FIFTH COMMITTEE CONSIDERS DRAFT RESOLUTION ON DOCUMENTATION
Press Release
GA/AB/3040
FIFTH COMMITTEE CONSIDERS DRAFT RESOLUTION ON DOCUMENTATION
19951108The General Assembly would decide to restrict the length of documents produced by the Secretariat for its discussion or for its subsidiary bodies to 16 pages, under a draft resolution on reduction of paperwork introduced by the United States in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this afternoon.
By the same text, the Assembly would also decide that documents originating in the Assembly or its subsidiary bodies should not exceed 24 pages. Exceptions would only be made when the Secretary-General certifies that a document represents a special case warranting reporting at greater length.
Introducing the text, the representative of the United States said "stemming the tide of documentation which is flooding the Organization" was a very important step towards helping the United Nations work better and cost less. The draft resolution would encourage Member States to control their demand for documentation and streamline the material produced by the Secretariat.
Statements on the draft resolution were made by Tunisia, Cuba, Brazil and Kenya.
Also this afternoon the Fifth Committee continued consideration of financial reports and audited financial statements as well as reports of the Board of Auditors.
Pakistan said there should be an investigation of the difference of $7.9 million in the assets of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) as stated in its April 1994 report and its total assets. That would help establish the correct value of disposed assets. Colombia said the administration's explanations of irregularities in the liquidation of UNTAC assets were unsatisfactory, and required detailed investigation and clarification.
Fifth Committee - 1a - Press Release GA/AB/3040 25th Meeting (PM) 8 November 1995
The Russian Federation said adoption of measures to ensure proper property control would help avoid cases of discrepancy and other shortcomings mentioned in the Board's report. Ukraine, expressing concern about procurement practices in the Organization, said that in spite of some improvements, a lot still needed to be done. Those concerns needed to be seriously addressed.
At the outset of the meeting, the representative of Israel thanked the Committee for the moment of silence and sympathy expressed last Monday for the death of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. He said Israel was fully committed to pursue the peace process.
Also this afternoon, Costa Rica raised questions about non-smoking areas at Headquarters in the United Nations and asked when the restrictions had been introduced. She also asked about delegations' access to the United Nations garage.
The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Friday, 10 November, to begin consideration of United Nations common system. It will also resume its general discussion of improvements in the financial situation of the United Nations.
Committee Work Programme
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met this afternoon to consider a draft resolution on pattern of conferences and to continue its discussion of the reports of the Board of Auditors and of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ).
The Committee had before it reports of the Board of Auditors on the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) (document A/50/5/Add.4) and on voluntary funds administered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) (document A/50/5/Add.5). It also had before it two notes by the Secretary-General transmitting a summary of the Board's findings and recommendations on the two agencies (document A/50/327) and the Board's report on the liquidation audit of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) (document A/49/943). Also before the Committee was an ACABQ report on UNITAR, UNHCR, and UNTAC (document A/50/560). (For background, see Press Release GA/AB/3036 of 6 November.)
Draft Text on Pattern of Conferences
A draft resolution on pattern of conferences (document A/C.5/50/L.4), submitted by the United States, would have the Assembly decide that documents originating in the Secretariat for submission to that body or its subsidiary bodies should not exceed 16 pages, or that documents originating in the Assembly or its subsidiary bodies should not exceed 24 pages. Exceptions would only be made when the Secretary-General certifies that a document represented a special case warranting reporting at a greater length. The Assembly would also decide that reports should not include the history of the subject that is contained in other documents nor a narrative of substantive discussions.
Also by the draft, the Assembly would decide that should a report, normally bound by the six-week rule for the distribution of documents, be issued shortly before or on the same day that the relevant item or segment is to be considered, the officer responsible for its introduction should give reasons for the delay to the relevant intergovernmental session. The Assembly would also request its President to ask all Chairmen of the Assembly's Main Committees to encourage all members to exercise restraint in making proposals for new reports.
Members should also be encouraged to consider biennializing or triennializing resolutions that require production of reports. The Assembly's President would be requested to encourage all Main Committees to become aware of changes instituted in the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, the Committee on Conferences and the Assembly's First Committee regarding the reduction of documentation costs.
Fifth Committee - 3 - Press Release GA/AB/3040 25th Meeting (PM) 8 November 1995
The draft text would have the Assembly request the Secretary-General to present oral rather than written reports where appropriate, particularly for progress reports and procedural and organizational issues. The Secretary- General would be requested to submit consolidated reports on related topics under a single agenda item or sub-item where appropriate and cost-effective. In addition, he would be requested to provide an oral estimate of the cost of any document or report requested by Member States when an intergovernmental body adopts a resolution containing such a request. The draft requests the Secretary-General to seek a more reader-friendly and uniform format of reports as well as to take steps to promote expanded use by Member States of optical disk equipment in order to reduce copying and distribution costs.
By the draft, the Assembly would endorse the recommendation of the ACABQ that the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the publications activity of organizations of the United Nations system, including an analysis of the extent to which publications are used by Member States and the cost-effectiveness of the production of publications.
Statements on Financial Reports
AURELIO IRAGORRI (Colombia) said the Board of Auditors' work constituted the best machinery for applying corrective measures to increase the Organization's efficiency. The Board had noted fundamental deficiencies and shortcomings which undermined the Organization. It was troubling to see that there were grave deficiencies and irregularities in the administration of voluntary funds by UNHCR. Such irregularities could not be endorsed. The use of such funds needed careful planning. He appealed for corrective measures to be taken as soon as possible to deal with the irregularities identified.
Regarding the reports on the liquidation of UNTAC, he said the administration's explanations of irregularities had been unsatisfactory. He referred particularly to the loss of millions of dollars of communication and data processing equipment. Those and other areas of deficiencies mentioned by the Board required detailed investigation and clarification.
KHALID AZIZ BABAR (Pakistan) stressed the importance of making optimum use of resources available to the various United Nations agencies through the improvement and streamlining of their procedures. Pakistan believed that the internal audit services should be utilized appropriately and given independence in their operations. Recommendations of the Board of Auditors should be implemented immediately.
Pakistan recommended the streamlining of UNHCR procedures, and supported the Board's recommendations that it control its overhead costs, he said. It was concerned about the various irregularities in UNHCR. United Nations agencies should hire local consultants as well as people indigenous to the area. It had noted with satisfaction the report that UNITAR had, in 1994,
Fifth Committee - 4 - Press Release GA/AB/3040 25th Meeting (PM) 8 November 1995
generated an operating surplus of about $0.2 million and that it would be prudent for the management to write off the deficits under the special purpose grants fund. His delegation hoped in future the Institute would follow United Nations procurement procedures.
On the Board's report on UNTAC, he said the difference of $7.9 million in the UNTAC assets status report of April 1994 and the total assets of UNTAC reported in the Secretary-General's report should be investigated so as to establish correct value of disposed assets. In future, a thorough and independent verification of assets and liabilities of a mission in liquidation should be carried out before liabilities were discharged.
VLADIMIR KOUZNETSOV (Russian Federation) said the reported case of fraud in UNHCR had confirmed his delegation's opinion of the need to halt fraud in the United Nations system. The Russian Federation expected that the United Nations in its efforts towards system-wide improvement of internal control mechanisms, would manage to find an appropriate interpretation to the terms "fraud" and "presumptive fraud". It also expected UNHCR to implement specific recommendations of the Board, particularly those relating to information gathering and project analysis. Attention should also be paid to the Board's recommendation for greater selectivity in choosing the implementing partners and to restrict their numbers to manageable levels to avoid dispersion of funds among agencies which in some instances might deal with just two refugees.
He said it would be useful for UNHCR as well as for other United Nations agencies with strong field components to follow the Board's recommendation concerning the improvement of inventory management, and use of road transportation. The adoption of measures to ensure proper control of property would help avoid cases of discrepancy and other shortcomings mentioned in the Board's report. Procurement procedures should be improved. The absence of adequate mechanisms for assets accounting, stock inventory and property transfer to other missions was the root cause of problems of mismanagement, waste, fraud, financial abuses and embezzlement. The Russian Federation expected that all United Nations control mechanisms -- the Board of Auditors, JIU and the Office of Internal Oversight Services -- would be actively involved in the solution of those problems.
VOLODYMYR KOSY (Ukraine) said the Board of Auditors' recommendations should be fully implemented. Procurement practices in the Organization was a cause for concern; despite improvements, a lot still needed to be done. The conclusions on procurement in the reports before the Committee were similar to the Board's conclusions on that matter in the previous years. They needed to be seriously addressed in order to eliminate the shortcomings identified by the Board.
Fifth Committee - 5 - Press Release GA/AB/3040 25th Meeting (PM) 8 November 1995
Expressing concern about the shortcomings identified in UNHCR, he said a rationalization of the relationship between UNHCR and its implementing partners would ensure a more strict control of the activities of those partners. Measures were needed to enhance their performance. The management of UNHCR's extensive property should also be improved.
He said the flaws identified in the liquidation of assets of UNTAC were of great concern. The recommendations on the need to improve the liquidation of assets and to create a division to be responsible for such matters should be supported. He expressed the hope that the work of the Board of Auditors and the Office of Internal Oversight would lead to greater control of the Organization's resources.
Statements on Draft Resolution
DAVID BIRENBAUM (United States) introduced the draft resolution on reduction of paperwork. He said "stemming the tide of documentation which is flooding the Organization is a very important step toward helping the United Nations to work better and cost less". The draft would encourage Member States to control their demand for documentation and streamline the material produced by the Secretariat.
He said he realized that the Committee on Conferences addressed the subject of documentation on a biennialized basis and would formally address that issue during the fifty-first session. However, the United States attached such importance to the issue that it was proposing the consideration of the draft resolution during the current session.
AMMAR AMARI (Tunisia) said he was in favour of the limitation of documentation in the Organization. However, for a thorough consideration of the issue, it should be referred to informal consultations.
DULCE BUERGO RODRIGUEZ (Cuba) said the presentation of the draft resolution was a violation of the resolution to biennialize the Fifth Committee's work. Therefore, issues relating to documentation should not be considered during this session. They should be submitted to the Committee on Conferences which would in turn submit its conclusions to the Assembly.
MARCIO FAGUNDES (Brazil) said he agreed with the representative of Tunisia that the draft resolution should be discussed in informal consultations. It was an issue which would be followed with interest. He expressed support for Cuba's position on the matter and was interested to hear the response to it.
Fifth Committee - 6 - Press Release GA/AB/3040 25th Meeting (PM) 8 November 1995
PHILIP OWADE (Kenya) said all Member States were interested in the reduction of paperwork. However, the draft resolution contained some very fundamental issues that needed a thorough examination before the Committee could decide on them. Since they had very wide implications on the Assembly's work, they should be studied in depth. The Committee on Conferences should look into the issue before any decisions were made.
* *** *