New Boss? U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan
צילום: איי פי
U.N. awaits Israeli officers?
Foreign Ministry invites IDF, police officers to apply for vacancies at United Nation's Department of Peacekeeping Operations
The Israeli foreign Ministry has published for the first time an announcement on its website urging IDF and police officers to apply for vacancies at the Department of Peacekeeping Operations at the United Nations Secretariat in New York.
The positions are intended for standing officers, who hold the ranks of captain to colonel, or alternatively for comparable ranks in the police service. The positions offered are relatively senior jobs at the U.N. forces, of ranks P-4 and P-5.
The U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations supervises 18 forces worldwide, three of them in the Middle East – in Jerusalem (UNTSO), in the Golan Heights (UNDOF) and in south Lebanon (UNIFIL).
This time, the tender was not published on the U.N. website as customary, but was uniquely granted to specific states, which are expected to "lend" army officers for at least two years for the job. Following the service time, the officer returns to the organization he came from.
Among the positions offered are a police planning officer, head of the medical logistics department, training officer, head of military operations department and head of a delegation for support and management services.
The minimal qualifications for the job are knowledge of the English language (at mother tongue level) as well as knowledge of a second official U.N. language, preferably French, but also Spanish, Russian or Arabic. Another requirement is a first level university degree and military experience.
The person to win the job will be issued a U.N. passport and will receive other benefits provided to the organization's employees. The last date to apply is May 15.
'Every employee is an Israeli ambassador'
Each state's U.N. employee quota is determined in advance and is calculated according to the annual membership fee it pays, which is determined by the state's gross national product (GNP) compared to the global GNP.
According to this key, Israel should have 18 employees in the U.N. However, the "officer lending" procedure is calculated separately, and therefore the Foreign Ministry encourages officers to leave for the mission in order to enhance the number of Israeli workers in the U.N.
Ronny Adam, director of the Foreign Ministry's U.N. Department, told Ynet: "We would like our employee quota to be filled with Israelis. As far as we are concerned, every employee is in fact an Israeli ambassador to the U.N. Every country naturally desires its quota to be filled, and thus we encourage Israelis to take the tests and man the jobs."
"We also encourage this because of the fact that the 18-employee quota costs the State a lot of money and should be manned. We encourage those who are interested in the offered position at the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations to apply and propose themselves," he said.
"It should be mentioned that Israel has a relative advantage on the military issue in these specific jobs. Apart from that, we call on the entire public to visit the U.N. website and take an interest in open vacancies at the organization," Adam added.
