Ms. Victoria Browning, Director for Mission Support (DMS) at United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is the incoming Chairperson of the RSCE Client Board.

Ms. Browning was elected through a digital ballot at the Regional Service Centre Entebbe (RSCE) Client Board meeting that took place from 4^th to 5^th of July in Entebbe.

The Client Board meeting comprised of the Directors and Chiefs of Mission support (DMS/CMS) of all UN Peace Keeping Operations and small political offices in Africa. The board meeting was chaired by the outgoing chairperson Mr. Ebrima Ceesay, DMS at United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) and hosted by Paulin Djomo, Director of RSCE.

The Board meeting discussed global political developments and its impact on Peacekeeping and RSCE operations due to the closure of MINUSMA and UNITAMS, the drawdown of MONUSCO and projected reduced footprint in UNSOS. RSCE highlighted its efforts of repositioning all resources available to continue to provide the high-level services to its clients and keep the critical human capital despite the reduction in its staffing.

Ms. Maurizia Calo, Director of the Logistics Division in the Department of Operational Support (DOS), engaged with the RSCE Client Board virtually to discuss the critical role of OSCM and its outpost, the Forward Support Deployment Hub (FSDH) as a Logistics Hub in Entebbe, pivotal for coordinating the UN operations in the region. Ms. Calo highlighted three key areas for FSDH support to the missions: Managing Standby Air Cargo Assets, facilitating a Service Request Platform for all DOS Clients for services being provided and Operationalizing of Temporary Operating Bases (TOBs) including engineering module support through Regional and Strategic Deployment Stock with support of United Nations Global Service Centre (UNGSC).

Ms. Neris Mercedes the Director of the Procurement Division (PD) welcomed the opportunity to join the RSCE Client Board virtually, not to only showcase the work Global Procurement Services Section (GPSS) but engage in a dialogue with RSCE Client Board members for an increased two-way collaboration. Ms. Mercedes highlighted the fact that while missions have the delegation of authority to decide on the procurement actions, GPSS has accumulated wealth of expertise embedded in their robust PD network that is an asset for the missions in identifying best procurement solutions.

The Client Board members reviewed the use of a new application for managing Flexible Working Arrangements (FWA) in their missions, that was developed by the RSCE. The RSCE clients that have been already using the App, commended the tool, as a very useful one that provided them with excellent reporting, reducing significant amount of paperwork in the missions. This incited enthusiasm with all other RSCE clients to start using the RSCE FWA app. The development of a monitoring tool to oversee the flexible working arrangement is equally responding to an audit observation which has now been raised by the legislative bodies as well.

The RSCE Client Board, was impressed with the RSCE Overall Client Satisfaction survey result of 80%, that represents an uplift of 2.5% since last survey in 2022, and the highest client satisfaction rate since the inception of the RSCE. National staff were the most satisfied RSCE client category with 81.5% satisfaction rate, while Uniformed Personnel recorded an increase in client satisfaction from 74 -79.2% and international staff and increase from 74.4-77.7%.

RSCE Director, Paulin Djomo commented: “This is not only due to the work of the RSCE, but due to perpetual feedback and cooperation from the Missions that was invaluable for us to improve our services. This survey was also a success as it recorded the highest participation of the RSCE clients to date.”