The International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) held its hundredth session in Bern, Switzerland, from 28 July – 8 August 2025.
During the session, the Commission discussed and adopted key decisions and recommendations on several important matters. These included the conditions of service for both categories of staff, the parental leave framework and non-financial incentives, as well as conditions of service for professional and higher categories, covering family and dependency-related elements, the education grant, field service allowances and benefits, the base/floor salary scale, staff assessment rates, the non-family service allowance, and personal transitional allowances (PTAs) under the current model.
The Commission also reviewed and adopted relevant decisions and recommendations regarding the conditions of service for the General Service and other locally recruited categories, including on surveys of best prevailing employment conditions in Montreal and Paris, as well as the implementation of the pilot project on salary survey methodologies.
The Commission highlighted the historic significance of its hundredth session, commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of its establishment, and acknowledged this milestone as an opportunity for reflection, particularly as the United Nations common system confronts unprecedented challenges and implements wide-ranging reforms.
The Commission reiterated its commitment to upholding its mandate of harmonizing conditions of service across the United Nations common system, ensuring that its policies remain responsive to the evolving needs of the workforce while safeguarding the principles of fairness, transparency, and operational effectiveness in the years ahead.
The International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) will hold its next (one hundred first) session from 16-27 March 2026 in New York.
