on human resources planning for staff in the General Service and related categories. Representatives of both management and staff from the organizations with headquarters in North America had addressed various problems, such as the lack of opportunities for advancement, the difficulties of progressing from the General Service to the Professional category and specific constraints on career development in small field offices. A similar symposium for organizations with headquarters in Europe would be held in early 1984. ICSC would consider the recommendations of both symposia at its nineteenth session. 52. Work had also continued on the elimination of discrepancies in the designation and conditions of the various types of employment, and some recommendations had been formulated in the report, which also contained a detailed work programme covering topics relating to recruitment policy (competitive examinations, implementation of the principle of geographical distribution, recruitment of women, etc.). 53. With regard to retirement policy, all ICSC had recommended to the General Assembly in 1982 was not to take any decision on deferment of the mandatory age of separation from 60 to 62 until it had been able to consider the question itself in the broader context of the overall retirement policy. It had done that at its I ... A/C.5/38/SR.28 English Page 10 (Mr. Akwei) eighteenth session, on the basis of a study prepared by its secretariat and the views of management and staff. The majority of its members had felt that there were no compelling arguments from the viewpoint of personnel poliqr for raising the retirement age, which might not be compatible with the efforts being made by many organizations to achieve an equitable geographical distribution of their staff and might impede career development. Finally, all ICSC had decided not to recommend any change at the present stage. It was, nevertheless, understood that executive 
**Analysis**
This text appears to be discussing the management and organization of staff within international organizations, particularly in regards to human resources planning, career development, and retirement policy. It seems to be focused on the internal workings of these organizations, rather than external issues such as economic development or natural resources.

**Category**
Employment