Office and Contact

Aims

• to promote and protect the rights and interests of United Nations-system retirees in Austria;
• to support the principles and the purposes of the United Nations and its work;
• to provide a forum for the discussion of problems and represent its members’ interests before the appropriate United Nations bodies and Austrian authorities;
• to provide information and assistance to individual members and promote social contact among them.

History and membership

The Association started informally with meetings of IAEA retirees chaired by the late Dr. Henry Seligman, gradually encompassing those of UNIDO and UNOV, and finally officialised as an Association in 1993.
Membership is open to all retirees from the Vienna-based United Nations organizations as well as to other UN-system retirees and their survivors resident in Austria and elsewhere as associate members. General meetings are held once a year in the Vienna International Centre (VIC). ARICSA also publishes a Newsletter, which is sent to members in good standing.

International contacts

ARICSA maintains contacts with UN-system retiree associations in other countries, the largest being in France, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. It is a member of the Federation of Associations of Former International Civil Servants (FAFICS).
A portion of each member’s annual dues goes towards paying the Association’s membership in FAFICS, which represents UN retirees in two major bodies: the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board and its Standing Committee, further to which it enjoys consultative status with ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council) as a registered non-governmental organization and is an observer at sessions of the ICSC (International Civil Service Commission).

Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting, AGM is the principal organ of ARICSA and it determines the guiding principles, policies and programme of ARICSA, electing officers, and approving budgets. It meets each year in the autumn. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the ARICSA 2020 AGM as well as the 2021 AGM were not held in person but via mail. See list of AGM reports and financial documents since 2011.

Executive Committee

ARICSA has an Executive Committee (ExCom) consisting of:

• a president,
• two vice-presidents,
• an executive secretary,
• a treasurer
• and three ad hoc members elected for a two-year term.

The ExCom is elected at Annual General Meetings in odd-numbered years. The current ExCom consists of the President and six members, most of whom were elected at the AGM 2017, re-elected at the AGM 2019 and extended at the AGM 2021 and now again re-elected at the AGM 2023 to serve until the AGM 2025. Two previous long-time executive members left the ExCom as of the AGM 2023, former second Vice President, Elisabeth Swaton, and Karin Burmester, and one new member was elected, Shyam Upadhyaya. One position remained vacant due to the lack of nominated candidates. See the revised distribution of positions in the current ExCom link.

ARICSA Secretariat

In its day-to-day activities ARICSA is supported by a Secretariat consisting of:

• Ms. Mary Balmanian, Ms. Anneliese Heber, Office Administrator
• Ms. Monireh Damestani, Database Administrator
• Mr. Martin Reading, Newsletter Editor (as of Newsletter No. 81)

Other Organs

The statutes provide for an audit committee, an arbitration committee and polling officers as organs of the Association.

Services

ARICSA:

• facilitates participation in staff-operated clubs and recreational facilities;
• intervenes with local banks to ensure that pension payments are correctly credited;
• provides advice to members on retirement-related issue including Pension Fund, ASHI, Austrian residency matters etc.;
• organises cultural activities, excursions, luncheons, lectures and other events.