8 February 2024, Entebbe; The Director, Regional Service Centre Entebbe (RSCE), Mr. Paulin Djomo, hosted an all staff Townhall at the Kofi Annan Hall of the Regional Training and Conference Centre (RTCC).

This is the first all staff Townhall of 2024 and the Director used the opportunity to relay a video recording of the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio Guterres’ words of appreciation to RSCE staff on a good job that they do in Entebbe.

Mr. Djomo also run the staff through a presentation on an update on the RSCE in which he touched on the closure of Missions including the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) plus the drawdown of UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) and their implications on the staff at Entebbe, client base and budget.

He also presented highlights from the recently concluded Senior Management Team (SMT) retreat that took place in Kampala. At the 1st annual SMT retreat, management reviewed the RSCE vision and strategy considering the current challenges. They also reassessed the Centre’s workplan and risk registry considering the changing geopolitical landscape affecting Peacekeeping, the UN financial constraints, the sustainability of the RSCE and how best to leverage emerging technologies.

Before taking comments and questions from representatives of the Field Staff Union (FSU) and National Staff Association (NASA) and staff, Mr. Djomo announced good news for the new UN babies. The RSCE has finalized the creation of a nursing room that will be inaugurated in coming weeks. The room has been set aside and furnished to facilitate new mothers in nursing and caring for their children at feeding times.

Representatives from NASA, FSU and a few staff took the floor and commented on a wide range of issues including the recently concluded Continuing Appointment exercise, RSCE scalability vis-à-vis other entities, bottlenecks in Umoja affecting some processes and staff promotions.