(Lack-Of) Geographical Diversity in International Organizations: The Key Role of Human Resources Policies.

The topic of staff composition in International Organizations (IOs) has attracted considerable attention recently. International Relations scholars have been interested in the issue of the representation of member states in the staff of IOs (i.e. geographical representation). Most studies try to explain the level of geographical representation using country-level factors such as economic power, diplomatic capacities or countries’ education level. This paper takes a different and novel stance. I argue that one explanation for the lack of geographical diversity can be found at the level of human resources policies. To illustrate my argument, I present the evolution of human resources policies on geographical representation since 1945 for the case of the United Nations Secretariat. I show that human resources practices - implemented to foster geographical representation - reproduce global hierarchies, which results in a lack of geographical diversity. The paper ends with some recommendations to policy-makers to better advance diversity. This paper thus contributes to existing scholarship on IO staff composition by adopting a diversity management perspective. It also speaks to current debates on IOs as site of reproduction of global hierarchies.