Inauguration of the UNDP JPO Service Centre

The JPO (Junior Professional Officer) Service Centre has completed relocation from UNDP Headquarters to the UN/ UNDP Nordic Office in Copenhagen and became fully operational. The official inauguration was held on 6 November 2001 in the presence of Mr. Jan Mattsson, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of the Bureau of Management, and of the representatives of 16 out of 19 participating donor countries.

In an effort of UNDP to realign business processes and reposition its services to bring them closer to its clients (the country offices, the JPOs themselves and the donor community) the Bureau of Management's Office of Human Resources (OHR) had decided to move the JPO Service Centre to Copenhagen.

The JPO Service Centre is responsible for the management and administration of the Junior Professional Officers, including recruitment, placement as well as all administrative and managerial aspects of the programme. JPOs are government-sponsored young professionals pursuing a career in development. They serve in more than 130 UNDP offices in developing countries for a two to four year period. Several donor countries sponsor JPO assignments of developing countries' nationals.

In addition to UNDP JPOs, the JPO Service Centre administers those working for UNFPA (UN Fund for Population Activities), UNOPS (UN Office for Project Services) and UNIDO (UN Industrial Development Organization). The JPOs specialize in one of the thematic focus areas of the above UN agencies, such as: poverty reduction, good governance, human rights, energy and environment, advancement of women, HIV/ AIDS, etc. The 19 donor governments, participating in the programme, contribute some US$ 24 million per year, and offer to some 280 young professionals annually a hands-on experience in development cooperation.

The relocation of the JPO Service Centre also provides an opportunity to reengineer its business practices, review the organizational strengths of the service in the policy/strategy and advisory areas, while implementing a client-focused service. On the occasion of the inauguration, the first version of a dedicated JPO Service Centre web-site was launched. It is expected that the web-site will help enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the services delivered by the JPO Service Centre. It will also lay the groundwork for an electronic platform, which will optimize, streamline and simplify the whole range of administrative support provided by the JPO Service Centre, including computerized offer package, bulletin board, chat room, directory of the current and former JPOs and the plethora of information resources about the JPO programme and the countries of assignment. The website contains well over 1,000 links and can be accessed at the following addresses: http://www.jposc.org or http://www.jposc.dk

The JPO Service Centre team presently consists of 11 staff. The majority of the staff members are "brand-new" to the organization. Following recruitment, they received intensive training at UNDP Headquarters in New York, with a view to preparing them for the operational programmatic products and deliverables, integrating human resources management, administration and financial reporting functions of the new JPO Service Centre. Together they represent eight nationalities, speak five of the six official UN languages - a true reflection of the international character of the JPO Programme, of UNDP and of the UN/ UNDP Nordic Office in Copenhagen.