Mekong River Commission

Finance, Administration and Human Resources

The MRC has continued to implement stringent budgeting rules. This allowed the surplus in the operating expenses budget to further increase over the year. At the same time, repayments of the relocation loan were also increased. With both the overall expenditure rate of the MRC and the number of staff at the Secretariat rising (by around eight percent) over the year, the workload on the Finance and Administration Section increased, but the section was able to cope without any major expansion required. Notable events occurring during 2008 included the arrival of the Chief of the Human Resources Development Section (HRS) and the integration of both the HRS and Personnel Section. This is eventually expected to result in a reduction of workload on staff as streamlining of procedures comes into place and duplication of activities is reduced.

With the impact of the global crisis reaching the Mekong region, the MRC introduced new entitlements for the general support and riparian professional staff to allow for the impact of any significant devaluation of the US dollar and inflation.

Staff Category Number Percentage 1 International Staff 17 10.97% 2 Riparian Professional Staff 51 32.90% 3 General Support Staff 73 47.10% 4 Seconded International Expert 3 1.94% 5 Junior Riparian Professional 8 5.15% 6 Associate Modeller 4 1.94%   Total 155 100%

Regular orientation and information sessions for staff were organized at both the MRCS in Vientiane and the Regional Flood Mitigation and Management Centre in Phnom Penh. Orientation sessions are designed to familiarize staff with MRC and MRCS procedures.

Workforce at a Glance:
There were 155 staff members working for the Secretariat as of 1 January 2009. The figures above provide an overview of the staffing situation per category.