OSCEs Parlamentariske Forsamling 2019-20
OSCE Alm.del Bilag 13
Offentligt
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Interoffice Memorandum
Date
To
From
Object
06 March 2020
OSCE PA Staff
Roberto Montella, Secretary General
COVID-19
–
OSCE PA Temporary Preventive & Mitigation Measures
Since the COVID-19 outbreak in January 2020, I have been closely monitoring the situation
having in mind, on the one hand, the well-being of all OSCE PA staff and, on the other, the
need to ensure the continuity of our key mandated operations.
The overall situation with COVID-19 is currently very volatile. According to the World Health
Organization’s
(WHO) Situation Update of 5 March 2020, the risk assessment at global level
is “Very High”.
Many countries are introducing sharp measures to prevent and mitigate the
propagation of the new coronavirus among their citizens. This includes growing restrictions on
international travel that may directly impact on our ability to perform our mandated tasks. As
it is impossible to predict what will happen over the next weeks and months, the best way
forward is prevention and mitigation, together with some good contingency planning.
As of 28 February 2020, I have appointed Marco Bonabello and Dimitrije Todoric to represent
the OSCE PA in the OSCE taskforce in charge of developing a common preventive response
to the COVID-19 outbreak. Due to rapidly evolving developments, the taskforce meets on a
daily basis in the OSCE Secretariat in order to identify and recommend preventive responses,
closely liaising with national and international stakeholders on this matter. All OSCE structures
are encouraged to maintain close collaboration with the taskforce, address the preventive
responses recommended by the taskforce and seek close coordination with relevant national
and international stakeholders in their respective host countries. In case the situation further
deteriorates, the OSCE Crisis Management Team will be activated and the work of the taskforse
will be streamlined into the Crisis Management Team.
Consistently with the Inter-Office Memorandum issued by the OSCE Secretary General of 26
February 2020, following up on our internal correspondence dated 29 February 2020 and 02
March 2020, and building on the preliminary recommendations of the OSCE taskforce, I have
decided to introduce the following preventive and mitigation measures on a temporary basis
and with immediate effect:
•
OSCE PA staff shall keep abreast of the
latest COVID-19 developments
from trusted
official sources (e.g. WHO). Host countries (i.e. Denmark and Austria) responses to the
outbreak should be duly monitored, as well as recommendations of relevant
International Organizations.
OSCE PA Staff shall implement the
basic protective measures
recommended by WHO
in
(www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public)
order to minimize the risk of transmission of infectious disease in the workplace.
•
 OSCE, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 13: Letter from OSCE PA Secretary General and Interoffice Memorandum on COVID-19
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Additional
information and guidance may be found on WHO’s website.
(www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019).
•
All
“non-essential”
duty-travel
to affected areas
1
is banned until further notice. All
other duty-travel shall be reconsidered and, in so far as feasible, postponed or cancelled.
The responsibility to determine whether a duty-travel is essential or not rests with the
Secretary General, having consulted with the leadership of the Assembly and relevant
senior staff as appropriate, and in line with relevant OSCE taskforce’s
guidance.
The
well-being of all OSCE PA Staff, the prevention of acquiring the COVID-19 within the
OSCE PA and a sensible approach should prevail.
All
private travel
to affected areas is discouraged. If not avoidable, it should be
immediately announced/reported to Senior Management as it could lead to self-
quarantine measures upon return.
Senior management shall regularly reconsider all
official OSCE PA activities
planned
until July 2020 (e.g. statutory meetings, EOMs, official visits, conferences, seminars,
etc.) against the background of the evolving security and heath situation in view of
preventing and mitigating all possible concerns and consequences connected to the
COVID-19 outbreak.
Whenever a duty-travel, or official activity, cannot be cancelled nor postponed,
adequate
mitigation measures
should be put into place, including making pro-active
use of video-links and other modern communication technologies, minimizing people-
to-people contacts, implementing all required hygiene standards, etc.
Flexible working arrangements
shall be enacted to prevent the propagation
of seasonal viruses/infections among OSCE PA staff.
All employees facing early flu
symptoms, returning from trips (both official and private) to affected areas and having
particular situations at home (e.g. in case of schools closure, elderly/sick persons to take
care of at home, etc.) shall submit a request for telecommuting to their direct
supervisors, who will decide being mindful of the well-being of all OSCE PA staff and
the need to ensure business continuity.
•
•
•
•
In moving ahead, the OSCE PA International Secretariat will also consider enacting the
following measures in close coordination with our OSCE partners:
•
Develop/update its
business continuity plan
to ensure continuation of key operations
in case of a pandemic outbreak. This shall entail identifying essential operations and
staff and ensuring that all personnel can operate from home (telecommuting) with the
appropriate equipment.
Establishing a rotational
officer-in-charge system
to ensure 24/7 handling of all
requests for support by staff on duty.
Setting up a
COVID-19 committee,
comprising the Chief of Administration and
Finance, Security focal point, Staff Representatives and relevant colleagues to advise
the Secretary General as appropriate.
•
•
With kind regards,
Roberto Montella
1
According to the WHO, affected
areas are considered those countries, provinces, territories or cities
experiencing ongoing transmission of COVID-19, in contrast to areas reporting only imported cases.