Structure and Staff
The Office is composed of the Committee Services and Research Section (CSRS) and the Space Applications Section (SAS).
As in the whole United Nations system, people from around the world work in the Office. Citizens of more than 50 countries have served as staff members, consultants and interns. In line with the relevant United Nations policies, principles regarding equal geographical distribution and gender balance apply to the selection of staff. As of June 2012|6, specialists from the following countries were staff members of the Office: Austria, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Finland, Germany, Guatemala, Japan, India, Malaysia, Nigeria, Philippines, Russian Federation, Romania, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Staff members have a status of international civil servants.
Staff members of the Office have a wide range of educational backgrounds, including space science (including interdisciplinary fields), physics, engineering, computer science, political science, international affairs, law (including public international law and space law), and other.
Since 2009 Takao Doi, a former Japanese astronaut and a veteran of two NASA space shuttle missions, is chief of Space Applications section of the Office.
At different times a number of other distinguished people, including Adigun Ade Abiodun, Vladimír Kopal, Luboš Perek, Nandasiri Jasentuliyana, served at various positions.
Read more about this topic: United Nations Office For Outer Space Affairs
Famous quotes containing the words structure and, structure and/or staff:
“Each structure and institution here was so primitive that you could at once refer it to its source; but our buildings commonly suggest neither their origin nor their purpose.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The philosopher believes that the value of his philosophy lies in its totality, in its structure: posterity discovers it in the stones with which he built and with which other structures are subsequently built that are frequently better—and so, in the fact that that structure can be demolished and yet still possess value as material.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Each one threw down his staff, and they became snakes; but Aaron’s staff swallowed up theirs.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Exodus 7:12.