Pros
Tax free salary and paid leave
Cons
Like the many other posts here about the UIS, this is a warning: do not accept a position at this failing institute. The UIS is currently readvertising what seem like lucrative positions. There is a reason positions are being readvertised on a loop - the UIS cannot recruit or retain staff as a result of the extremely toxic behaviour of the current director and the complicity (and, potentially, corruption) of the UIS governing board and UNESCO HQ. Since the director joined, the UIS has been scaled down from over 100 employees to just over 30. Any new staff that have been hired have been ignored, let go or quit. Many of these staff members have had gross breaches of contract committed, have been put at great financial risk (they are unable to process reimbursements or payments within a resonable timeframe, >6 months) and have been regularly and continuously lied to about programmatic and contract-related issues. Staff are not considered human beings, rather expendable pawns for the director to do her (nonsensical and self-promoting) bidding. None of this has gone unreported. There have been multiple (>20) official reports to HQ and the UIS governing board. Multiple unions have been involved, external parties have been brought into mediate and articles have been written by impartial journalists (google: UIS; Devex; Bullying and Harassment). Recent staff wellbeing surveys show that 0% of staff feel that bullying and harassment are taken seriously at the UIS. However, nothing has been done. HQ are clearly waiting for the director to retire with a hefty UN pension and then they will bring someone else in to clean up the mess - I fear it will be too late by then. The quality of the data and analysis produced by the UIS has also been in question by many reptuable sources in recent years. UNESCO has a lot to answer for by allowing this to continue. They are well aware of what is going on and do nothing to stop it. If you're a true professional, do not go down with this sinking ship.