Executive and Administrative Office

The Executive Office of OCHA is responsible for the administrative functions of OCHA, and comprises the Executive Office (EO) in New York and the Administrative Office (AO) in Geneva. The Executive Office assists the Under-Secretary-General/Emergency Relief Coordinator, programme managers and staff members in carrying out their financial, personnel and general administrative responsibilities. The office also provides administrative support services to OCHA's core and project activities in New York, Geneva and the field.

The Executive Office in New York serves as the seat of administrative authority. It provides authoritative advice on policy issues, interpretation of UN Staff and UN Financial Regulations and Rules, and provides overall guidance on related administrative instructions and procedures. The Executive Office supports OCHA Senior Management in formulating various managerial development initiatives, including training and development strategies, succession planning, staff mobility/rotation, rostering and other methodologies designed to enhance OCHA's capacity and effectiveness. It coordinates the formulation of the departmental programme budgets and presentations before the legislative bodies, and manages the Trust Fund for Strengthening of OCHA and the Special Account for Programme Support that funds administrative activities in New York. It also provides administrative support services to the New York Office as well as the Integrated Regional Information Network, (IRIN) and its offices in the field.

The Administrative Office in Geneva manages the Trust Fund for Disaster Relief Assistance which serves as the main funding source for field activities, the Trust Fund for Tsunami Relief and the Special Account for Programme Support which funds administrative activities in the Geneva office. It provides dedicated administrative support to all of OCHA's field offices through its Field Support Section (FSS). The Administrative Office provides financial support by managing the receipt and expending of funds, management and donor reporting, guidance to field staff and desk officers on the availability and use of funds, support in the procurement of goods and services and the recruitment, deployment and administration of field staff. In addition to providing administrative support services to the Geneva Office, it provides support to the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR).

Administrative support services provided by both offices includes: general human resources management such as vacancy management, recruitment, administration of staff and consultants; budgeting, cost planning, financial recording and reporting; and the management of common support and logistical services such as office space, acquisition of office equipment, procurement and other operational requirements.

In 2007, the Executive and Administrative Offices will focus on developing guidance and training to both headquarters and field staff on administrative issues that will assist them in meeting the objectives of their work plans. This builds on EO/AO having increased its capacity to strengthen support to their offices and prepare for the delegation of authority to recruit and administer its field staff. The field mobility scheme and the recruitment roster framework and guidelines will be implemented in the beginning of 2007. They are designed specifically for field offices to facilitate a more organized and speedy manner of recruitment and deployment of staff to the field.

Against this background, EO/AO's key objectives in 2007 will be as follows:

Effective human resource planning and management: EO/AO will establish tools to facilitate systematic tracking of and reporting on management targets, including gender, geographical balances, filling of vacancies, and staff management dialogue. It will ensure the development of a comprehensive training and succession planning strategy to prepare high potential staff for leadership roles, and a roster system to improve management of field recruitments and minimize the time taken for deployment of recruits to field.

Strengthened administrative support: EO/AO will improve guidance on financial planning and administration in field offices, including cost plan guidelines on staff and non-staff components, and ensure the development of Human Resources field guidelines and an administrative manual for headquarters operations. It will establish mechanisms for systematic dissemination of relevant administrative instructions and practices and design a global financial management system in field offices.

Strengthened accountability mechanisms based on measurable indicators and results: EO/AO will establish mechanisms to track and enforce compliance with audit recommendations and evaluations in the area of administration.

Key Indicators for 2007

• Percent of timely field requests and accurate cost estimates for budget and planning
• Percent of recruitments completed within three weeks of closing of vacancy announcement
• Number of field offices having access to UN regulations, rules and practices
• Percent of compliance rate and audit reports reflecting improved administrative controls and practices

Staff Development and Learning Section

The goal of the Staff Development and Learning Section (SDL) is to strengthen the coordination skills of OCHA staff, at headquarters and in the field, in their mission to carry out principled, effective and accountable humanitarian action. The section designs, develops, and implements specific training programmes, all of which aim to strengthen the linkages between the various parts of OCHA. The section mainstreams OCHA strategies, policies and guidelines into all aspects of its training programmes, thereby enhancing organizational learning.

The Staff Development and Learning Section intends to increase its resources, and ability, to more proactively meet the training needs of OCHA staff, and enhance their capacity to implement the humanitarian reform priorities effectively.

The project seeks to: promote equitable learning opportunities for all OCHA staff; establish a mechanism for the systematic review of staff learning needs and include these in OCHA's annual plan; improve the linkage between desired competencies and learning activities of individual staff members; and improve planning, evaluation and reporting of learning activities.

Against this background, SDL's key objectives for 2007 are as follows:

Strengthened in-country coordination:The section will provide customized training programmes to newly established or expanded field offices, while supporting ongoing Emergency Field Coordination Training.

Improving tools and services:The section will revise all training programmes to reflect humanitarian reform priorities, and design a tool accessible for developing e-learning programmes on demand.

Improved management practices:The section will facilitate the participation of OCHA senior staff in manage­ment development courses, and initiate a specialized training programme for OCHA Heads of Offices.

Effective human resource planning and management:The section will introduce and manage an OCHA-wide Learning Managers System. An OCHA-wide annual training plan will be established with participation of Learning Managers, who will also contribute to coordinating learning activities within OCHA to meet the organizational needs and priorities in a systematic and comprehensive way. The section will continue to identify and disseminate information about internal and external training opportunities, while maintaining and updating training history of all staff. In addition, the orientation CD-Rom will be fully incorporated into the standardized briefing process for new staff, and its useability will be monitored and its content updated.

Key Indicators for 2007

• Number of changes made to existing SDL training programmes to reflect the humanitarian reform priorities
• Number of other e-learning programmes developed in-house using the existing content management authoring tool
• Number of Learning Managers identified, established and trained
• Number of staff surveyed six months post workshop that confirmed learning is being applied effectively in their day-to-day work
• Number of staff who have used the Orientation CD