ABSTRACT
As the base for a programme that is near world-wide, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters has a large supporting staff. The general service in FAO ranges from messengers and guards through secretaries and clerks up to personal assistant to ADGs, who handle highly confidential issues and correspondence. General service salaries in FAO are set at a level comparable to those paid for posts with similar requirements and responsibilities by the best employers in Rome. FAO operates in a country where none of its main working languages are indigenous. Many women committed themselves entirely to their FAO jobs. General service staff in FAO will be very lucky if they find again someone to take up their cause with the same courage and ability. Inevitably there were some for whom FAO meant a negative phase in their lives. The ultimate way out was suicide and there were enough suicides in FAO to attract attention.
