FIFTH COMMITTEE CONCLUDES WORK FOR FIFTY-FIRST SESSION

Press Release
GA/AB/3160

FIFTH COMMITTEE CONCLUDES WORK FOR FIFTY-FIRST SESSION

As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) concluded Friday evening, 12 September, its work for the fifty-first session, it recommended for adoption a draft resolution that would have the Assembly restrict the use of certain types of gratis personnel loaned to the Organization to two circumstances. Among other provisions of the text are that such personnel should provide expertise not available within the United Nations, or urgent assistance in cases of new or expanded mandates, pending the approval of resources for those missions.

Also by the draft, the Assembly would request the Secretary-General to phase out type II personnel who do not fall under the two circumstances. He would be asked to revise his draft guidelines on gratis personnel to ensure that their acceptance would be subject to provisions of the United Nations Charter. An earlier draft on the item was withdrawn by the representative of Côte d'Ivoire, speaking for the "Group of 77" developing countries and China.

Speaking after action, the representative of Belgium, for the European Union, said that gratis personnel should be phased out in an orderly fashion that did not disrupt the Organization's work. The representatives of Japan, United States and Pakistan also spoke.

The Secretary-General has identified two kinds of gratis personnel. Type I serve as associate experts, technical cooperation experts and interns. Type II mainly serve as gratis military officers and in peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, international tribunals, internal oversight and administration.

By another action, under aspects of the 1996-1997 regular budget, the Committee approved a draft decision by which the Assembly would authorize the Secretary-General to take steps necessary to settle outstanding claims on the construction of conference facilities for the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa. He would also be authorized to make final payments on the project from the construction-in-progress account.

According to reports from the Secretary-General, the project would cost a total of some $115.2 million, reflecting an increase of about $7.6 million

over the $107.6 million appropriated by the Assembly. He had proposed to meet the additional sum of over $7 million from the interest accrued in the construction accounts of ECA and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), which totalled some $7.9 million in December 1996.

Speaking on the matter were the representatives of Côte d'Ivoire (on behalf of the Group of 77 and China), United States, Cuba and Pakistan. United Nations Controller Jean-Pierre Halbwachs answered questions from Committee members.

Acting on administrative and budgetary aspects of peacekeeping financing, the Committee approved a draft resolution under which the Assembly would redeploy, temporarily, for the period from 1 January to 30 June 1998, three posts for the Lessons Learned Unit funded from the support account for peacekeeping operations. The Assembly also decided to revert to the issue in future budget considerations. Statements in explanation of position were made by the representatives of the United States, Netherlands and France.

On pattern of conferences, the Committee approved a draft resolution on facilitating developing countries' access to the optical disk system (ODS). By its terms, the Assembly would call upon the Secretary-General to ensure that ease of access and flow of information from the system to end-users, especially in States' capitals, is continuous. It would invite him to develop a policy for expanding access to the system, and request that the special needs of groups of potential users be taken into account in formulating that policy.

On aspects related to the scale of assessments, the Committee approved a draft decision by which the Assembly would decide that the failure of Liberia, Tajikistan and the Comoros to pay amounts necessary to avoid the application of Article 19 of the United Nations Charter was due to conditions beyond their control and would permit them to vote through the fifty-second session. Article 19 strips Member States of the right to vote when their unpaid regular budget dues equal or exceed their previous two years' assessments.

Turning to the Secretary-General's report on the Office of Internal Oversight Services, the Committee approved a draft text that would have the Assembly continue considering, at its next session, his report on the work of the Office for the period 1 July 1995 to 30 June 1996 and the comments of the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) on final reports of the Office.

At the beginning of its meeting, the Committee, acting on the question of review of the United Nations efficiency, approved a draft decision on the strengthening of external oversight mechanisms that would have the Assembly resume considering that question at the earliest stage of its fifty-second session. After receiving information from the Secretary-General on implementation of Assembly resolution 51/226 on human resources management,

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Committee members agreed to defer considering the details to the next session. Speaking on the matter were the representatives of Côte d'Ivoire (on behalf of the Group of 77 and China), Algeria, United States, Cuba and India.

The representative of Syria made a statement on other matters.

The Acting Chairman of the Committee, Klaus-Dieter Stein (Germany), read out a statement from the Chairman, Ngoni Francis Sengwe (Zimbabwe), on the closure of the fifty-first session.

Closing statements were also made by the following representatives: Côte d'Ivoire (on behalf of the African Group of States), Armenia (for the Eastern European Group), Syria (for the Asian Group), Uruguay (on behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean States), and Liechtenstein (for the Western European and Other States Group).

Committee Work Programme

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met Friday evening to conclude its work for the resumed fifty-first General Assembly session. The Committee was expected to take action on the review of the United Nations efficiency, particularly gratis personnel; aspects of the 1996-1997 regular budget relating to the construction of conference facilities at Addis Ababa for ECA; and facilitating developing countries' access to the ODS.

It was also expected to take action on procedural aspects of the scale of assessments relating to the exemption to the application of Article 19 of the United Nations Charter; the Lessons Learned Unit; and the Secretary- General's report on the work of the Office of Internal Oversight Services.

The Secretary-General's response to a letter from the Chairman of the Group of 77 and China, on the implementation of parts of a resolution on human resources management, was also before the Committee.

Drafts for Action

The draft resolution on gratis personnel (document A/C.5/51/L.90) would have the Assembly decide that such personnel should not be sought for financial reasons. The Assembly would then decide that type II gratis personnel would be used in two circumstances.

In the first, they would be taken, after the approval of a budget, to provide expertise not available in the Organization for very special functions, as identified by the Secretary-General, and for a specified period. In the second, they are to provide temporary and urgent assistance in the case of new and/or expanded mandates of the Organization, pending a decision by the Assembly on the level of resources required for those mandates. Further, the

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acceptance of such personnel would, according to the draft, be governed by the relevant budget resolutions and procedures for unforeseen and extraordinary expenditures, peacekeeping operations and tribunals.

As for type II gratis personnel who fall outside the terms spelt out in the draft resolution, the Secretary-General would be requested to phase them out expeditiously. Also by the, draft the Secretary-General would be requested to revise the draft guidelines on gratis personnel he had proposed in previous reports. He is to do so in accordance with provisions of the draft resolution and its listed principles and submit them to the fifty-second Assembly session, through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ). The principles state that gratis personnel should be subject to the criteria of the United Nations Charter's Articles 100 and 101 and that they should have the same obligations and responsibilities as staff members. By other principles, they should carry out their functions in accordance with all of the Organization's applicable regulations and procedures, and the process of choosing them should be transparent and based on as wide as possible a geographical basis.

Quarterly and annual reports on the acceptance of gratis personnel would be requested of the Secretary-General, by the terms of the draft resolution.

The draft decision on the construction of additional conference facilities in Addis Ababa (document A/C.5/51/L.86) would have the Assembly authorize the Secretary-General to take steps necessary to settle outstanding claims on the facilities' construction, taking into account the Organization's interests. He would also be authorized to make final payments on the project from the construction-in-progress account.

By the terms of a draft resolution on access to the optical disk system (document A/C.5/51/L.87), the Assembly would call upon the Secretary-General to ensure that ease of access and flow of information from the ODS to end- users, especially in States' capitals, is continuous. It would invite the Secretary-General to develop a policy for expanding access to the system, and request that the special needs of groups of potential users, including developing countries, be taken into account in formulating that policy. The Secretary-General would also be requested to continue work on providing equal access to the system in the Organization's six official languages.

A draft decision on the scale of assessments (document A/C.5/51/L.85) would have the Assembly decide that the failure of Liberia, Tajikistan and the Comoros to pay amounts necessary to avoid the application of Article 19 of the Charter is due to conditions beyond their control and that they should be permitted to vote through the Assembly's fifty-second session. Article 19 strips Member States of the right to vote whenever their unpaid regular budget dues equal or exceed their previous two years' assessments.

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According to the draft, the Assembly would defer to its next session consideration of the Committee on Contributions' observations on the procedures for considering requests for exemption under Article 19.

The draft resolution on the Lessons Learned Unit (document A/C.5/51/L.89) would have the Assembly decide to redeploy, on a temporary basis, for the period from 1 January to 30 June 1998, three posts (one P-4, one P-2/1 and one General Service) funded from the support account for peacekeeping operations, to carry out the functions assigned them. The Assembly would revert to the issue in future budget considerations.

The draft decision on the Office of Internal Oversight Services (document A/C.5/51/L.88) would have the Assembly continue considering at its next session the Secretary-General's report on the work of the Office for the period 1 July 1995 to 30 June 1996 and the comments of the JIU on the final reports of the Office. The Secretary-General's report on enhancing internal oversight mechanisms in operational funds and programmes would also be looked at then.

Also before the Committee, under human resources management, was the Secretary-General's response (document A/C.5/51/58) to a letter from the Group of 77 on the implementation of paragraph 26 of section III.B of resolution 51/226 of 3 April. The paragraph, he recalls, provides 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 posts within six months of the end of their current service". In the light of established practice and in response to delegates' concerns, he explains, the expression "short-term appointments" is understood to refer to staff hired for less than one year without a vacancy announcement and reference to the Appointment and Promotion Board machinery.

After advice from the United Nations Legal Counsel, he continues, he had informed the Assembly of his intention to exempt staff serving in posts under the peacekeeping support account and the International Criminal Tribunals from the application of those provisions. The Legal Counsel later advised that, according to staff regulations 12.1 and the United Nations Administrative Tribunal's jurisprudence on acquired rights, a limited exception to paragraph 26 should be made for staff on appointments of less than a year who had served against any type of post when, as of 3 April, the recruitment process had reached a stage of commitment or had so advanced as to create for those persons an acquired right to the completion of the process.

He says that several staff members on appointments of less than one year who were not exempted from the application of paragraph 26 were separated at the end of their appointment, as required by paragraph 9 of the same section of the resolution, which severely restricts temporary appointments against regular budget posts or extrabudgetary ones authorized for one year or more.

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Providing some details sought by the Group of 77, the Secretary-General states in an annex that: 163 staff were on short-term appointments of less than one year under the 100 series of staff rules before 3 April; 12 of them have been asked to leave the Organization in implementing the resolution; 16 were recruited after the resolution's adoption; and 27 were exempted from the application of paragraph 26. Their nationalities are also annexed to the Secretary-General's letter.

Action

SYED RAFIQUL ALOM (Bangladesh), Committee Vice-Chairman, introduced the draft on the strengthening of external oversight mechanisms. The item had been considered during the past seven Assembly sessions, but, he emphasized, failure was the pillar of success. The Committee, after rigorous informal consultations, had decided on the following draft text:

"The General Assembly decides to resume consideration of the question of strengthening the external oversight mechanisms at the earliest possible stage of the fifty-second session of the General Assembly."

It was also agreed upon informally that, whenever consideration of the item would be resumed, draft elements for decision would be considered. The future course of discussion would take reference to proposals made so far, as well as those still to be made. Based on those inputs, the next session would resume its consideration of the item. Thanking Committee members for their efforts, he said he hoped the Committee would adopt the text without a vote.

DULCE BUERGO (Cuba) thanked Mr. Alom for his efforts and asked that the text be read again. Something seemed to be missing from the text.

After hearing the text again, the Committee approved the draft without a vote.

KLAUS DIETER-STEIN (Germany), a Committee's Vice-Chairman and Acting Chairman, introduced the draft text on the Addis Ababa project.

AHOUNOU MALAN (Côte d'Ivoire) said that the Group of 77 was joining the consensus on the draft on the conference facilities based on the understanding reached in the informal consultations that the final payment for the project would be funded from the interest accrued in the construction-in-progress accounts of ECA and ESCAP. The Secretariat should confirm whether that understanding was correct.

JEAN-PIERRE HALBWACHS, United Nations Controller, said it was.

LINDA SHENWICK (United States) said she understood that the draft would not lead to more appropriations, that it would not show up in the performance

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report on the budget and that the $7 million would have accrued from the Addis Ababa project.

Mr. HALBWACHS, said "Yes, yes and yes".

The draft decision was approved without a vote.

NORMA GOICOCHEA ESTENOZ (Cuba) asked how it was possible that the amount would not be reflected in the budget performance report.

Mr. HALBWACHS said the procedures used in completing the ESCAP facilities would be used. Since no additional appropriation would be needed, the amount would not have to appear in the performance report but in the final report on the project.

Next, the Acting Chairman presented the draft resolution on access to the optical disk system.

The Committee approved the resolution without a vote.

Mr. ALOM (Bangladesh), Committee Vice-Chairman, then presented the draft decision on the scale of assessments. He said informal consultations had been brief, and he hoped the decision would be approved without a vote.

Acting without a vote, the Committee approved the decision.

MARY JO ARAGON (Philippines) introduced the draft decision on the activities of the Office of Internal Oversight Services. There had been consensus on the draft at the last informal consultations, she said, and she hoped the Committee would approve the text without a vote.

The Committee approved that draft without a vote.

Mr. MALAN (Côte d'Ivoire) said the Group of 77 was not in a position to respond to the information from the Secretary-General on the implementation of resolution 51/226 of 2 April on human resources management. It should, therefore, be deferred to the next Assembly session.

DJAMEL MOKTEFI (Algeria) supported the statement by the representative of Côte d'Ivoire, given the recent publication of the document, which had not been studied carefully yet. So far, it contained some issues that would require further explanation from the Secretariat.

Algeria, he said, was astonished to find that under the report's column related to staff who had been asked to leave the United Nations, there were eight people from the developing countries but four from the developed world. Out of the 12 persons asked to leave, eight were from the developing countries.

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Under the column of those allowed to stay on, there was similar favourable treatment of those from the developed countries. Such issues should be considered further in the next session.

Ms. SHENWICK (United States) said she understood that the Secretary- General's letter stated that he would exempt some employees in the support account posts and the tribunals from the provisions of the resolution. Some employees in the Secretariat seem to have been given consultant status whereby staff on short-term contracts were placed in consultancies for one month, and with their 11 months short-term work, they worked for full 12 months. Such practice would not merit exemption from the provisions of resolution 51/226. Some other issues on the application of paragraph 26 should be addressed further. An exemption from the provision had been granted on the basis of a lack of qualified candidates for an advertised post. Rather than doing that, the post in question should have been readvertised. The Committee should resume the matter as early as possible in the next session.

Ms. BUERGO (Cuba) said she supported the statement made by the representative of Côte d'Ivoire.

RAJAT SAHA (India) said that it appeared that there was general consensus on the proposal put forth by the representative of Côte d'Ivoire.

The Committee then agreed to defer consideration of the Secretary- General's response on implementation of resolution 51/226 on human resources management.

MARTA PEÑA (Mexico) introduced the draft resolution on gratis personnel, and read out certain wording changes. The text contained important policy guidelines for the use of gratis personnel, she said. She hoped the Committee would approve it without a vote.

ALEXEI A. DVINIANINE (Russian Federation) said he appreciated that the text had been translated into the Organization's languages in such a short time. However, he requested technical amendments to the Russian text.

Ms. SHENWICK (United States) asked whether the absence of a programme budget implications signified that there were no financial implications of the text.

Mr. HALBWACHS, United Nations Controller, said "in one word, yes". However, he could not promise that all the reports requested in the resolution would be completed during the upcoming regular session.

NAZARETH INCERA (Costa Rica) requested technical corrections in the Spanish version.

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Ms. BUERGO (Cuba) asked the Controller: what would be the implication the reports requested in the resolution would have? If implications existed, would they be presented to the Committee at its next session?

Mr. HALBWACHS said that the reports would not have budgetary implications. He had been referring to the timing of producing the reports during the upcoming session. He would try his best, but could not provide a guarantee that these could be completed during the regular session.

Ms. BUERGO (Cuba) said that she recognized the time constraints faced in submitting the reports. She asked about obtaining information about the financial implications of the gradual elimination of gratis personnel, so that information could be available during the upcoming session.

The Controller said he did not see any financial implications in the resolution for the regular budget.

AMJAD HUSSAIN B. SIAL (Pakistan) said he appreciated the concerns expressed by the Controller. Several reports requested by the resolution were already partly in place; they only required a bit of revision. It was the Committee's understanding that in view of the urgency of the matter, it should be considered at the next session. He, therefore, requested that the Secretariat produce the reports requested so the Committee could take action on them.

AHMED DARWISH (Egypt) requested technical corrections in the Arabic text.

Ms. PEÑA (Mexico) said that there was an inaccuracy in the English text. It was an editorial point, and she would convey to the Secretariat the exact approved text.

The Committee then approved the resolution without a vote.

Next, the Acting CHAIRMAN asked whether the earlier, related draft was, therefore, withdrawn by its sponsors.

Mr. AHOUNOU (Côte d'Ivoire), on behalf of the Group of 77, withdrew the resolution.

PETER MADDENS (Belgium), speaking for the European Union, said that gratis personnel should be phased out in an orderly fashion that did not disrupt the Organization's work. He expressed concern that the work of the United Nations Special Commission set up under Security Council resolution 687 (1991) in connection with the disposal of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction not be jeopardized during transitional periods or after the procedures were fully applied. He expressed gratitude to those States that had been providing gratis personnel to the Organization.

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KAZUO WATANABE (Japan) expressed support for the action, but added that there was some distance between the right direction and reality. Since the Committee had learned more about gratis personnel, reality and the right direction should be brought closer together in order to ensure a proper course. However, Ms. Peña should be congratulated not just for carrying out successful consultations on the question, but also for the fact that her birthday falls on next Sunday.

Ms. SHENWICK (United States) said she joined the Committee's consensus on the understanding that there would be no increase in human or non-human resources of the Organization and no changes in the proposed 1998-1999 United Nations regular budget that would lead to greater assessments on Member States. It was also her position that it would not suppress the decision of the Secretary-General to reduce posts, and that it would not affect the work of relevant International Tribunals.

Mr. SIAL (Pakistan) praised the coordinator of consultations, Ms. Peña, for her ability to shepherd the draft resolution to its approval without a vote.

MILES ARMITAGE (Australia), who had conducted the consultations on the matter, introduced the draft text on the Lessons Learned Unit and called for its approval without a vote.

PHILIPPE NICOLAS (France) said he was pleased with the translation service's ability to translate all the resolutions in time. But in the haste, a few discrepancies had been included in the text. Those editorial errors should be rectified.

CHEN YUE (China) asked for technical corrections in the Chinese text.

SAM HANSON (Canada) said he agreed with the statements made by the representatives of China and others.

The Committee then approved the draft resolution without a vote.

Ms. SHENWICK (United States) said she had joined consensus on the understanding that the Lessons Learned Unit would be strengthened or continued at its present level; and that the Organization recognized the importance of the Unit and would fund it.

PAUL A. MENKVELD (Netherlands) said his understanding was that the text left to the Secretary-General the issue of deciding support for the Lessons Learned Unit.

Mr. NICOLAS (France) supported the statement made by the Netherlands. The resolution indicated that the item would be reconsidered as part of the support account or the regular budget.

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Other Matters

TAMMAM SULAIMAN (Syria) said that his delegation had spoken in response to another Member State in a previous meeting of the Fifth Committee, on the financing of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). But the meetings's summary records had not reflected his response to a particular delegation's statement. Such a situation should be avoided.

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