KATYAKabul
Single, No children
P-3
I am Katya. I'm a political affairs officer-P-3, step VI working in Kabul. I started working for the United Nations about nine years ago. Living in Kabul is tough, it's an E duty station, but I enjoy what I do. I am on my third assignment, and I previously worked in New York and Belgrade. After hearing about the changes to my compensation package I was concerned. However, I was pleased to discover that I will actually see an increase of about $640 per month overall in my salary, post adjustment, and other field allowances. A large part of the increase will come from an extra $360 in hardship allowance. There will only be one rate for the hardship allowance, which will be paid at the higher rate, currently applicable only to staff with dependents. In a duty station like Kabul, we are all experiencing the same levels of hardship, especially since staff are not allowed to bring family here. Danger pay and rest and recuperation travel will remain the same, while accelerated home leave travel will change. Under the new system, my organization will only pay home leave travel every two years, rather than every year, but I will likely buy a ticket to go home and combine it with one of my rest and recuperation breaks.
