BEDROCK OF UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RESOURCES POLICY MUST BE MERIT, FIFTH COMMITTEE TOLD

Press Release
GA/AB/3346

BEDROCK OF UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RESOURCES POLICY MUST BE MERIT, FIFTH COMMITTEE TOLD

Committee Discusses Human Resources Management, Gratis Personnel, Programme Planning

The bedrock of the United Nations human resources policy must be merit, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) was told this morning, as it returned to its consideration of human resources management. Recruitment, placement and promotion of staff must first and foremost be undertaken on that basis.

This was simply good management practice, the representative of the United States added. His country could not support equitable geographic distribution criteria being a determinant in the outcome of the competitive examination for the promotion of staff from the General Service to the Professional category (the “G to P” exam).

The representative of the Russian Federation expressed amazement that the Secretariat had disregarded the Assembly’s decision to apply equitable geographic distribution criteria to the “G to P” examination process. Assembly decisions must be strictly and unconditionally implemented by the Secretariat, he stressed.

In addition, the Secretary-General seemed to represent the Assembly’s decision to insist on strict and consistent compliance with the principle of equitable geographic distribution as discrimination by nationality. The “G to P” examination was a recruitment exercise, and should be treated like any other appointment. Only thus could real professionalism, competence and integrity in the Secretariat be guaranteed.

The representative of Thailand said the inclusion of equitable geographic distribution factors in the “G to P” process would block staff’s promotion opportunities on the basis of nationality, and therefore act as a disincentive to performance-based promotion in the United Nations. It was inconsistent with Charter requirements that competence, integrity and efficiency be paramount considerations in staffing the Organization. While equitable geographic distribution was important, this “G to P” process was a promotion, not a recruitment exercise, he added.

Fifth Committee - 1a - Press Release GA/AB/3346 40th Meeting (AM) 30 November 1999

The key decision required of the Assembly was whether this competitive examination was a placement, an appointment or a promotion exercise, the representative of Cuba stated. The Assembly must analyze the “G to P” examination process and decide what function it fulfilled. The matter was not closed, but an answer would require time and serious consideration, she said.

Also this morning, the Committee considered aspects gratis personnel, programme planning and revised estimates resulting from decisions and resolutions of the Economic and Social Council.

The representatives of Guyana (on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China), Togo, Bangladesh, Russian Federation, United States, Ethiopia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Japan, Thailand, Croatia, Cuba, Pakistan, Algeria, United Republic of Tanzania and China also addressed the Committee.

The Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs, C.S.M. Mselle, and the Assistant-Secretary-General for Human Resources Management, Rafiah Salim, answered Member States’ questions.

The Chairman of the Committee for Programme and Coordination, Tommo Monthe, introduced that body’s report under the Committee’s agenda item on programme planning, and the Assistant-Secretary-General for General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services, Federico Riesco, introduced a note by the Secretary-General on career development for language services staff, under its agenda item on pattern of conferences.

The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on 3 December, when it will commence consideration of the financing of the United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) and examine statements of programme budget implications arising from draft resolutions proposed by several other General Assembly Committees.

Programme of Work

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met this morning to resume consideration of its agenda items on human resources management, including the issue of gratis personnel and programme planning, to consider revised budget estimates arising from decisions of the Economic and Social Council. It was also expected to continue discussion of the United Nations pattern of conferences.

Programme Planning

The Committee had before it a report by the Committee for Programme and Coordination (CPC) on the work of its thirty-ninth session, 7 June to 2 July 1999 (document A/54/16). The CPC makes recommendations on the review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations, on programme questions and on coordination questions. In the second of these, under programme planning, it covers programme performance of the United Nations for the biennium 1996-1997; regulations and rules covering programme planning, the programme aspects of the budget, the monitoring of implementation and the methods of evaluation; and the medium-term plan for the period 1998- 2001.

Its conclusions and recommendations about the programme budget for the year 2000-2001 include: appreciation for the improved format and timely submission of the proposed programme budget in all official languages; a note of the Secretary-General’s efforts to meet the new requirements of the revised regulations and rules governing programme planning, the programme aspects of the budget, the monitoring of implementation and the methods of evaluation; concern that not all sections of the proposed programme budget had been prepared on the basis of the standard format; and a note that the general level of resources was lower than indicated in the proposed budget outline.

Other conclusions and recommendations included: noting a trend towards an increasing use of extra-budgetary funds for activities that should be funded under the regular budget; emphasis that all Member States should pay their assessed contributions; and concern over an increase in the number of middle and higher echelon posts while the number of posts at the entry level was decreasing.

Under coordination questions, the Committee covers the report of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) and the United Nations system- wide Special Initiative for the Implementation of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s.

Also contained are sections on the reports of the Joint Inspection Unit -- more coherence for enhanced oversight in the United Nations system, improving the working methods and procedures of the CPC within the framework of its mandate, and consideration of the provisional agenda for the fortieth session of the Committee.

The Committee also had before it a report by the Secretary-General on measures for sectoral, functional and regional bodies to review the proposed medium-term plan for the period 2002-2005 (document A/54/89). This report notes that the General Assembly, in its resolution 51/219 of 18 December 1996 on programme planning, emphasized the importance of the contribution of the sectoral, regional and central intergovernmental bodies, in particular the Main Committees of the Assembly, in reviewing and improving the quality of the medium-term plan and its revisions.

The proposed medium-term plan for the period 2002-2005 is scheduled for consideration and approval by the General Assembly at its fifty-fifth session, the report continues. Instructions for the preparation of the medium-term plan have been issued to programme managers, and programme managers have been requested to consult their respective specialized intergovernmental bodies so that by the time the CPC receives at its fortieth session in 2000 the proposed medium-term plan, it will have texts that have incorporated the views of those intergovernmental bodies. The recommendations of the CPC will then be transmitted through the Economic and Social Council to the Assembly at its fifty-fifth session. In accordance with established procedures, the Chairman of the Fifth Committee will seek the views of the Main Committees on the proposed medium-term plan for 2002-2005 prior to adoption by the Assembly.

The measures taken by the Secretary-General to submit proposals to the relevant intergovernmental bodies and the schedule of reviews appear in an annex to this report.

The Committee also had before it a report by the Secretary-General on ways in which the full implementation and the quality of mandated programmes and activities could be ensured and could be better assessed by and reported to Member States (document A/54/117).

According to the report, a first option would be to mandate the specialized intergovernmental bodies that oversee each programme with the responsibility for making judgements about the quality of programme performance. This would imply that sections of the programme performance reports would be made available to those bodies much in the same way as programme narratives of the programme budget proposals are made available.

A second option, designed to address the utility of the programme performance report, would be to change its timing so that it could be presented as part of the review of the programme budget proposals, both by the specialized intergovernmental bodies and by the Committee itself. This would mean that the report would have to be produced approximately a year earlier than is currently the case.

A third option would be to seek to relate outputs to outcomes in the programme performance report. As discussed in the preceding paragraphs, this would require programme managers, as part of their preparation of programme budget proposals, to specify the outcomes a subprogramme is expected to accomplish, and to identify the outputs required to achieve those outcomes.

These three options are not mutually exclusive, the report concludes. Although any or all of them could be adopted, they differ in terms of when they could be implemented.

The Committee also had before it a report by the Secretary-General on regulations and rules governing programme planning, the programme aspects of the budget, monitoring of implementation and the methods of evaluation (document A/54/125).

The report contains an annex with revisions to the rules prepared by the Secretary-General, who, as requested by the Assembly, is bringing them to the attention of the General Assembly through the CPC. For ease of reference, the Secretariat has indicated in the annex which regulations were revised, replaced or deleted, as well as the new numbering. Explanations are also provided for the revisions to the rules.

The rules have been revised to bring them into conformity not only with the revised regulations, but also with current practice following experience gained through application and as a result of changes that have taken place since the promulgation of the current rules.

The rules have also been changed to incorporate gender-sensitive language and will be renumbered when the regulations and rules are promulgated and reissued as a Secretary-General’s Bulletin.

The Committee also had before it a note by the Secretary-General on regulations and rules governing programme planning, the programme aspects of the budget, monitoring of implementation and the methods of evaluation (document A/C.5/54/12), which contains a proposed new paragraph aimed at providing better guidance on the formulation of expected accomplishments by clarifying the relation of the element of expected accomplishments to objectives and outputs.

In rule 105.4, the new paragraph is to be inserted after current paragraph (c) of section 2, as follows: “Expected accomplishments shall be formulated for each subprogramme and shall identify those benefits or changes expected to accrue to users or beneficiaries through the delivery of final outputs. Expected accomplishments shall be in conformity with, and lead to the fulfilment of, the objectives established in the programmes and subprogrammes. Expected accomplishments shall be expressed in terms that will facilitate the subsequent determination of whether the expectations have been met.”

Revised Estimates for Economic and Social Council Decisions

The Committee also had before it a report of the Secretary-General containing revised budget estimates resulting from resolutions and decisions adopted by the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 1999 (document A/54/443).

According to the report, the Council was informed that the additional requirements relating to the resolutions and decisions adopted by the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-fifth session and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at its eighth session would be met from within the provisions made under budget sections 22, Human rights, and 14, Crime prevention and criminal justice, of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2000-2001.

Regarding conference-servicing requirements, provisions have been made in the proposed programme budget for 2000-2001, for meetings or extensions of meetings that might be authorized, consistent with the pattern of meetings of past years. Therefore, no additional resources would be required as a result of the resolutions and decisions adopted by the Council.

As a consequence of Council resolution 1999/61 of 30 July, the secretariat of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development has been asked to assist in identifying and disseminating information on biotechnology, intellectual property rights and bio-safety, to examine case studies of approaches to address issues related to technology, intellectual property rights and bio-safety issues, and to prepare a report on relevant activities within the United Nations system, including the outcome of the World Science Conference.

Thus, under budget section 11A (Trade and development), additional requirements are estimated at $86,900, with $55,300 for a 7-month P-4 position to identify and disseminate information and examine case studies, and $31,600 for a 4-month P-4 position to prepare the report on United Nations system activities, both under general temporary assistance.

As a consequence of Council decision 1999/287 of 30 July, the Council approved two additional three-week extraordinary sessions of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and one week of pre-session working groups during 2000 and 2001, to reduce the backlog of reports. It also asked that Committee to consider ways and means to improve its working methods and to report on actions taken for this to the Council in 2001.

This would mean that, under budget section 22 (Human rights), additional requirements of $353,400 would be required for 2000-2001, with $334,000 of that being for travel allowance and daily subsistence allowance for the 18 members of that Committee attending the additional sessions, and $19,400 being for daily subsistence allowance for five Committee members to participate in the additional pre-session working group meetings.

The Secretary-General reports it is not possible at present to identify activities under either budget section that could be terminated, deferred, curtailed or modified to finance the costs of these additional activities.

In a related addendum to the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), (document A/54/7/Add.2), that body notes that the report does not give full-cost estimates of additional requirements resulting from the Economic and Social Council resolutions. Future reports should contain full-cost estimates, including both conference and non- conference costs.

It reports that it was provided with a list of resolutions and decisions adopted by the Economic and Social Council containing the phrase “within existing resources”. It recalled that it had noted with concern the growing practice of intergovernmental bodies of thereby attempting to determine the method of financing of mandates, in contravention of General Assembly resolutions 41/213 of 1986 and 42/211 of 1987. Noting also that “within existing resources” occurred in some General Assembly resolutions and decisions, it stressed the Secretariat’s responsibility to inform the Assembly whether there were enough resources to implement new activities.

The ACABQ recommends the Fifth Committee take note of the $440,300 estimate, on the understanding that necessary appropriations will be sought in a consolidated statement of programme budget implications and revised estimates to be submitted to the General Assembly.

Pattern of Conferences

The Committee also had before it a note by the Secretary-General on career development in language services (document A/C.5/54/28). The report details how, to address high vacancies at some duty stations in language services, copies of background files of all candidates who successfully pass the language entrance exam will be systematically passed to regional commissions, and to the United Nations Offices at Vienna and Nairobi, immediately following publication of the exam results, and that conference services at those stations would receive priority in selection of rostered candidates. Ranking of candidates would be disregarded in considering the specific needs of those duty stations. Additional training will be undertaken at Headquarters.

Where those duty stations express the desire to recruit staff from the roster only after training, the people selected will be trained against vacancies at Headquarters on the understanding that they will, after the customary two-year training period, be transferred to the relevant duty station.

To address problems of high vacancy rates at some stations of experienced language staff, management will adopt a more proactive approach, selecting individuals to fill vacancies. Incentive measures will be provided, including commitments to reabsorb such staff back into Headquarters or Geneva after at least a two-year assignment away, to give such staff priority in requests after assignment to the duty stations of their choice, granting priority to such candidates for promotion where equal merit applies, and considering requests for waivers of seniority levels for promotion to P-4 and P-5 level posts. In addition, staff who refuse transfers to such duty stations without adequate reason will be advised that such refusals will be recorded on their personnel files.

[For background on human resources management see press release GA/AB/3345 of 19 November.]

Statements

The Committee first took up its agenda item on Human Resources Management.

GARFIELD BARNWELL (Guyana), speaking on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, said the Organization should provide the best possible conditions of service for staff in order to attract the best people. At the same time, staff should do their utmost to meet the expectations of Member States.

On the question of delegation of authority, a well-designed system of accountability should be put in place before this was done. He was deeply concerned that the process of delegation of authority to programme managers without defining accountability measures had proceeded without the approval of the General Assembly.

He was also deeply concerned about the Secretariat’s references to micro management and over-administration by Member States. He reiterated the Group’s position that the intergovernmental legislative process should continue to be the prerogative of Member States as stipulated in the Charter.

On the question of consultants and experts, he noted that five countries accounted for one third of consultants and six countries for more than 50 per cent of individual contractors -- this situation should be rectified as a matter of urgency. Also, information on consultants hired against extra- budgetary resources should be provided.

The Group was also of the view that frequent amendments to Staff Regulations and Rules should be avoided, he said. This exercise should only be undertaken in the context of human resources management in a comprehensive manner. A piecemeal approach was not desirable.

PAUL AMETOVIADZI BLU (Togo) said the activities of the United Nations should be "people-centred”, as its staff was the chief asset of the Organization. Under the current rules, due regard had to be paid to the importance of recruiting staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible, and he fully subscribed to the statement made by the representative of Guyana. He supported the system of desirable ranges designed to ensure the right balance in recruitment, but he was concerned to note that imbalances still existed. For example, 24 States were not represented and 13 were under-represented. The relevant reform measures did not yet seem to have been fully applied.

He was pleased that the recommendations of the Charter concerning parity between men and women had been taken into account, and that the percentage of women in certain posts had increased. The 1991-1999 strategic plan of action seemed to have worked, but this should be supplemented by a new plan of action which placed greater emphasis on accountability. He added that there had to be a more attractive career-development policy –- only a recruitment and promotion system that offered this would enable the Organization to attract the kind of staff it needed to meet the challenges of the new millennium.

RIAZ HAMIDULLAH (Bangladesh) said the need for the United Nations to be effective had been stressed, and the Assembly had, last session, adopted a decision that recognized the need for staff with the highest competence, integrity and efficiency in keeping with wider equitable geographic distribution.

Bangladesh had noted the Secretary-General’s note on the General Service to Professional examination and the related ACABQ comments, he said. The issue of the “G to P” examination should be examined more deeply by Member States. A careful consideration of questions raised by the unions must also be made.

Commenting on the hire and use of consultants and experts, the ACABQ had clearly identified a skewed geographic preference, with a poor share of hiring of people from developing countries, he said. This was regrettable. Last year, the Assembly had called for efforts to ensure a wider geographic basis in the employment of contractors. The Assembly had also noted that the question of travel costs should not be a deterrent to the meeting of that criterion. He called for the Secretariat to report on its efforts to implement this Assembly’s decision.

He endorsed the call for detailed information on consultants employed under extrabudgetary resources, he said. Bangladesh also supported the recommendation that contractual services be separately shown in budget processes. While, for efficient management, delegation of authority was vital, he supported the need for system-wide monitoring of such delegation, and for rules that were simple to understand and that were carried forward by management. He asked why the Secretariat was having difficulty reporting to the Committee on the delegation of authority, and looked forward to the provision of a full compendium of administrative circulars on the matter.

KIRILL FEDOROV (Russian Federation) said he was amazed at the procedure of submission of the note by the Secretary-General, and agreed with the ACABQ comment that such notes should be the result of Member States’ legislative body requests, not a response to requests from individual Member States.

In addition, the Secretariat had disregarded a decision of the Assembly and assumed that the Assembly would review its own decision at the current session. Decisions by the Assembly must be strictly and unconditionally implemented by the United Nations Secretariat, he stressed.

The arguments within the note were not convincing, he said. These arguments seemed to contest the Charter-stipulated principle of equitable geographic distribution. The Assembly’s decision on more strict and consistent compliance with the principle of equitable geographic distribution regarding the “G to P” examination was represented as discrimination by nationality. By the same logic, any Assembly reference to gender balance could be seen as gender discrimination.

There were solid Charter criteria for appointment to the Secretariat, he said. Those were efficiency, competence and integrity with due regard to a wide geographical basis. Those should be strictly observed. The outcome of the “G to P” examination was a recruitment exercise to the Professional category, and should be treated as any other appointment. Only thus could real professionalism, competence and integrity be guaranteed.

He asked for statistical data on the appointments of staff members to United Nations posts at General Service, P-1 and P-2 levels since last 7 April. If such appointments had been made contrary to the Assembly’s decision to apply equitable geographic distribution to the competitive “G to P” exam, official clarification should be provided and such appointments should be cancelled.

Equitable geographic distribution problems also arose when consultants and contractors were selected, he said. This posed serious questions, not least why the numbers of such consultants and contractors exceeded the number of posts subject to geographic distribution requirements. Given the trend to reduce staff, it was of concern that the Secretariat then resorted to the services of consultants. He asked whether this was because staff could not cope with the job, and if this was the case, why it was. He suggested the efficiency of each and every employee be considered, rather than staff reform.

The system of permanent contracts was the major obstacle to the development of the Secretariat’s potential, he said. This must be seriously examined by Secretariat staff in the context of staff reform.

COLEMAN NEE (United States) said the bedrock of the United Nations’ human resources policy must be merit –- the recruitment, placement and promotion of staff must be done first and foremost on the basis of merit. This was simply good management practice. He could not agree to geographic representation criteria being applied to the "G to P" examination.

An efficient, effective and fair performance evaluation system was essential for a personnel framework based on merit, and he commended the steps taken by the Office of Human Resources Management (OHRM) to refine and simplify the Performance Appraisal system (PAS). He also welcomed the advent of the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS), which had an important role to play, and he looked forward to its complete implementation in human resources management.

He wished to pay tribute to the men and women serving the Organization throughout the world, many of them in situations of extreme difficulty and danger. He was saddened by the recent plane crash in Kosovo, and pointed out that inappropriate detentions, incidents of violence and threats against United Nations personnel continued unabated.

TAYE TESFAYE (Ethiopia) said the "G to P" examination was the only means of promotion or career development for staff in the General Service, and that it had helped ensure gender equality in the United Nations. He was concerned therefore that staff of certain nationalities were now to be excluded from the opportunity of promotion to the professional category through the examination, under the General Assembly resolution. The negative consequences on staff morale, motivation and gender equality were made clear in the report of the Secretary-General.

He said the Secretary-General had been asked by the General Assembly, in pursuit of the further enhancement of the career development system of the Organization, to implement a transparent promotion policy, augmented by the effective use of a simplified and appropriate performance appraisal system and competitive examinations in order to provide for the recognition of competence and outstanding performance. He, therefore, fully concurred with the conclusion of the Secretary-General that the General Assembly should reconsider the issue with a view to removing the concept of equitable geographical distribution as a factor in the alignment of examinations.

FIKRET DEMIR (Turkey) paid tribute to the memory of those who had sacrificed their lives in the service of the United Nations. He emphasized that there was a clear need for an improvement in geographical representation at the Secretariat, especially at the senior and mid-professional levels. The current problem stemmed from the fact that the national examinations which were supposed to expedite the recruitment of nationals from under-represented countries had not achieved their goal, and this needed to be addressed. There were thousands of people in the unrepresented and under-represented countries who were well educated and highly skilled and ready to serve the United Nations.

He noted with deep concern that with only nine consultants and two individual contractors, Turkish nationals accounted for an insignificant percentage of the total number of 3,624 people hired as consultants or contractors in 1998. He did not believe that a system of desirable ranges should apply here, just that Turkey was willing to provide more expertise to the United Nations. He was also concerned about a trend toward the lower end of the desirable range for Turkish staff.

Turkey noted with satisfaction that the number of women at the D-1 level had increased by 61.4 per cent. But he was concerned that the two most senior grades in the Secretariat continued to have a low female representation at only 13 per cent. In the professional category as a whole, the proportion of female staff was still below a balanced level at 37.1 per cent.

ASHRAF SHIKHALIYEV (Azerbaijan) said that, because the United Nations comprised almost all sovereign States on the globe for the solution of important political, economic and social tasks and challenges, its staff should be highly- qualified professionals, operating within an effective management system, and to the maximum possible extent representing all Member States. The principle of equitable geographic distribution was one of the basic principles of the Organization and must be observed. It must be applied when employing external consultants.

Azerbaijan welcomed efforts undertaken to improve equitable gender representation, and stressed that such work should continue, he said, although arithmetical and mechanical approaches should be avoided. Priority should be given to female candidates with greater competence, experience and integrity than their male competitors.

Priority attention in recruitment should be given to candidates from unrepresented countries, he said. Azerbaijan had been a member since 1992, but was still not represented in the Secretariat. This was of concern, given that it always paid its regular assessment in a timely fashion, despite financial difficulties due to the presence of 1 million refugees and displaced people and the loss of 20 per cent of its territory in the conflict with Armenia. In a few days, it would pay some $1.7 million towards peacekeeping arrears. The absence of Azerbaijani nationals in the United Nations Secretariat had been raised with the Secretary-General by the President of the Republic and the Foreign Minister; however, with only one month to go in 1999, promises had not been met.

KOJI F.X. YAMAGIWA (Japan) pointed out that the share of permanent appointments for posts subject to geographical distribution had declined to as low as 68.2 per cent. He was also concerned over the issue of separation of staff, and felt the information provided in the report was inconsistent and confusing. What worried Japan most was the inclination of junior career professionals to resign, and he regarded the introduction of an “exit questionnaire” as timely and appropriate. He also welcomed the introduction of a skills inventory and asked for the views of the Secretariat on how best to make use of this information.

He asked for clarification about the fact that there had been more than twice as many promotions in the Secretariat as in the previous reporting period, and asked for a breakdown by grade of these cases. He also asked for a projection for recruitment activities during the next biennium.

On the question of gratis personnel, he regretted that the title of the report was not in conformity with the latest General Assembly resolution on the issue, nor with the previous report of the Secretary-General. His understanding had been that there were no gratis personnel during the reporting period provided by entities other than governments.

ASDA JAYANAMA (Thailand) said that qualified, well-trained and honest staff were the most important resources of any organization. In this context, Thailand was most concerned about the implication of inclusion of equitable geographic distribution factors in the realignment of the “G to P” examination. This would block opportunities for General Service staff with the requisite experience and academic qualifications on the basis of their nationalities. It would thus be a disincentive to performance-based promotion in the United Nations.

The improvement of equitable geographic distribution was important; however, the “G to P” exam was a promotion, not a recruitment, exercise. Thailand therefore strongly believed that the application of geographic distribution criterion would be contrary to the Assembly’s repeated requests to promote career development of staff at all levels. It would also be inconsistent with Charter requirements that competence, integrity and efficiency be the paramount considerations in staffing the Organization. It would have a debilitating effect on staff morale and hamper reform of human resources management.

Thailand therefore asked the Assembly to re-address this matter with a view to removing the criterion of equitable geographic distribution as a factor in the alignment of the two examination processes.

JASMINKA DINIC (Croatia) said she fully supported the Secretary-General’s efforts to realize overall reform of the Organization. National Competitive Examinations were the best method for recruiting qualified young people from Member States at the entrance level. That four Croatians had now been recruited following the 1993 competitive examination was welcome, but the unreasonable delays in recruitment of successful candidates were discouraging. She supported early placement of successful candidates.

Croatia was now within the desirable range of representation for Secretariat staff, she said, but still below the mid-point of that range, particularly with regard to weighted staff positions. This highlighted another problem that affected new countries, which tended to be under-represented at higher levels. She regretted that there were more under-represented countries now than in 1998, she said, while the numbers of over-represented and unrepresented Member States were the same. She welcomed the improvement in gender representation, but believed that much still needed to be done in this area.

EVA SILOT BRAVO (Cuba) said she was concerned about the way in which delegation of authority was applied. At least two Administrative Instructions had been issued which went much beyond the Assembly decisions on this issue. The staff union had strong opinions on these instructions and their possible consequences. No due process of consultation with staff was carried out before implementation. The systematic appraisal of such instructions that the ACABQ had requested should be carried out.

The Assembly had clearly set out requirements that must be met before delegation of authority was instituted, she said. Until they had been properly set up and guarantees provided, delegation meant the system would be unbalanced. She looked forward to the reports on the matter that were due, and felt they should be received before Member States addressed the delegation of authority question. Where the Assembly’s resolution had been exceeded, corrective measures must be taken.

The abolition of Promotion and Appointments committees and boards undermined the rights and authorities of these bodies and altered the promotion and placement system so as to undermine staff rights, she said. The Secretariat must explain these changes.

While she was aware that the Secretariat was entitled to explore the possibility of supplementing the Assembly’s decision on human resources, as this had occurred on other occasions where provisions of Assembly resolutions had been difficult to put into practice, such exploration should not impinge on the purview and competence of the Assembly, she said. The legislative processes and the prerogatives of Member States in setting human resources policies would be eroded if the Secretary-General’s proposal was accepted.

Regarding the changes to the “G to P” examination, this was not a closed issue, she said, and there were many ways to analyze it. The statement by the Russian Federation was interesting, and she looked forward to receiving the information requested. The Assembly must analyze the “G to P” examination process to determine whether it was an appointment or a promotion exercise. Cuba recognized the right of the Secretariat to draw attention to practical difficulties arising from Assembly decisions, but the key decision required from the Assembly here was on the nature of the examination –- whether it was a placement, appointment or promotion exercise. An answer would require time and serious consideration.

Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management, RAFIAH SALIM, then answered Member States’ questions. Responding to a question raised previously by the representative of Syria, she said that she could confirm that no reports from the Department of Management contained information broken up by regional group.

Responding to the question from the representative of Japan, she said there were two cases of staff entering the Secretariat at the P-2 level as cartographers, in which a specialized examination had been conducted. This was reported in the Secretary-General’s report on the composition of the Secretariat.

In answer to the question posed by Guyana about the Secretary-General’s proposal, she said she was somewhat confused by the concern, as all the Secretariat had done was provide responses to specific requests made to it by the ACABQ. She assured delegates that the Secretariat’s intention was not to question the intergovernmental legislative process or the prerogatives of Member States.

The Secretariat was often asked by the ACABQ to provide opinions on a variety of administrative and budgetary questions, she said. When specifically asked to identify problems and propose solutions, it could only reply to those requests. It would have been inappropriate not to respond. The proposals were suggestions from the Secretary-General, and it was up to the Fifth Committee to accept or dismiss them.

Regarding the statement by the Russian Federation on the “G to P” examination, she said the Secretary-General felt obliged to inform the Assembly of the adverse effects that its decision would have on staff morale. The Secretary-General’s submission was in accord with rule 112 of the General Assembly Rules of Procedure. The contents of the Administrative Instruction referred to thoroughly upheld the decision of the Assembly. Staff were informed that they could sit the exam, whether they could be promoted as a consequence or not. She reminded delegates that the United Nations did not prohibit candidates from over-representative Member States from being recruited if they were the most highly qualified candidates for a vacancy. Likewise, the Secretariat would not wish to impose limitations on the promotion of staff as a consequence of nationality.

The Committee then took up its agenda items on the review of efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations, and human resources management, specifically related to gratis personnel.

Mr. BARNWELL (Guyana), speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, reiterated that the Organization should not resort to the use of gratis personnel, and that such personnel should not be a substitute for staff recruited for authorized positions for the implementation of mandated programmes and activities.

The Group noted with serious concern that the Secretary-General’s quarterly report did not comply with the repeated request of the General Assembly that such reports should be completed in a timely fashion, and that they should contain accurate, comprehensive and integrated information about gratis personnel.

The Group also shared the observations of the ACABQ that there was a need for effective monitoring in the Office of Human Resource Management with regard to the delegation of authority for gratis personnel to offices away from Headquarters. He asked the Secretariat for comprehensive information on gratis personnel in the service of the United Nations at present.

He regretted that the annual report requested in resolution 51/243 had not been in a timely manner and sought an explanation for this from the Secretariat. He also asked that the ACABQ’s report on the annual report should be expedited in order to take a comprehensive decision on the matter.

Ms. SILOT BRAVO (Cuba) said that if gratis personnel were needed in exceptional cases, there had to be a systematic dialogue between the Member States and the Secretariat, in order to ensure respect for the various General Assembly resolutions. Full information had to be forthcoming before measures were taken in this field. All future decisions on gratis personnel had to be consistent with the relevant decisions of the General Assembly.

ROYAL WHARTON (United States) said his delegation had had misgivings about the elimination of all gratis personnel, and had lost expertise as a result. Earlier this year the Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia had sought gratis personnel for specialized forensic functions, but they had since departed the Tribunal’s service. The Committee had to realize that there would continue to be a need for specialized, temporary gratis personnel, if the United Nations was to do the work it was required to. They should continue to be available, even though such cases would be few in number.

AMJAD HUSSAIN SIAL (Pakistan) noticed that the quarterly report had been submitted late, and the annual report had been submitted very late without the report of the Advisory Committee. He sought an explanation for those inordinate delays in complying with the resolutions of the General Assembly. He then posed several questions: What was the present number of type 2 gratis personnel? What functions did they perform? Where were they posted? Had all Member States been informed as required about their specific functions? He also asked for clarification about the use of “other entities” besides Member States as a source for gratis personnel.

Ms. SALIM said she would answer questions raised at informal session.

The Committee then turned its attention to its agenda item on programme planning. TOMMO MONTHE, Chairman of the Committee for Programme and Coordination, introduced the relevant parts of that body’s report.

The Committee then returned to its consideration of the revised estimates arising from the Economic and Social Council decisions and resolutions.

The Chairman of ACABQ, C.S.M. MSELLE, responded to a number of specific questions regarding the technical procedures for recommendations of the ACABQ, and for examining the proposed programme budget and revised estimates by the ACABQ and the Assembly, raised by the representative of Pakistan in the Fifth Committee on 19 November.

He said that Pakistan had characterized the ACABQ statement that the Secretariat should inform Member States whether resources existed to implement mandates arising from resolutions that contained the phrase “within existing resources” as ambiguous. This was not ambiguous, he said, and was based on requirements of Assembly resolution 42/211. Nor was it new, as this opinion had been stated by the ACABQ previously in its annual reports on the proposed programme budget.

The representative had then asked what was meant by an ACABQ recommendation that the Fifth Committee “take note” of an estimate. The Advisory Committee was in fact, not for the first time, recommending that the Fifth Committee acknowledge receipt of the estimate but not take action to approve or disapprove it.

The authority for this came from the annex to Assembly resolution 42/211 on the use and operation of the Contingency Fund, he said. This enabled the Assembly to take action on resolutions with programme budget implications and to defer consideration and approval of the related resource implications pending submission of a consolidated statement at a later stage. Taking note, at this stage, would not adversely affect the activities approved by the Economic and Social Council. This was not a matter where resolutions were before the Assembly plenary with resource implications, or the format of the ACABQ recommendation would have been different. Such additional appropriation as might be required would be considered by the Assembly at a later stage in the context of the procedure for the use and operation of the Contingency Fund.

The representative of Pakistan's had stressed that, rather than considering a consolidated statement, the Fifth Committee considered programme budget implications separately, under relevant agenda items, he said. This statement was not correct. The annex to Assembly resolution 42/211 stated that a deadline would be set for consideration of statements of programme budget implications and proposals for revised estimates, and that after that date the Secretary-General would prepare and submit a “consolidated statement” of all programme budget implications and revised estimates considered at that Assembly session. It was this consolidated statement to which the ACABQ report referred.

Pakistan’s representative had stated revised estimates were submitted only to the approved programme budget, not to the proposed programme budget, and this was also incorrect, Mr. Mselle said. The Financial Regulations had stated that revised estimates were prepared by the Secretariat and considered by the Assembly before it adopted the budget for the next financial period.

He said he regarded the statements by the representative of Pakistan that some ACABQ reports contained confusing or ambiguous statements and recommendations as very serious. On other occasions, the representative had implied that the ACABQ had gone beyond its mandate, and that the Fifth Committee had often rejected or amended ACABQ recommendations. The ACABQ was not a decision-making body but an advisory body, he explained, and it was therefore quite in order for the Fifth Committee to amend or reject its recommendations. However, the Assembly traditionally accepted virtually all the recommendations and observations of the ACABQ in whole or part.

Sometimes, he said, ACABQ recommendations or observations were not as clear as the ACABQ might wish, but he was always ready to offer additional explanations. He offered additional clarification if the representative of Pakistan was not satisfied with his answers.

Mr. SIAL (Pakistan) said he would follow up on the replies during an informal session. He pointed out that it was his right to seek clarification on any issue he liked. The Advisory Committee was obliged to provide such clarification, in order to enable Member States to take informed decisions. It was desirable to have a dialogue on such issues.

DJAMEL MOKTEFI (Algeria) said he appreciated the amount of work that the Advisory Committee and its Chairman had put into its deliberations, and he stressed that the Advisory Committee had his delegation’s full support.

MUHAMMAD YUSSUF (United Republic of Tanzania) said this was an interesting experience. The Advisory Committee had been doing its best to advise on every item on the agenda. Delegates were not here to “fix” the Advisory Committee -- it had long been providing expert advice for the Committee. He did not wish to question the integrity of the Committee, and it was inexcusable for anyone to do so. He hoped this would not continue in the future.

PENNY WENSLEY (Australia), Committee Chairman, said the matter would be pursued in informal consultations and no action would be taken at the meeting.

The Committee then turned its attention to its agenda item on pattern of conferences.

The Assistant Secretary-General for General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services, Federico Riesco, then introduced the note by the Secretary-General on the matter.

Mr. BARNWELL (Guyana) said under organization of work expressed concerns about the unavailability of documentation for the agenda item on the financing of the United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK). He also again asked for responses from the Secretariat on issues raised during the debate on the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).

ZHOU QIANGWU (China) supported the comments by the representative of Guyana about late documentation.

DULCE BUERGO RODRIGUEZ (Cuba) said she supported the comment of the representative of Guyana on late documentation.

The Chairman said the agenda item on the financing of UNMIK might be rescheduled to allow delegations time to digest the report.

The meeting was then adjourned. Its next formal meeting will be on Friday, 3 December at 10 a.m.

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