There is what is termed a United Nations system of organisations, meaning the United Nations itself and all the various other international bodies such as UNESCO the ILO etc. Each of these organisations has its own staff association or union to represent the interests of the staff or international civil servants that are employed. The Federation of International Civil Servants' Associations or FICSA is simply the international federation of all these separate institutional staff associations, established in May 1952 to represent the concerns of all staff working for the United Nations system.

Its membership consists of ;

• Full members - 27 staff associations/unions from organizations within the United Nations system
• Consultative members - 24 additional staff associations/unions from outside the system
• Observers - 14 national Federations of United Nations Associations