FIFTH COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS $10.6 MILLION AUTHORIZATION FOR UN MISSION IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Press Release
GA/AB/3195

FIFTH COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS $10.6 MILLION AUTHORIZATION FOR UN MISSION IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

The General Assembly would authorize Secretary-General Kofi Annan to commit up to $10.6 million gross (almost $10 million net) for the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) for the period from 1 July 1997 to 30 June 1998, should it adopt a draft decision approved this morning by the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary).

According to the draft, the sum would be an addition to the about $178.9 million gross ($170.3 million net) appropriated last June by the Assembly. By its terms, the Assembly would ask the Secretary-General to employ locally recruited staff for General Service posts in UNMIBH in order to cut costs.

Also this morning, the Committee continued its debate of the common system. The representative of Norway said the comparator used in determining the salaries of the United Nations Professional and higher-category staff should be changed. The remuneration package of the German Civil Service was 10.5 per cent higher than that of the United States, the current comparator.

Alternatively, he said, the current margin should be increased from 110 to 120 per cent to a new range of 120 to 130 per cent. [The margin is the average percentage difference between the remuneration of United Nations staff in New York and that of the United States federal civil service, adjusted for the cost of living differences between New York and Washington, D.C.]

The representative of the Philippines expressed support for the recommendation of the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) that the base salaries of Professional and higher-category staff be adjusted by 3.1 per cent from 1 March 1998.

Before taking a final decision, the Assembly should consider a cost- benefit analysis of establishing a single post adjustment index for Geneva that would take account of the prices of goods and services in that city and the border areas of France, she added. Geneva-based organizations had expressed objections to a change in the current post adjustment method based on prices in Geneva only.

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The representative of the United States, however, said the ICSC should establish a single post adjustment for Geneva because the current method failed to achieve the goal of post adjustments -- ensuring that the purchasing power of all staff was the same regardless of duty stations. Rather, it created inequities by ignoring the costs of living of a substantial portion of the staff in Geneva.

The representative of Belgium, on behalf of the European Union and other States, said that there was no reason to support calls for adjusting base salaries of the Professional and higher categories at the current stage.

Statements on the common system and UNMIBH were also made by the representatives of the Russian Federation, Indonesia, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Poland, Cuba and Algeria.

Yeo Bock Cheng, Deputy Director, Peacekeeping Financing Division of the Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts, briefed Committee members on UNMIBH's funding.

The representatives of Syria, Cuba and Côte d'Ivoire spoke on the Committee's programme of work.

The Fifth Committee is scheduled to meet again at 10 a.m., on Wednesday, 26 November.

Committee Work Programme

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met this morning to continue discussing the United Nations common system and to take action on the financing of the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH).

The Committee had before it a note from the Secretary-General transmitting the views of the Federation of International Civil Servants' Associations (FICSA) on the United Nations common system (document A/C.5/52/18). That group had addressed the Committee earlier this week. Among other matters, the document covers FICSA's concerns about field security, the draft code of conduct for staff members, salary structures and post adjustments.

(For further background on the common system, see Press Release GA/AB/3193 of 17 November.)

A draft decision on the financing of UNMIBH (document A/C.5/52/L.8), would have the General Assembly authorize Secretary-General Kofi Annan to commit up to $10.6 million gross (almost $10 million net) for the mission for the period from 1 July 1997 to 30 June 1998. The sum would be in addition to some $178.9 million gross ($170.3 million net) appropriated last June by the Assembly.

By that draft the Assembly would ask the Secretary-General to employ locally recruited staff for General Service posts for the Mission in order to reduce the cost of hiring such staff, and then to report on the matter.

Statements on Common System

JAMES BOND (United States) said that, despite the reservations of some United Nations organizations based in Geneva, the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) should establish a single post adjustment for Geneva and change the situation there. The current methodology did not achieve the goal of ensuring that the purchasing power of all staff was the same regardless of their duty stations. It created unacceptable inequities throughout the system because it ignored the costs of living of a substantial portion of the staff in Geneva.

The United States delegation was disappointed with the ICSC's recommendations on travel standards and per diem, he said. The ICSC should deal with issues concerning daily subsistence allowance and mission subsistence allowance as soon as possible. The United States did not agree with the ICSC's recommendations of a threshold of six hours for the approval of upgrades to business class travel for United Nations staff. The information given by the Medical Director to the ICSC on the effects of extended travel should be examined. The ICSC should indicate whether it had considered using alternatives, such as diet and exercise, to counter the

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effects of long travel, rather than reducing the threshold for upgrades to business class travel.

He supported the Commission's decisions on the surveys of best prevailing conditions of employment at Headquarters and non-headquarters duty stations. They should be undertaken as from 1 January 1998 with the participation of staff representatives. The ICSC decisions were consistent with the Flemming principle and with the practices of other international private and public employers. [Under that principle, General Service conditions of service are based on the best prevailing local conditions.]

EVGENI N. DEINEKO (Russian Federation) said his delegation was deeply concerned about the staff representative's boycott of the sessions of the ICSC and its auxiliary mechanisms. He hoped that the dialogue between staff members and the ICSC would resume at the Commission's next session. Constructive dialogue was needed for the Commission to operate with greater efficiency.

Turning to the post adjustment index for Geneva and the neighbouring areas of France, he noted that the Commission had made efforts to develop a single index. The Assembly should, at its current session, take a decision on the implementation of the single adjustment index for Geneva, with relevant provisions concerning transitional measures and time periods.

The conditions of service and the application of the Noblemaire and Flemming principles should be continuously kept under review, he said. [The two principles are the basis for determining conditions of service for the Professional and higher categories, and General Service and other locally recruited staff, respectively.] Appointments of limited duration had acquired greater importance for the United Nations in light of the Organization's reform and changing priorities. There was need for a small backbone of Professional staff on permanent contracts, to enhance the Organization's institutional memory. The best formula would be a combination of fixed-term and permanent contracts. The ICSC should keep the matter under its review and submit its recommendations to the Assembly.

ERLING SKJONSBERG (Norway) said that while the United Nations tried to maintain salaries commensurate with the highest paid national civil services, other multilateral organizations, such as the Bretton Woods institutions, paid considerably higher salaries. That fact might hamper the Organization's recruitment of qualified staff. Accordingly, the common system should be flexible to meet such challenges.

It was a pleasure to note that the Commission was seeking ways to strike a better balance in all areas of its mandate, he said. Its report indicated that the German civil service remuneration package was 10.5 per cent higher than the present comparator, the United States. [The conditions of employment of United Nations staff in the Professional and higher categories

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are determined in reference to the conditions of the civil service of the country with the highest pay levels, called the comparator.] In light of that information, the comparator should be changed, or the range of the net renumeration margin should be increased from the present 110 to 120 per cent to a new range of 120 to 130 per cent. [That margin is the average percentage difference between the remuneration of UN staff in New York and that of the United States federal civil service, adjusted for the cost of living differences between New York and Washington, D.C.]

On the post adjustment in Geneva, he said the Commission should carry out a study before pursuing the matter further. The performance award system should be further developed. Permanent appointments should be the norm of United Nations staffing, which would allow for staff development and career planning. He called for improved attitudes towards the consultative process by all sides.

PETER MADDENS (Belgium), speaking for the European Union and Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Poland and Slovakia, said the Union reaffirmed its support for United Nations staff. He wondered how the common system was working in the various organizations of the United Nations system. On the comparison between the German and the United States civil services, he noted that the ICSC had found no significant change from the situation it had reported in 1995. The Commission should continue to study the matter.

There was no reason to support calls for a change in the base salary at the current stage, he said. He noted the ICSC's recommendation to establish ranges for the public and private sectors for the purpose of applying the Flemming principle. As for the application of that principle, the Union did not believe that the United Nations salaries had to compete with the cream of the crop of private sector employees, since salaries were not the only motivations for working for the United Nations.

On the issue of performance awards, he said it was up to the Secretariat to take the appropriate measures and mechanisms to implement the awarding of such recognition. The Union did not oppose the giving of awards and would like to know how the Secretariat would proceed. Efforts should be made to overcome the lack of trust between the ICSC and the staff representatives; trust was necessary in the current times of reforms.

ZENAIDA TACORDA-RABAGO (Philippines) said she concurred with the ICSC recommendation of an adjustment of 3.1 per cent in the base salary scale for professional and higher-level staff, as from 1 March 1998. In response to the Assembly, the ICSC had completed studying the methodology for establishing a single post adjustment index for Geneva that would take account of the prices of goods and services in Geneva and the border areas of France. She had noted the views of the Office of Legal Affairs and the legal objections raised by Geneva-based organizations in effecting a change in the current methodology

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that was based on the prices in Geneva only. The complex issue should be considered carefully by the Assembly and cost-benefit analysis of the changes to be effected for a single post adjustment for Geneva should be carried out, before the Assembly took a final decision on the matter.

While noting the flexibility afforded the United Nations in recruiting non-career staff for Professional and General Service categories for specific purposes, she said, care should be taken to ensure that such staff did not replace regular employees that performed core functions. Noting that a large proportion of those on limited-term appointments were from developed countries, she expressed support for the view of the ICSC that such staff should be hired on as wide a geographical basis as possible. She supported the principles and guidelines on such appointments listed in the report of the ICSC.

PRAYONO ATIYANTO (Indonesia) said he was aware of the complexity of the subjects dealt with by the ICSC, and had noted the comments made by the staff associations. He attached great importance to the role of the ICSC. The meeting of the working group on the consultative process, scheduled to be held in January, should assist in the resumption of dialogue between the staff and the Commission. He would comment further on the report of the ICSC during informal consultations on the matter.

NARCISSE MANLAN AHOUNOU (Côte d'Ivoire) said he supported the ICSC's recommendations as a whole, as contained in its report. The Commission should have more frequent contact with the Fifth Committee. He particularly appreciated the Commission's organization of a forum on new trends in human resources management. Through such forward-looking initiatives, the United Nations common system could be adapted to respond to current realities.

Turning to the post adjustment index for Geneva, he said that given the difficulties in the application of such an adjustment, either the status quo should be maintained or a single index should be applied in Geneva and France. While that particular area's dilemma might be resolved, similar problems might arise in other areas, for example, between staff living in Manhattan and those living in New Jersey or the suburbs. The United States civil service was no longer the highest paid service. To correct the existing imbalance, the margin by which the comparator was applied should be expanded.

The Organization's reform must include all those involved, he said. The United Nations needed a motivated, qualified and up-to-date staff. The development of such a staff was directly related to remuneration. The Commission should be reoriented and restructured in the present period of renewal. A regular framework for resolving disputes should be established to reduce the present tendency to revert to legal mechanisms.

AHMED DARWISH (Egypt) said relations between staff representatives and the ICSC should be resolved as the staff boycott of the Commission's work

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would only ensure that their views might not be heard. The status of the ICSC as an intergovernmental committee should be taken into account in any plans to restructure it. He would welcome any recommendations or proposals that would enhance the improvement of the conditions of service in accordance with the Flemming principle.

The code of conduct proposed by the Secretary-General would be a first step in putting an end to issues such as conflict of interest and other ills highlighted by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), he said. In principle, he supported the single post adjustment index for Geneva and the matter could be further studied. He supported the ICSC's recommendations in general.

JAN JAREMCZUK (Poland) aligned his delegation with Belgium's statement on behalf of the European Union and associated States, because he agreed with the views expressed.

Statements on Financing of UNMIBH

ERICA-IRENE DAES (Greece), Acting Chairman of the Committee, drew the Committee's attention to the draft text on the financing of the Mission.

EVA SILOT BRAVO (Cuba) recalled that her delegation had asked a question in the informal consultations on the draft and suggested that action be considered at a subsequent meeting. The Secretariat had not answered its questions on the draft decision's recommendation regarding the recruitment of local General Service staff. Her delegation had asked how the recommendation that such personnel be hired locally would affect the quality of staff.

YEO BOCK CHENG, Deputy Director, Peacekeeping Financing Division of the Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts, said the request to reduce the use of internationally recruited General Service staff had initially cropped up in consideration of the financing of the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA). The need to reduce the use of international General Service staff in order to cut costs had been expressed at that time. But, the Secretariat had argued that some of those posts might be needed to handle assignments of confidential or technical nature. The Secretariat would report later on the use of international General Service staff and about their location.

DJAMEL MOKTEFI (Algeria) said that paragraph (c) of the draft decision - - pertaining to the Assembly's request that the Secretary-General take steps to employ locally recruited staff for General Service posts for the Mission -- could not apply automatically to all United Nations peacekeeping operations. His delegation would, therefore, consider its application on a case-by-case basis. In the present case, Algeria supported the draft decision, including that paragraph.

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Action on Draft Text

The Committee then approved, without a vote, the draft decision on the financing of UNMIBH.

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