ADDITIONAL $12.3 MILLION WOULD BE GIVEN TO CIVILIAN POLICE MISSION IN HAITI BY FIFTH COMMITTEE DRAFT TEXT

19 March 1999

Press Release
GA/AB/3288

ADDITIONAL $12.3 MILLION WOULD BE GIVEN TO CIVILIAN POLICE MISSION IN HAITI BY FIFTH COMMITTEE DRAFT TEXT

19990319 Gratis Personnel, Management Irregularities Resulting In Losses to Organization and Impact of Pilot Projects Discussed

The United Nations Civilian Police Mission in Haiti (MIPONUH) would be given almost $12.3 million gross -- in addition to the $17.7 million already provided -- for the period from 1 July 1998 to 30 June 1999, according to a draft resolution approved this morning by the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary).

The text was introduced by the Committee's Rapporteur, Tammam Sulaiman (Syria).

Also this morning, the Committee continued its discussion of the status of the phasing out of gratis personnel, which are staff loaned to the United Nations by Member States free-of-charge.

Except for one such individual at the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, all type II gratis personnel -- those other than interns, associate and technical cooperation experts, and personnel serving with the United Nations Special Commission -- had been phased out by 28 February, Johannes Wortell, Director of the Operation Services Division of the Office of Human Resources Management, said as he introduced the Secretary-General's several reports on the issue.

The Secretary-General had, in a few instances, granted a waiver to the six- month waiting period for recruiting former gratis personnel as set out in resolution 51/226B, according to one of the reports. Those waivers applied to staff recruited to the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

Several speakers stated that those waivers did not comply with procedural dictates, by which the Secretary-General should obtain the approval of the General Assembly or the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) prior to taking such decisions.

Guyana's representative, speaking for the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, said that waiving the waiting period violated United Nations employment

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procedures. Gratis personnel had also been doing things, like working on procurement, that should only be done by Secretariat staff. Cuba's representative asked that information on functions performed by gratis staff be provided to the Committee, together with a list of the nationality of those staff.

Japan was not convinced that the waivers had been appropriate on a procedural level, or that justifications for them had been sufficiently credible, according to that country's representative. While he recognized the Secretary- General's prerogatives as Chief Administrative Officer, any repeat of this procedural breach would be unacceptable.

The representatives of Pakistan, Costa Rica, Uganda and Syria also spoke on the issue, as did the Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), C.S.M. Mselle.

When the Committee took up its review of the United Nations administrative and financial efficiency, it had before it a report on management irregularities resulting in losses to the Organization; and on the impact of pilot projects on budgetary practices and procedures.

On the recommendation of its Chairman, Movses Abelian (Armenia), the Committee decided to defer consideration of the pilot projects to the second resumed fifty-third Assembly session. The decision was based on the Secretariat's request and assurance that a more detailed report would be submitted after field research had been conducted, and it took into account the Fifth Committee's current discussion on human resources management.

Cuba's representative said the Committee's discussions on human resources management were unrelated to the reports on the impact of pilot projects. How had the Secretariat made such a link? she asked. What was the cost to the Organization for issuing reports such as this which did not allow the Assembly to take a decision? she asked.

Speaking for the European Union and associated States, Germany's representative listed elements needed by any organization for dealing with irregularities committed by staff. Rules should be clear and should allow the organization to take action when irregularities occurred, internal controls and oversight mechanisms should aim at preventing or disclosing irregularities, and the organizational culture should promote good management.

The representatives of Algeria, United States, Syria, Chile and Russian Federation also spoke. The Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management, Rafiah Salim, and the Director of the Management Policy Office, Amir Dossal, introduced reports.

When the Committee discussed its work programme, the representatives of Tunisia, Cuba, Portugal, Uganda, Syria, Egypt, Germany and Pakistan spoke.

The Fifth Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Monday, 22 March, when it is scheduled to discuss its agenda items on scale of assessments, review of efficiency, human resources, pattern of conferences and programme planning.

Fifth Committee Work Programme

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met this morning to consider financing of the United Nations missions in Haiti, human resources management and review of the efficiency of the United Nations administrative and financial functioning.

A draft resolution on financing the United Nations Support Mission in Haiti, the United Nations Transition Mission in Haiti and the United Nations Civilian Police Mission in Haiti (document A/C.5/53/L.40) was before the Committee. (For background on the topic of financing the United Nations missions in Haiti see Press Release GA/AB/3286 of 15 March.)

It also had before it reports concerning the Organization's use of gratis personnel (personnel loaned to the Organization free of charge by Member States). In resolution 51/243, the General Assembly had requested the Secretary-General to phase out type II gratis personnel throughout the Secretariat; in resolutions 52/234 and 52/248, the deadline for this was set at 28 February 1999. Type II gratis personnel are all those except interns, associate and technical co-operation experts and personnel serving with the United Nations Special Commission.

Also, the Committee was to take up reports on management irregularities, and on the impact of the implementation of pilot projects on budgetary practices and procedures.

Financing the United Nations Haiti Missions

By the terms of the draft resolution before the Committee, the General Assembly would decide to appropriate some $12.3 million gross ($11.6 million net) for the maintenance of the United Nations Civilian Police Mission in Haiti (MIPONUH) for the period 1 July 1998 to 30 June 1999, in addition to about $17.7 million already appropriated and inclusive of $3 million authorized by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ).

Reports on Gratis Personnel

The Committee had before it a report of the Secretary-General (document A/53/715), which is both an annual report on the use of gratis staff for the period from 1 October 1997 to 30 September 1998, and the sixth quarterly report on accepting such staff up to 30 September 1998. The number of type II gratis personnel was 134 on 30 September 1998, compared with 295 on 30 September 1997. Most are in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (100 staff, or 75 per cent of the total). The number of receiving departments decreased from eight to six in the past year.

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Twenty-three new type II gratis personnel began service during the reporting period. The Department of Political Affairs accepted six gratis personnel for a high-level mission to Algeria and eight military officers for specialized military tasks. Also, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda took on eight investigators to provide expertise. One gratis staff member was engaged at the United Nations Office in Nairobi for work on the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements. As for the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the Secretary-General approved 17 exemptions to hiring restrictions for their former gratis staff.

The report contains a number of annexes that illustrate the Organization's use of gratis staff. Annex IV lists type II gratis personnel by nationality and duration of service as of 30 September 1998. The United States supplies the most gratis staff (11), followed by Brazil, France and Italy (8 each); then Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom (7 each).

Annex VII compares the numbers of regular and gratis staff in departments and offices where type II gratis personnel work. In the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, there are 116 professional and higher level staff and 100 gratis personnel; in the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia: 255 professional personnel to 14 gratis; in the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda: 173 professional to 12 gratis; Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: 99 professional to 2 gratis; United Nations Office of the Iraq Programme: 12 professional to 1 gratis; and United Nations Office at Nairobi: 70 professional to 5 gratis.

Also before the Committee was the Secretary-General's quarterly report on gratis personnel provided by Governments and other entities covering the period from 1 October to 31 December 1998 (document A/C.5/53/54). During the three-month period, the total number of type II gratis personnel decreased from 134 to 94. Forty-three type II gratis personnel left the Organization and three additional ones were engaged at the United Nations Office at Nairobi. Of those who left, 25 came from the Department of Peacekeeping Operations; 13 from the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia; four from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; and one from the Nairobi Office.

According to the report, at the end of 1998, a total of 94 type II gratis staff were serving the Organization as follows: Department of Peacekeeping Operations, 75 gratis staff; International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, 1; International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, 8; Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 2; Office of the Iraq Programme, 1; and United Nations Office at Nairobi, 7.

The report provides information on type II gratis personnel by country, department/office and function. One of nine annexes indicates which governments are providing the gratis staff. The top five are as follows: the

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United States provides 10 such staff; France, nine; and the United Kingdom, Italy and Canada, eight each.

A later report (document A/53/847) explains that except for one gratis staff member in the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, all type II gratis personnel were phased out by 28 February 1999. The one exception concerns someone extensively involved in an ongoing trial.

The Department of Peacekeeping Operations had requested 123 posts in the 1998-1999 support account budget, the Secretary-General recalls. Of the 55 posts that had been approved, 48 represented conversion from posts formerly held by gratis personnel. Eighteen were to be filled by recruiting active military or civilian police officers on secondment from governments; the remaining 30 Professional level positions were to be filled by civilians. For the 18 posts, 14 people from as many nationalities had begun their duties, and recruitment was ongoing. Of the 30 posts, 21 staff had begun by 28 February, and another was to come on board in March.

According to a related report of the ACABQ (document A/53/417/Add.1) the information in the Secretary-General's reports, as well as additional information provided to the Committee, confirms that hiring of gratis personnel has not been consistent with relevant General Assembly resolutions. In addition, functions performed by gratis personnel were not functions with very specialized expertise not available to the Organization, as required under General Assembly resolution 51/243.

The Advisory Committee notes the continuation of one gratis personnel beyond 28 February 1999 in the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, according to the report, and believes that the General Assembly's concurrence should have been sought before any exception to phasing out was made. It also considers the designation of 17 gratis personnel as exceptions for recruitment for the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia not in keeping with General Assembly resolution 51/226. In that resolution, the Secretary-General is asked to treat consultants and personnel provided on a non-reimbursable basis in the same way as interns, in that they would be barred from applying for or being appointed to posts for six months following the end of their appointments. On this matter also the Assembly's or the Advisory Committee's prior concurrence should have been sought.

The Advisory Committee expects confirmation that all type II gratis personnel have been phased out at the end of June 1999, the report states. It also questions the classification, in the Secretary-General's annual report on the use of gratis staff for the period from 1 October 1997 to 30 September 1998 (document A/53/715), of a panel of eminent persons, engaged on a $1.00 fee, plus travel costs and subsistence allowance through special service agreements, as type II gratis personnel.

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Reports on Review of Efficiency

The Fifth Committee also had before it the Secretary-General's report on management irregularities causing financial losses (document A/53/849). It defines management irregularities as those resulting from fraudulent conduct, gross negligence or wilful disregard of rules, regulations and policies. In these cases, the Organization makes every possible effort to recover the loss incurred.

Actions leading to financial loss can be divided into three categories: mistakes, intentional disregard of rules or gross negligence, and fraud, the report states. They can result from inadvertent error, oversight, simple error or inability to foresee negative consequences of an action -- a category the report calls mistakes. The Secretary-General reports it would be unrealistic to expect perfect judgement at all times, and that mistakes occur even when decisions are taken in good faith and with due diligence. To seek recovery in these cases would be counterproductive and would inhibit motivation and initiative. Mistakes made, or inability to exercise good judgement, would have appropriate career repercussions through the Performance Appraisal System.

The second category involves losses incurred as a consequence of intentional disregard of rules or gross negligence, according to the report. Disciplinary action could result, as could action to obtain recovery of losses, as set out in the Chapter X of the staff rules and Article X of the staff regulations. Mechanisms for determining "gross negligence" and the level of financial responsibility needed to be established.

In cases of fraud, the staff member may be summarily dismissed or subject to other disciplinary action, as well as being subject to the Organization's efforts to recover losses, the report states. In addition, a decision would be made, on a case-by-case basis, to involve the local legal system. Evidence may not be always satisfactory to satisfy national legal standards of criminal proof.

Upon prima facie evidence of wrongdoing and after reporting to the Controller, a matter may be referred to the Office of Human Resources Management for appropriate disciplinary action, in accordance with procedural requirements and the due process rights of the staff member concerned. Where there was no doubt of serious misconduct or fraud, staff are summarily dismissed and termination indemnities and repatriation grants are forfeit. Otherwise, measures ranging from written censure to separation of service may take place, in accordance with staff rule 110.3.

Recovery procedures include deductions from salary and withholding of termination benefits, the report states. Virtually all cases of recovery are achieved this way. Where disciplinary procedures are undertaken, staff may be

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suspended pending investigations to limit further loss. Actions to effect recovery are subject to the internal appeals processes.

The report notes that where the relevant staff members' salary and emoluments are insufficient to cover losses, no other internal mechanism for recovery exists. A decision would then be taken as to the cost-effectiveness of using national legislative means to pursue recovery. In some instances, the amount the Organization may expect to recover will not warrant the expense of the proceedings.

For the period from 1 July 1997 to 30 June 1998, the Office of Internal Oversight Services reports total recoveries of $6 million out of a potential $10.3 million. Of this, $100,000 related to fraud. This information is included in the Office's reports and fraud is also reported in the Auditors' reports.

The Secretary-General's note on the impact of pilot projects on budgetary practices (document A/52/852) describes projects he initiated to delegate management authority for the Organization's human and financial resources. These will provide a practical context for greater delegation of authority within existing United Nations rules and regulations. He intends to pursue delegation of authority as an instrument for improving management.

The General Assembly establishes the basic regulations for managing financial and human resources, according to the report. These are implemented by the Secretary-General in his capacity as Chief Administrative Officer. On his behalf, the Under-Secretary-General for Management is responsible for administration of the Organization's Financial Regulations and Rules, and can also delegate authority.

In practice, the United Nations Controller has authority for the administration of financial resources and the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management is responsible for staff management. A pilot project gives further authority to programme and line managers in areas of human resources management. A report on delegation of authority in human resources will be submitted during the Assembly's fifty-third session.

In a subsequent note on pilot projects (document A/C.5/53/53), the Secretary-General asks for extra time to submit a report requested by the General Assembly. If he can submit it at the second part of the resumed fifty-third session, it would allow time to assess the pilot project on delegating authority at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and would enable the Secretariat to take into account the Fifth Committee's deliberations on human resources management during the first part of the resumed session.

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Statements

JOHANNES WORTELL, Director of the Operation Services Division of the Office of Human Resources Management, introduced the Secretary-General's reports on gratis personnel. He said that, as a result of exemplary cooperation from Member States, all type II gratis personnel had been phased out by 28 February, except for one working at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

The Secretariat had noted the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) comments on the reports, he said. In particular, its comments on waivers of the waiting period for recruitment of a limited number of gratis personnel to the International Tribunals had been noted, as had the recommendation that an eminent persons panel categorized as type II gratis personnel should not have been considered as such. The records would be corrected accordingly. All offices would be reminded of the need to comply with Assembly decisions on phasing out gratis personnel in a detailed administrative instruction, which would be issued shortly.

GARFIELD BARNWELL (Guyana), speaking on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, regretted the late submission of the Secretary-General's latest report, which should have been available for consideration in the main part of the fifty-third Assembly session. As a result, the Advisory Committee response had been delayed and the Fifth Committee had resumed a consideration of the issue after a considerable delay. He also noted that the Secretary-General's report did not comply with the Assembly decisions on report formats contained in Assembly resolutions 52/214 and 53/28.

The Secretariat should be staffed in accordance with the relevant articles of the United Nations Charter, he said. Therefore, the relevant resolutions on gratis personnel should be carried out in both letter and spirit. Gratis personnel should not be needed because of bad personnel policies or for financial reasons. The method of recruitment of gratis personnel to the International Tribunals was a clear violation of employment procedures. As a consequence of that violation, the Group believed that issue should be considered in the context of the Committee's human resources management agenda item. It would also like clarification from the Advisory Committee on its statement on prior compliance of the Assembly or the Advisory Committee.

The Group endorsed the Advisory Committee's observation that the prior approval of the General Assembly was necessary for any exceptional acceptance of gratis personnel, he said. It noted that gratis personnel had been accepted for contract processing, which was a cause for regret and concern, as those were functions which the Assembly had prohibited gratis personnel from performing -- they should be performed by Secretariat staff. The Group would

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like to receive a report before June 1999 stating that all type II gratis personnel had been phased out without exceptions.

KOJI YAMAGIWA (Japan) said his delegation had been struck by the fact that the recruitment exercise had been successfully completed for so many posts in just a few months. Other routine recruitment and placement procedures could and should be completed with the same speed, even before any of the proposed reform measures had been implemented.

Turning then to the appointment of former gratis staff at the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, he said his delegation was not convinced that the Secretary-General's approval of the waiver of the six- month waiting period set out by resolution 51/226 had been appropriate on the procedural level. Further, the justifications for that approval were not sufficiently credible. The procedures followed did not comply with the provisions of the resolution and prior concurrence should have been obtained from the Assembly or the ACABQ. While he recognized the Secretary-General's prerogatives as Chief Administrative Officer, any recurrence would be unacceptable.

He said that for a sound judgement to be made on whether an exceptional approval had been necessary, more information was needed on a number of issues, including the job description and level of the posts, the timing of the vacancy announcements, the starting and ending dates of service provided by the gratis staff, and the availability of internal candidates. His delegation looked forward to the completion of the phasing out of the gratis personnel by the end of June this year, at the latest.

AMJAD SIAL (Pakistan) said that in resolution 52/234, the General Assembly had determined that only Member States would be invited to provide gratis personnel in accordance with the provisions of resolution 51/243, paragraphs 4a and 4b. Therefore, the phrase "other entities" should be removed from the definition of gratis personnel on Secretariat documents and reports, which tended to refer to staff loaned to the Organization "by Member States and other entities". The Assembly had been clear.

On the question of exceptions, he agreed with the ACABQ's comments that the General Assembly should have been requested to give approval on the exception. The Secretary-General was to come to the Assembly to seek exceptions; why had this not been done in the case of the Tribunal? he asked.

He thanked Mr. Wortell for telling the Committee this morning that all departments and offices would be informed about the deadline mandated by the General Assembly. But resolution 52/234 had been adopted in June -- nine months ago. Why was such notification going on now? he asked.

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As for the 17 gratis personnel offered appointments in the Tribunal as United Nations staff, he shared the views expressed by other delegations that there had been no reason for violating General Assembly decisions.

NAZARETH INCERA (Costa Rica) drew the Committee's attention to a report of the Secretary-General which was to be submitted to the Special Committee for Peacekeeping (document A/AC.121/43). In paragraph 13, the Secretary- General thanked that body for recommending the phasing out of gratis personnel. She thought that strange, since all knew where the concept of phasing out of gratis personnel had originated. The necessary correction should be made before the report was submitted to the Special Committee.

DULCE BUERGO RODRIGUEZ (Cuba) said her delegation was convinced of the importance and sensitivity of the item, as evinced by the resolutions adopted by the Assembly and the subsequent follow-up. With the adoption of resolution 51/243, the Assembly had approved provisions limiting the use of such personnel, she recalled. She noted that the number of such staff was declining.

Her delegation had been struck and concerned about information in paragraph 2 of the report of the ACABQ, she said. According to that, in most cases, the functions carried out by gratis personnel had not required specialized expertise, and should therefore have been performed by Secretariat staff. Annex 8 of document A/53/715 detailed duties performed by staff at the United Nations Office at Nairobi. She asked why some of the functions listed in the annex -- such as the providing of advice for revitalization of the Habitat Centre -- had not been performed by consultants, when the budget had a specific section for that.

It would be useful if the information on functions performed by gratis staff could be combined with the nationality of such staff, she said. Then she asked about the relationship between Headquarters and the various offices. What had led to the General Assembly not being provided with data earlier on gratis personnel with respect to the Nairobi Office? Noting the comments by the representative of Costa Rica, she asked for information on the matter, and also that the report be revised to reflect the facts. She hoped the General Assembly would be able to conclude its consideration of the item.

NESTOR ODAGA-JALOMAYO (Uganda) said he would like some clarification from the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management regarding the recruitment of staff seconded from active military and civilian police service. He noted that the Secretary-General had reported that four additional candidates in that category were in the process of being recruited. Had that recruitment process been completed and the four posts filled? He would also like to be informed of how many of the staff recruited were women. Regarding the 30 posts approved by the General Assembly for conversion from gratis personnel to civilian personnel, an additional replacement candidate

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had been reported as being set to commence work in March. He wanted to know whether that person had, in fact, commenced work. He would also have welcomed an annex containing the nationalities of the civilians that had been engaged.

Regarding the Nairobi Office, he continued, it had been reported that some uses of gratis personnel had not been reported. The Director of the Nairobi Office had said they would be phased out by the deadline. He would like assurance that that had, in fact, occurred.

C.S.M. Mselle, Chairman of the ACABQ, responded to matters raised by the representatives of Guyana and Pakistan. On the issue of the format of reports, he assured the Committee that the Advisory Committee had never intended to present reports contrary to provisions of the General Assembly. Whether those resolutions on report formats were applicable to reports of the Advisory Committee would be taken up, and he would inform the Committee of his findings.

Regarding comments on whether or not the reason for continuance of service of gratis personnel was valid, the concurrence of the Assembly should have been sought before any exception had been made to comply with Assembly resolution 53/234, he said. That statement had been made in respect to the gratis personnel serving at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, whose term of service had been extended beyond 28 February 1999.

The second observation related to the exception in applying resolution 51/226B, whereby the Secretary-General recruited ex-gratis personnel before six months had expired, he said. The Advisory Committee had observed that that was clearly in contravention of the resolution -- prior concurrence of either the Assembly or the Advisory Committee should have been sought.

Under the Assembly resolution on unforeseen and extraordinary expenses of the Organization, the Advisory Committee had been delegated the authority to advise the Secretary-General when he was confronted by a situation at a time when the Assembly was not meeting. The Secretary-General should, in those circumstances when the Assembly was not sitting, consult with the Advisory Committee before proceeding with any action.

He said he was convinced that the Secretary-General had a valid reason to continue the gratis individual at the Tribunal. The person was an attorney in the middle of a case. To terminate him and start the process of hiring a new one would have delayed the trial. The reason was valid, and there was no way that individual could not be extended, but the mistake made had been in not consulting the Advisory Committee or the General Assembly. There were precedents for that type of consultation.

He believed that had the Secretary-General come to the Fifth Committee or the Advisory Committee, it would have been difficult for either body to say

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no, he said. It was a matter of management common sense. However, he trusted the procedural breach would not be repeated.

Mr. SIAL (Pakistan) said the Assembly resolution should not have been violated. He was not questioning the rationale of the Secretary-General's decisions. However, the Assembly had made a clear decision. On the matter of prior concurrence, it was the Assembly that should have been consulted.

MOVSES ABELIAN (Armenia), Chairman of the Fifth Committee, advised the Committee that conclusion of the general discussion on the current issue was scheduled for Monday morning.

Action on Draft Text

TAMMAN SULAIMAN (Syria), Rapporteur of the Committee, then introduced the draft resolution on financing of the United Nations Haiti missions.

The draft resolution was approved without a vote.

Statements on Review of Efficiency

RAFIAH SALIM, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management, introduced the report of the Secretary-General on management irregularities causing financial losses to the Organization.

AMIR DOSSAL, Director of the Management Policy Office, introduced the report on the impact of pilot projects on budgetary practices and procedures. For reasons to do with scheduling, the Secretariat requested that the Committee defer the item until its next session, by which time the report requested would be available.

KLAUS-DIETER STEIN (Germany) spoke for the European Union, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Norway. No organization, public or private, was immune to actions by its staff which could lead to financial losses. At the same time, organizations generally tried to avoid exposing their failures. The issue being debated today was therefore of considerable importance.

He listed elements that the Union considered relevant for dealing with irregularities committed by an organization's staff members. There should be a clear set of rules allowing an organization to take appropriate and effective action when irregularities occurred. There was need for adequate internal controls and oversight mechanisms aimed at preventing such irregularities or disclosing them when they occurred. A management environment which promoted good management, discouraged irregularities and took action based on existing rules was needed.

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The United Nations had the rules and tools it needed to act -- they could and should be implemented, he said. Staff members, especially those in supervisory positions, must be aware of the need for accountability and not turn a blind eye to cases of wrongdoing. If such situations occurred, staff should understand their duties and responsibilities. Also, the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management should be informed of cases of wrongdoing at the same time they were reported to the Controller.

Ms. BUERGO RODRIGUEZ (Cuba) said her delegation attached great importance to the issue of the impact of pilot projects on budgetary practices and procedures. Cuba had followed the matter carefully, which had not been easy given the lack of information the General Assembly had been given on the subject. In December, the Assembly had decided to consider the matter at its resumed fifty-third session. Document A/52/852, submitted in response to the request in resolution 52/220, had not been substantive enough to enable the Assembly to take a decision. The Chairman of the ACABQ, orally introducing that body's report, had also stressed the need for further information to be able to consider the item.

The present report on the subject also lacked substantive information to enable the Committee to take a concrete decision on the impact of the projects, she continued. It was truly regrettable that almost one and a half years after the Assembly's request, information on the results of the pilot projects was still lacking. Now the Committee was being told that its deliberations would be taken into account in the report to be submitted and considered in May. But the results of the Committee's discussions on human resources management were unrelated to the reports on the impact of pilot projects.

How had the Secretariat made such a link? she asked. How had the situation become twisted to the point that information on the implementation of pilot projects depended on the outcome of the Committee's deliberations on human resources management? She hoped that in May the Committee would be able to consider the matter in-depth, and regretted that a decision could not now be taken.

What was the cost to the Organization of issuing reports such as this which did not allow the Assembly to take a decision? she asked. The impact of pilot projects on budgetary procedures should be considered under the agenda item of the programme budget. A corrigendum should be issued indicating that the report was being considered only under that item.

DJAMEL MOKTEFI (Algeria) strongly regretted that the content of the document did not add anything concrete to the Assembly's consideration, which should, at this date, be more advanced. The main consequence of the report being less than what had been asked for was that the Fifth Committee's work on human resources management reform was based on incomplete information.

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The report would have helped the Committee to understand in practical terms the impact of the broad implementation of delegation of authority to programme managers, he said. How could a report requested by the General Assembly take so long to be issued? he asked. The Assembly should formally express regret about the belated issuance of the document.

THOMAS REPASCH (United States) said the document on financial losses was quite enlightening when considered together with the report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services on its investigation into allegations of theft of funds by a staff member of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (document A/53/811). The Oversight Office's report had indicated that a senior administrative officer had used his position to commit at least 59 instances of theft between 1987 and 1996 without triggering any alarm. The illegal activities had been discovered only accidentally, when he was on sick leave. It was therefore reasonable to conclude that they would have continued until the person retired.

The individual had been prosecuted, exiled from Switzerland for ten years, imprisoned and fined, he said. But the United States wanted to know: "Where was his boss?" According to the report, the chief of the administrative service had felt he could not review the work of his subordinate because of the financial rules. The Oversight Office had felt that was an abrogation of his supervisory responsibilities. The last paragraph of the report indicated that his boss, instead of being disciplined, had been promoted. How did that represent pursuing accountability? The United States wanted a written response on accountability for the person "who didn't supervise because of the rules".

Mr. SULAIMAN (Syria) expressed surprise that the report before the Committee merely contained information on the principles governing management irregularities without delving into the substance of the issue. He had expected the Secretary-General's report to be more substantive.

In his report on pilot projects, the Secretary-General suggested submitting a report in the second part of the resumed session after having obtained the views of the Fifth Committee on human resources management, he said. However, the Committee could not express its views on the matter in light of the brevity of the report. In last year's note by the Secretary- General on delegation of authority (document A/52/852), he had concluded that delegating authority could not affect financial rules and regulations. Was that correct? The Committee did not have sufficient information. He trusted and hoped the next report would provide the required details. The issue was very important.

He then drew the Committee's attention to translation errors in the document on management irregularities and the document on pilot projects.

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ALVARO JARA (Chile) said his delegation was awaiting with great interest the report on pilot projects to be submitted after the visit to the field. He hoped at that time that the Committee would have sufficient information to have a constructive debate.

The Chairman suggested the following draft decision:

The General Assembly takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the impact of pilot projects on budgetary practices and procedures (document A/C.5/53/53); regrets that the information requested in resolution 53/456 had not been submitted; and decides to defer consideration of the question of the impact of pilot projects to its next resumed fifty-third session.

The Committee approved that decision.

Mr. ABELIAN (Armenia), Committee Chairman, put forth a proposal that the Committee decide to transmit the Secretary-General's report on management irregularities resulting in financial loss to the Organization to the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) and request that the Advisory Committee report on it to the Assembly.

Mr. REPASCH (United States) said he had no problem with the proposal, but expected a response in writing before the end of the fifty-third General Assembly session to his questions.

The CHAIRMAN said he had been advised that responses to the questions raised by the United States would be communicated in writing to the Committee. He asked whether the Committee wanted to defer a decision to transmit the Secretary-General's report to the Advisory Committee, or whether, to save time, it wished to transmit the report but also expect written responses to the questions raised in the meeting.

NIKOLAI LOZINSKI (Russian Federation) said he had no problem with the proposal to seek consideration by the Advisory Committee, but before any decision was taken he would like to know when a response from the Advisory Committee could be expected and when the Fifth Committee would continue its consideration of the report.

The CHAIRMAN said he would obviously have to consult with the relevant people to get answers to the timing questions. Consideration of the matter would have to be deferred until he had received answers.

Other Matters

RADHIA ACHOURI (Tunisia) said, as coordinator of consultations on the agenda item of pattern of conferences, that the Committee had to consider four

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reports, as well as other matters, on publications, and there was only one week of this resumed session left. Many questions still remained. As she could not guarantee that even three meetings would bring tangible results, she proposed the Committee defer the item, in order to leave time for the consideration of other items.

The CHAIRMAN said he recalled that the item had been treated at the commencement of the session as a "might" item. The Bureau had included it because there was no other option, as certain delegations had wanted it discussed. He supported the deferral proposed by the representative of Tunisia.

Ms. BUERGO RODRIGUEZ (Cuba) suggested it would be worthwhile for the Bureau and agenda item coordinators to evaluate the situation for every item and then present the Committee with a proposed revision of the programme of work for the remainder of the current session on Monday.

REGINA EMERSON (Portugal) said that informal consultations had been held to discuss the review of the Office of Internal Oversight Services. She sensed that a decision could be reached, but one more session of consultations would not be enough.

The CHAIRMAN then suggested deferral of the review of the Oversight Office until the next session.

Mr. ODAGA-JALOMAYO (Uganda) said that the resolution setting up the review requested its completion within the fifty-third Assembly session. The second resumed session of the Fifth Committee was normally taken up entirely with peacekeeping financing matters. He did not object in principle to deferral of the item, but wondered when it would be taken up again.

Mr. SULAIMAN (Syria) said Syria was not in favour of deferring consideration of a review of the Oversight Office. If it was to be deferred, there should be a very firm position on taking it up again, because it had already been deferred once. On the pattern of conferences item, he understood that the Committee was obliged to defer it due to time constraints. However, he had three questions on issues of importance to Syria for which he sought answers from the Secretariat.

AHMED DARWISH (Egypt) wished to know until when the item on the Oversight Office would be deferred. He appealed for delegations to reach a compromise on the Oversight Office issue. A deferral would not be in the interest of concerned delegations, the coordinator of the consultations, or the Oversight Office.

Mr. STEIN (Germany) said he was pleased to hear that the coordinator believed that delegations had started to move towards consensus. It would be

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regrettable if the momentum on the issue was lost by deferring it to whatever time. If it must be deferred, May would not be the right time to take it up again. As momentum had developed and a result was possible by the end of the session, he was in favour of keeping the item on the agenda.

The CHAIRMAN said it was clear that Member States wanted to continue to work for a decision on the Oversight Office. He would work with the Bureau to find one additional meeting that could be dedicated to its consideration.

Ms. BUERGO RODRIGUEZ (Cuba) said she felt it was also important to recall another agenda item that the Committee had decided should have priority, and for which no meeting was currently scheduled next week. That item was the Development Account. It should be included in Monday's revised programme of work.

The CHAIRMAN said there was limited space in the agenda. The meeting times where the topic was still to be determined were intended for items for which there was a realistic hope that results could be achieved. He suggested that the representative of Syria's questions on the pattern of conferences be raised in the meeting on Monday.

Mr. SULAIMAN (Syria) proposed he forward his questions through the Chairman to the Secretariat so that answers could be given at the next meeting. He wished to know what had been done following the General Assembly's resolution last year on the translation of documents on the standardization of geographic names. Also, he wished to know why the Department of Public Information book containing the resolutions of the General Assembly, which was usually translated into the six official languages, had not been issued in Arabic for either the fifty-second or fifty- third Assembly sessions. He also wanted to know why the publication Basic Facts about the United Nations was only issued in English, French and Spanish. It should be issued in all six official languages.

He asked if rectifying those problems would require action by the Fifth Committee and, if not, sought formal confirmation to that effect.

The CHAIRMAN said that answers to those questions would be provided on Monday.

Mr. SIAL (Pakistan) asked that questions he had previously raised about similar issues also be answered at that time.

Ms. EMERSON (Portugal) said she would be sorry if consideration of the Oversight Office review stopped, and stressed that, as coordinator of consultations, she was available at any time for informal discussion. The only solution to the problems of the Committee's agenda, as its Chairman had

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said, was for Member States to have the will to find solutions. She proposed a series of times for informal discussion on the Oversight Office issue.

The CHAIRMAN appealed to delegations to assist the representative of Portugal to find a consensus on the Oversight Office issue.

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