does the Association accept responsibility for the accuracy of information given. The mention of any product, service, organization or company does not necessarily imply its endorsement by the Association. Spring / Summer 2016 AFICS Bulletin 3 NOTES FROM THE NEW PRESIDENT Greetings! It is my honour and privilege to introduce myself to you as the new President of AFICS/NY, elected by the Governing Board on 9 August 2016. My name is John Dietz and I had worked in the UN system for over 32 years, first in the UN Office of Legal Affairs and then for almost 22 years in the Pension Fund Secretariat, the last 13 as the Deputy CEO. I will be working very closely, as a team, with the two Vice-Presidents who were also elected in August: Deborah Landey (past Assistant Secretary-General of UNAIDS who retired in 2013 as Director of the UN’s Development Operations Coordination Office) and Jay Karia (for many years Director of the Accounts Division who retired as Deputy Controller in 2011). My team and I will focus our efforts on the subjects and areas that are of the greatest concern to UN retirees and beneficiaries: 1. Efficient and effective service by the Pension Fund Secretariat to all Fund participants, but particularly the accurate and timely payment of all pension benefits. 2. Operation and management of the Fund’s Investment Management Division under the leadership of the Secretary-General’s Representative for Investments, to ensure that the Fund’s financial health is maintained and the actuarial assumptions for investment returns are fully met. 3. Management by the UN of ASHI (After-Service-Health Insurance) in a cost-effective manner while providing quality client servicing. 4. Assistance to members (and prospective members) with special individual problems or concerns, par- ticularly with regard to their pensions and ASHI coverage. 5. Scheduling substantive programmes of special interest to retirees; and 6. Scheduling social programmes where members can meet and interact with old and new friends, such as luncheons, boat rides, etc. The main goal and purpose during my term will be to serve and protect to the maximum extent the interests of UN retirees, both with the Pension Fund and with the UN. I strongly believe that the best way to achieve that is by influencing and working with the senior management of the UNJSPF and the UN in a constructive way, mak- ing certain that they take full account of the interests and concerns of UN retirees before any actions are taken. Looking forward to a very productive and successful term, John Dietz President 4 AFICS Bulletin Spring / Summer 2016 NOTES FROM THE FORMER PRESIDENT Dear Members, you should have received a nine-digit ID number from the Pension Fund which will enable you to access Member Self- By the time you receive this note, AFICS/NY will already Service (MSS). MSS is a further stage of the IPAS implemen- have in place a new President, John Dietz, elected unani- tation which will allow you to view your personal pension mously by the Governing Board at its meeting on 9 August. data directly, such as, for example, when the Fund received John is a lawyer who prior to his retirement served as Deputy CEO of the Pension Fund. The names of other elected Board your 2016 Certificate of Entitlement. In the coming months members were posted on the AFICS/NY website as per usual the Fund will continue to implement those stages of IPAS practice before the office closed for the summer break. still in the pipeline and AFICS/NY will keep you informed. As I leave my function, I would like to remind members A critical aspect of the Pension Fund is the investment that the Bureau and members of the Governing Board serve side. Through its participation in FAFICS, AFICS/NY has con- on a voluntary basis with a single overarching objective: to tinued to play a vital role in the Fund’s Assets and Liabilities ensure that our members maintain the two major after service Monitoring (ALM) Committee, which monitors the Fund’s entitlements, pensions and health insurance, earned during investment performance. Lately, the Committee became so their years of active service. AFICS/NY has always worked concerned by recent investment performance that on 30 August closely with those responsible to safeguard these entitlements 2016, it wrote to the Secretary-General inviting him to examine and ensure that retirees continue to receive them. both the performance of the Fund’s investments and its invest- ment managers. The letter noted that despite a positive actu- In this last note, I will concentrate on updating you on arial surplus of 0.16 per cent of pensionable remuneration as major developments related to pensions. In August of last at end December 2015 compared to a previous deficit of 0.72 year, the Pension Fund implemented a major initiative, the per cent, the ALM Committee remained concerned about the Integrated Pension Adjustment System, or IPAS. IPAS was extent and impact of current underperformance of the invest- first conceived in 2007 by the former Deputy CEO, now CEO ments of the Fund’s assets against the Fund’s own benchmarks. of the Pension Fund. Over the past seven years he and his staff worked tirelessly on the redesign and integration of a series of The Committee noted that underperformance vis-à-vis the outdated, piecemeal IT systems that were no longer capable of Fund’s own investment policy benchmark widened from 11 serving clients effectively. When IPAS was finally launched in basis points in January 2016 to 190 basis points in July 2016, August 2015 it was a resounding success for existing benefi- meaning that the Fund’s investments lagged behind the market, ciaries; it went off without a hitch and there were no reports as measured by the Fund’s own market benchmark, by more of missed or late payments. The CEO informed the Pension than US $900 million. The ALM Committee will continue to Board in July that uninterrupted payments to existing retirees follow this critical issue as well as what steps are being taken to had indeed been the Fund’s top priority. fill the position of Deputy Director for Risk Management and Compliance, a key post that has been vacant for almost a year. When we learned, however, that the results were some- what mixed for some new pensioners and widows/widowers As some of you already know, over the last year some who were experiencing delays in receipt of their pensions, the members experienced delays with respect to ASHI payments. Vice-Chair of the Pension Standing Committee, Warren Sach, We understand that this was related to the introduction of and I met repeatedly with the CEO and his colleagues to find the new central administrative software system, UMOJA. out what was causing the delays and to offer our assistance. AFICS/NY has worked closely with those responsible in the We also invited them, along with those responsible for after– Insurance Service to ensure that these delays do not recur. service health insurance, to a Governing Board meeting to In closing, let me say that I have found the experience of express our concern over the state of client services in both serving AFICS/NY and working with its members reward- areas and hear what was being done to correct the situation.