CONSOLIDATION OF ASSEMBLY'S COORDINATION, AUDIT BODIES PROPOSED IN ADMINISTRATIVE AND BUDGETARY COMMITTEE

Press Release
GA/AB/3101

CONSOLIDATION OF ASSEMBLY'S COORDINATION, AUDIT BODIES PROPOSED IN ADMINISTRATIVE AND BUDGETARY COMMITTEE

The functions of United Nations subsidiary bodies responsible for coordination, administrative questions and budgetary matters should be consolidated to reduce duplication of efforts and administrative costs, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) was told this afternoon as it continued discussing review of efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations.

The Committee also discussed the proposed $154 million savings from the 1996-1997 budget, pattern of conferences and the funding of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR).

Suggesting the consolidation of subsidiary bodies, Canada's representative, also speaking for Australia and New Zealand, said there might be a case for merging the mandates of the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and the Board of Auditors to give one external audit body system-wide competence. Also, the functions of the Committee for Programme and Coordination (CPC) could be redistributed to the Fifth Committee and the Economic and Social Council. Since many of the functions of the CPC duplicated those of the Fifth Committee and the Council, it was time to consider whether it should be retained, he added.

The CPC, an intergovernmental body, is the main subsidiary organ of the Council and the Assembly for planning, programming and coordination. The JIU, comprised of 11 inspectors with special experience in administrative and financial matters who are elected by the Assembly and serve in their personal capacity, is mandated to ensure that activities of the United Nations are carried out in the most economic and optimal manner.

Also this afternoon, the representative of Pakistan said the bureaucracy of the United Nations did not measure up to the task of properly motivating its staff. He added: "But for the protectionism which they enjoy under the hemskirts of staff rules and administrative tribunals and permanent contracts, most members of this bureaucracy would not survive for any extended period of

time in the real world outside." One of the fundamental problems of the United Nations lay with the "permanent contracts" of its staff, which hindered improvements in the Secretariat's performance and merely put a premium on mediocrity, he said.

Speaking on pattern of conferences, the representative of Viet Nam said that the meetings of regional and major groups of Member States should be provided with interpretation services. Also, the chairmen of various intergovernmental bodies should consult with Member States on the strict observance of a time limit for speakers, since reducing speeches to 10 or 15 minutes would save costs.

Statements on pattern of conferences were also made by the representatives of China, United States, Indonesia, Philippines and Bolivia. Singapore's representative spoke in exercise of the right of reply. The representatives of the United Republic of Tanzania and Egypt spoke on the proposed savings from the 1996-1997 budget.

The representative of Zimbabwe informed the Committee that informal consultations on the financing of UNAMIR had been suspended, pending the receipt of additional information from the Secretariat.

In response to questions that had been raised previously in the Committee's informal and formal meetings, the United Nations Controller, Yukio Takasu, provided some facts and figures on the finances of some peace-keeping missions.

The Committee is scheduled to meet again at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 31 October, to discuss the proposed 1998-2001 medium-term plan of the United Nations. It is also expected to discuss the proposed budget cuts, human resources management and pattern of conferences.

Fifth Committee - 1a - Press Release GA/AB/3101 15th Meeting (PM) 29 October 1996

Committee Work Programme

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met this afternoon to continue its discussion on the 1996-1997 programme budget, pattern of conferences, review of efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations, and the financing of United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR). The Committee was also expected to begin a detailed consideration of the proposed medium-term plan for the period 1998-2001. It would begin with a review of the two introductory documents to the plan -- the Perspective and the Note. (For details of the medium-term plan, see Press Release GA/AB/3096, of 21 October; background information on documents to be considered under review of efficiency will be contained in the next press release on the deliberations of the Fifth Committee.)

The medium-term plan is the basic strategic document of the United Nations which provides the framework for the biennial programme budgets. It draws together the multiplicity of mandates adopted by Member States to guide the work of the Organization and distils from them a set of concrete objectives and strategies over the four-year period.

The Perspective (document A/51/6-Perspective) is an overview document containing an analysis of persistent problems and challenges and emerging trends that would need to be addressed by the international community within the next four years and the role of the Organization in that undertaking. The Note (document A/51/6-Note) on the proposed medium-term plan was prepared by the Secretary-General in response to a request by the Committee for Programme and Coordination (CPC) for a short and concise document to be considered for inclusion in the proposed medium-term plan based on agreements reached by intergovernmental bodies. The annex to the Note is structured in five distinct sections: persistent problems, emerging trends, challenges, the role of the Organization, and directions to be pursued and priorities.

Statements on Proposed Savings from 1996-1997 Budget

MOHAMED Y. MSHAMBA (United Republic of Tanzania) recalled that the General Assembly had stated that savings from the budget should not hamper the full implementation of mandated programmes, and that the Secretary-General should ensure fair and non-selective treatment of the budget's various sections. His report had not provided the information that was needed by the Assembly to make up its mind on his proposals and had not justified the proposals, either.

He supported the views expressed by the representative of Costa Rica on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China. The report of the Secretary-General did not provide all the information needed to determine exactly which mandated programmes would be affected by the cuts. It had not

Fifth Committee - 1a - Press Release GA/AB/3101 15th Meeting (PM) 29 October 1996

clearly identified the projects and programmes that would be streamlined, postponed or cancelled.

The representative said that Member States had not been given the adequate information on the efficiency measures introduced by the Secretariat. On staff cuts, he said that they had been achieved through attrition and buy- outs. There was no need for involuntary separations of staff as a means of achieving staff cost reductions, because vacancies would affect the duties and workload of staff on board, particularly with the objective of meeting the requirement that all mandates should be implemented fully, as requested by the Assembly. Staff should be involuntarily separated for a cause only when posts were abolished by the Assembly. Unilateral measures which might affect the full implementation of mandates would be unacceptable.

AMR NOUR (Egypt) expressed support for the statement by the representative of Costa Rica on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. Progress could not be made by putting the cart before the horse. Unfortunately, that was the condition the United Nations was being forced to operate under, with the attempt in some quarters to impose a ceiling on the budget and then try to tailor programmes to fit that ceiling. Egypt did not agree with that contradictory logic.

Egypt was guided by the need to ensure cost-effective use of resources, he said, adding that the development role of the United Nations should not be negatively affected. Calls for re-examining programmes which had been adopted by consensus by the Assembly were unacceptable. There was a need to look realistically at the required savings in the light of mandates. Any additional programmes or activities adopted in the 1996-1997 biennium must be provided with additional financial resources in the light of the limits placed on the budget adopted. Some of the programmes and activities must be postponed or abolished if they were not provided with resources. Any effort by the Secretariat to achieve more savings should be welcomed if they were governed by the requirements of the Assembly. Proposals by the Secretariat which contravened Assembly resolutions would be cause for concern and should be considered seriously and carefully. The Egyptian delegation looked forward to receiving the first performance report on the budget from the Secretariat.

Statements on Pattern of Conferences

ZHANG WANHAI (China) said that the volume of translations of the Secretariat had jumped by 25 per cent and printing output had grown by 14 per cent in recent years. The work of the Committee on Conferences and the Secretariat were praiseworthy. All parts of the Secretariat should improve the use of conference-servicing resources. The overall utilization factor had fallen below the benchmark, with some organs having factors as low as 30 per cent. That situation must change. The efforts to start meetings on time were

Fifth Committee - 1a - Press Release GA/AB/3101 15th Meeting (PM) 29 October 1996

welcome, as were efforts by some organs to reduce the number of their meetings.

He called for great efforts to be made to control the production and use of documents. With the cost of one page of a document in six official languages at about $916, limiting the number of pages of documents was a good way to save. The installation of advanced word-processing an desktop publishing equipment had made it possible to eliminate almost entirely the use of external typesetting and cut the use of paper. That was laudable. All Secretariat units should enhance their efficiency, also. The Secretariat should also pursue its effort with a view to improving the quality in the substance and presentation of the documentation, applying new technologies to enhance readability and reduce the consumption of paper.

Efforts should be made to use the latest technologies to enhance the level of text-processing and of use of documents, he said. The use of the Internet and of the optical disk system (ODS) may produce savings for the United Nations and its Member States. The use of such technologies should be further advocated. The Secretariat should provide further information to help missions understand how the United Nations World Wide Web server worked. Steps should be taken to facilitate access by developing countries to the ODS in all official languages. The quality of interpretation and translations should be improved.

MICHAEL BOYNTON (United States) urged the Secretariat to undertake all efforts to streamline and rationalize conference services and documentation while ensuring the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of the services and products. Regarding the revised draft calendar of conferences and meetings, he said he could not support additional meetings if they could not be accommodated within the existing budget. The United Nations must innovate technologically. Hopefully, the Organization would experience more use of the ODS and less dependence on printed documentation early in 1997. After a brief transition period, electronic documents should, by and large, replace printed documents.

Intergovernmental bodies and Member States should prioritize and rationalize their requests so that the Organization could reduce and streamline its current conference services and documentation workload, including the workload during the transition to more modern practices, he continued. He stressed the importance of starting meetings on time and cited the high cost of the late starts -- an estimated $875,000. The use of unedited meetings transcripts should provide faster and less costly documents. All intergovernmental bodies should review the documents they produced and question the need for and relevance of each document. They should also question the form and type of documents requested.

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He regretted that the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) comprehensive survey on the role publications played in implementing intergovernmental mandates had not been provided at this session. The information could have been helpful in the consideration of issues such as the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of contractual services. He urged the Assembly to require that if a committee failed to meet or exceeded the 80 per cent benchmark in utilizing conference services in 1997, that committee's request for 1998/1999 conference services resources should be reduced by the same percentage by which they were below the 80 per cent benchmark.

Intergovernmental bodies must rethink the number, duration, timing and location of their meetings, he continued. They must ensure that they called only for the most necessary meetings at the most economical and effective locations. "The days have long passed when the United Nations could afford to do something just because it was mandated to do so long ago." It was of concern that the Secretariat had not devised a cost-accounting system for conference services. Such a system was needed so that the Fifth Committee and the Assembly could know the budget impact of its demands and decisions.

He proposed that the Committee on Conferences consider the feasibility of recommending that the Fifth Committee approve a request that the Assembly require intergovernmental bodies to budget their conference services needs, then "procure" conferences with charges being made against those budgets. Such a system would ensure that the intergovernmental bodies were aware of the cost and extent of conference services requested and used. On the recording on informal consultations, he said he looked forward to the answers to the European Union's and the Group of 77 and China's questions on that matter.

He expressed regret that the Fifth Committee was used as a forum for one Member State to voice its displeasure with a Secretariat staff member. He urged all parties to address legitimate complaints against United Nations staff members through the appropriate channels. His Government was satisfied with the manner in which the Division for the Advancement of Women convened and handled expert group meetings.

PHAM THAI NGA (Viet Nam) expressed concern at the under-utilization of conference facilities, which, at 78 per cent in 1995, was below the benchmark of 80 per cent. The late start and early adjournments of meetings, mainly in the Main Committees, was the root cause. It was an intolerable situation that Member States and the Secretariat should correct by making early announcements of the cancellation of meetings. The Committee on Conferences should invite the chairmen of bodies that failed to reach the benchmark to make the best use of allocated services and to ensure that all meetings started on time.

The representative expressed regret that 35 per cent of the requests for interpretation services for meetings of regional and major groups of Member States had been denied. That situation should be reversed. The Committee on

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Conferences should find out why only two bodies had taken action on the control and limitation of documentation. The Secretariat should provide more training on how to use the optical disk and the Internet systems made available to various permanent and observer missions. The chairmen of various bodies should consult with Member States on the strict observance of a time- limit for speakers, as a reduction of speeches to 10 to 15 minutes would save costs. He endorsed the proposal to set up a conference services coordination mechanism between the Secretariat and Member States.

PRAYONO ANTIYANTO (Indonesia) expressed appreciation to the Director and staff of the Office of Conference and Support Services for their excellent cooperation and support in facilitating the bilateral meetings between Indonesia's Foreign Minister and his counterparts during the general debate of the Assembly's current session. The increasing importance of the United Nations reflected the determination of the international community to seek the settlement of their problems through constructive dialogue. It was, therefore, of deep concern that the continuing budget reductions posed serious problems for the Organization's implementation of its mandated programmes and activities.

He shared the concerns of the Committee on Conferences over the adverse impact the savings measures in the 1996-1997 budget had on the capacity of conference services to meet their mandated activities, such as servicing meetings and processing documentation. At the same time, it was ironic that statistical data clearly demonstrated a trend of under-utilization of conference services in 1995, a trend that was contradictory to the actual needs and demands of the international community. The problem must be resolved through the implementation of relevant resolutions and decisions on the matter. In that connection, the Chairman of the Committee on Conferences should consult the bureaus of all organs of the United Nations on a continuous basis to ensure an improvement in the utilization of conference-servicing resources.

Regarding limits on the size of documents, he supported the recommendation of the Committee on Conferences to request the Secretariat to pursue its efforts in seeking to improve the quality in the substance and the presentation of documentation. Concerning the allocation of conference services to regional and other major groupings of Member States, he said the meetings of such groups were part and parcel of the United Nations decision- making process. Forging common positions by groups of Member States could lead to savings rather than additional financial burdens. United Nations intergovernmental bodies must be serviced as a matter of priority, and regional and other major groupings must also be provided adequate conference services.

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MARY JO B. ARAGON (Philippines) said that the dialogue between the Committee on Conferences and the substantive secretariats of the intergovernmental bodies should be conducted on a permanent basis for the purposes of coordination, not only at Headquarters, but also at United Nations Offices at Geneva and Vienna, which should be undertaken without a new structure that would entail extra costs. The optimum use of conference resources was the responsibility of both the Secretariat and Member States. There was a need for reasonable restraints in requests for reports and for the timely provision of information needed by intergovernmental bodies. The Secretariat should pursue its efforts to improve the quality in the substance and presentation of documents.

The representative expressed regret that 35 per cent of the requests by regional and major groupings of countries for interpretation services had not been granted. Those requests should be given the attention they deserved, she stressed.

MARTHA V. MONTAÑO-DURAN (Bolivia) recalled that she had asked questions concerning the issue of the sound recordings of informal meetings. The Secretariat should respond to those questions before the debate on the agenda item was concluded.

Right of Reply

HO TONG YEN (Singapore) said, in response to the United States statement, that Singapore's Permanent Representative had made the case regarding the official in the Division for the Advancement of Women due to the importance Singapore attached to the issue of individual responsibility and accountability. The Secretariat should not be allowed to brush complaints aside or to push matters under the carpet. He did not believe that there should be a general criticism of the Secretariat staff. He was not attacking the competence of the Secretariat in general, but only trying to improve its accountability, which was also a priority of the United States. Singapore's intentions were as noble as that of people who believed that attacking the Secretary-General would help improve the Organization's efficiency.

Statements on Review of UN Efficiency

AHMAD KAMAL (Pakistan) said that the human resources of the United Nations should be adequate and also fired with the spark and morale to work well. "By and large, the bureaucracy of the United Nations does not measure up. Its morale appears exceptionally low, its attitude blasé, and its output well below par. But for the protectionism which they enjoy under the hemskirts of staff rules and administrative tribunals and permanent contracts, most members of this bureaucracy would not survive for any extended period of time in the real world outside." There were obvious imbalances which sprung to mind. For example, three quarters of the United Nations expenditure went

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to pay for salaries and other emoluments. Administrative costs were too big compared to programme delivery costs. Also, "while most organizations have a personnel structure which is in the form of a clear pyramid, the United Nations has a structure which is based on inverted logic". It had 21 under- secretaries-general and only 15 assistant secretaries-general. It had 687 P-4 officials, but only 378 at P-2 and none at P-1. "That is odd, to say the least, unless we see these figures as bulges around the waist of a middle-aged organization."

The representative said that the vacancy rates were also unbalanced at the Professional level in programmes and areas of interest to Member States. For example, the economic and social commissions for Western Asia, Africa, and Asia and the Pacific had vacancy rates that were almost the double of those of the Department of Administration and Management.

He said that one of the fundamental problems of the United Nations lay with the permanent contracts of some of its staff members, something that was hindering the improvement of the Secretariat's performance and output. The permanent contracts had merely put a premium on mediocrity and hardly provided any independence from national pressures, which were their ostensible justification. There was also an increasing use of loaned officers in key areas of United Nations work. In the Department of Peace-keeping Operations, for instance, 112 of the 134 military officers, or a full 83 per cent, were loaned officers. Not only did those officers occupy a preponderant number of military posts overall, but the they also occupied 100 per cent in some sections of that Department, such as the Field and Administration and Logistics Division.

Pakistan had asked for answers on the impact of the loaned officers policy on the performance and morale of regular United Nations employees, the actual performance and capabilities of the loaned personnel and the effect of their presence on equitable geographical representation, he continued. The answers to those questions should be debated in the Fifth Committee or the Assembly.

Turning to the United Nations financial resources, he said that "never have so few owed so much to so many". Huge arrears were owed to Member States who were taking part in peace-keeping operations. Pakistan, which, with about 40,000 troops, was the largest troop contributor to missions, was owed about $70 million. Member States should abandon their kid-glove and tentative approach to the question of the work methods of interpreters and go deeper into the substance of the issue.

SAM HANSON (Canada), also speaking for Australia and New Zealand, said the United Nations financial situation had been precarious for most of the Organization's existence. The latest crisis, however, was different in that a major contributor, who had the means to pay, insisted on specific conditions

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before paying its dues. That put undue pressure on the Organization and was unacceptable and damaging to the reform process. Welcoming the creation of the Efficiency Board, he said it should help streamline the Organization and make it more effective. The Secretary-General should keep the Fifth Committee informed of the Board's achievements.

The representative said that, while the Secretary-General had the authority to take management decisions, such as managing the vacancy rate, the Assembly was the place where difficult decisions on programmes and priorities must be taken. The current session should try to identify and eliminate inefficiencies and overlaps and should not be afraid to impose cuts.

Regarding a recommendation that small subcommittees of the Fifth Committee should be contemplated, he said that the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) was serving such a purpose and studying issues in depth. But the ACABQ should consider forming subcommittees or working groups to deal with time-consuming and specialized issues such as peace-keeping.

Turning to the external audit bodies, the representative said that the JIU should produce fewer reports of a general nature and more in-depth audits and evaluations, with practical recommendations that would lead to savings or greater efficiency. The terms of office of the members of the Board of Auditors should be extended to six years to equal three budget periods. Such a move would not only allow members to acquire better knowledge of the entities being audited, but also provide for a smoother rotation of Board members. The Board should do more value-for-money auditing, and there should be greater follow-up on its recommendations. The ACABQ was well-placed to play a central role in ensuring the implementation of the Board's recommendations. Management's responses to the recommendations should be included in the different reports.

Subsidiary bodies responsible for coordination, administrative questions and budgetary matters should be consolidated to reduce duplication of efforts and administrative costs, he said. There might be a case for merging the mandates of the JIU and the Board of Auditors to give one external audit body system-wide competence. Furthermore, the functions of the CPC could be redistributed to the Fifth Committee and the Economic and Social Council, as had already been done in part. JIU reports were overly long, containing relatively few recommendations and some unsupported assertions. The Unit's recommendations often called for more resources without clearly demonstrating the benefits of such investments. If the Unit was to be retained, it should be reformed. A comprehensive review of the Unit would include, among other things, an examination of alternative formulas for funding it. In the meantime, the selection of Inspectors should be improved.

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As for the CPC, he said that, if its functions were not redistributed, changes should be made to the length of its sessions. A shorter, more focused calendar of meetings could achieve the same or better results. Many of the functions of the CPC duplicated those of the Fifth Committee and the Council, without bringing distinct benefits. It was time to consider whether its retention could be justified.

Statements on UNAMIR

LOVEMORE MAZEMO (Zimbabwe), Chairman of the informal consultations on UNAMIR, gave an oral report on their progress. Referring to the decisions that the Committee was asked to make on the financing of UNAMIR, he said the first decision entailed an extension of a prior funding period and a second decision referred to the treatment of an unencumbered balance. However, the Committee awaited the requisite information from the Secretariat on the financing of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Since the report on the Tribunal would not be submitted until 1 November, he requested that the Committee defer action on the matter until that time.

He called on the Secretariat to make information available on the amounts owed to troop-contributing States, as requested by India; on the status of claims for death and disability, as requested by Canada; and on the financial requirements of the Rwanda Tribunal. That information should be provided in formal meetings.

YUKIO TAKASU, United Nations Controller, provided the information requested by delegations. Regarding UNAMIR, he said the Secretariat had provided five tables with the information requested by India, the United States and Canada in informal consultations. Referring to the tables circulated, he said approximately $6.6 million was owed to troop-contributing States for troop costs, and $31.1 million was currently estimated for contingent-owned equipment. The status of unliquidated obligations in UNAMIR account, as at 24 October, amounted to $75.2 million. There were some variations to the estimated work-months required for the liquidation of the Mission. It had been envisaged that personnel required to liquidate the Mission would have left the area by the end of September; their departure had been delayed for one month.

On the status of death and disability claims, he said that of the approximately 60 cases of death and injury reported, seven claims had been received, four of those had been paid and three were being processed. For UNAMIR, there was an unencumbered balance of appropriations totalling $21.4 million gross after effecting credits to Member States of $38.4 million gross. Of the credits returned to Member States, about $21.2 million had been transferred to a special account for the International Tribunal for Rwanda, in accordance with relevant Assembly resolutions. As regards the status of the Mission's special account, he said there was currently approximately

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$63 million in it. Ongoing disbursement from the account was made to commercial vendors, to governments and for other claims that were currently being settled during the Mission's liquidation.

Mr. Takasu then provided information requested in a previous meeting by Egypt, India and Malaysia on amounts owed to troop-contributing States to the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM II). The amount owed for troop costs was $45.5 million; for contingent-owned equipment was $121.9 million; for letters of assist was $93.7 million; and for death and disability was $7.4 million. The total amount was just above $268 million. Payment to troop-contributing States were made from separate special accounts of each mission. Payments to vendors and suppliers were also made from those special accounts. All payments were subject to the availability of cash in each peace-keeping account at the time the payments were contemplated.

As at 24 October, the special account of UNOSOM II was completely depleted, with some $312.5 million in assessed contributions still outstanding, he continued. Of that amount, eight Member States owed more than $1 million each and the two largest unpaid amounts, totalling $255.7 million, account for 81.8 per cent of the unpaid assessments. The Secretariat had made contacts with the relevant States -- up to the Secretary-General's level -- to obtain payment of outstanding assessed contributions. Currently, the Secretariat was expecting to receive payment of a portion of the arrears due to peace-keeping operations from the Member States with large outstanding assessments. When such amounts were received, the Secretariat would effect payments to troop-contributing States.

He said the financial information in the strategic data base in the Department of Peace-keeping Operations had been developed with assistance of government experts for internal use of that Department. The financial information in it was used for limited purposes. That information was not authorized for use by the Organization and frequently did not compare to the data made available to Member States.

The Committee then agreed to suspend its consideration of the financing of UNAMIR and return to it at a later stage.

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