The Responsibility of the Secretary-General, Mr. Manssour Bin Mussallam (Saudi Arabia) and the Member States of the OSC in Resolving Outstanding Staff Salaries, Benefits and Employment Rights

The Organization of Southern Cooperation (OSC), headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has been operating since 2023 as an international intergovernmental organization established to advance cooperation among its Member States based on a concept of Third Way of Development (osc.int). Like all international organizations, its effectiveness has depended not only on the vision of its political and executive leadership but also on the dedication, professionalism, and commitment of its staff.

Under the Constitutive Charter of the OSC, the Secretary-General (SG), as the Chief Executive Officer, is entrusted with the authority to recruit, appoint, and manage both national and international staff. This authority is accompanied by a corresponding responsibility to ensure that employees regularly receive their contractual salaries, benefits, and other employment rights in accordance with the Organization’s governing instruments, Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative policies, and the Host Country Agreement.

Throughout the life of the Organization, OSC staff from across the globe served with professionalism, loyalty, and unwavering commitment, often under exceptionally difficult and uncertain working conditions. They continued to discharge their responsibilities in good faith, believing that the Organization would honour its contractual obligations and that the assurances repeatedly provided by the Secretary-General would be fulfilled.

Regrettably, staff members have now gone for over 15 months without receiving their salaries and related contractual benefits. The consequences have been profound. Employees and their families have endured severe financial hardship, emotional distress, and growing uncertainty regarding their future. Behind every unpaid salary is a family whose livelihood has been placed at risk. The current situation can be described only as a prolonged humanitarian crisis.

Despite these extraordinary circumstances, staff members have continued to conduct themselves with dignity, professionalism, and restraint. Their expectation has never been for preferential treatment; it has simply been that the Organization fulfil the contractual obligations towards each employee.

Equally concerning has been the lack of meaningful communication during the Organization’s closure process. Staff members—who are among the Organization’s principal stakeholders—were not formally consulted before the proposal to wind down OSC’s operations was presented to the Extraordinary General Assembly in December 2025. The preceding resignation of the Secretary-General presented to Member States on 5 December 2025 came as a shock to staff, who were then waiting to receive their salaries of 8-9 months.

Following the decision of the Extraordinary General Assembly to conclude the Organization’s programmes by 30 June 2026, staff expected regular communication from the Secretary-General, as he promised at the last townhall meeting held at the end of December 2025, regarding the implementation of the closure process, the settlement of outstanding salaries and benefits, and the administrative arrangements affecting their employment. Instead, communication has been limited, mostly informal and incomplete, and requests for clarification have largely gone unanswered.

Staff have never received properly drafted termination notices nor their employment certificates. Under these circumstances, international and Ethiopian staff members of the OSC have decided to establish the Staff Representation Committee (SRC), to address also this prolonged uncertainty and communication gap. Its purpose has been constructive rather than confrontational: to provide a unified voice for staff, promote dialogue, and work collaboratively towards a fair and orderly resolution of all outstanding employment matters. The Secretary-General, Mr Manssour Bin Mussallam, rejected and continues to reject however to cooperate and communicate with the SRC, claiming that the OSC Staff Regulations and Rules, which he designed, do not foresee such a body, which exists in all other comparable international intergovernmental organizations.

To date, the SRC has submitted five formal letters to the Secretary-General seeking dialogue and practical solutions. These communications have not received any responses, except one which rejected any cooperation with the Committee. The SRC has also proposed a Town Hall meeting to enable transparent engagement between staff and the Secretary-General but unfortunately, this proposal has not been accepted, either.

Transparent communication is not merely a matter of administrative courtesy. It is an essential element of good governance, institutional accountability, and responsible leadership. During periods of organizational transition, staff deserve timely information, honest engagement, and respect for their concerns.

The Organization of Southern Cooperation is governed by its Constitutive Charter, Staff Regulations and Rules, Financial Regulations, and other applicable administrative instruments. These frameworks exist to protect both the Organization and its employees by ensuring fairness, accountability, and the rule of law. The settlement of outstanding salaries and employment-related obligations is therefore not only a financial matter but also an issue of institutional credibility and compliance with the Organization’s own governing framework.

The SRC has been urging the Secretary-General to honour his past financial commitments and promises and resolve staff matters and ensure the payment of salaries after 15 months without further delay.

In this regard, the SRC has also been making calls on the Member States of the OSC and first and foremost, the Government of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, both the Host Country and Member State, to engage with the Secretary-General to come up with a solution to staff matters, primarily payment of outstanding salaries and entitlements pending for over 15 months as of June 2026.

The staff of OSC are not seeking special treatment. They seek only what every employee is entitled to expect from a responsible employer: payment of earned salaries and contractual benefits, transparent communication, respect for their dignity, and a fair and timely resolution of all outstanding obligations.

Against this background, the Staff Representation Committee respectfully brings the humanitarian situation facing OSC employees to the attention of the Secretary-General, the Member States, relevant national authorities, development partners, and the wider international community. The purpose is to encourage constructive engagement leading to an urgent, fair, and lawful resolution.

Respectfully,

How Did OSC Staff Come to Face a Prolonged Humanitarian Crisis?

As of July 2026, many OSC staff members have remained without salaries, benefits, and other employment-related entitlements for more than sixteen months. This unprecedented situation has caused severe humanitarian, financial, and psychological hardship for staff members and their families and remains unresolved despite the Organisation’s closure process.

Throughout this period, the Secretary-General repeatedly assured staff that the Organisation was financially stable or that any financial difficulties would be temporary and readily resolved. These assurances were reinforced by a series of public statements, commitments, and management decisions, including the following:

January–February 2020: Public references to a proposed endowment of USD 25 million for the Organisation.
December 2021: Announcement of a proposed USD 20 million loan to support the Organisation.
2022–2024: Issuance of indeterminate (open-ended) employment contracts to staff, reinforcing the expectation of the Organisation’s long-term financial sustainability.
December 2022: Statement that the Secretary-General had committed USD 20 million to the OSC and that any unspent balance would be distributed to staff as a bonus to compensate for unpaid benefits and entitlements, including the education grant.
2023–2024: Repeated assurances to staff that “Money is not an issue in this organization” and “You can always rely on me regarding financial issues.”
February 2025: While recruiting additional staff, the Secretary-General reportedly stated: “We had some financial challenges, but they are behind us now.”
June 2025: During a Townhall meeting, the Secretary-General asked staff whether they would remain with him until the end of his mandate, receiving an affirmative response.
June 2025: The Organisation proceeded with the costly second edition of the OSC Greater South Festival at a time when many staff members had already gone three to four months without salaries.
May 2025: The Head of Administration informed staff that salary payments covering up to six months would shortly be made, with specific arrangements for staff serving outside Ethiopia, who would receive salaries of two months (out of six months) upon their return to Addis Ababa.
August–September 2025: The Head of Administration informed staff, in reply to their inquiries, that funding to pay two months of outstanding salaries was expected imminently.

None of these assurances resulted in a lasting resolution of the Organisation’s financial crisis or in the payment of the outstanding staff claims.

Instead, on 5 December 2025, the Secretary-General resigned. On 26 December 2025, the Extraordinary General Assembly decided to discontinue the Organisation’s operations and complete its closure by 30 June 2026, citing the failure of Member States to fulfil their financial obligations.

By that time, many staff members had already spent most of 2025 working without pay, relying on their limited savings and entered 2026 with outstanding salaries extending to nine or ten months. By the end of June 2026, many remained unpaid for fifteen to sixteen months, despite continuing efforts to secure a lawful settlement of their employment-related rights.

Taken together, these statements, commitments, and management decisions created a reasonable expectation among staff that the Organisation’s financial difficulties would be temporary and that outstanding salaries, benefits, and entitlements would be honoured. The eventual outcome differed fundamentally from those repeated assurances. As a result, many staff members believe they were not provided with timely and accurate information regarding the Organisation’s financial situation, preventing them from making informed personal and professional decisions at a critical stage in the Organisation’s history.