Knowledge Solutions and Design Cluster

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Knowledge Solutions and Design Cluster

Outreach Division
Department of Public Information
Annual Report 2011

Web Group
iSeek
Graphic Design
Technical Support
Contents
About This Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
A. Overall Organization of the Outreach Division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
B. KSD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
C. General Cluster Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2. WEB GROUP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

A. Mission Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
B. Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
C. deleGATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
D. Permanent Mission Web sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
E. Other Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
F. Challenges for 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
G. Human Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3. ISEEK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
A. Mission Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
B. iSeek Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
C. Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
D. Content Management Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
E. deleGATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
F. Staff Movements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4. GRAPHIC DESIGN UNIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

A. Mandate and General Staffing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
B. Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
C. Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
D. Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5. TECHNICAL SUPPORT TEAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

A. Mandate and General Staffing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
B. Activities for 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
C. Accomplishments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
D. Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
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KSD
Annual Report 2011
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Knowledge Solutions and Design Cluster, Outreach Division, Department of Public Information
About this report
Over this past year, the Knowledge Solutions and Design clusters (KSD) has evolved,
improved and accomplished. This 2011 annual report highlights the activities of
the cluster, which sits within the Outreach Division (OD) of the Department of Public
Information (DPI) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Main aims of this report

• To outline KSD’s objectives and structure, and demonstrate how it
contributes to the division, the department and the Secretariat as a whole.
• To document our main achievements and the challenges during the year.
• To give examples of best practices in the work performed and offer

suggestions for the way forward.
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Outreach Division Organisational Chart, Department of Public Information, United Nations, 2011
Deputy Director Deputy Director

Administration and Management Director Partnerships and Public Engagement
Lena Dissin Outreach Division Ramu Damodaran
Maher Nasser
HR/Budget UN Academic Impact
Publications Board Secretariat

Exhibits Committee Secretariat
Secretary, Renata Morteo
Knowledge, Publications & Advocacy & NGO Relations Education Visitors Services Sales & Marketing
Library Users Information Solutions & Design Editorial Special Events Maria-Luisa Chavez Outreach Dawn Johnston- Valentina Kalk
Service (LUS) Processing & Helga Leifsdottir Russell Taylor Juan Carlos Brandt Yvonne Acosta Britton
• Association • Cataloguing & Order
Lorraine Waitman Acquisitions Fulfilment
• iSeek • UN Yearbook • Messengers of Peace • Weekly NGO Briefings • Cyberschoolbus • Guided Tours
• Access & Preservation Shinichi Kushima • Marketing & Product
• Technical Support • UN Chronicle • CCOI (Creative • DPI/NGO Conference • Academic Outreach • Group Programmes—
• Depository Libraries • Information Processing Community Outreach Programme Speakers Bureau Development
• Web Design • Basic Facts About • DPI/NGO Resource
• Consortium & Initiative • Student Conferences • External Publications
• Digitization • Graphic Design the UN Center • Public Inquiries
Dag Hammarskjöld Library

Collections • Holocaust • Model UN • Development Business
• Reference Team • The UN Making a • Exhibits
Remembrance
• Legal Branch Difference
• Special Events
• Map Branch
• Economic & Social
Affairs Branch
1. INTRODUCTION
A. Overall Organization of the Outreach Division
The Knowledge Solutions and Design cluster (KSD) is one of nine clusters within the
Outreach Division (OD) of the Department of Public Information (DPI) at the United
Nations Headquarters in New York (see Figure 1 on the opposite page). The other
eight clusters are: Advocacy and Special Events; Education Outreach; Information
Processing and Acquisitions; Library Users Services; Publications and Editorial; NGO
Relations; Sales and Marketing; and Visitors Services.
B. KSD
Structure
The Knowledge Solutions and Design cluster (KSD) was created in April 2008 as a
result of an Outreach Division retreat. The aim was to unite information management
specialists with Web and graphic design experts and capitalize on the synergies in
their work. Four units were put together to form this cluster:
• The iSeek/deleGATE team, which provides Intranet services to staff (iSeek,

iseek.un.org) as well as to Member States (deleGATE, www.un.int);
• The Web Group, which provides Web development and knowledge

solutions for all OD clusters;
• The Graphic Design Unit (GDU), which provides visual communication

solutions and branding for United Nations publications and global
communication campaigns;
• The Technical Support Team, which supports the Library Users Services
cluster (LUS) and the Information Processing and Acquisitions cluster (IPA)
with the Horizon Library Software system and also offers helpdesk support
to these clusters and to KSD.
Initially the name of the cluster was perceived as ambiguous. Over time, however, it
has become a collective identifier for the cluster’s work with information displayed in
different forms to represent the United Nations.
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Annual Report 2011
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Organizational diagram of the Knowledge Solutions and Design cluster in the Outreach
Division, Department of Public Information, United Nations . September 2011
KSD Cluster Chief

Helga Leifsdottir
iSeek Web Group Graphic Design Unit Technical Support

Team Leader: Charles Albert Team Leader: Nanci St. John Team leader: Ziad Al-Kadri Team leader: Amos Homodza
Editor (English) Associate Information Officer Graphic Presentation Officer Information Systems Assistant
David Mimran Mingxia Xu Allan Markman Elhaji Mansour Ba
Editor (French) Associate Web site Officer Associate Printing Officer Information Systems Assistant
Frederic Fath Ernesto Araiza Martin Samaan Cynthia Lully
Associate Information Officer Web site Assistant Assistant Printing Officer

Catharine Smith Debra Ramsthaler Randy Giraulo
Public Information Assistant Web site Assistant Graphic Arts Assistant

Elodie Sabau Phillip Alnswick-Tobias Marko Srdanovic
Public Information Assistant Graphic Arts Assistant

Renee Luque Judy O’Hara
Graphic Arts Assistant

Chris Van Der Walt

Ursula Damm

Parvati McPheeters

Matias Delfino
Administrative Assistant
Bandegini Rollosson
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KSD
2 Annual Report 2011
Role of KSD
The role of the Knowledge Solutions and Design cluster is to promote the work of the
United Nations by analysing, presenting, writing, editing, designing, displaying, sharing
information and creating a message through text or visual forms. Some staff members
focus on researching, collecting, writing and editing text, some build websites, a vehicle
on which to share information, and others design a visual representation of the key
message, delivered either in print or online.
Despite variations in their areas of focus, all of KSD’s teams are client-orientated,
providing service to the clusters within OD/DPI and/or the Departments of the
Secretariat.
Human Resources
KSD has on average 27 staff members, though KSD experienced a high turnover rate in
2011, as is evident from the table on page 5. These movements were linked to retirement,
departures, promotions and staff seeking temporary opportunities.
17 recruitments took place during the year: five regular appointments through inspira,
five placements of National Competitive Examination (NCE) candidates, five temporary
assignments, and two internships.
16 staff also left in 2011, among them a Team Leader at the P2 level, and two long-
serving staff members who retired from the Organization. Charles Albert, iSeek’s P4
Team Leader, retired at the end of December 2011 after thirty years of service, including
five years as iSeek’s Team Leader. Allan Markman, art director, designer and illustrator
also left after fourteen years of creating striking and compelling visuals such as the UN
Chronicle illustrations (see GDU chapter). Both will be greatly missed.
The number of staff movements posed a challenge for management, who invested
considerable time and effort in recruitment and training. On the other hand, it has
been rewarding for staff to learn and develop through temporary assignments and
promotions. The opportunity for staff to experience working in another team during a
temporary posting has also brought new energy to KSD and encouraged the rethinking
of existing working methodologies. In the end, everyone agrees that staff are the best
asset of an organization but that moderated moves are the most beneficial.
Overall, however, a balance between managing the work at hand and the staff movements
was achieved successfully. Testament to this are the 800 stories posted on iSeek and the
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various notable designs that the Web team and the Graphic Design Unit produced. The
work of the Web team was also nominated for a UN21 award and two of GDU’s designs
- the “Haiti commemoration poster of 2010” and the new “UN police” logo - were also
proposed for the Gold Award from Graphis Design Annuals.
It is also worth mentioning that, during 2011 all staff successfully finished their ePas with
their respective supervisors and set their goals for the coming year.
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KSD
KSD Staff Departures Recruitment/Joined
1 P4: Charles Albert (Team Leader, iSeek), retired on P4: Inspira recruitment process was completed in March 2012 (Ms.
31 December 2011. St. John).
2 P3: Allan Markman (GDU Designer), retired in P3: Inspira recruitment process completed as of 1 December 2011
October 2011. (Mr. Martin Samaan)
3 P2: Amos Homodza, Team Leader, Technical Support P2: NCE post, selection finalized in mid-September 2011, but
Unit, transferred to ECA on promotion in September OHRM approved the candidate in March 2012 (Ms. Jennifer
2011. Maston).
4 P3: David Mimran, given the temporary status of the P3: Inspira recruitment completed in 2011; David Mimran (P3,
P3 iSeek English Editor. English iSeek Editor), confirmed in post.
5 P2: Ms. Mingxia Xu (Web Group) accepted a P2: Temporary vacancy was opened, but no suitable candidates
temporary assignment with DPKO for six months, found. Post remained empty until February 2012.
followed by maternity leave until February 2012.
6 P2: Ms. Jingbo Huang (iSeek) accepted a temporary P2: Temporary vacancy recruitment completed and Ms. Catharine
assignment with OHRM as of January 2011. Smith from the Spokesperson’s Office started in January 2011
7 P2: Temporary staff member Mr. Steve Senderak left P2: Recruitment of NCE Mr. Ernesto Araiza was confirmed to the
at the end of January 2011 due to contract rules. post through the Managed Reassignment Programme, in March
2011.
8 P2: Mr. Martin Samaan (GDU) was promoted to the P2: Ongoing recruitment, temporary candidate selected for the
P3 Designer post in GDU (replacing Allan Markman P2 post in February 2012; confirmed by OHRM in June 2012
in December 2011). (Mr. Marko Srdanovic).
9 G6: Ms. Ursula Damm (GDU) resigned from the UN G6: inspira recruitment process opened immediately; completed in
in October 2011. March 2012 (Ms. Nora Rosansky).
10 G6: Mr. Chris van der Walt recruited to the temporary G6: Temporary G6, designer recruited from January to June 2011
G6 designer post through Galaxy in summer 2010, whilst Mr. Chris van der Walt was unavailable.
but was working with the SG’s Office on Global
Pulse.
11 G6: Judy O’Hara of GDU, certified sick leave starting No replacement.
July 2011—ongoing.
12 iSeek G4 post reclassified to a G5. G5: inspira recruitment process opened, and Ms. Elodie Sabau, the
successful candidate for the post, started in October 2011.
13 G6: Ms. Kadi Sall-Beye (Web Group) resigned from G6: Temporary recruitment completed and Renee Luque from
DPI to join ITU at the P4 level. iSeek, started in June 2011.
14 G5: Ms. Renee Luque (iSeek) left for a temporary G6 G5: Temporary recruitment completed and Ms. Ann-Sophie
post within KSD. Persson from the Spokesperson’s Office started in June 2011
15 G4: Mr. Phillip Alnswick-Tobias (Web Group) No replacement.
accepted a special assignment for two months with
DGACM.
16 G4: Ms. Cynthia Lully (Technical Support) took a G4: Cynthia Lully (G4, Technical Support), recruited as a temp and
mandatory break in service from January to then confirmed in her post in May, 2011.
April 2001.
17 Intern: Luke Raggat (January 2011).
18 Intern: Leah Selim (June 2011).
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C. General Cluster Issues
Work Plan
The KSD team developed a work plan for 2011 based on detailed input from all units,
DPI’s mission statement and the Secretary General’s strategic priorities. This plan
formed the basis for individual goals entered in the Electronic Performance Appraisal
System (ePas).
DPI presence on iSeek

The KSD cluster was represented at the DPI Senior Management Retreat on 14 May
2011, where a cross-divisional decision was made to re-energize DPI’s presence on the
UN Intranet, which at that time was limited to nonexistent. KSD’s Chief was nominated
as the Chair of a cross-divisional ‘Nimble Team’, assigned to complete all aspects of
this exercise, from template development to determining content, structure, look and
feel. More than seventeen meetings were held with SCD, NMD, OD, the Executive Office
and The Office of the Under-Secretary-General (USG) over a period of six months.
On December 17, 2011 the final results were delivered to the USG and the senior
management team; and so the official DPI iSeek presence was born.
Budget
In 2011 the cluster worked more closely with the Director’s office to improve budget
planning and procurement processes for the whole of the Oureach Division. At the end
of December an attempt was made to use remaining funds to purchase 26 computers,
but this was not successful.
Training
KSD staff has had to accept the significant limitations of the external training budget, as
well as the travel budget, which has been reduced to almost zero. This was an unfortunate
situation, affecting the technical and design teams in particular, since ongoing training is
essential for these colleagues to keep abreast of industry changes. Given this limitation,
staff took online training sessions as time allowed and, wherever possible, for free. The
hope is that KSD will also be able to secure some of the training through OHRM in the
future, as had previously been possible
Cross-team collaboration
During 2011, cross-team collaboration has been encouraged through common projects.
GDU and iSeek came together on the iSeek Drupal template and infographics showing
usage statistics, and iSeek colleagues also worked with the Web team on the DPI
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KSD
Intranet pages. In addition, a cross-unit KSD ‘Nimble Team’ was established to develop
a “Common Service Request Form”, aimed at improving client service and finding a
“smarter” way to deal with requests by cutting down on e-mails and paper forms.
A mini retreat was held early December 2011 for all KSD staff, in addition to the more
than thirty staff and team leader meetings throughout the year. Several staff members
also participated in interview panels within DPI and, of course, within KSD due to the
various temporary and longer-term posts that opened in KSD during 2011 (see table on
Human Resources in the previous section).
Introduction of Content Management systems

In June 2011, a welcome decision was made by the Chief Information Officer of the
Office of Information and Communication Technology (OICT) to allow two Web content
management systems (CMS) to be used when developing Websites: WordPress and
Drupal (see Annex, Figure A). Until the summer of 2011, KSD had been working without
a CMS, because OICT had declared that the previous system (Jahia) would no longer
be fully supported. This caused delays in developing Websites for clients and, like their
OICT counterparts, KSD colleagues were presented the additional challenge of learning
two new systems. In KSD, through learning-by-doing, colleagues were able to complete
full websites in WordPress. With regards to Drupal, however, there is more work to be
done and colleagues could currently be described as beginners.
OICT also announced in November 2011 that Drupal would be the CMS to support
iSeek. This marked the beginning of Phase 1 of iSeek 2.0 or the iSeek Portal, which will
include new posting templates and a “commenting on stories” feature. It is anticipated
that phase will be finalized by the end of March 2012.
iSeek opportunities and challenges

During 2011, KSD negotiated with the Office of Human Resources Management (OHRM)
to include iSeek in the UN Orientation programme for new staff on an ongoing basis.
This is an opportunity to connect with new recruits four to six times a year to give them
insight into the rich, staff-centric content available on the Intranet.
Although the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) moved away from
iSeek to an independent Intranet platform in 2011, an attempt was made to maintain
some coherence between the two sites. DESA frequently asked for and received KSD
advice and regular meetings with the team were conducted. KSD has raised the issue
of independent Intranets and seeks to engage senior management in a conclusive
discussion on whether many UN Intranets should be permitted and the way forward.
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Annual Report 2011
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Organizational Diagram showing the Web Group, Knowledge Solutions and Design Cluster,
Outreach Division, Department of Public Information, United Nations, 2011
Team Leader
(P4)
Nanci St. John
Associate Information Officer Associate Website Officer Website Assistant Website Assistant
(P2) (P2) (G4) (G4)
Mingxia Xu Ernesto Araiza Phillip Alnswick-Tobias Debra Ramsthaler
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KSD
Web Group
2. Web Group
A. Mission Statement

“To service Outreach Division clusters with Web design and technical solutions,
developing public websites that are tailored to their audience, up-to-date, and compliant
with UN standards.”
B. Projects
Overview
In 2011, the Web Group oversaw 18 websites, and fully developed 13 of them. In addition,
the team designed and created the initial coding for the DPI subsite on iSeek.
Technical support for the deleGATE website for UN member state representatives, as
well as 61 Permanent Mission sites—all previously maintained by the Web Group—was
moved back to OICT during 2011.
WordPress and Drupal were evaluated as possible replacements for Jahia while serving
as the interim CMS. After meeting with Web Services Section (WSS) and OICT, and
with high-level intervention (USG-to-Assistant Secretary-General memos), these two
platforms were approved and OICT configured servers for both. As the OICT servers
were restrictive and costly, WSS offered to share external server space (Rackspace)
with the Web Group. The first site developed in WordPress was launched in September
(UN Academic Impact), and the second in December (United Nations Oral History).
Design of four more sites was started in 2011 (for the Non-Governmenal Organizations
Cluster, the Reham Al-Farra Journalists Fellowship Programme, the Creative Community
Outreach Initiative and the UN Messengers of Peace).
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Figure 1.
The UNAI site
Web Development and Design

Academic Impact
(http://outreach.un.org/unai)
The website for the United Nations Academic Impact Initiative (UNAI), above, was the
first to be produced using WordPress. The Web team worked on both the design and
development phases of the project. Most of the content, including photographs, was
provided by the client, but the Web team produced ten graphics, representing each of
the hubs established by the programme.
Dag Hammarskjöld Oral History Collection

(http://unmultimedia.org/oralhistory)
This site (opposite page, top) was produced for the Library Users Services (LUS)
Cluster. The collection is housed on the UN Multimedia external server and was
developed in WordPress on the same server. The Web team worked both on the design
and development phases of the project in collaboration with LUS and the News and
Media Division.
GMUN 11
(http://un.org/gmun)
The Global Model United Nations (GMUN) 2011 conference was held in Incheon, People’s
Republic of Korea in August so the design of the existing site was updated to reflect
this year’s theme and venue. Launched in April 2011, the site (opposite, middle) was
designed and developed in Jahia, with collaboration from several Web team members.
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WEB

Figure 2.
The UN Oral
History site
Figure 3.
GMUN 2011 site
Figure 4.
NGO Conference
2011 site
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NGO Conference
(http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/ngoconference)
The annual Non-Governmenal Organizations (NGO) conference was held in Bonn,
Germany at the end of August. The site (previous page) was designed and developed
in Jahia.
UN Chronicle
(http://un.org/chronicle)
The Web team decided that the UN Chronicle site should be redesigned and
redeveloped in WordPress, since the Jahia platform would no longer be supported by
OICT. A developer/consultant was brought on board in December to develop the site
with significant support from the Web team.
Creative Community Outreach Initiative

The redesign process for this website was started in November 2011 and development
in WordPress will be completed in the first quarter of 2012.
Figure 5.
The existing
MoP site
Messengers of Peace (MoP)

(http://un.org/sg/mop)
Redesign of this website (above) was started in 2011, and will be completed in 2012.
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WEB

Reham Al-Farra
(http://un.org/en/media/fellowship )
The Reham Al-Farra Journalists Fellowship Programme site (below) was updated to
reflect the needs of the 2011 programme. Colleagues in this team indicated that there
may be further changes to its format in 2012 and would like a redesign of the site to
reflect this.
Figure 6.
The existing
RAF site
NGO Cluster
(http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/dpingorelations)
A major redesign of this site and migration to WordPress begun in November 2011. The
look and feel of the site (below) have been approved and comps for all pages have
been produced. Development will begin in January 2012.
Figure 7.
The existing
NGO Cluster site
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C. deleGATE
Technical support for the deleGATE website was officially moved to OICT on 1 April
2011. However, the management of all content, along with some straightforward technical
fixes remain KSD’s responsibility. From January to March, the Web Group supported the
site both with technical and content assistance. Responsibility for content was moved to
iSeek in March 2011.
D. Permanent Mission websites

Responsibility for the sixty-plus Permanent Mission websites was moved to OICT as of
1 April 2011, although KSD continued to support them for around two months until OICT
staff were trained.
E. Other Projects

Wikipedia
The Web Team is tasked with updating Wikipedia whenever the Secretary-General makes
a senior appointment at the Under-Secretary-General and Assistant Secretary-General
level. A total of 27 senior appointments were added or edited in Wikipedia during 2011.
UN business cards
GDU and the Web Team collaborated on standardizing the design and production of
business cards. This included the development of a Web-based request form which will
be hosted on iSeek. The project will continue in 2012 with collaboration from DGACM
for the in-house production of cards.
Service Request Form

A KSD ‘Nimble Team’ was established for this project with Nanci St. John (leader), Martin
Samaan, Randy Giraulo, and Ernesto Araiza. The project will be completed in 2012.
DPI iSeek Intranet subsite

The ‘Nimble Team’ for the DPI Intranet presence asked Debra Ramsthaler to design the
look of the DPI iSeek Intranet subsite. Debra also did the initial coding for the homepage
and subsidiary pages. This task was completed by Strategic Communications Division
(SCD) unit chief Rado Ratovonarivo and the Information Centres Service Team.
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WEB

F. Challenges for 2011
CMS changes
The biggest challenge for the Web Group in 2011 was working with a CMS that was
no longer supported within the UN. The Jahia platform, which housed most of the
websites maintained by KSD, was moved from WSS’s responsibility to OICT, who will
continue to support it until 2015. The fact that platform is not the current version and
will not be upgraded was the subject of many meetings with both WSS and OICT. It was
finally agreed that the two open-source platforms (WordPress and Drupal) would be
adopted as interim solutions until a permanent CMS was found. This came as a relief to
developers and designers who would now be able to produce websites with much more
functionality and better fulfil client requests, while also complying with UN guidelines.
Human Resources
Staffing was the second largest challenge faced by the team. As the list of Human
Resources movements below reveals, all but two team members were affected by
changes in 2011.
• Steve Senderak (P2): left UN service after his contract ended on 31 January 2011
• Ernesto Araiza (P2): joined KSD on 14 March 2011 to replace Steve Senderak;
joining through the Managed Reassignment programme for P2s and brining much-
needed WordPress experience to the team
• Mingxia Xu (P2): went on a temporary assignment with DPKO for six months starting
in May, followed by maternity leave until January 2012; it was not possible to recruit
a replacement despite advertising the vacancy twice
• Phillip Alnswick-Tobias (G4): went on a temporary assignment with DGACM for two
months without replacement
• Kadiatou Sall-Beye (G6): resigned from the UN to take a professional post with the
International Telecommunications Union; the post has been temporarily moved to
the Chief’s Office and will go through the process of reclassification
All job descriptions for posts in the Web Group have been rewritten to bring them in
line with current duties, but some of these have not yet been sent to reclassification.
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Organizational Diagram showing the iSeek team, Knowledge Solutions and Design cluster,
Team Leader
(P4)
Charles Albert
Editor (French) Editor (English)

(P3) (P3)
Frederic Fath David Mimran
Associate Information Officer Public Information Assistant Public Information Assistant

(P2) (G5) (G4)
Catharine Smith Renee Luque Elodie Sabau
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iSeek
3. iSeek
A. Mission Statement
“To support one Intranet for one UN worldwide, and provide useful and coherent
messages to reach and connect staff everywhere, with consistent, user-friendly layout
and established technology”.
iSeek is an internal communications and knowledge-sharing tool for all Secretariat staff
at all duty stations and field missions. It was created in 2005 under Deputy-Secretary-
General Louise Fréchette’s leadership and was meant to serve as “the first source of
organization-wide information for all UN staff”.
B. iSeek Management
Access
iSeek continues to be accessible to staff at all eight major duty stations: Addis Ababa,
Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva, Nairobi, New York, Santiago and Vienna. It is also available
in some of the Peacekeeping Missions and United Nations Information Centers (see
Figure 1 on the following page.) The possibility of making iSeek available on the UN
System Extranet (another platform, separate from iSeek) is being considered as part
of the iSeek 2.0 project.
iSeek and other UN Intranets

Other Intranets have been created by UN departments on their own platforms, including
the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO); the Department of Field Support
(DFS); the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA); and the
Department of Political Affairs (DPA). Some of these Intranets predate iSeek and all are
linked to through iSeek. In 2011, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)
also shared its intention to create its own Intranet and moved forward with plans to host
it on WordPress.
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GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS OF STORIES
18
Seek Statistics 2011
iSEEK iSeek is the intranet of the United Nations Secretariat, serving about 65,000 staff members in the world. It was
created in 2005 under the umbrella of the Deputy Secretary-General and was meant to serve as “the first source of
organizational-wide information for our staff”. iSeek is accessible at all eight major duty stations: Addis Abbaba, 496 37% of stories have a GLOBAL perspective
Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva, Nairobi, New York, Santiago and Vienna as well as at Peacekeeping Missions, a number of Other stories focus on DUTY STATIONS
300 (see map above for distribution)
field offices and Information Centres. iSeek is also working to cover all Secretariat staff wherever they are stationed.
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NUMBER OF UNIQUE VISITORS NUMBER OF STORIES POSTED
566,098 796
36 8
246 5
Annual Report 2011

NUMBER OF PAGE VIEWS 16 12
13
25,811,038 7 10
5 5 9
STORIES POSTED IN ENGLISH (100%)
11
STORIES POSTED IN FRENCH (100%)
FRENCH VS ENGLISH (READERSHIP) STORIES ABOUT THE SECRETARY-GENERAL’S PRIORITIES
CLIMATE 3% MDGS 2%
CHANGE
FRENCH (4.5%) ENGLISH (95.5%)
HUMAN
SUSTAINABLE 1% 5%
RIGHTS
DEVELOPMENT
EMPOWERING
SAFER WOMEN
2%
6%
WORLD
Meetings & Conferences (6) IT (6) DISARMAMENT 1%
IMPROVED
Staff Voices (6) HUMANITARIAN 2%
RESPONSE
iSeek (12)
Public Information (5) STRENGTHENING
16%
THE UN
Secretary-General (5)
Peacekeeping (13) TOP 10 0
STO RY Umoja (2)
SUBJ ECTS Captial Master Plan (1) TRAFFIC (PAGE VIEWS): 25,811,038 1.30 M
DESA(1)
Ethics Office (1)
Dispute Tribunal (1)
Department of UNON (1)
Management (40) UN Women (1)
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Figure 1. iSeek Statistics, 2011 Broken Down by Location, Content and Readership
Separate Intranets have also been established at the United Nations Office at Geneva
(UNOG), the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON), and the United Nations Office at
Vienna (UNOV).
In addition, a number of offices have moved their content from the iSeek platform to a
public website. These offices include the Office of Administration of Justice (OAJ); the
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed
Conflict; the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); the Office of the
High Representative for the Least Developed Countries; the Ombudsman and Mediation
Service; the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa; the Office of the Special Adviser on
the Prevention of Genocide; and the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO).
The Department of Safety and Security hosts their web pages on the UN System Extranet,
which is not accessible outside OICT’s network.
iSeek and the UN System Extranet

The iSeek Team has been trying to find ways to make iSeek available to staff serving at
“far offices” so in 2011 it suggested the idea of making it available via the UN System
Extranet. iSeek consulted with OICT and DPI’s Strategic Communications Division (SCD)
before raising the issue with the iSeek Editorial Board. The Department of Management
(DM) is currently reviewing the proposal and its implications, but it cautioned that this
would not solve the entire problem of granting access to all staff and therefore might
not be the best solution.
The UN System Extranet is a platform accessible via the Internet and overseen by the
Secretariat of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board, under the guidance
of its High Level Committee of Management. The lead agency for the project is OICT
(formerly known as the Information Technology Services Division). As the UN System
Extranet develops, organizations within the UN system are requested to submit content,
tools, and applications that would be of value to all staff members.
Population reached and technical considerations

Access to iSeek via the Extranet would mean a potential reach to about 300,000 staff
members from the Secretariat, agencies, funds, programmes, peacekeeping missions,
and country and field offices worldwide.This, however, would not compromise password-
protected applications such as inspira, IMDIS etc, which would remain accessible only
to intended users.
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Broadening access to iSeek
In December 2011, Information Centres Services (ICS) within the Strategic
Communications Division (SCD) conducted a survey which determined that at least
21% of DPI field offices would benefit from accessing iSeek via the UN System Extranet.
These offices include all of the United Nations Information Centres (UNICs) and United
Nations offices that share premises with local United Nations country teams. DPI field
offices occupying premises separate from the local UN country team would continue
to rely on iSeek access via the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
network — a system that is part of OICT’s Fast Forward Initiative and is known to have
some operational limitations.
Offices and Departments in the Secretariat with Access to iSeek
Figure 2.
Focal Point meetings

iSeek Focal Point (FP) meetings were held on 15 March, 14 June and 11 October 2011.
Each meeting was attended by approximately 30 Focal Points, although there are almost
100 on the FP register. Staff members come from departments and offices including
DPKO, DM, OCHA, OICT, as well as offices away from headquarters. Some of the topics
discussed included: Greening the Blue; Google Analytics; the Secretary-General’s
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Figure 3.
Change Management Team; a review of iSeek toolbar menus and QuickLinks; and
OICT’s vision for the future of iSeek. These meetings have proven to be an efficient way
of connecting UN headquarters with off-site offices on issues related to the UN Intranet,
while keeping everyone in different duty stations “in the loop”.
iSeek Editorial Board meetings

iSeek Editorial Board meetings were held on 11 May, 7 June, 6 October, and 8 December
2011. With Maher Nasser’s appointment as Director of DPI’s Outreach Division and Chair
of the iSeek Editorial Board in February 2011, the Board has taken a more proactive
role regarding content and policy issues concerning iSeek. Some of the policy issues
discussed were the Staff Union’s postings on iSeek; induction training on iSeek as part
of OHRM’s orientation programme for newcomers to the UN; phase II of iSeek which will
involve a redesign of the home page; and the expansion of board members to include
representatives from OCHA, DPA, and OICT.
Metrics
Average monthly page-views on iSeek from January to December 2011
iSeek received 11,134,707 visits in 2011, 24,047,638 page views and had 529,235 unique
visitors. The average time on the site was 3 minutes 30 seconds.
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Figure 4. Yearly curve in 2011 (notice drop down and plateau after August)
As a comparison, in 2010, iSeek received 14,817,108 visits, 28,396,524 page views, and
had 451,128 unique visitors. The average time on the site was 1 minute 55 seconds.
Figure 5. Yearly curve in 2010 (notice the similarity of the shape after August without the drop)
Note on Statistics Measured by Google Analytics in 2011

Regular peaks of 51,000 visits per day were observed during the first half of 2011. In
August, however, the number of visits dropped abruptly to daily peaks of 31,000 visits,
and remained at this number throughout December. The iSeek Team questioned these
sudden changes in the metrics and observed the following:
• From 1 January 2011 to 14 August 2011 iSeek had 8,671,595 visits.
• From 15 August 2011 to 31 December 2011 iSeek had 3,032,922 visits.
The iSeek Team found out that Google modified the way it counted visits the day before
the gap occurred. Other analytics were not affected and do not show this gap. With this
in mind, team members expect the true numbers will show an increase in readership
of 40%, bringing the total number of visits to 1,076,473 million per month, 4,246,090
for the months of September-December, and 12,917,685 for the year. These numbers
are closer to the Under-Secretary-General’s goal of having 1.2 million average monthly
visits on iSeek.
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C. Content
Stories
From January through to the end of December 2011, the iSeek Team received 796 stories
and posted 1,494 articles (796 in English and 796 in French) covering a wide range of
topics. In addition to researching, writing and editing thse stories, the iSeek Team was
involved in translating them all into French. They were then posted in both English and
French, along with relevant stories on the Member States’ site, deleGATE, in English.
Finally, a improvement was made to iSeek Alerts, which are the e-mail messages sent
out to senior management to inform them on content about to be posted. By adding the
title of the story in the e-mail’s subject line, recipients can now be notified more quickly
and efficiently of what content is going live.
Readership in English and French

iSeek Readership in English and French for 2011
There continues to be a dramatic gap between English and French readership. In
2011, 95.5 % of iSeek visitors read the English version of the story, and only 4.5% read
the French version (see Figure 6, below). A less exhaustive study conducted in 2010
measured French readership of the top 30 stories at just 1.56% between 17 December
2009 and 4 May 2010.
Authors of Stories
Top Departments contributing stories on iSeek
Figure 7 on the following page shows which offices and departments submitted the most
stories on iSeek in 2011. Among the top contributors were DM, DPKO/DFS and DPI. The
iSeek Team itself contributed 74 stories in 2011, representing 9% of the total content. Also
worth noting are the 25 Staff Voices stories, representing 3% of the total content.
iSeek Readership in English and French for 2011
French, 5%
English, 95%
Figure 6.
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iSeek stories were submitted from different geographical locations. Regional
Commissions and Offices submitted 52 stories; DPI, both at headquarters and in the
field (UNICs) contributed 134 stories; and DPKO/DFS submitted 110 stories, including
some from peacekeeping missions.
Top Authors of stories on iSeek for 2011

including number of stories and percentage to total
DPKO/DFS + Missions; 110; 15%
DPI including UNICs; 134; 18% iSeek as author of original content;

25; 3%
Regional Commissions & Offices; 52; 7%
OICT; 26; 3%
Secretary-General & EOSG; 26; 3%
Staff Voices; 25; 3%

Others; 113; 15%
DGACM; 20; 3%
Umoja; 12; 2%
Counter-Terrorism (CTITF); 10; 1%
DESA; 10; 1%
DM including OHRM; 154; 21%
UNODC; 9; 1%
UNEP; 9; 1% DPA; 10; 1%
Figure 7. Main contributors of stories to iSeek — percentage based on full sample of stories published in 2011 (747)
Stories on iSeek
Last year, the iSeek Team took a closer look at the themes that were popular with staff.
Figure 8 on the following page shows that management stories were on top of the list
of the most read. As technical or dry these stories may appear at first, staff nonetheless
closely follow all information communicated by the Department of Management,
including OHRM. The percentages in Figure 8 indicate that staff members are most
concerned with job security; changes that may affect their contracts, work location,
benefits and career opportunities. In the same vein, a number of stories submitted by
DPKO/DFS, which ranked in the top 100 most read stories, were vacancy announcements
for jobs in the field.
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The stories authored by the iSeek Team ranked third in terms of popularity, and
accounted for 12% of the top 100 stories.
Top 100 most read stories on iSeek in 2011 — by Author
UN Women
DESA
1% 1%
CMT
Umoja
UNON 1%
2% UN Dispute
Tribunal 1%
DGACM
1%
Staff Voices 6%
6%
SG
4%
OICT
6%
iSeek
12% DM
40%
Ethics Office
1%
DPKO/DFS DPI
13% 5%
Figure 8. 100 most-read stories on iSeek in 2011
Upon realizing that management stories accounted for most of the top 100 stories (Figure
9 on the following page), the iSeek Team decided to get a better picture of what other
types of stories staff was reading. Once the team removed DM stories from the statistics,
the statistics revealed a greater diversity in readership.
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This second analysis revealed that 7% of the top stories were Staff Voices stories
featuring the personal experiences of staff members, and 23% were authored by the
iSeek Team.
Top 100 stories by author (excluding DM)
UNJSPF
UNIC Pretoria UNIS Vienna/iSeek 1% UNOG/ICTS UNOMS CMT
UNON DESA
1% 1% 1% 1% 1%
1% 1%
UNIC Nairobi UNOG
1% 1%
DGACM
UNAC 7%
1%
UN Women DPA
1% 2%
UN Dispute Tribunal DPI
1% 7%
Umoja Staff Voices

4% 7%
SG
6% DPKO/DFS
18%
OROLSI
1%
ECLAC
OICT 1%
8%
ESCWA
1%
iSeek
23% Ethics Office
1%
Figure 9. Top 100 stories by author after removal of all stories submitted by DM from the list
Specific themes: SG priorities

iSeek helped advance the Secretary-General’s priorities for 2011: sustainable
development; climate change; empowering women; safer world; human rights; improved
humanitarian response; disarmament; and strengthening the UN.
Figure 10 on the following page came somewhat as a surprise to the iSeek Team, as
even they believed that SG priorities were mostly publicized on UN Websites dedicated
to external public information. However, it appeared that iSeek was also covering these
issues, with 48% of stories relating to the SG priorities. Of course, Strengthening the UN
constitutes a large proportion of the stories as it covers a number of management issues,
but Human Rights, a Safer World, Climate Change and the Millenium Development
Goals are also well represented. It should be mentioned that there has been a
conscientious effort made by the team to seek out stories related to the SG’s priorities
so this is not entirely a chance result.
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Safer world - 45
6% Human Rights - 39
5%
Strengthening the UN - 122

16%
Climate Change - 24
3%
Other themes - 467 MDGs - 12

62% 2%
Empowering Women - 16
2%
Improved Humanitarian
Response - 13
2%
Disarmament - 4
1%
Sustainable Development - 5
1%
Figure 10. SG Priorities on iSeek — percentage based on full sample of stories published in 2011 (747)
Geographical Origin of Stories and Locations

Figure 11 on the following page addresses the question of geographical representation,
and relates to the DPI USG’s mandate that 45% of stories on iSeek come from duty
stations other than Headquarters.
A sample of the 230 most read stories, showed that 59% of them were not location-
specific, but spoke to all staff, even though they might have been published as ‘New
York’ because DM offices and DPKO/DFS headquarters are in New York. Once this large
piece of the pie was removed, a more varied landscape appeared.
Stories about events taking place in New York, relating to New York-based staff, or sent
by staff located in New York, represented 24% of the pie chart. The remaining 17% of the
230 most-read stories is shared by a great number of locations, from Santiago to Addis
to Kaboul, Liberia, Beirut, Bangkok, Nairobi, Haiti, Geneva, Vienna, and locations that are
not UN main offices, such as Paris, Valencia, New Delhi, Belgrade and Brindisi.
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Location of staff concerned by 230 most-read stories on iSeek in 2011
Valencia; 2; 1%
South Africa; 1; 0% Abuja; 3; 1%
Santiago; 1; 0% Addis Ababa; 2; 1%
Paris; 1; 0% Afghanistan; 5; 2%
Nigeria; 1; 0%
New York; 56; 24%
Location relates to the content

of the story, not where is was
published
All staff 59%
New York 24%
New Delhi; 1; 0% Other Locations 17%
Nairobi; 3; 1%
Liberia; 1; 0%
Haiti; 2; 1%
Guinea-Bissau; 1; 0%
Geneva; 5; 2%
DRC; 2; 1%
China; 1; 0% All Staff; 135; 59%
Central Africa; 1; 0%
Burkina Faso; 1; 0%
Bangkok; 1; 0%
Brindisi; 1; 0%
Belgrade; 1; 0% Beirut; 1; 0%
Figure 11. Geographical location of staff concerned by stories — percentage based on a sample of the top 230
stories published in 2011
“Top Left Corner”

The upper left corner of iSeek was used on several occasions to highlight various themes
such as the Haiti earthquake anniversary, e-Subscriptions, the St. Jerome Translation
Contest, UN Women, UN 21 Awards and different International Days and Years. It was
also used to solicit contributions from staff on “Being an international civil servant: What
does it mean to you?”. Additionally, an animated graphic—the first of its kind—was
posted for World Environment Day, generating active interest in the subject.
The Corner/Le Coin

With logo design help from the Graphic Design Unit, the iSeek Team launched “The
Corner/Le Coin” on 27 June 2011 as a new category for personal but work-related
stories. The team identified the need for such a category in the wake of the terrorist
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attack against the UN in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan. The iSeek Team was tasked with
writing tributes for fallen colleagues, but had difficulty obtaining personal information
about them. After discussions with OHRM, it was decided that staff members who had
worked the closest with the fallen colleagues should be invited to post tributes in the
newly created “The Corner/Le Coin”, rather than assigning this task to the iSeek Team.
Guidelines for “The Corner/Le Coin” were circulated to staff in an iSeek story, posted
at the end of May 2011. To date, 13 stories in total have been posted in the “The Corner/
Le Coin”.
Google search for iSeek

In February, iSeek introduced the Google search engine on its home page, aiming at
improving the user experience when searching the site. This new feature allows users
to search announcements, web pages, bulletin boards, as well as documents.
Redesign of announcements
On 25 March, iSeek rolled out a new format to improve the look and feel of announcements,
splitting them into two groups: global and local. Staff members can now subscribe to
announcements using the RSS feed for each category.
Review and update of the News and Media tools page:

i. New York iSeek Quicklinks and community links
In June, after consulting with all Focal Points and various UN departments, the iSeek
Team updated and streamlined the QuickLinks on the New York home page. The team
also updated the News and Media Tools page, and promoted the new page in a three-
part series on iSeek, which were among the top stories read in 2011.
ii. DPI Intranet Home Page on iSeek

Following the DPI retreat held on 14-15 May, Helga Leifsdottir, Chief of KSD, was asked
to head the Cross Divisional ‘Nimble Team’ to redesign and re-populate the DPI pages
on iSeek. After three months of consultations, Helga Leifsdottir and Charles Albert
(iSeek Team Leader) presented the first phase of the project at the 25 August Expanded
Director’s Meeting. The completed project was delivered on 17 December 2011, after
the team had been engaged in staff training during November and December.
The iSeek Team provided support to DPI colleagues charged with creating these pages
by offering training on the iSeek editor.
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iii. Accountability A to Z Project
In November 2011, the iSeek Team was asked to assist the Department of Management
in translating the “Accountability A to Z” pages into French. The project was completed
in mid-February 2012. This was a tedious project that took more than four months to
complete and was the first of its kind. The outcome was successful and now the A-Z
Accountability pages are available to all staff in both English and French.
D. Content Management Tools

The iSeek/KSD team had long acknowledged that the platform on which iSeek sits
(Lotus Notes) is obsolete and in need of change. Although this was raised a few years
ago, limited efforts have been made to address the issue.
Early in 2011, the iSeek Team approached OICT about the need for a more flexible CMS.
After several meetings, KSD in cooperation with OICT suggested Drupal as the CMS for
iSeek at the end of 2011.
On 14 December, the Department of Peace Keeping Operations (DPKO) and the

Department of Field Support (DFS) rolled out the first phase of their POINT platform, the
new Peacekeeping Operations Intranet site.
iSeek 2.0
Discussions are ongoing regarding requirements for the new platform, known as iSeek
2.0. Phase I of the project will address the need for a new template for submitting stories,
and will add a “comments” button to make stories more interactive.
E. deleGATE
Also known as “iSeek for Member States”, deleGATE is a public website that provides
valuable information to delegates of Member States (mainly for New York). The site is
used by the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM)
and the Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG) to post information on surveys,
job announcements, the Capital Master Plan, etc. Due to a personnel vacancy, the redesign
of the site has been postponed until 2012.
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Figure 12. Average monthly page-views on deleGATE (chart)
The deleGATE website runs on the Jahia 5.0.3 CMS platform. On 10 June, the Jahia platform
was migrated from DPI’s web infrastructure to OICT. This site requires a redesign which
will hopefully be done in 2012-2013, as soon as an agreement is reached on which CMS
it should be developed with.
F. Human Resources

On 17 January 2011, Catharine Smith joined the iSeek Team from the Office of the
Spokesperson, temporarily replacing Jingbo Huang (P2), who moved to a temporary
assignment with the OHRM on 14 January through 31 March 2012.
The iSeek English Editor post (P3) was advertised in inspira, and David Mimran was
selected in August. This meant David was now a fully-fledged UN employee after having
spent several years on short-term contracts. Elodie Sabau was promoted to a G5 post.
The G5 post in the Technical Team was re-classified and swapped for the G4 post in
iSeek.
In June, Maria Renée Luque replaced Kadi Sall-Beye’s G6 post in the Office of the Chief
of the cluster on a temporary basis. On 3 October, Ann-Sophie Persson temporarily
joined the team from the Spokesperson’s Office replacing Maria Renée.
Finally, the team welcomed two interns, Luke Raggat (18 January – 11 March) and Leah
Selim (27 June – 19 August). Both contributed stories on iSeek. Luke worked on a special
project to solicit content from field missions.
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Organizational Diagram showing the Graphic Design Unit, Knowledge Solutions and Design cluster,
Team Leader
(P4)
Ziad Al-Kadri
Graphic Presentation Officer Graphic Arts Assistant Graphic Arts Assistant Administrative Assistant
(P3) (G6) (G6) (G4)
ex-Allan Markman Matias Delfino Judy O’Hara Bandegini Rollosson
Associate Printing Officer Graphic Arts Assistant Graphic Arts Assistant

(P2) (G6) (G6)
Martin Samaan Parvati McPheeters ex-Ursula Damm
Assistant Printing Officer Graphic Arts Assistant Graphic Arts Assistant

(G6) (G6) (G6)
Randy Giraulo Marko Srdanovic Chris Van der Walt
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Graphic Design
4. Graphic Design Unit
A. Mandate and overview

The Graphic Design Unit (GDU) provides creative design solutions for a wide variety of
communication campaigns and publications throughout the Secretariat.
The team of graphic designers and printing specialists maintain a high level of expertise
in the areas of design, strategic branding and integrated design communications. In
collaboration with clients, the team creates graphics such as logos, visual identifiers,
posters, book covers, press kits and other print products for UN campaigns and
international conferences.
GDU also provides cost estimates, specifications and print expertise to their clients
to help them through the publishing process. This involves liaising with internal and
external printers and the United Nations Procurement Division.
During 2011, the team consisted of eleven members: the Team Leader (P4); a Senior
Graphic Designer (P3, Graphic Presentation Officer,); an Associate Printing Officer (P2,
External Printing); six Designers (G6, Graphic Arts Assistants); a Printing Coordinator
(G6, Internal Printing); and an Assistant to the Chief (G4).
B. Projects
In 2011, GDU provided design and production solutions to its clients from over 45 United
Nations offices. GDU’s largest clients were DESA and DPI, which together represented
nearly 50% of its clientele (see Figure 1 on the next page).
During 2011, GDU completed a total of 503 projects, with a significant increase in brand
identity products developed for various UN campaigns, including International Years/
Days and UN Programmes (see Figure 2 on the next page). Brand identity products
include a range of products or “collateral” such as a visual identity and a usage
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guideline booklet. They also develop brand applications consisting of various printed
and electronic collateral including posters, postcards, banners, signage, web and social
media banners, lapel pins, press kit folders, USB keys, t-shirts and more.
GDU’s commitment to strengthening the Organization’s outreach initiatives is proven

by the increase in demand of its products and services. GDU strives to ensure that the
products creates are describable, memorable, effective and relevant.
Major accomplishments
Major accomplishments include the successful implementation of a variety of brands
and identities, as well as strategic collaboration and campaign planning with clients.
GDU was involved in branding for the following campaigns, which can be seen on
pages 39 - 55:
• International Day of Peace (six languages, multiple products)
• International Year of Cooperatives (six languages, multiple products)
• Nelson Mandela International Day (six languages, multiple products)
• International Day Against Nuclear Tests (six languages, multiple products)
• International Year for People of African Descent (six languages, multiple products)
• International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery
and the Transatlantic Slave (three languages, multiple products)
• International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (six languages, multiple products)
• International Year of Forests (forty languages, multiple products)
Multilingualism is an important component of GDU’s work, since campaign materials

are often developed in six or more languages. The International Year of Forests collateral
were translated into over 40 different languages, for example.
GDU designed a large-scale (10 x 14 foot) permanent exhibit on Palestine that is on the
Guided Tour route at the United Nations. This exhibit was translated and reproduced in
local languages in Vienna, Indonesia, Russia and Mexico.
The branding for the Rio+20 Conference in Brazil carried GDU’s distinct mark, and has
circulated globally, including on various promotional items such as tote bags and USB
keys. At the end of 2011, a 2012 calendar was designed to carry both the brand and
the message of the Conference, in order to help raise awareness of issues discussed.
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GDU

The DPI/NGO Conference in Bonn, Germany, titled “Sustainable Societies, Responsive
Citizens” further showcased GDU’s designs in an international context. The Global
Model UN conference, which took place in Incheon, Korea, as well as a DPI campaign
on “Let’s Fight Racism” were also recieved excellent feedback.
DGACM,
50 OLA,
DM, 43
95
DPA,38
OCHA, 34
DPI, GDU completed 503 DPKO, 33

123 graphic design projects
in 2011. DSS, 19
Number of projects ODA, 19
per Department. EOSG, 17
DFS, 13
OIOS, 12
DESA, UNJSPF, 11
216
UNICEF, 11
Figure 1. Graphic Design Unit Total Projects in 2001, Broken Down by Client
GDU, number of brand identity products

as part of total number of design projects
191 241
60 85 110
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

491 projects 456 projects 454 projects 543 projects 503 projects
Figure 2. Graphic Design Unit Brand Identity Projects, Broken Down by Year
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GDU
Annual Report 2011

35
The team worked closely with ECOSOC on copywriting to create shorter, recognizable
slogans, and saw many of their suggestions successfully implemented. This kind of
collaboration is imperative for the success of future projects.
The team collaborated with DPI’s Sales and Marketing section to produce material
for the UN Bookshop. A series of posters and postcards were developed, as well as
backpacks, umbrellas, various t-shirts, mugs and mousepads.
Awards
In 2011, GDU received three more Gold Awards from Graphis. These awards were for
the UN Police logo; the Zero Under 18 logo, and for the Haiti earthquake commemoration
poster. Graphis is a prestigious design annual that serves as a platform for outstanding
work in design, advertising and photography. Winners of these awards are then featured
in the hardback annuals where only the most accomplished people in each field are
included. In total, GDU has received four gold Graphis awards to date, including one for
the UN Day Concert poster in 2009.
C. Workflow
GDU has a long-standing streamlined workflow process managed by the Team Leader, the
Printing Officers and the Administrative Assistant. The team uses its our own customized
database (Paradox) in conjunction with Documents Control, DGACM (D2 forms and eDoc)
whose database is used system-wide.
GDU participated in the KSD ‘Nimble Team’ project on developing a “Service Request
Form” which will be available online in 2012. The goal is to improve client service, limit
unnecessary and time-consuming e-mail exchanges, and track and quantify work.
The GDU page went live on the DPI-iSeek page in late 2011 featuring various useful
tips for clients. Of particular importance is “The Step-by-Step Guide to Publishing
at the United Nations”. The Guide outlines the role of the Graphic Design Unit and
provides instructions on creating print products at the United Nations. The Web page
also includes GDU’s design portfolio as well as guidelines on how to submit material for
a design project.
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GDU

D. Challenges
Overview
Like other KSD teams, staffing presented the biggest challenge for GDU in 2011. The
resignation of one staff member (due to lack of career opportunities in GDU), extended
medical leave of another, and the retirement of a long-serving staff member, all took a
toll on the rest of the team. Staff had to share the added workload as more high-profile
and urgent work started coming in.
Staff movements
A G6 Designer (Chris Van der Walt) joined the team in June 2011, one full year after he
was selected for the post. A TVA candidate (Armin Kadic) had been filling the post from
January until May 2011. Another G6 Designer (Judy O’Hara) was on certified medical
leave from July through December 2011 and is yet to return. Finally, a G6 Designer
(Ursula Damm) resigned from the United Nations in October 2011, and her post was
immediately advertised on inspira and was filled in 2012.
The P3 Senior Graphic Designer (Allan Markman) retired in August 2011 after 16 years
of service with the United Nations. Martin Samaan of GDU (P2 Associate Printing Officer)
was recruited through inspira to replace him. His promotion took effect in January 2012.
The Team Leader started the recruitment process for the P2 Associate Printing Officer’s
post (Martin’s replacement) in December 2011.
Lack of career development

Discussions about the lack of career opportunities continued in 2011. Designer
positions within GDU are at a G6 level and the Senior Designer post is at the P3 level.
Currently, there is no P2-level post to bridge the gap. The P2 that does exist is that of
an Associate Printing Officer, which is not a design post. This post does not provide an
exam for interested candidates. To further complicate matters, the Young Professionals
Programme and G-to-P exams are of little use to staff as there is no exam offered
that is specific to design. The team has acquired many skills over the years and it is
under constant pressure to keep up with technology in the ever-changing field of
electronic publishing.Yet designers remain at the same level, with no chance of a career
advancement that would reflect their highly skilled profession. This problem continues
to undermine the morale of the GDU team.
Lack of technical support

In 2011, GDU staff continued to encounter hurdles due to OICT’s lack of technical
support for Apple computers, which are the design industry standard. GDU continues
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GDU
Annual Report 2011

37
to rely on its own skills to maintain and troubleshoot hardware and software systems.
An exception to this is the network support they receive from KSD’s Technical Team.
Lack of copywriter
Comprehensive and effective design requires both a powerful visual solution and an
equally powerful message. GDU often receives content that needs editing. While we
are often successful in suggesting better campaign slogans, GDU would greatly benefit
from the addition of a copywriter.
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GDU

Examples of GDU’s work in 2011
UN4U branding
Produced for Visitors Servcies/ DPI in all six official langauges, a logo and logo usage
guide were prepared in addition to branded materials including a series of postcards,
magnet, pencil and tote bag.
Rebranding UN4U Campaign

Tote bags for teachers
Logo Use Guidelines

and Waiver of
Liability Form
The logo and campaign material
has been designed and developed
by the Graphic Design Unit at the
United Nations in New York.
The Graphic Design Unit is part of

Aim high. Think big.
the Outreach Division at the Think, crucially,
of the larger human family.
United Nations Department of Public Information. Be a global citizen.
Believe in your power
i
the power of individual women

and men to make a difference.
Ban Ki-moon
United Nations Secretary-General
Poverty and
Sustainable
© UNEP/Larry Prosor Development
http://visit.un.org
www.facebook.com/UNVisitorsCentre
UN4U POWERED BY UNITED NATIONS VISITORS CENTRE
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KSD
Annual Report 2011
39
Rio+20: The Future We Want, logo and campaign materials
Working for clients in DPI and DESA, GDU produced ‘The Future We Want’ campaign
materials for the UN’s Rio+20 Sustainable Development Conference. Materials were
produced in all six official languages and included a Presskit folder, lapel pins, banners,
a booklet and a logo usage guide.
“Around the“Around
world,the world,
sustainablesustainable
peace must peace must
be built onbesustainable
built on sustainable
development.
development.
That is That is
why I havewhysaidI that
havethe
said that the
sustainablesustainable
development development
agenda is agenda
the agendais the agenda
for the 21st
forcentury.”
the 21st century.”
United nations
United nations
secretary-General
secretary-General
Ban Ki-moonBan Ki-moon
Rio de Janeiro,
Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil Brazil
4-6 June
4-6
2012
June 2012
Published by the United Nations, New York / Printed on recycled paper with soy-based ink
Published by the United Nations, New York / Printed on recycled paper with soy-based ink
Building
Building
ContaCts ContaCts
Rio+20 Secretariat:
Rio+20 Secretariat:
uncsd2012@un.org
Media:
uncsd2012@un.org
Media:
OurOur
Un Department
Un Department
Public Information
of of
Public Information Common
Common
Future
Future
mediainfo@un.org
mediainfo@un.org
11-00065—Sept 2011—10,000
11-00065—Sept 2011—10,000
www.uncsd2012.org
www.uncsd2012.org www.uncsd2012.org
www.uncsd2012.org
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KSD
Palestine Permanent Exhibit
GDU designed a large-scale (10 x 14 foot) permanent exhibit on Palestine that is now
on the Guided Tour route at the United Nations. This exhibit was originally prepared
in Arabic, English and French and later reproduced in local languages in Vienna,
Indonesia, Russia and Mexico.
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KSD
Annual Report 2011
41
International Day of Remembrance Transatlantic Slave Trade
GDU developed a full visual identity for the International Day of Remembrance of the
Transatlantic Slave Trade, which involved the production of posters, a vinyl banner,
exhibits materials and signage, concert and videoconference programme booklets,
postcards, calendar bookmarks, mugs and t-shirts.
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KSD
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
Stiking promotional materials - including a Braille postcard - were produced for the 17
December International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
International Year for People of African Descent

A logo, including an animated version of the logo and usage guidelines were prepared
for the International Year for People of African Descent, coordinated by DESA.
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KSD
Annual Report 2011
43
International Day of Peace, 2011
Materials, including banners, posters, web icons, bookmarks and event programmes
were produced in all six official languages.
Nations Unies
Conçu par la Division des services et produits destinés au public

Département de l’information des Nations Unies
11-45800g—Septembre 2011
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KSD
Creative Community Outreach Initiative
CCOI was rebranded in English and Spanish. Interim designs were also used on post-
cards, booklets, banners, e-vites and programmes.
Interim materials:
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KSD
Annual Report 2011
45
UN Police
UN Police (UNPOL) rebranding was developed for the Police Division in DPKO, and
was rolled out across a presskit folder, patches, car magnet, mugs and the UN Police
Magazine 6th edition.
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KSD
Nelson Mandela International Day
Working for DPI’s Strategic Communications Division, posters, banners, e-invitations,
desktop screensaver and t-shirts were produced, including material in all six languages,
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KSD
Annual Report 2011
47
Haiti posters
To draw attention to the troubles in Haiti in 2010, a series of posters and desktop screen-
savers were produced in English, French and Creole. The poster below right won the
prestigious Graphis Gold Award in 2011.
International Year of Cooperatives

Working for the Division of Social Policy and Development in DESA, a visual identity was
prepared for the 2012 International Year of Cooperatives, including a presskit folder,
press release and animated logo.
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KSD
2011 Global Model United Nations Conference
A visual identity was prepared for posters, banners and certificates for this event, hosted
in Incheon, Korea.
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KSD
Annual Report 2011
49
Zero Under 18 Campaign
Supporting the campaign to end the use of child soldiers, a logo, banners, lapel pins,
temporary tatoos and sticjers were produced for the Office of the Special Representative
of the SG for Children and Armed Conflict.
International Day Against Nuclear Tests

This graphic itentifier was produced for the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs in all six
official UN languages.
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KSD
International Year of Forests
A wide range of materials were prepared using this original brand, including posters,
postcards, presskit folders, label pins and USB keys (both in sustainable wood), book-
marks and projected screen images. Materials were produced in all six languages as
well as more than 20 local languages.
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GDU
Annual Report 2011

51
UN Chronicle
Distinctive
job no. cover designs and illustrations for UN Chronicle (English and French)
various
produced by Allan Markman and Conor Hughes
Project title: UN Chronicle, cover series
Client: Outreach Division, DPI
Notes:
Custom illustrations to highlight the magazine’s current topic, includes covers
as well as some inside pages
Projects 2010 – 2011 p. 25
All designs © Graphic Design Unit, United Nations
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GDU

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Annual Report 2011

53
Technical Support Team, Knowledge Solutions and Design, Outreach Division, Department of Public Information, United Nations, 2011
Team Leader
(P2)
Amos Homodza
Information Systems Assistant Information Systems Assistant

(G5) (G4)
Elhadji Mansour Ba Cynthia Lully
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TECH

Technical Support
5. Technical Support Team
A. Mandate and General Staffing

Since 2008, the Technical Support Team has been responsible for providing technical
assistance to the following three clusters within OD: Knowledge Solutions and
Design cluster (KSD); Library Users Services (LUS); and Information Processing and
Acquisitions (IPA). It also provides support to the Library for its integrated library
management system, Horizon.
The team is responsible for maintaining over 154 computers, installing hardware and
software, related routine work, and purchasing IT supplies for these three clusters.
The Technical Support team consists of one team leader (P2) and two Information
System Assistants (G5 and G4).
B. Activities for 2011

Staff Movements
In September, Technical Support Team Leader Amos Homodza left to take up a post with
the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). It took almost three months for an eligible
candidate to fill the position, at the end of December 2011. In the interim, Team Assistant
Elhadji Mansour Ba served as Officer-in-Charge, in addition to fulfilling his own duties.
Team Assistant Cynthia Lully took a required break in service from January to April 2011.
Projects
During 2011, the team replaced 106 computers and installed four network printers. In
addition, the technical team set up two training rooms: one in the Legal Library, located
in the Madison building, and one in the Economic and Social Affairs Section of the
Library, located in the DC2 building as part of the Capital Master Plan (CMP).
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TECH
Annual Report 2011

55
Equipment Maintenance
The team offers technical support to a total of 201 pieces of equipment.
EQUIPMENT QUANTITY OPERATING SYSTEM

Servers (Horizon and UNBISnet) 4 Unix (Solaris 10)
Desktop (Networked) 154 XP
Laptop 4
Handheld 1 Blackberry
Other ( MACs) 12 Mac OS X 10.x
Personal Printers 9
Shared (Networked) Printers 17
TOTAL 201
C. Accomplishments
The Technical Support Team assembled 11 new computer workstations and configured
network accounts for the new library staff. In addition, the team procured a total of 95
pieces of office equipment; coordinated the physical move of 80 pieces of computer
equipment; and transferred 58 pieces of expired automation equipment to OICT
(computers, tube monitors, desktop printers etc.) The team also installed 12 new
software applications for all users.
In 2011, the team consulted with four non-DPI technical Focal Points and helped resolve
a total of 198 “issue tickets” .
Despite being understaffed, the team has been able to adhere to its high standards of
client service.
D. Challenges
The Technical Support Team faced several major challenges in the reporting period.
One of them was a shortage of staff. Team Leader Amos Homodza was transferred to the
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in September and the post remained vacant
through the end of December. Cynthia Lully took a required break in service from
January until April 2011.
Another challenge was the physical location of clients and the distance needed to
travel between buildings. The Team serviced clients in seven different locations: the
Dag Hammarskjöld Library; the DC1 and DC2 Buildings; the Daily News Building; the
Innovation Luggage Building; Madison Avenue; and the North Lawn Building.
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TECH

Delayed response time for requests submitted to OICT continued to be a challenge
in 2011. The Team reported 101 issues to OICT for resolution, which delayed overall
resolution time for our clients.
There were also technical challenges that involved equipment compatibility. Many
clients had outdated PCs, while others had equipment with no legacy applications.
Some of these problems were solved by replacing the clients’ old PCs with new ones.
The lack of a reliable automatic backup system continues to be a major issue. This
problem was first discovered in 2010 and persisted throughout 2011. The Technical
Support Team has tried to work around it with “home solutions” but the best one would
be to have access to OICT’s server because of its automatic backup system. Although
this would be an expensive solution, it would be worth the investment in the long run.
Finally, budget issues and lack of available funds for external training prevented the
team from participating in training opportunities and further improving their skillset.
In the fast-changing technical field, this can produce serious problems down the road.
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TECH
Annual Report 2011

57
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Knowledge Solutions and Design Cluster
Outreach Division
Department of Public Information
Contact information (as of July 2011)
KSD (917) 367-3582

Helga Leifsdottir
Web Group (212) 963-4201

Ernesto Araiza Monter
iSeek (212) 963-3855

Nanci St. John
Graphic Design (212) 963-2190

Ziad Al-Kadri
Technical Support (917) 367-9993

Jennifer Maston

Knowledge Solutions and Design Cluster

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Knowledge Solutions and Design Cluster

Annual Report 2011

About This Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

2. WEB GROUP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

4. GRAPHIC DESIGN UNIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

5. TECHNICAL SUPPORT TEAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Main aims of this report

• To give examples of best practices in the work performed and offer

Deputy Director Deputy Director

Publications Board Secretariat

Dag Hammarskjöld Library

A. Overall Organization of the Outreach Division

• The iSeek/deleGATE team, which provides Intranet services to staff (iSeek,

• The Web Group, which provides Web development and knowledge

• The Graphic Design Unit (GDU), which provides visual communication

KSD Cluster Chief

iSeek Web Group Graphic Design Unit Technical Support

Associate Information Officer Web site Assistant Assistant Printing Officer

Public Information Assistant Web site Assistant Graphic Arts Assistant

Public Information Assistant Graphic Arts Assistant

Graphic Arts Assistant

Graphic Arts Assistant

Graphic Arts Assistant

Graphic Arts Assistant

DPI presence on iSeek

Introduction of Content Management systems

iSeek opportunities and challenges

2. Web Group

A. Mission Statement

Annual Report 2011

Web Development and Design

Dag Hammarskjöld Oral History Collection

10 Annual Report 2011

Annual Report 2011

Creative Community Outreach Initiative

Messengers of Peace (MoP)

12 Annual Report 2011

Annual Report 2011

D. Permanent Mission websites

E. Other Projects

Service Request Form

DPI iSeek Intranet subsite

14 Annual Report 2011

Annual Report 2011

Editor (French) Editor (English)

Associate Information Officer Public Information Assistant Public Information Assistant

16 Annual Report 2011

iSeek and other UN Intranets

Annual Report 2011

Annual Report 2011

STORIES POSTED IN ENGLISH (100%)

STORIES POSTED IN FRENCH (100%)

FRENCH VS ENGLISH (READERSHIP) STORIES ABOUT THE SECRETARY-GENERAL’S PRIORITIES

iSeek and the UN System Extranet

Population reached and technical considerations

Annual Report 2011

Offices and Departments in the Secretariat with Access to iSeek

Focal Point meetings

20 Annual Report 2011

iSeek Editorial Board meetings

Annual Report 2011

Note on Statistics Measured by Google Analytics in 2011

• From 1 January 2011 to 14 August 2011 iSeek had 8,671,595 visits.