At its eighteenth session held in Vienna in July 1973, the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board decided to create an Emergency Fund to be utilized to provide financial assistance to beneficiaries currently receiving a periodic benefit from the Fund and who, having worked primarily for the United Nations and are in receipt of a small pension, are faced with unforeseen hardship owing to illness, infirmity, etc.

The Emergency Fund, which is not an integral part of the UNJSPF pension benefit system, is financed from the assets of the UNJSPF and voluntary contributions by an appropriation of US$200,000 each biennium (US$100,000 per annum) as approved by the United Nations General Assembly.

Yes, you may seek assistance from the UNJSPF Emergency Fund, which was set up to provide financial assistance in case of hardship to beneficiaries who are receiving a small periodic benefit from the Fund. Please see the description of the Emergency Fund in the Annex. e.g. Funeral expenses.

No, only beneficiaries currently receiving a benefit from the Pension Fund may apply for assistance.

In the first instance applications are dealt with by the Client Services Unit of the UNJSPF. Following the initial review, cases are documented and forwarded to the responsible official with a recommendation. Thereafter, the final decision is communicated to the applicant.

An application to receive Emergency Fund assistance is processed on a priority basis, provided that all the supporting documentation has been received. The beneficiary is notified promptly once a decision is reached.

It should be noted that the Emergency Fund is not intended to relieve other organizations, institutions or governments of their legal and moral obligations in respect of their staff members or nationals. “Unforeseen hardship” is something non-recurrent and of an emergency nature in individual circumstances; hardship caused by general or local economic situations cannot be addressed by financial assistance from the Emergency Fund. As specified above, the basic purpose of the Emergency Fund must be respected. Therefore, “having worked primarily for the United Nations” is meant to exclude claims from persons who have not spent most of their career with the United Nations and who therefore have a limited contributory service.

Such personnel may have other income sources, including non-UN pension(s). “Small pension” is relative to the country of residence, the length of contributory service, grade of the ex-staff member as well as other factors including whether a part of the periodic benefit had been commuted by the UNJSPF participant into a lump sum thus reducing the annual pension benefit due. The factors which are used to assess a case are: the applicant’s age, number of years of contributory service, amount of the periodic UNJSPF benefit, the country in which the pensioner resides, other possible sources of income and/ or assistance and the circumstances surrounding the special expenditures. The endorsement or support of the local AFICS or UN representative will help the UNJSPF to assess the emergency nature of the request and speed up the processing of any claim.

On receipt of a request, the Fund reviews whether the basic criteria for Emergency Fund assistance are met. The vast majority of cases rejected are found not receivable under the published guidelines, e.g., assistance was either being sought to further education, to supplement monthly entitlements, to help with marriage expenses or the supporting documentation was never provided.

Requests relating to medical expenses constitute the majority of cases. However, requests for other emergencies creating hardship, such as those detailed in Section 3 of the Annex, are also submitted. e.g. Medical expenses

If there is a retiree association in your country of residence (Association of former international civil servants) you may be able to approach them to ask if they have any assistance programmes for beneficiaries who are experiencing hardship. There are occasions when they may be able to help particularly when the issue is not one that the UNJSPF can necessarily assist with. The Annual Letter sent out by the Chief Executive Officer of the UNJSPF each year normally provides a listing of all the retiree associations and contact details.

In the event of death of a pensioner, the UNJSPF must be informed promptly to avoid any overpayments. Yes, assistance from the Emergency Fund may be provided in hardship cases towards funeral expenses for a beneficiary for immediate dependent relatives if hardship can be proven, i.e., if funeral expenses cannot be covered by a spouse or immediate dependent relatives in a case where there is no surviving spouse. The amount of reimbursement cannot exceed the prescribed ceiling (currently set at US$932).

No, the Emergency Fund is neither a source for supplementing a pension nor for providing loans.

No, this payment, although not governed by the Regulations of the Fund, will nevertheless be treated in accordance with strict rules of confidentiality. It should be noted however that the UNJSPF Board does occasionally ask for details of payments made although the names of beneficiaries or their dependents are never provided.