Page 41 - Bulletin, Vol.79 No.1, February 2020

VACCINATION AGAINST INFLUENZA

by Madeleine MISTRAL

The UN Mutual Insurance Society against Sickness and Accident invited retirees to the
Palais des Nations to be vaccinated against influenza. A good number, around 700,
were able to make an appointment and keep it, having surmounted the obstacles of an
overworked switchboard and of being able to arrive at Door 40. Once again AFICS had
organized an enjoyable interlude during the vaccination session by offering tea, coffee
and biscuits.

This annual event not only allows former colleagues to meet up but also offers a
possibility of obtaining information on AFICS activities and of strengthening the
Association’s work in defending the interests of retirees in both the Pension Fund and
the health insurance scheme. AFICS is, indeed, the only authoritative body to represent
retirees in the UN General Assembly and UNSMIS (the health insurance scheme for
UNOG, HCR, WMO) since, as Georges Brassens sang, nothing can be taken for
granted.

It must always be underlined that being a member of AAFI-AFICS enables volunteers to
cover the cost of running an office and undertake the necessary travel. We must
encourage all retirees, and future retirees, to become members of the Association and,
according to their possibilities, volunteer for the different tasks.

Translation by Elisabeth BELCHAMBER

THE BERLIN WALL

By Dr Michael ATCHIA

30 years ago, on 9 November 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, marking the end of the
totalitarian communism era

When I joined UNEP in 1986 as Chief of Education and Training I inherited amongst
other programmes the Dresden Course, a joint UNEP- UNESCO-GDR effort to teach
what was called at the time ecosystems management, i.e. freshwater, land and air
management. So twice a year I was in East Germany (GDR) always landing in East
Berlin then, after meeting the required officials, traveling to the old historic city of
Dresden by road. Every year we selected 25 young cadres from the nascent Ministries
of Environment of developing countries (including from Mauritius) for a nine-month post
graduate training. I did two thing for this course, firstly expanding its scope and
renaming it Environmental Management; then succeeded a first behind the Iron Curtain,
to convince the course director Pr. Seidel (which meant in fact convincing the

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