PC 84/5
|
Eighty-fourth Session |
25 - 29 September 2000 |
Review of the FAO Associate Professional Officers Programme (1988-1997) |
- during the period covered, a total of 867 APOs entered the Programme, with 983 completing it, and two-thirds of the APOs serving on field projects;
- eighteen donors participated, with annual expenditures of US$ 16 million in 1997;
- three of the donors (Italy, Japan and the Netherlands) have also sponsored APOs from developing countries; and
- there had been a steady decline during the period in the number of new entrants to the Programme, from 170 in 1988 to 90 in 1994 and to 21 in 1997.
a) in terms of overall benefits, the Programme was well-appreciated by a good majority of the key stakeholders - it was rated good or excellent by 70% of APOs (current and former), 71% of host country officials, 83% of FAORs and 96% of FAO supervisors;
b) a sizeable minority (36%) of APOs succeeded in obtaining employment in FAO with various contracts, the majority of them in the same units or locations where they had served. APOs from developing countries had a low rate of finding employment with FAO (18%). Those APOs with extended contract duration had a better chance of finding employment in FAO;
c) the majority of APOs finding employment with FAO were those sponsored by the four largest donors (the Netherlands accounting for 20%, Belgium 17%, Italy and Germany 15% each), but there was no clear correlation between the number of APOs sponsored by the donors and the percentages of their APOs finding employment with FAO;
d) according to the FAO supervisors, APOs made useful professional contributions both in technical cooperation and in normative work; and
e) at the same time, several weaknesses were highlighted by the APOs and their FAO supervisors on the programme administration, including the selection process, technical briefing and supervision, monitoring of APO performance, budgetary provisions for APO travel, and debriefing and follow-up of departing APOs.
a) the recent trend of decline in new APO entrants, apparently largely due to the donors' funding constraints;
b) the low level of participation in the Programme of nationals from developing countries (a common issue throughout the APO/JPO programmes in the UN system), including low prospects of their finding employment with FAO;
c) the continuing and large imbalance between FAO demand for APOs and the number actually supplied by donors (70% of APO vacancies unfilled); and
d) the persistent problems in programme management and administration, resulting in some serious dissatisfaction among the APOs and their supervisors.
a) improvement of APO programme management through: (i) the establishment of modern management methods for oversight and quality control; (ii) the appointment of a full-time task manager for the Programme with responsibility, inter-alia, for the APO performance monitoring system (see e) below); and (iii) issuance of a Circular to promote staff awareness of the Programme objectives and procedures throughout the Organization;
b) enhancing communication with external partners to promote better understanding of the Programme, including the preparation of a brochure or booklet;
c) ensuring the maintenance of uninterrupted donor contact and transparent reporting on the Programme;
d) introduction of recruitment measures which would open up greater opportunities for well-qualified APOs for professional posts at lower grades (P-2/P-3 levels); and
e) the establishment of an independent APO performance monitoring system to assess the level of competency achieved.
1. This note presents a summary of the main findings and recommendations of an internal review of the FAO Associate Professional Officer (APO) Programme. The review was undertaken to address a number of pressing issues emerging in recent years:
2. The scope of the review covered: (a) an in-depth examination of Programme objectives and achievements over the 1988-1997 period; (b) an assessment of its performance in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, strengths and weaknesses; and (c) recommendations for enhancing the Programme's relevance, cost effectiveness and impact in terms of its contribution to FAO's work and to the partners. The review was carried out during 1998 (May- November) by a team composed of an FAO Senior Evaluation Officer and a consultant (a former APO), who assisted in the design, management and analysis of surveys of the Programme's key stakeholders1. These surveys constituted a distinctive feature of this review aimed at gathering and analysis of the opinions of the major stakeholders.
3. Four distinct groups were covered through a set of questionnaire surveys: (a) currently employed APOs; (b) former APOs, going back over a ten-year period; (c) APO supervisors in FAO, both at Headquarters and in decentralized offices; and (d) APO-host countries. The questionnaire for the last group was administered through the FAO Representatives (FAORs) in 31 selected developing countries, with a relatively larger number of APOs currently in place. Over a thousand persons were contacted - many by email - and 337 questionnaire forms were returned. The surveys were complemented by an enquiry into the FAO personnel database, especially on former APOs' subsequent employment by FAO over the period (1988-1997).
4. Interviews with key informants constituted the second most important pillar of the investigation. Interviews were carried out with both former and current APOs, APO supervisors located at FAO Headquarters and APO Programme donors. APO career-related events, such as briefing and debriefing sessions at FAO Headquarters, were also observed by the review team. Discussions were held with all FAO staff involved in the APO Programme, either as managers or supervisors of APOs (over 60 APO supervisors contacted).
5. In addition, a representative sample of donors were contacted - some of the major donors (the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy) were visited by the evaluation officer, as were WFP, IFAD, and Unesco in Paris. Other major APO user agencies in the UN system and outside the UN system, in particular the OECD and the European Commission, were also contacted.
6. FAO has relied on the ECOSOC Resolution 849 (XXXII) of 1961 as the basic framework for the APO Programme2. The Programme's objectives are two-fold: (i) in-service training of young professionals in FAO under the technical supervision of its senior staff; and (ii) provision of additional assistance through FAO to developing countries. Within this framework, the main stakeholders, especially the donors, host developing countries and FAO, put different emphasis on the benefits they expect from the Programme, although they all agree on the importance of professional training for the APOs. Many donors tend to emphasize the opportunity of a UN career for their APOs, while the APO host developing countries are more concerned with APOs'contributions to their development efforts, and FAO expects APOs to provide additional manpower and expertise for its work. As noted above, these differences in expectations, especially that between some donors and FAO, have raised some issues that affect their participation in the Programme.
7. Given the diverse benefits expected from the Programme, this review focussed on the following aspects in assessing the achievements and results:
8. The FAO APO Programme, dating back to 1954, is one of the oldest among the UN agencies and has remained one of the largest: in 1998, UNDP had the largest number of APOs (some 350), followed by FAO (219) and UNHCR (98). During the 10-year period covered, a total of 867 APOs entered the FAO Programme. During the period, some 35% were women but their proportion increased from 25-30% during 1988-90 to nearly 40% in 1996-97. At the same time, 983 completed and separated from the Programme. In terms of location of their assignment, the data for 1996-98 showed that the great majority served in the field on projects and programmes (65%) in comparison with 25% at HQ, 6% at country FAO Representations, and 3% in Regional and Sub-regional Offices. However, there has been a steady decline in the number of new entrants to the Programme during the 10-year period, from 170 in 1988 to 90 in 1994 to 21 in 1997. The share of APOs in the total FAO professional staff decreased from about 18% in 1996 to 13% in 1998.
9. The Programme had 18 donors3 in 1998: the annual expenditures were US $18.5 million and US$ 15.9 million in 1996 and 1997, respectively. The largest donors during the 1988-98 period were the Netherlands (32% of the total APOs), Belgium (16%), Denmark (10%), Germany (8%) and Italy (7%). Three donors (Italy, Japan and the Netherlands) funded APOs from developing countries, besides their own nationals: however, such APOs from developing countries have numbered only 28 (2%) so far.
10. Administratively, the Programme has been managed by the Unit for Cooperation with Multilateral and Bilateral Agencies (TCDM) in the Technical Cooperation Department as part of the Government Cooperative Programme (GCP). The day-to-day operation of the Programme is handled by a section headed by one professional (P-3), with four GS staff (posts). Its main functions cover: (i) coordination between the FAO offices and the donors regarding APO vacancies, including management of post descriptions and follow-up on recruitment matters; (ii) organization of briefing and debriefing of APOs, including their separation procedures; (iii) monitoring and reporting on APO budgets and expenditures; (iv) administering APO post transfers and contract extensions; and (v) submission of APOs' arrival and progress reports to the donors. However, the staff of the APO unit has had to take on other work not directly related to the APO Programme in recent years, a trend that has made it difficult for the unit to bring further improvements to the Programme's administration, including the introduction of a more systematic APO performance monitoring system.
11. Four categories of stakeholders were approached for their views on the overall benefits they drew from the APO Programme:
12. In examining the responses summarized in Table 1, the very positive views on the Programme expressed by APO supervisors and FAORs are striking: 96 percent and 83 percent, respectively, classify the Programme as "very useful or useful"and "invaluable or of major benefit". Host developing countries and APOs themselves are also generally very positive. However, it is significant that 10 percent of the immediate target group (current or former APOs) rate the Programme as "poor": when those that consider it only "average" are added, fully 30 percent of this group of stakeholders must be considered as "not fully satisfied". It is also a matter of concern that no less than 29 percent of host countries see the Programme as "average" - many expressed the view that the level of expertise of APOs, often equal to that of national experts, did not justify their status as international civil servants.
Table 1: Survey Results on Overall Benefits Derived from the APO Programme
Category of Respondants: |
Total No. of Respondants |
% of Respondants who Rated Benefits as: |
|||
Excellent |
Good |
Average |
Poor |
||
a. Current APOs | 71 |
26 |
43 |
21 |
10 |
b. Former APOs | 167 |
35 |
36 |
19 |
10 |
Invaluable |
Major |
Some |
Minor |
||
a. Host countries | 29 |
7 |
64 |
29 |
0 |
b. FAORs | 29 |
14 |
69 |
17 |
0 |
Very useful |
Useful |
Little or no |
Damaging |
||
APO Supervisors | 49 |
51 |
45 |
4 |
0 |
13. Table 2 provides a synoptic view of assessments by various stakeholders regarding the main programme management aspects. It indicates that APOs express varying degrees of dissatisfaction on wide-ranging aspects. These include: (i) inadequate briefing and debriefing; (ii) insufficient or unsatisfactory technical supervision; (iii) disputes with supervisors about workplan or lack of an agreed workplan; (iv) a feeling of being exploited to do non-professional tasks; and (v) difficulties in transferring to what seems like a better position in another project or country. It is noteworthy that many APOs expressed dissatisfaction with technical supervision: 44 percent of current APOs and 27 percent of former APOs were not satisfied with the quality of supervision received - a further 48 percent of the current APOs were dissatisfied with technical monitoring by their supervisors. In this regard, while a much higher percentage of current APOs expressed dissatisfaction than former APOs, it is worth noting that their perceptions on the Programme became more positive, the longer they served on the Programme.
Table 2: Survey Results on Major Steps in APO Programme Management
Selected Management Aspects Respondants |
NO. OF RESPONDANTS |
% of Respondants who rated aspect as: |
|
Excellent or good/ SIZE="1"> Adequate |
Poor or very poor/ inadequate |
||
1. APO Selection Process APO supervisors |
47 |
53 |
47 |
2. APO Briefing a. Usefulness of administrative briefing Currently employed APOs |
77 |
77 |
23 |
b. Usefulness of technical briefing Currently employed APOs |
76 |
67 |
33 |
3. Work Methods and Supervision a. Adequacy of Workplan APO supervisors Currently employed APOs Former APOs |
52 71 160 |
83 85 86 |
17 15 14 |
b. Quality of technical supervision received Currently employed APOs Former APOs |
74 170 |
56 73 |
44 27 |
4. Monitoring APO Performance a. Adequacy of current system APO Supervisors |
49 |
71 |
29 |
b. Feedback received on arrival/progress reports from
direct supervisors Currently employed APOs |
65 |
52 |
48 |
5. Training Usefulness of in-service training Currently employed APOs Former APOs |
33 66 |
79 50 |
21 50 |
6. Travel Adequacy of Budget in relation to work
needs APO Supervisors Currently employed APOs Former APOs |
53 70 164 |
49 66 69 |
51 34 31 |
7. Debriefing and follow up to find another job in
FAO APO Supervisors Former APOs |
46 163 |
87 40 |
13 60 |
14. In summary, in terms of the programme management aspects, the following points require attention:
15. Benefits of the Programme as perceived by each group of stakeholders (APOs, developing countries hosting APOs, donor countries and FAO) are examined in this section.
(a) Benefits for APOs
16. APOs were approached for their views on the training benefits derived from the Programme.
17. In terms of their satisfaction on professional/technical aspects, APOs tend to feel more positive as they serve longer periods, as shown in Table 3 below. A strikingly high proportion of (former and current) APOs - 84 percent - judged their overall experience in their second assignment to have been either "excellent" or "good" as compared to 62 percent (former APOs) and 48 percent (current APOs) with respect to their first year. This finding corresponds with the judgement of APO supervisors that APO performance was generally better towards the end of their assignment. It was therefore not surprising that those on a second assignment had a much better chance to find employment with FAO (41 percent did as opposed to an average of 28 percent).
Table 3: Value-added of a Second Assignment or Longer Assignment as APOs
Category of Respondants: | Total No. of Respondants | % of Respondants who rated Overall Experience
as: Excellent or Good: Average Poor |
||
After one year on first or only assignment: | ||||
a. Current APOs | 71 |
48 |
34 |
18 |
b. Former APOs | 171 |
62 |
30 |
8 |
At end of first or only assignment (2 or 3 years): | ||||
a. Current APOs | 52 |
77 |
14 |
10 |
b. Former APOs | 147 |
79 |
16 |
5 |
At end of second assignment (4 years): | ||||
a. Current APOs | 13 |
84 |
0 |
15 |
b. Former APOs | 53 |
84 |
13 |
4 |
18. APOs attached particular importance to improvements achieved in areas ranging from the management and organization of work (operational skills) to the ability to present (promotional skills) as well as administrative and language skills (see Table 4 below).
Table 4: Benefits to APOs derived from the APO Programme
Other than in Technical Area of Expertise
Category of Respondants: |
% of Respondants who rated as "excellent" or "good" acquired skills in area of: | |||
management operations |
presentation promotion |
administration | language | |
a. Current APOs | 56 | 51 | 45 | 68 |
b. Former APOs | 64 | 52 | 46 | 77 |
19. The review also examined the career prospects following APO assignment. The results showed that:
20. At times, the APO's contract may be extended beyond the original time under a cost-sharing arrangement in which case the APO supervisor must justify the extension, for example, due to "important unfinished work". The incidence of such cost-sharing arrangements has been variable, ranging from 66 percent of all contracts for one donor (Belgium) to as little as 8 percent for another (Italy).
21. Is cost-sharing an effective instrument to increasing the chance for the outgoing APO to find employment with FAO? This system does indeed work in favour of those APOs in obtaining employment with FAO in one form or another. This is usually because:
22. Looking beyond the question of uptake into FAO, are APOs in a better position to obtain a job at the end of their assignment? This is a difficult question to answer in the absence of a control group of similar young professionals, with whom the experience of APOs may be compared. However, the two following findings indicate a positive picture in this respect:
(b) Programme Benefits for Developing Countries
23. Developing countries that have hosted APOs pointed to the following specific benefits:
24. This being said, the rating as "average" on the performance of some APOs by 29 percent of the authorities of the host countries and 10 percent of FAORs should sound a note of concern: "average" may be a diplomatic euphemism for "poor". For the FAORs, the main causes of concern seem to be what they perceive as APOs' poor interpersonal relations and lack of experience.
(c) Benefits for Donor Countries
25. A parallel examination of Tables 5 and 6 below shows that the rate of uptake into FAO varies considerably from donor to donor and from year to year. Broadly, the more APOs a donor sponsors, the more likely a relatively large number will find some kind of employment in FAO. However, the uptake percentage is likely to be inversely related to the total number.
Table 5: Number of APOs obtaining contracts in FAO after Separating -
Selected Donors5
(1988-1997)
Other* |
BEL |
FRA |
GER |
ITA |
NET |
SWE |
UK |
CAN |
USA |
JAP |
|
Total no. separating | 22 |
162 |
64 |
94 |
88 |
232 |
46 |
10 |
18 |
9 |
36 |
No. getting professional contracts | 4 |
37 |
27 |
33 |
34 |
45 |
9 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
11 |
% of total no. separating | 18 |
23 |
42 |
35 |
39 |
19 |
20 |
50 |
22 |
22 |
31 |
* Nationals from developing countries |
Table 6: Yearly Uptake of APOs into FAO with Professional Contracts
(1988-97)
Total |
1988 |
1989 |
1990 |
1991 |
1992 |
1993 |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
|
Total no. APOs separating | 983 |
53 |
90 |
129 |
114 |
155 |
96 |
112 |
65 |
83 |
86 |
No. getting prof. contracts | 222 |
13 |
30 |
29 |
32 |
43 |
11 |
15 |
16 |
18 |
15 |
% of total separating | 23 |
25 |
33 |
22 |
28 |
28 |
11 |
13 |
25 |
22 |
17 |
26. The rate of uptake appears to be affected by the following factors:
27. In connection with the latter point, it is noted that APOs from developing countries also experience difficulties in obtaining employment with FAO and are not doing that much better than nationals from over-represented donor countries: only 18 percent of such APOs have obtained employment.
28. An attempt was made to compare these uptake rates to those of other APO-using agencies (i.e. WFP, IFAD, Unesco and OECD in Paris, and the European Commission). The overall impression is that FAO seems to be doing about as well as, or perhaps slightly better than, other UN organizations, although full data to support this are not available at the time of writing.
(d) Benefits for FAO
29. It is conventional wisdom that APOs provide FAO (at no cost) with additional expertise for technical assistance activities, and that they bring with them new, up-to-date knowledge, youthful idealism and enthusiasm. In this view, the real benefits to FAO - as compared to the APOs themselves - are seen to be primarily in the area of technical assistance to developing countries.
30. When asked to provide examples of significant APO contributions in a technical sense, the FAO supervisors were able to give an impressive list, pinpointing to substantive work in both operational and normative activities. APOs are reported to contribute usefully to areas of broad or global interest such as the "Food for the Cities" programme, development of soil conservation approaches and technologies, FAO's agro-ecological methodology, animal husbandry training manuals, environmental impact of aquaculture studies, etc. Thus, it can be concluded that contrary to the conventional view, APOs make useful contributions to FAO not only in the field, in traditional projects, but also to normative work at Headquarters and in the decentralized offices.
31. The APOs themselves perceive this. "Significant" contributions reported by themselves can be grouped into three distinct categories: operational, normative, and programme administration and liaison activities. With respect to the "normative" category, APOs' contributions reported by supervisors are confirmed by the APOs' own assessment. As regards programme administration, where only a few have been involved, APOs' contributions are well appreciated by both their technical and administrative supervisors and FAORs. In short, FAO is able to derive a range of benefits from APOs in all its main work areas - not just technical assistance to developing countries.
32. In spite of its successes in broad terms, the APO Programme faces a number of issues. Among the more important ones are:
These problems call for remedial measures on the part of FAO and/or partner donors.
33. The recommendations below address two main issues confronting the APO Programme. The first relates to persisting shortcomings in programme management and the other to the high level of instability of APO entry, with wide yearly variations. These issues point to the urgent need for FAO to ensure the attraction and effectiveness of the Programme to potential donors and APOs. Further, if FAO is to retain its status as a "centre of excellence", it cannot afford to ignore the state-of-the-art and up-to-date contributions that can be obtained from young professionals, recently out of academia. Yet, "tapping" the pool of APOs to strengthen FAO's own staff renewal process cannot be done without first putting in place a systematic approach, including an effective screening system to identify the best performing elements.
34. A number of measures are suggested for more effective results-based management:
i) establishment of modern management methods for oversight and quality control of the APO Programme;
ii) issuance of a Circular to disseminate and raise staff awareness of the APO programme objectives and operating procedures, both at Headquarters and in the decentralized offices;
35. In particular, results-based management would entail the establishment of a clear management centre through the formal appointment of a full-time task manager who would:
i) the establishment and operation of an independent APO performance monitoring system, mainly based on regular assessments made by the APO supervisors;
ii) production and updating of a standardized information folder to be provided to entering APOs, together with debriefing workshops for departing APOs, including job counselling through the concerned technical services; the brochure mentioned above could also be one of the tasks;
iii) the establishment of an "intelligent" roster (i.e. incorporating performance monitoring information) for former APOs who could be considered as potential consultants;
iv) the launching of a systematic process of briefing all FAO staff involved in APO supervision, and, as needed, organizing the coaching of supervisors in training techniques; and
36. In conjunction with the proposed appointment of a task manager above, it is suggested that an APO post be established to assist the task manager in the first phase of establishment of the results-based management system proposed here. There would also be a need in this initial phase for some additional funds for specific tasks such as the computerization of the APO monitoring database, production of the proposed brochure or the APO website, but these would be relatively modest, one-time expenditures.
37. For this purpose, the following measures are recommended as a move towards a more effective recruitment strategy aimed at using the APO Programme as a potential source for young FAO staff, especially at lower grades. To assist in identifying the more promising candidates, it would be essential to establish an independent and functional APO performance monitoring system based on assessing the level of competency achieved. This would open up greater opportunities for well-qualified APOs for professional posts at lower grades (P-2/P-3 levels), including their systematic inclusion among candidates for posts compatible with their qualifications.
38. The advantages of adopting such a recruitment strategy are:
Annex
Comments of the Technical Cooperation Department
The Department has decided to introduce a number of measures in follow-up to the conclusions and recommendations of the donors meeting and of the internal review of the APO Programme over the last ten years. These focus on two levels with different timeframes:
- establishing modern management methods of oversight and quality control of the Programme (building a database to monitor the training and professional competence of APOs);
- enhancing communication with external parties and promoting the image of the Organization (brochure, website, visits to beneficiaries and users of APOs);
- maintaining permanent contact with donors and APOs, and ensuring transparency of financial procedures.
These measures will be implemented by a full-time team made up of one P-3 Programme Officer and three General Service staff.
_____________________________
1 The consultant was funded by the Netherlands for four months.
2 ECOSOC Resolution 849 (XXXII), 1961. The Resolution, which addresses the use of young professionals throughout the UN system, defines the role of "volunteers"as providers of "additional supporting assistance". It also highlights the "promotion of peaceful relations" as an added benefit. Main features of the APO Programme (UN staff status, costs) are governed by the Resolution and cannot be unilaterally changed.
3 They are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America
4 The group who responded to the second assignment question are fewer since only one donor normally allows a second 2-year assignment.
5 Donors excluded from the table are those whose uptake percentage for their nationals was below 18 percent.