REACTION TO SECRETARIAT'S RESPONSES ON BUDGET QUESTIONS HEARD IN FIFTH COMMITTEE
Press Release
GA/AB/3194
REACTION TO SECRETARIAT'S RESPONSES ON BUDGET QUESTIONS HEARD IN FIFTH COMMITTEE
19971119 The $40 million potential costs of the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) should be debated to ensure that they do not force the 1998-1999 budget beyond the $2.583 billion proposed by the Secretary-General, the United States representative told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this afternoon. The meeting was held to receive a paper from the Secretariat, which contained responses to queries raised during the Committee's debate on the budget.The United States representative explained that the Secretary-General might be forced to increase the level of the initial proposed budget if he found that he could not absorb the potential costs of the recommendations and observations made by the ACABQ. The Fifth Committee should head off such a scenario by receiving and discussing a compilation on the costs of the ACABQ's recommendations.
However, Cuba's representative said the budget outline approved last year should not serve as a ceiling for the total amount to be appropriated by the General Assembly at the end. Rather, the Assembly should reaffirm the need to approve a budget that would ensure the full implementation of the Organization's mandates and provide adequate resources.
She said the Secretariat's paper had omitted answers to her delegation's questions, particularly those on the budget sections on economic and social development, policy coordination and sustainable development, the Office of Internal Oversight Services and administrative services. What measures had been taken to remedy the drop in the Organization's quality of work caused by the mandated budget cuts of some $104 million? she asked.
The rest of this afternoon's meeting was devoted to brief comments on the paper that was circulated at the meeting, with several delegations noting omissions, seeking additional information, reserving the right to make more statements later or reiterating questions they had posed in earlier meetings.
Speaking for the European Union, Belgium's representative called for a detailed consideration of the Department of Public Information (DPI), which would be significantly affected by the Secretary-General's reform proposals.
Syria's representative said he had not found an answer to his questions on the abolition of two posts in the Decolonization Unit of the Department of Political Affairs and on the proposed reductions in the number of translators. How many posts would be cut, and what language would be affected? he asked.
The representative of Egypt said her delegation sought answers to questions raised on the budget's part on international cooperation for development. The representative of Pakistan asked about rental arrangements for space provided to United Nations organizations.
The Secretariat should provide information on the history of Secretariat units related to the advancement of women, including their funding mechanisms, Bahamas' representative said. What levels of resources had been allocated by DPI to the Caribbean radio unit over the past 10 years and what funds were currently going to the United Nations Information Centres in the Caribbean? she asked.
While the Secretariat's paper listed the posts that would be abolished, it did not contain the justification for such action, as requested by Member States, Mexico's representative said. Had the reports on the budget section on the International Trade Centre (ITC) of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and World Trade Organization been released?
Assistant Secretary-General for Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts and United Nations Controller, Jean-Pierre Halbwachs, apologized for the paper's failure to answer certain questions, adding that a second one would be issued shortly. Reports on gratis personnel and on the ITC should be submitted soon.
The Fifth Committee is scheduled to meet again at 10 a.m., on Friday, 21 November.
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