IMPACT ON UNITED NATIONS PROGRAMMES MUST BE DETERMINED BEFORE PERSONNEL INVOLUNTARILY TERMINATED, COSTA RICA TELLS FIFTH COMMITTEE

18 October 1996

Press Release
GA/AB/3095

IMPACT ON UNITED NATIONS PROGRAMMES MUST BE DETERMINED BEFORE PERSONNEL INVOLUNTARILY TERMINATED, COSTA RICA TELLS FIFTH COMMITTEE

19961018 Says Development Priorities of UN Curtailed by Budget Practices; Committee Also Discusses Scale of Assessments, Human Resources Management

Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali cannot terminate personnel involuntarily without explaining the negative effect of such actions on United Nations programmes, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) was told this morning, as it continued debating his proposals to save $154 million from the 1996-1997 regular budget. The Committee concluded the debate on the scale of assessments and continued discussing human resources management.

The view on termination was expressed on behalf of the 132-member "Group of 77" developing countries and China by Costa Rica's representative. She added that the General Assembly could not take action on the revised appropriations that would put into effect the Secretary-General's budget- cutting proposals, and she asked the Secretariat to justify efforts to absorb an additional $92 million for additional mandates within a budget that was already being reduced. [The mandates include the United Nations Human Rights Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA), the International Civilian Mission to Haiti (MICIVIH) and the United Nations presence in El Salvador.]

Of the reductions, she said it was worth "asking whether the corollary to the negotiation of the current budget ought not to be the renegotiation of the Charter of the United Nations and the reformulation of some of the principles and objectives enshrined in it". She asked what the real value was of reiterating the purpose of promoting international cooperation for development provided for in the Charter, when the activities related to economic and social development, which had been recognized as a priority of the Organization, were curtailed as a result of management and budgetary practices.

The representative of Bolivia, also speaking for the Rio Group, said that the cuts should not affect development programmes and emphasized the importance of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the regional commissions. Since it was the Assembly's prerogative to determine what to cut, the Secretariat should not take measures without approval and the Fifth Committee should not be reduced to approving a fait accompli.

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The representatives of Japan and Indonesia also spoke on the proposed budget reductions.

On the scale of assessments, the representative of the Bahamas said that social, economic and environmental data should be used in determining Member States' assessments. She called for a "vulnerability index" to help objectively determine the capacity to pay of some countries, particularly small island developing States.

The representative of Canada said that his country had slightly modified its proposal to amend the low per capita income adjustment formula by applying it progressively to all Member States, both those above and below the threshold of the world average per capita income. At present, however, the adjustment worked only for a certain group of countries, he said.

Attempts to radically restructure the scale were politically motivated and would engender political resistance, the representative of Singapore said, adding that Member States should confine themselves to considering technical issues. He said Canada's proposal that countries with comparable per capita incomes have comparable assessments was "a deceivingly innocuous assumption, which hid a gross political distortion of capacity to pay". Using per capita income to measure capacity to pay would introduce a bias against small States, particularly small island States, he said.

Statements were also made by the representatives of Liberia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Republic of Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Myanmar and Chad. The representatives of Canada and Italy exercised their right of reply.

The Chairman of the Committee on Contributions, David Etuket (Uganda), responding to Member States' suggestions, said the Assembly should consider the issue of incentives and disincentives in relation to the payment of dues.

Speaking on human resources management, the representative of the Republic of Korea said that the number of P-2 and P-3 posts should be increased to facilitate the recruitment of young professionals. Also, short- term recruitments against unencumbered P-2 posts should cease, since qualified candidates, who had passed national competitive examinations, were available for immediate recruitment.

The representative of Rwanda said the Secretary-General's report on respect for the privileges and immunities of officials of the United Nations system was insensitive to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda following the withdrawal of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), when more than a million Rwandans were butchered. The dead included more that 70 Rwandan employees of the United Nations in Kigali.

The representatives of Paraguay and Chad also spoke on human resources management.

The Committee is scheduled meet again at 3 p.m. Monday, 21 October, to discuss proposed budget cuts, pattern of conferences and human resources management. It will also take up programme planning.

Committee Work Programme

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met this morning to continue its consideration of the scale of assessments for apportioning the Organization's expenses, the 1996-1997 programme budget, human resources and pattern of conferences.

(For background on the scale of assessments, see Press Release GA/AB/3089 of 7 October. For background on the 1996-1997 programme budget, human resources and pattern of conferences, see Press Release GA/AB/3093 of 15 October.)

Statements on Scale of Assessments

SAM HANSON (Canada) said that the principle of capacity to pay was fundamental to any fair and equitable scale of assessments. Fairness and equity were not only the most important criteria for the scale, but the only relevant ones. The concept of asking permanent members of the Security Council to pay additional assessments had already been expressed in the special scale for peace-keeping operations and would detract from the principle of fairness and equity if it was applied to the regular budget scale.

He asked whether a reduction by 5 per cent in the rate of the most highly assessed country would diminish that nation's influence and authority over the regular budget. Even at its present rate, the ceiling was a major departure from the principles of fairness and equity, as it provided a benefit to the largest and wealthiest contributor that others had to pay for. The floor rate, however, should either be eliminated or reduced to 0.001 per cent, as it had forced many of the least wealthy nations to face assessments that were many times what they would otherwise pay.

He said that fairness and equity could not be satisfied by a mere "clean slate" approach based solely on each country's share of world income. Other factors affected a country's capacity to pay, the most important of which was per capita income, which had been taken into account in all scales since 1946. At present, however, the per capita income worked only for a certain group of countries, whose per capita income was lower than the world average and whose assessment rates were not artificially raised to a minimum level. The current formula had led to wide differences in the assessment rates of States with similar economic circumstances, especially among developing countries. The Committee on Contributions had said that the formula benefitted mainly a limited number of developing countries with large populations and large economies, and a few large, middle-income nations.

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His country had previously proposed to amend the low per capita income adjustment formula by applying it progressively to all Member States, both those above and below the threshold of the world average per capita income, he went on. In light of concerns expressed, it had slightly amended the adjustment formula and produced a revised proposal, which was attached to the text of his statement. The effect of the modification would become clear if the resulting simulated scale was compared with one derived from the existing scale, after removing the effects of the floor rate and the scheme of limits.

He said that his proposal was an attempt to deal with a real problem. It was not an attempt to reinterpret the principle of capacity to pay, but rather an attempt to apply it consistently, fairly and equitably. The Fifth Committee must agree on what direction to give the Committee on Contributions in time for the elaboration of a proposed scale for the period 1998-2000, so as to enable the Assembly to adopt a new scale by the end of 1997.

RAJIV RAMLAL (Trinidad and Tobago) said that the scale of assessments should be brought closer to the capacity to pay. However, the scale was not the cause of the United Nations financial crisis. The capacity to pay should remain the fundamental criterion for assessing countries, even though a precise definition had not yet evolved. Some elements, such as socio-economic data, should be taken into account. He expressed some trepidation, however, regarding the proposal by Canada that would emphasize the per capita income. That index was not the best measurement of capacity to pay or a country's level of development, as acknowledged by international financial institutions. National income data distorted the reality of small island developing countries. The view of the European Union on income contradicted the views of the majority of countries in the world.

The vulnerabilities of the small island developing countries had been recognized and should be taken into account, he continued. The Conference on small island countries had agreed that those States tended to lack access to financial support because their per capita income tended to look larger than it should. The Assembly should consider the problems of the small island developing countries in a new scale of assessments. The statistical base period should be shortened to three years to provide realistic evaluations of the current capacity to pay, and the debt burden adjustments should remain. The low per capita income adjustment should be retained and the floor rate further lowered. The scheme of limits should be eliminated to reduce the distortions in the current scale. The scale should be expressed in three decimal places to make it more precise. The scale should not transfer financial burdens from the developed to the developing countries, nor should it transfer burdens from one group of developing countries to another.

HO TONG YEN (Singapore) said it should not be too difficult to agree on a new scale of assessments. Difficulties would only arise if some delegations

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insisted on a radical revision of the agreed methodology, which was generally equitable and had been in existence for some time. The scale of assessments was not even a remote cause of the financial crisis. No reform of the scales could hope to redress the problem of one major contributor failing to pay its dues. Attempts to radically restructure the scale were politically motivated and to press them would inevitably engender political resistance. Member States should confine themselves to considering the remaining technical issues. The Committee on Contributions report was a useful starting point.

He drew attention to the European Union's proposals and the variant introduced earlier by Canada. He said Canada's proposal that countries with comparable per capita incomes have comparable assessments was "a deceivingly innocuous assumption, which hid a gross political distortion of capacity to pay". It conveniently abandoned all elements of the scale methodology. Using per capita income to measure capacity to pay meant the introduction of systematic bias against small States. The problem was particularly pronounced in the case of small island States.

Also, he did not support Canada's other proposal on progressivity. The purpose of the scale was only to ensure that the Organization had funds to operate, not to redistribute income, so the argument of progressivity was irrelevant, he said. Referring to an analogy by the Permanent Representative of Italy, he said "it is only a Trojan horse with the European Union's proposal hidden inside". There had not been the same support for the Brazilian proposal, which addressed the same issue without attempting to smuggle in a reform of the scale. The arguments for and against long base periods were also "smokescreens". Long base periods benefited countries whose economies were stagnating, declining or experiencing slow growth and "that was the crux of the hidden political agenda". The mature economies of Europe and North America were trying to slough off some of their financial burdens onto developing countries, without giving up any of their real power or privileges.

He supported lowering the floor rate to 0.001 per cent. However, he added, lowering the ceiling rate was unacceptable, as it would only exacerbate the distortion in the scale. Had the scale truly reflected capacity to pay, the United States would have been paying 30.67 per cent to the regular budget, not the discounted rate of 25 per cent. The argument that the ceiling would reduce the United Nations dependence on one Member State was a blatant fallacy. "If the scale were to be lowered to 20 per cent, will we see a 20 per cent fall in United States influence in United Nations decision-making?" he asked. "Or will the United States veto in the Security Council be 20 per cent less effective?"

The Organization's dependence on the United States and other permanent members of the Security Council was a fact and it was here to stay, he continued. No matter how much the ceiling was lowered, the Organization would

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still be dependent on the United States and the other permanent members, "but privilege should at least be paid for". What assurance did Member States have that the United States would honour its financial obligations, even if the ceiling was lowered or if the Organization fulfilled all the conditions that the United States had imposed on it? He urged the United States to begin the negotiations for a new scale by first repaying all its arrears and outstanding contributions unconditionally.

FAMATTA ROSE OSODE (Liberia) said the lack of sufficient funds was arresting the Organization's work and affecting its human resources. Insufficient funds had weakened many programmes and made the Organization vulnerable to the rich and powerful. She welcomed the report of the Committee on Contributions and said it had tried to ensure equitable treatment of every Member State and to apply the relevant guidelines of the General Assembly. However, the Committee on Contributions should exercise caution in its recommendations and ensure that it was not subjected to the wishes of any one State. The principle of capacity to pay must remain fundamental in sharing the Organization's expenses.

Despite her country's political crisis, she said she could no longer stay silent. Although there had been some relief to developing countries and to the least developed countries, such as Liberia, through the low per capita income adjustment, the floor rate remained disadvantageous to her country. Such unfair treatment of small developing countries with low national incomes and small populations would have to be reconsidered. The floor rate should be lowered to 0.001 per cent and the decision on it should be made during the current session.

The Committee on Contributions should take account of a host of economic and political issues in the scale methodology, she continued. There was need for more accurate data. Liberia's national statistical system had been weak and unreliable for many years. Estimates for Liberia had been based on secondary data to fill gaps in its national reporting, especially in the last seven years. The statistical base period should be shortened, as it should reflect the capacity to pay. With the improved prospects for peace and stability in Liberia, her country would now be able to fulfil its obligations to the United Nations. She welcomed the Committee on Contributions' recommendation to allow her delegation to vote under Article 19 of the Charter.

MARILYN T. ZONICLE (Bahamas)said that the floor rate had led to a departure from the principle of capacity to pay. However, if that principle was taken as an absolute for each State and implemented in isolation from Charter obligations, it could make a mockery of the Charter. The floor and the ceiling rates should be determined in the context of the Charter and not by unilateral or purely self-interested rationalizations.

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She said that, by going from net national income to the gross national product (GNP), the Committee on Contributions was retreating rather than advancing in its work. The capacity to pay should be based on the most reliable, timely, comprehensive and comparable data, which would ensure fairness. Technology, training and human resource pools could be created in all countries to help ensure the availability of data.

For example, she continued, a pilot project could be created on the basis of the European Union's "GNP Committee", whereby chiefs of national account systems could meet periodically with their United Nations counterparts. National capacity could be built or enhanced to help make the United Nations confident of the quality of the data it was given. The project could include the provision for review of and progress on a composite index of social, economic and environmental statistics. The economic and, especially, the environmental data which the index would generate could significantly enhance the efforts towards a vulnerability index, particularly for small island developing countries like the Bahamas. Such an index had been called for by such States for some years and could contribute to a more objective determination of the capacity to pay.

DAUDI N. MWAKAWAGO (United Republic of Tanzania) said he did not accept the clean slate approach to the review of the scale methodology. He endorsed the recommendation of the Committee on Contributions that comparative estimates of national income seemed to be the fairest guide for measuring Member States' capacity to pay, subject to other factors identified by the Assembly. The GNP should replace net national income, as recommended by the working group on capacity to pay and the base period should be a multiple of the scale period.

He did not favour an annual review of the scale of assessments, but to address the concerns of some delegations, consideration could be given to a gradual implementation of any agreed change in the base period. The debt burden adjustments should not be eliminated. The low per capita income adjustment was a fundamental element and had been recognized as such by the Assembly. The floor rate should be lowered further, but the ceiling rate should not be cut to 20 per cent. Regarding the scale for peace-keeping operations, he rejected unilateral decisions to change assessment rates.

TAMBA MARTIN KORTEQUEE (Sierra Leone) said the Committee on Contributions had not been immune to political influence. A magnitude of conciliatory work would be needed to achieve an agreement acceptable to all Member States. The importance of the elements of the scale methodology to developing countries must be underlined. Withholding contributions was a dangerous precedent, because other countries would want to act in a similar manner if they did not find the scale acceptable. Even though a number of

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countries had complained about the level of their assessment, they had met their obligations while looking forward to changes in the scale methodology.

The principle of capacity to pay was of fundamental importance, he continued. Member States' views on the elements of the scale methodology differed. However, the Committee on Contributions bridged the gap. That Committee should ensure the retention of the debt burden adjustment in the scale, especially in light of the drastic fall in official development assistance (ODA) for most developing countries. The GNP should be applied in the scale methodology, and he welcomed the lowering of the floor rate.

TINT DEIR (Myanmar) said he agreed with the views of the "Group of 77" and China and supported most of the Committee on Contributions' recommendations. The stability of the scale methodology should be complemented with a measure of flexibility, so as to reflect real capacity to pay. Approximating the capacity to pay of 185 Member States was a highly complex procedure, because of vastly different economies. Although the objective was towards a more simple and transparent scale methodology, there would be certain constraints that would be hard to ignore.

Lengthening the base period would be more conducive towards stabilizing and minimizing excessive fluctuations of assessment scales, he continued. There should be a general revision of the scales, provided that Member States that had experienced substantial changes to their relative capacity to pay be given special consideration. Also, the debt burden adjustment should be a major factor in the scale methodology, and the floor rate should be lowered to 0.001 per cent, to provide relief to small Member States. The principle of capacity to pay stood out as a most reasonable yardstick to determine the scale of assessments. The Committee's collective task was to exercise all fairness to arrive at a just, balanced and equitable scale of assessments for all Member States.

FAVITSOU BOULANDI (Chad) said that, as a land-locked country often hit by drought, Chad was going through difficult economic times. It did not earn enough foreign exchange to meet all of its international obligations and that was partly why it owed arrears to the United Nations. The use of the GNP over three to six years was rational, as it would allow for changes in economic facts to be reflected. He supported the use of the market exchange rates and agreed that the floor rate raised problems regarding capacity to pay. The weight of external debt should be retained in the scale methodology, as it affected Member States' capacity to pay. Debt adjustment should continue to be considered.

DAVID ETUKET (Uganda), Chairman of the Committee on Contributions, said there had been a convergence of views that the floor rate should be lowered and that the scale should be expressed in three decimal points. There had

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been discussions on the issue of the length of the statistical base period and support had been expressed on the use of the market exchange rates and the GNP. Views had been expressed on the scheme of limits and other matters. No opposition had been voiced over the recommendation that the Comoros be exempt from the application of Article 19 of the Charter, regarding the loss of vote in the Assembly due to the accumulation of arrears. Such other matters as incentives for the payment of dues and arrears should be addressed by the Assembly

Right of reply

Mr. HANSON (Canada) said that his country's proposals had been given grander and bigger ambitions that they warranted. The principle of progressivity was already in the scale of assessments, as was the use of per capita income. The relief for low per capita income was now based on the world average income, which had been decided arbitrarily in the past. Nations whose per capita incomes were below the world average had been granted relief, while those above were not. The world average had become a threshold and Canada proposed to make it only a reference point.

RENATA ARCHINI (Italy) said that a delegate had referred to what Italy had said in another forum of the Organization. While respecting the views of the delegate concerned, the analogy he had borrowed had not been used in the context of the reform of the scale of assessments, but in the context of reforming the Security Council, on which Italy had a very firm position.

Statements on savings from 1996-1997 budget

NAZARETH INCERA (Costa Rica), also speaking for the Group of 77 developing countries and China, said that the Secretary-General's new report on the reductions in the budget provided neither the necessary information on their budgetary and programmatic impact, nor any justification for them. The Secretariat should justify the savings. Member States could not act on his report without such information on justification.

She said the Secretariat should give information on such things as: the staff transferred from the regular budget to other sources of funds to create vacancies; the number of efficiency measures; and the types of activities that had been cancelled, delayed, postponed or abolished. It should also explain the effect of such actions. Furthermore, the Secretariat should also explain how efficiency measures would mitigate the cuts in mandated programmes and why the efficiency reviews were aimed at cutting costs, rather than at long-term and improved performance. Such information was crucial, because it seemed that there had been no intergovernmental analysis of the changes proposed to the budget's programmes. For the most part, the proposals seemed to have

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resulted from the decisions of managers who had not considered Member States' priorities.

A key element in the Secretary-General's proposal to cut the budget was the raising of Professional and General Service vacancy rates above what had been set in resolution 50/214, she said. She was concerned that perhaps the Secretariat intended to maintain that vacancy rate for the entire biennium and to terminate the services of professionals, a majority of whom had permanent contracts. The Secretariat also intended to abolish several professional posts even though they had been approved by the Assembly. The Secretary- General should explain, in a conference room paper, why he intended to eliminate the functions performed by each post and the effect of such action on the implementation of programmes and activities.

Staff Regulation 9.1 should be clarified, she continued. Even though the regulation had shown that there was a link between the restructuring of programme activities and abolition of posts, the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) had observed that the Secretary-General could not abolish a permanent post under the regular budget without the Assembly's prior approval. The extent of the Secretary-General's authority on the changes should be clarified. Also, the Secretary-General's March report had proposed measures to increase vacancy rates, and actions were being taken to reduce personnel. The figures being mentioned, if true, were of great concern. The Secretariat should provide information on the number of posts or persons that had been reduced.

"Considering this matter, it is therefore worth asking whether the corollary to the negotiation of the current budget ought not to be the renegotiation of the Charter of the United Nations and the reformulation of some of the principles and objectives enshrined in it", she said. "We wonder what the real value is of reiterating the purpose of promoting international cooperation for development provided for in the Charter, when the activities related to economic and social development which have been recognized as a priority of this Organization, are curtailed as a result of management and budgetary practices. The perpetual high vacancy rates in some regional economic commissions is proof of this state of affairs."

Continuing, she said she was concerned that some professional staff were being replaced by consultants, those hired on short-term contracts or Government secondments. The Secretariat should provide details on the number of consultants and short-term personnel used in carrying out basic Organizational functions and the data should include the nationalities of such individuals. It was hard to justify how, in the midst of a hiring freeze, some staff were being recruited at various levels and being promoted without those promotions being approved by the Assembly. It was also contradictory that, while exceptions were being made to the hiring freeze, no action had

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been taken on filling the posts decided on by the Assembly as part of the compromise that led to the adoption of resolution 50/214.

Turning to the issue of how the Secretary-General would absorb additional mandates, she said it seemed that he intended to do so by keeping vacancy rates above what had been accepted by the Assembly. That would contradict the spirit of resolutions that had envisaged the possibility of additional appropriations for those mandates, she said. How could the Secretariat justify efforts to absorb an additional $92 million within a budget that had already been cut? she asked. Considering the foregoing arguments and the ACABQ recommendations, the Assembly could not take action on revised appropriations. Further, the Secretary-General could not, under the circumstances, terminate personnel involuntarily without having first provided the pertinent information that had been requested.

MARTHA MONTANO (Bolivia), speaking on behalf of the Rio Group (Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Jamaica, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela) supported the statement by the representative of Costa Rica. She said that the savings for the biennium should be about $104 million, should not hurt the implementation of mandated programmes and should be approved by the Assembly. The reports of the Secretary-General had not provided enough details to enable Member States to fulfil their mandates. She agreed with the ACABQ that the Secretary- General sometimes seemed to raise more questions than he answered.

She said the cuts should not affect development programmes and emphasized the importance of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the regional commissions. The question of vacancies was essential in the current biennium. Savings would affect staff, since the Organization spent 75 per cent of its resources on them. The implications of the provisions of resolution 50/214 should be considered. She was not yet clear about the reasons why a very high vacancy rate was being pursued in relation to professional staff.

The Secretariat should provide more details on how it would manage savings and other matters, she said. The information in the report of the Secretary-General was not enough. She endorsed the view of the ACABQ that the requests made by the Assembly should have been complied with. Further, the financing of activities not in the regular budget should be governed by resolution 41/213, which was still valid. The extent to which intergovernmental bodies had reviewed the proposals for change was not clear. Efficiency reviews should be directed towards the long-term efficiency of the organization, rather than short-term goals. She expressed regret that the Secretariat had not responded to the request for information on the activities that would be affected by proposed savings. The recommendations of the ACABQ were logical, reasonable and acceptable to the delegations she represented.

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The competence to decide on the application of savings fell to the Assembly. The Secretariat could not take measures without the approval of the Fifth Committee and she would have a problem with merely approving a fait accompli.

FUMIAKI TOYA (Japan) welcomed efforts to rationalize the Organization and cut its costs. In that connection, he welcomed the fact that the Secretary-General had identified areas for savings and that the Secretariat had remained within the budget. Stressing that savings should not only be sought through staff reductions, he said there should be an attempt to maintain a balance between Professional and General Service staff. Careful thought must be given to the negative impact that the high vacancy rate for Professional staff -- 11.8 per cent at the end of June -- would have on the implementation of mandated activities. Efforts to reduce staff size should take account of the principle of equitable geographical distribution of staff, particularly the unrepresented and underrepresented Member States.

The Fifth Committee should begin the process of reviewing and setting priorities for the existing programmes, he continued. In that connection, he proposed that savings from improved cost-effectiveness should be reinvested in development programmes. A specific scheme to reflect that idea should be formulated. The Committee should give full consideration to all relevant questions pertaining to the 1996-1997 budget, together with such items as the budget outline for the 1998-1999 biennium, the United Nations common system and human resources management.

HERIJANTO SOEPRAPTO (Indonesia) said the 1996-1997 programme budgeting process agreed on at the forty-first session (resolution 41/213) should be adhered to. Indonesia had joined the consensus in adopting the 1996-1997 budget, with the hope that savings would not affect the full implementation of mandated programmes and activities. However, the continuing cutbacks would adversely affect the Organization's ability to implement its programme, particularly in the field of international and regional cooperation for development. The adverse effect of budget reductions on the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific's work programme, especially the urgent needs of that region's developing countries, was cause for concern. Those regional activities should be retained. Otherwise, the increased importance of the regional commissions in assisting developing countries to adjust to globalization and in implementing the decisions of the international conferences would be denied.

The resource reductions could not be achieved without a significant reduction in staff costs, he continued. Any deferrals, delays, or cancellations of programmes should be based on qualitative analysis by intergovernmental bodies. That approach would ensure that mandated programmes were not jeopardized. There was cause for concern that higher vacancy rates would be maintained throughout the biennium. The Secretary-General's report

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should have contained more detailed information on how the efficiency measures would mitigate reductions in mandated programmes. He called for clarification by the Secretariat on the indication that the Secretary-General intended to accommodate additional expenditures through increased vacancies. He supported the Group of 77 and China's call for a conference room paper on the matter.

Statements on Human Resources Management

PIERRE-EMMANUEL UBALIJORO (Rwanda) referred to the Secretary-General's report on respect for privileges and immunities of officials of the United Nations and the specialized agencies and related organs that had made references to arrests and detention of members of international organizations. He said the report had given the impression that Rwanda's Government had jailed innocent, locally recruited United Nations staff and that it had not cooperated with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Coordinator and representatives of United Nations agencies on the matter.

The report had been insensitive to the genocide that had occurred in Rwanda in 1994 following the withdrawal of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), when more than a million Rwandans were butchered, he continued. They included more than 70 Rwandan nationals employed by the United Nations in Kigali. At the time, their pleas for protection by their employers had been denied, while foreign nationals were evacuated by the United Nations. A number of them were killed by their fellow colleagues, who were also staff members of the United Nations.

Citing paragraph three of the Secretary-General's report, which referred to the granting of immunity to staff members and their spouses and dependents in countries that had acceded to the Convention on that issue, he asked the Secretariat to explain why UNAMIR refused to provide assistance to locally recruited staff in time of need. The families of those victims were still awaiting compensation from the United Nations system. They continued to wonder if the lives of externally recruited United Nations officials were more important than the lives of locally recruited staff.

The Secretary-General's report was particularly insensitive because its authors were not ignorant of the situation in Rwanda, he said. They were aware that prior to the 1994 tragedy, that Member State did not have a law on genocide. Classical criminal law could not have been applied in a situation where the State machinery had been unleashed to slaughter its nationals. Under what laws would the United Nations have tried the detained persons? he asked. The authors of the report had pointed accusatory fingers at Rwanda's Government, while the United Nations Tribunal for Rwanda had not started a single trial.

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The report also ignored the fact that the genocide had crippled the judicial system and showed no appreciation for the Government's efforts, he continued. On 31 January, the law on genocide had been promulgated in Rwanda. The judiciary was currently being rehabilitated. The Government was ready to expedite the trials of the detained United Nations staff, but many others were also awaiting trial. He called on the Organization to expedite the claims of the Rwandan survivors of genocide.

TERESA AGUILERA DE LATERZA (Paraguay) expressed support for the statement made by the representative of Costa Rica on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. She asked the Secretariat to explain why some posts were subject to geographical representation while others were not. Paraguay had not been included in those countries that were underrepresented, as it should have been. Only one staff member from Paraguay enjoyed permanent status in the Secretariat; another enjoyed a probationary status of two years, which might be extended. However, neither was a woman. Some countries exceeded their representational limits by two to three times. The Secretariat should explain the criteria used to grant such privileges, which must certainly not have been based on how promptly and regularly countries paid their assessments. Paraguay was one of the few countries that had paid up all of its dues to the United Nations.

PARK SOO GIL (Republic of Korea) agreed, in the Secretary-General's three-phased programme to cut staff, with the need to preserve organizational viability and performance with the minimum negative impact on the international civil service and the legitimate career expectations of staff. Involuntary separations should, therefore, be implemented with the utmost discretion. Regarding development for junior professionals, he said that better mobility between departments and promotion to the P-3 level within a reasonable period should be introduced. More effort should be made to implement the strategic plan of action for improving the status of women in the Secretariat.

He called for more effort to reflect the principle of equitable geographical distribution in the composition of the Secretariat's staff. Therefore, national competitive examinations should remain the primary means of recruiting entry-level and P-3 level staff. Priority in holding those examinations should be granted to Member States that were unrepresented, underrepresented or below the mid-point of the desired range. Similarly, candidates from those nations should be considered for P-4 and above posts.

The examinations should be retained despite current budgetary constraints, he continued. Rather than being frozen as part of the budget cuts, the number of P-2 and P-3 posts should be increased to facilitate the recruitment of competent and young professionals. Further, the practice of short-term recruitment against unencumbered P-2 posts should cease, since

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qualified candidates, who had passed the competitive examinations, were available for immediate recruitment. Those candidates should be recruited within a one-year period. Deploring continuing violence against United Nations personnel, he called on all governments to join the Convention on the Safety of the United Nations and Associated Personnel, something the Republic of Korea would do.

LEMAYE FAVITSOU BOULANDI (Chad) said that staff training should be encouraged and the plan to assign staff according to their competence supported. Vacancy rate announcements should not be made only electronically, as that would not be available to all Member States of the United Nations. The traditional means of announcement should also be used. Also, non- remunerated workshops should be extended to the nationals of developing countries. On the Secretariat's composition, he said that the 2 to 14 range concerning geographical representation was not favourable to some countries, like Chad, and it should be changed to make it more accurately express the level of national representation in the Secretariat. Equitable representation and other forms of recruitment should not be limited to those best known by heads of units or offices.

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