GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS NINE PROPOSALS RECOMMENDED BY FIFTH COMMITTEE

Press Release
GA/9231

GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS NINE PROPOSALS RECOMMENDED BY FIFTH COMMITTEE

The General Assembly this afternoon adopted without a vote a seven-part, 14-page resolution on human resources management that asks the Secretary- General to issue specific administrative instructions to clearly establish the responsibility and accountability of managers for the proper use of human resources. The resolution was among nine proposals adopted this afternoon on the recommendation of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary).

The human resources management resolution, the result of lengthy negotiations by the Fifth Committee in what was considered a personnel year -- the Committee focuses on personnel and budgetary issues in alternate years -- covers such issues as the role of the Office of Human Resources Management (OHRM), human resources planning, recruitment, status of women and career development, redeployment, and consultancies.

Provisions of the text propose that the administrative instruction on managers' accountability should also establish sanctions for any financial loss suffered by the United Nations due to gross negligence, including improper motivation, wilful violation or reckless disregard of Staff Regulations and established policies for recruitment, placement and promotion.

In addition, by the resolution the Assembly, among others:

-- Limits the period of continuous release of personnel for staff representational activities to four years and also curtails such release to elected staff representatives only;

-- Asks the Secretary-General to ensure equitable representation of Member States, particularly developing and inadequately represented countries, at the Secretariat's senior levels;

-- Requests the Secretary-General to announce all vacancies so as to give equal opportunity to all qualified staff and to encourage mobility, it being understood that the Secretary-General's discretionary power of appointment and promotion outside the established procedures should be limited to his Executive Office and the Under-Secretaries-General and Assistant Secretaries-General levels, as well as Special Envoys at all levels; and

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-- Decides to consider the situation of staff on the redeployment list as a priority at the second resumed session of the Fifth Committee, scheduled to be held from 12 May to 6 June.

The Assembly also took action on proposals concerning: the scale of assessments; privileges and immunities of United Nations officials; financial statements and reports of the Board of Auditors; financing of the Military Observer Group of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA); the 1994-1995 programme budget; aspects of the 1996-1997 budget related to travel expenses and the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS); and gratis personnel.

Concerning the scale of assessments, a table of dues that Member States are expected to pay towards the United Nations regular budget, the Assembly adopted a resolution that requests the Committee on Contributions to present to the Assembly's fifty-second session eight proposals for establishing a scale of assessments for the period 1998-2000 and to make recommendations among them. The Committee on Contributions advises the Assembly on all questions relating to the apportionment of the Organization's expenses.

The proposals contained in the resolution include one based on the methodology used in the current scale (1995-1997) and others, including such elements as: a statistical base period of three years, six years or nine years; a ceiling rate of 20 per cent [a proposal made by the United States -- the largest contributor] or the retention of the current ceiling/maximum rate of 25 per cent; a minimum assessment rate of 0.001 per cent; no floor/minimum rate; no maximum rate for the least developed countries; and individual assessment rates for the least developed countries not to exceed the current level of 0.01 per cent.

The representatives of the Marshall Islands and Mexico made statements on the scale of assessments.

In a resolution adopted on the respect for the privileges and immunities of United Nations officials, the Assembly deplores the risks confronting them and asks the Secretary-General to pay special attention to the restrictions placed on them by Member States, which impede their ability to carry out their functions.

On the Board of Auditors reports, the Assembly adopted a two-part resolution by which the Assembly asks the Secretary-General and the executive heads of certain United Nations entities to rectify the situations that led the Board to qualify its audit opinion on their financial statements and to avoid a recurrence. By other provisions of the text, the Assembly also asks the Secretary-General and the executive heads of concerned bodies to take disciplinary measures in cases of proven fraud and enhance the individual accountability of United Nations personnel.

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By the resolution on the newly authorized Military Observer Group of MINUGUA, the Assembly will establish a special account for the Group and appropriate and apportion for it -- as an ad hoc arrangement -- about $4 million gross and net for the period 15 February to 31 May 1997.

By another text, the Assembly concluded its consideration of the agenda item on the 1994-1995 budget, recalling that it had, since December 1995, approved $2.632 billion as final appropriations for the biennium.

On the issue of gratis personnel, the Assembly decided to defer consideration of the reports of the Secretary-General and the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) on the issue until the second part of the Committee's resumed session.

The Rapporteur of the Fifth Committee introduced the draft texts and made an oral amendment to the draft resolution on human resources management.

The Assembly will meet again at a time to be announced in the Journal.

Assembly Work Programme

The General Assembly met this afternoon to take action on seven reports of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) recommended by the recently concluded first part of the Committee's resumed session.

Issues covered in the reports include financial reports and audited financial statements and reports of the United Nations Board of Auditors; the Organization's 1994-1995 regular budget; aspects of the 1996-1997 regular budget; scale of assessments for apportioning the Organization's expenses among Member States; and human resources management.

Also for action are the issue of gratis personnel loaned to the Organization by governments and other entities, which relates to five agenda items, including human resources management and administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing of peace-keeping missions. A further report concerns the financing of the Military Observer Group of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA).

Fifth Committee Reports

The report of the Fifth Committee on financial statements and reports of the Board of Auditors (document A/51/849) contains a two-part draft resolution that would, in part A, have the Assembly ask the Secretary-General and the executive heads of certain United Nations entities to rectify the situation that made the Board qualify its audit opinion on their financial statements and to avoid another qualification in the next audit. The entities are the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Habitat and Human Settlements Foundation and the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) (Istanbul, June 1996).

The draft would also have the Assembly ask the Board to point out more precisely in its future reports cases of malpractice and violations of rules and regulations. The Board would also have to indicate more clearly the recommendations that have not been fully implemented and propose to the Assembly's fifty-second session measures to improve the implementation of Board recommendations.

By other terms of the draft, the Assembly would request the Secretary-General and the executive heads of concerned bodies to take necessary disciplinary measures in cases of proven fraud and enhance the individual accountability of United Nations personnel, including stronger managerial control.

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Regarding the Board of Auditors, the Office of Internal Oversight Services and the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU), the Assembly would ask them to maintain and enhance, whenever possible, their cooperation, while respecting the distinction between internal and external oversight.

Expressing regret at the fact that the United Nations Postal Administration and services to visitors incurred net losses in 1994 to 1995, the draft would ask the Secretary-General to redress the situation and report to the Assembly.

According to some of the provisions in its part B, the draft would have the Commission on Human Settlements request corrective action on serious financial irregularities in the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements and on the decision by the management of the United Nations Habitat and Human Settlements Foundation to divert $900,000 from the Foundation's funds to pay for some of the preparatory work of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) (Istanbul, June, 1996).

With a view to requesting immediate corrective action, the draft would have the Assembly draw the attention of UNEP's Governing Council to serious problems, including the fact that eight to nine of its 12 audited projects had suffered cost or time overruns because of difficulties in identifying consultants.

The Committee's report on the programme budget for the 1994-1995 biennium (document A/51/846) contains one draft decision. It would have the Assembly conclude its consideration of the agenda item on that budget, recalling that it had since December 1995 approved $2.632 billion as final appropriations for the biennium.

The Committee's report on the programme budget for the 1996-1997 biennium (document A/51/750/Add.1) contains two draft decisions.

Draft decision I, on the eighth progress report on the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS), would have the Assembly urge the harmonization of management systems within the United Nations system as long as it would be cost-effective. The Assembly would also ask the Secretary-General to present IMIS' resource and staff needs, in the context of his proposed 1998-1999 budget. The Secretary-General would also be asked to ensure that the information on IMIS sought by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) should be included in the next progress report on the System, which would be submitted to the Assembly's fifty-second session. The draft would also have the Assembly endorse the recommendations of the ACABQ, with the exception of those in paragraph 12 of that Committee's report (document A/51/7/Add.4).

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By the terms of the draft decision II on travel and related expenses, the Assembly would request the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) to review at the earliest opportunity, taking into account the reports of the ACABQ and the JIU, the question of travel entitlements of staff of the United Nations common system. The ICSC would be requested to report on the matter to the second part of the Fifth Committee's resumed fifty-first session.

Another Committee report (document A/51/848), which relates to the following agenda items (the 1996-1997 programme budget, human resources management, the financing of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, and administrative and budgetary aspects of peace- keeping financing), contains a draft decision on gratis personnel provided by governments and other entities.

Under its provisions, the Assembly would defer consideration of the reports of the Secretary-General and the ACABQ on gratis personnel.

Pending a final decision on the matter, the Secretary-General would be requested not to expand the number of such personnel implementing certain mandates. In the case of new and/or expanded needs implying urgent requirements for expertise not available within the Organization, the draft would have the Assembly ask the Secretary-General to use gratis personnel with due regard to the importance of maintaining as wide a geographical basis as possible, for a very limited and specific period. In order to ensure transparency, he should approach all Member States on the possibility of providing that expertise temporarily.

The draft would also request the Secretary-General to review the proposed guidelines on the use of gratis personnel and report to the Assembly before 12 May. He should also update the information in his report, including data on nationality of gratis personnel, detailed descriptions of their functions and on any change on the use of such personnel after 31 October 1996. He would also be asked to submit a comprehensive report before 12 May on the methodology and level of application of administrative support costs mentioned in the Secretary-General's report, including its legislative basis.

The Fifth Committee's report on the scale of assessments for apportioning the expenses of the Organization among Member States (document A/51/747/Add.1) contains one draft resolution. Under its provisions, the Committee on Contributions would be requested to present to the Assembly's fifty-second session eight proposals for creating a scale of assessments for the period 1998-2000 and to make recommendations on the matter.

The proposals incorporate a range of elements and criteria, taking account of the details of all the five draft texts which were submitted by delegations during the Assembly's regular session and the first part of the

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resumed session (Mexico, United Republic of Tanzania, on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, Japan, Canada and the United States introduced texts), as well as some additional ideas proposed in the informal consultations.

By other terms of the draft, the Assembly would decide that, notwithstanding the request to the Committee on Contributions, the Member State that is the subject of Assembly decision 50/471 B of December 1995 on the scale of assessments (Turkey) should not be subject to any increase in its rate of assessment for the period 1998-2000 as a result of the gradual phasing out of the scheme of limits during that period.

The proposals submitted in the draft resolution include one based on the methodology used in the current scale (1995-1997), and others including elements such as:

-- A statistical base period of three years, six years or nine years;

-- On debt relief adjustments to the scale, criteria suggested include: low per capita income allowance formula as used in the current scale; setting the low per capita income relief gradient at 75 per cent; debt adjustment to be based on actual principal payments on debts; or no adjustment for external debt;

-- A ceiling rate of 20 per cent (a proposal made by the United States -- the largest contributor) or the retention of the current ceiling/maximum rate of 25 per cent; and

-- A minimum assessment rate of 0.001 per cent; no floor/minimum rate; no maximum rate for the least developed countries; and individual assessment rates for the least developed countries not to exceed the current level of 0.01 per cent.

[The scale of assessments is a table of dues that Member States are expected to pay towards the United Nations regular budget. The existing method of determining those contributions has the following features: a base period of 7.5 years for calculating national income; a debt burden adjustment -- a reduction of national income for countries with a per capita income below $6000 to reflect a theoretical repayment of external debt; and a further relief for countries with low per capita income. The relief consists of a further reduction of national income equal to 85 per cent of the proportion by which a country's per capita income falls below $3,200, a limit set as the world's average per capita income.

The calculations also include a ceiling rate of 25 per cent and a floor rate of 0.01 per cent. Also included are: a rate of not more than 0.01 per

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cent for least developed countries; a scheme of limits to control the rate by which a Member State's dues can vary between two successive scales; and another adjustment -- mitigation -- whereby the assessment of countries facing exceptional difficulties is further cut at the discretion of the Committee on Contributions.

The Committee on Contributions advises the Assembly on all questions relating to the apportionment of the Organization's expenses, assessments of new Member States, appeals by Member States for changes in their assessments and the application of Article 19 of the United Nations Charter -- on arrears and limits of voting rights. The Committee is awaiting guidelines from the Fifth Committee and the Assembly to set the next scale of assessment, beginning in 1998, which should then be agreed on by the Assembly by the end of 1997.]

The Fifth Committee report on human resources management (document A/51/643/Add.2) contains two draft resolutions.

The seven part draft resolution I on human resources management contains the following sections: implementation of the Secretary-General's strategy for the management of the Organization's human resources (section I); the role of the Office of Human Resources Management of the Secretariat (section II); human resources planning, recruitment, status of women and career development (section III); redeployment (section IV); ratio between career and fixed-term appointments (section V); consultants (section VI); and reporting to the Assembly (section VII).

By the terms of section I of the draft, the Assembly would urge the Secretary-General to take the necessary action to ensure full implementation of his strategy for the Organization's human resources management. It would regret the unsuccessful efforts to develop a management environment and culture in the Organization that enables staff members to contribute their maximum potential, effectiveness and efficiency.

Under section II of the draft, the Assembly would:

-- Recognize the role of the Office of Human Resources Management as the Secretary-General's primary representative in establishing human resources policies and guidelines, and strongly request the Secretary-General to maintain its central policy authority;

-- Request the Secretary-General to enhance managerial accountability with respect to human resources management decisions, including imposing sanctions in cases of demonstrated mismanagement of staff and wilful neglect or disregard for established rules and procedures, while safeguarding the due process rights of all staff members, including managers;

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-- Request the Secretary-General to issue specific administrative instructions to establish clearly the responsibility and accountability of programme managers for proper use of human resources; those instructions should include sanctions for any financial loss suffered by the Organization as a result of gross negligence, including improper motivation, wilful violation or reckless disregard of the Staff Regulations and Rules and established policies regulating recruitment, placement and promotion;

-- Deplore the high number of exceptions to the established procedures for the recruitment, placement and promotion of staff, in particular in the Office of Human Resources Management;

-- Request the Secretary-General to announce all vacancies so as to give equal opportunity to all qualified staff and to encourage mobility, it being understood that his discretionary power of appointment and promotion outside the established procedures should be limited to his Executive Office and the Under-Secretaries-General and Assistant Secretaries-General levels, as well as Special Envoys at all levels;

-- Reaffirm the need for the Secretary-General to strengthen the staff- management dialogue in the United Nations and all of its funds and programmes;

-- Request the Secretary-General to ensure, in his proposed programme budget for the biennium 1998-1999, provision of the level of resources to the Office of Human Resources Management commensurate with the mandate referred to in the present resolution; and

-- Recognize the fact that staff representatives are entitled to an opportunity for career advancement and decide that the period of their continuous release should not exceed four years, and also decide to limit such release to elected staff representatives only, on either a full-time or a part-time basis.

Under the terms of section III of the draft text, the Assembly would:

-- Stress the vital importance of the recruitment of new staff and reaffirm that no post should be considered the exclusive preserve of any Member State or group of States, including at the highest level;

-- Request the Secretary-General to take every available measure to ensure, at the senior and policy-making levels of the Secretariat, the equitable representation of Member States, in particular of developing countries and Member States with inadequate representation at those levels;

-- Request the Secretary-General to restrict the practice of temporary appointments against regular budget or extrabudgetary posts of one year or

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more to temporary needs, for example, field mission replacements and authorized leaves; and

-- Request him to take effective measures to prevent the placement of staff members against higher-level unencumbered posts for periods longer than three months, and to issue vacancy announcements within a three-month period.

Among a number of provisions on competitive examinations, the Assembly would request the Secretary-General to continue to hold national competitive examinations for posts at the P-2 and P-3 levels to select the best qualified candidates from inadequately represented Member States. He would be requested not to decrease the proportion of entrance-level posts at the P-1 to P-3 levels for budgetary purposes.

Further by the draft text the Assembly would:

-- Request the Secretary-General to resume normal recruitment activities at all levels as soon as possible; and

-- Encourage the Secretary-General to appoint more women at the D-1 level and above, consistent with Article 101 of the United Nations Charter.

By other terms of the text -- section IV on redeployment -- the Assembly would decide to consider a report on the situation of staff on the redeployment list as a matter of priority during the next resumed session of the Fifth Committee (May/June).

Under section V, on the ratio between career and fixed-term appointments, the Assembly would decide that five years of continuing service, as stipulated in resolution 37/126 of 17 December 1982, did not confer the automatic right to a permanent appointment and that other considerations, such as outstanding performance, the operational realities of the organizations and core functions of the post, should be duly taken into account.

By the terms of section VI on consultants, the Assembly would express its concern about the practice of using consultants to carry out functions assigned to established posts, and would request the Secretary-General to refrain from that practice. It would also request the Secretary-General and the executive heads of the United Nations organizations and programmes to ensure selection of consultants on a more competitive basis.

The Secretary-General would also be requested to prepare, no later than by the end of 1997, comprehensive policy guidelines on the terms of reference for the selection, hiring and renewal of consultants and ensuring transparency and objectivity in the selection process, and to submit those guidelines to

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the ACABQ for review before their consideration by the Assembly at its fifty- second session.

Draft resolution II on respect for the privileges and immunities of officials of the United Nations and the specialized agencies and related organizations (document A/51/643/Add.2), would have the Assembly deplore the risks confronting United Nations personnel, including those engaged in peace- keeping and humanitarian operations, and locally recruited staff. He would also be requested to pay special attention to Member States' restrictions, which may impede the ability of United Nations officials and those of the specialized agencies and related organizations to carry out their functions, and to report thereon to the Assembly at its fifty-third session.

Also by the draft text, the Assembly would express its deep appreciation to United Nations personnel, including those engaged in peace-keeping and humanitarian operations, and locally recruited staff, for their efforts to contribute to achieving peace and security and to alleviating the suffering of the people living in areas of conflict. In a preambular paragraph, the Assembly would stress that respect for the privileges and immunities of United Nations officials and the specialized agencies is becoming even more imperative owing to the growing number of assignments entrusted by Member States to the United Nations system.

Another Fifth Committee report (document A/51/844), on financing of the Military Observer Group of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) contains one draft resolution.

Under its terms, the Assembly would establish a special account for the Group and appropriate and apportion for it -- as an ad hoc arrangement -- some $4 million gross and net for the period 15 February to 31 May. The sum includes the $3 million the Secretary-General had been authorized to commit, on 11 February, by the ACABQ. [The Group's attachment to MINUGUA was authorized by Security Council resolution 1094 (1997) of 20 January.]

Action on Fifth Committee Reports

IHOR HUMENNY (Ukraine), Rapporteur of the Fifth Committee, introduced the Committee's reports and recommended that the draft proposals be adopted.

Regarding the draft resolution on human resources management, the Rapporteur made an oral amendment to paragraph 26 of section III-B of the draft text. The amended paragraph reads as follows: "Also requests the Secretary-General to extend the current practice of barring interns from applying for or being appointed to posts in the Secretariat during a period of six months after the end of their internships to consultants and personnel provided on a non-reimbursable basis, and also requests that persons on short- term appointments filling regular budget posts or extrabudgetary posts of one year or more cannot apply for or be appointed to their current post within six months of the end of their current service."

He said the correction was necessary in order to bring the paragraph in line with the agreement reached during informal consultations.

The Assembly first took up the report on financial statements and

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reports and the reports of the Board of Auditors, and adopted the two-part draft resolution without a vote.

The Assembly then adopted, also without a vote, a draft decision on the programme budget for the biennium 1994-1995.

Next, the Assembly took up the programme budget for the biennium 1996- 1997 and adopted draft decision I on the eight progress reports on the IMIS project and draft decision II on travel and related expenses. Both draft decisions were adopted without a vote.

The Assembly then adopted the draft decision on gratis personnel provided by governments and other entities without a vote.

The Assembly then took up the draft resolution on the scale of assessments.

Speaking before the vote, LAURENCE N. EDWARDS (Marshall Islands), referred to paragraph 1 (a) of the resolution, which called for the inclusion of a proposal based on the methodology used in the current scale of assessments for 1995-1997. That was an unacceptable inclusion, he said. It meant that in practice the Assembly would leave open the possibility that all the hard work of the Fifth Committee could come to nothing during the Assembly's next regular session. It also meant that the fragile consensus that had been reached on a number of the issues discussed would effectively be ignored.

Those delegations that might have insisted on the inclusion of the proposal were placing delegations like his in a great deal of difficulty, which would have serious consequences for the work of Member States and cooperation among them, he said. He was very unhappy about that state of affairs. He wanted to move the Assembly's work on the scale of assessments forward, not backwards. He would have liked to see the paragraph in question deleted. He did not accept the possibility of returning to the status quo of the current scale. "We will resist such an outcome when the matter came up again in the Assembly's fifty-second session", he said.

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The Assembly then adopted the draft resolution on the scale of assessments, as orally amended, without a vote.

MARTA PEÑA (Mexico), speaking after the vote, said the complicated formula that was used to arrive at a consensus decision on the matter of the scale of assessments was the high price the Committee decided to pay. For the upcoming triennium, the Committee on Contributions was being asked to do work with eight separate proposals for the first time. Her delegation wished to state for the record its support for the practice in which the General Assembly did not deny the right of Member States to submit draft resolutions in order to help identify areas of agreement and move the negotiation process forward. Mexico had submitted a draft resolution (document A/C.5/51/L.21) on the scale of assessments, which was an important demonstration of her Government's flexibility, and it contained elements broadly agreed upon by Member States. Mexico trusted that the resolution just adopted would help achieve a satisfactory solution on the item.

The Assembly then adopted without a vote draft resolution I on human resources management and draft resolution II on respect for the privileges and immunities of officials of the United Nations system.

On the financing of MINUGUA, the Assembly adopted a draft resolution without a vote.

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