UNIS/INF/269
11 July 2008

UN Staff in Vienna Receive a Quarter of UN21 Awards
Honouring Outstanding Staff Initiatives

VIENNA, 11 July (UN Information Service) -- For the second year running, United Nations staff in Vienna are receiving awards for innovative ideas.  While the United Nations staff in Vienna are under 2 per cent of those employed by the Organization, they have won over 20 per cent of the awards. UNOV Director-General Antonio Maria Costa said that the United Nations community in Vienna should be very proud with this achievement which could not have come about without an environment of renewal, change and innovation. Staff initiatives were welcomed to increase efficiency and excellence and to generate faster and better ways of doing business.

The UN21 Awards were established by former Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1996 as part of management reform. The programme aimed to provide recognition to staff members for innovation, efficiency and excellence in the delivery of the Organization's programmes and services.  Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has continued this initiative and will be awarding this year's UN 21 Awards at a ceremony at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 11 July 2008.

Over 70 projects, involving more than 600 staff members, were nominated in 2008 for awards from across the United Nations system. Five evaluation teams and a high-level approving panel reviewed the submissions.  Only nine projects were selected as Award-winners, two of them based in Vienna.  Out of six projects receiving Commendations again two are based at the Vienna United Nations Office.

The award winning projects improve office processes but also the way Governments report drug-related data.  The awards will be handed out by the Deputy Secretary-General today in New York. The Vienna staff will participate by video-link in the ceremony.

The following four UNODC projects were selected by the UN21 Awards High-Level Approving Panel as excellence initiatives and outstanding achievements in improving efficiency at the United Nations.

UN21 Awards:

National Drug Control System (Award - Substantive Programmes)
Online Clearance Procedures for Separating Staff (Award - Process Reengineering)

UN21 Commendations:

The Mobile Office (Commendation - Working Environment)
The Pre-Export Notification (PEN) System (Commendation - Substantive          Programmes/Process Reengineering)

An UNODC staff member will also receive an award as part of a UNHQ project named Global Contact Directory (Award -Improvements in Working Environment/Staff Morale).

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For further information, please contact:

Réka Fürtös
United Nations Information Service (UNIS)
Tel: (+43-1) 26060-5588
Email: Reka.Fuertos@unvienna.org