FIFTH COMMITTEE DISCUSSES PROJECTS FOR DEVELOPMENT ACCOUNT

Press Release
GA/AB/3352

FIFTH COMMITTEE DISCUSSES PROJECTS FOR DEVELOPMENT ACCOUNT

Approves Decision on Budget Implications of Text on Haiti Missions; Elects Vice-Chairman

While development for Africa was very important, activities in support of African development should not be undertaken to the detriment of other regions, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) was told today as it discussed projects the Secretary-General proposed could be funded from the Development Account.

The representative of Mexico added that, of 16 projects proposed, only one, for some $300,000, was for Latin America and the Caribbean. It appeared there was one region that was not a priority for the United Nations.

The representative of Venezuela said this single Latin America and Caribbean proposal was for less than 3 per cent of the budget of the Account.

The problem of geographical distribution of Development Account funds was very serious, the representative of Chile added. In future a specific breakdown of resources by region should be provided so that this information could be submitted to Member States’ capitals.

While the Account had to accord priority to Africa, there must also be equitable geographical distribution, the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Nitin Desai, explained. There was more than met the eye for Latin America and the Caribbean in the full proposals.

In addition to one project dedicated to the region, another was proposed that “twinned” a Caribbean state with an Asian State, he added. Others involved activities that would be undertaken on more than one continent. He also asked Member States to look at geographic balance across all the projects proposed or implemented thus far.

[The Development Account is a special account, proposed by the Secretary- General and approved by the General Assembly, to fund development projects from resources saved through efficiency gains in the work of the United Nations Secretariat. The mode of its operation was approved by the General Assembly several months ago.] In addition, the Committee today approved a draft decision on the programme budget implications of a draft resolution on the United Nations Haiti missions, and another taking note of the Secretary-General’s report and the Advisory Committee on

Fifth Committee - 1a - Press Release GA/AB/3352 46th Meeting (AM) 13 December 1999

Administrative and Budgetary Questions comments on the use of a surplus in United Nations Conference on Trade and Development funds.

It continued its consideration on the financing of the International Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia, and commenced consideration of a draft on the assessments of Ukraine and Belarus. It also looked at the budget proposed for the International Trade Centre, at the structure and resource requirements for the Secretariat’s Non-governmental Organizations Section, and at requests for subventions for natural disaster mitigation and for the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research.

Also this morning, the Committee elected Dulce Buergo Rodriguez of Cuba by acclamation as a Vice-Chairman of the Fifth Committee, replacing Judith Cardoze of Panama.

The representatives of Norway, Pakistan, Uganda, Guyana (on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China), Algeria, China, Sudan, United States, Cuba, Israel, Colombia, Finland (speaking on behalf of the European Union), Morocco, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Ukraine, Belarus, Cameroon and the Russian Federation also spoke.

C.S.M. Mselle, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), introduced that body’s reports and answered Member States’ questions. Under-Secretary-General Desai introduced the Secretary-General’s report on proposed projects from the Development Account and he, along with United Nations Controller, Jean-Pierre Halbwachs and Director of the Budget Division, Warren Sach, answered Member States’ questions.

The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on 15 December to consider the financing of United Nations missions in Sierra Leone and East Timor, the peacekeeping support account, the second performance report on the 1998-1999 programme budget, the programme budget implications of a draft resolution on Afghanistan and the revised estimates for the programme budget for 2000-2001 as a result of inflation and rates of currency exchange.

Committee Work Programme

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met this morning to continue discussion of the financing of the two International Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. It also planned to commence consideration of a number or reports related to the programme budget for 2000-2001, including the Secretary-General’s proposals for projects to be funded from the Development Fund for 2000-2001, and commence consideration of two reports on the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The Committee had before it a Secretary-General's report on projects to be funded from the Development account, (document A/C.5/54/37). In this report, he advises that the seven projects approved for financing from the Development Fund for 1999 have total cost estimates of some $12.95 million, and that the $120,000 remainder from the 1999 allocation of some $13.07 million is to be added to the 2000-2001 similar allocation. Thus the 16 projects proposed for 2000-2001 have total cost estimates of some $13.19 million.

The 16 proposals are detailed in the report. One such project (project A) would have the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) administer from 2000 to 2004 the development of a draft framework for guidelines on strategic planning and management of the environment and natural resources. It would conduct ten country studies as inputs to the guidelines and organize regional and national workshops related to these guidelines. This project is expected to cost $738,000.

A second project (project B) would have the United Nations International Drug Control Programme administer a $549,700 training programme on addiction rehabilitation and drug prevention in the workplace for Asia and the Pacific from 2000 to 2003. This project would see curricula and study and training material developed, and offer train-the-trainer courses as well as specialized courses bringing together industry and community representatives.

The Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and the Regional Commissions would administer a project, costing $1.65 million, aimed at capacity-building to improve water management and accelerate investments in the water sector (project C). The project will identify national needs, regional capabilities and constraints, via two international workshops. It will create a regional electronic network, including the provision of equipment, prepare analysis, training materials and guidelines to develop training programmes guided by distance learning, and provide training for trainers. A virtual learning centre will also be created. The project should be completed by end 2001.

The same Department would also administer a $300,000 project for capacity-building in decision-making for sustainable development before end 2001, which would involve implementing a programme of "twinning" between Barbados and Maldives, with institutional support from Costa Rica (project D). The programme would aim to promote South-South cooperation to assist in devising sustainable development, by establishing and enhancing institutional links and information flows between key stakeholders in Barbados and Maldives.

It would also administer a programme for capacity-building for promoting gender equality in the African countries, costing some $1.24 million during 2000 to 2002 (project E). The programme would assess existing problems and conditions, focussing on national machineries and women's participation in decision-making. It would assist in development of country-specific national machinery in three to five countries, provide advisory services and technical cooperation in preparing national strategies, and prepare guidelines and manuals for that machinery. It would also provide training in disaggregating data by gender. It would also organize leadership training for women, and a task force to facilitate intra- regional cooperation and information exchanges. A regional meeting to evaluate national strategies would be held.

The Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) and ESCAP would administer a project on rational and efficient use of energy and water resources in Central Asia during 2000-2002, at a cost of $1.75 million. This project would assess current needs and concerns on water and energy, develop and implement training programmes for government officials and experts, provide advisory services on regional cooperation and upgrade national data collection and processing facilities (project F). It would also strengthen the United Nations Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) Programme Working Group, establishing its data bank and communication links with national information systems. It would establish pilot demonstration projects in energy, water efficiency and related health issues.

A project for strengthening South-East Asian regional capacities for statistical development during 2000-2002 would be administered by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs at a cost of $1.5 million (project G). Activities to be undertaken include assessment of needs, concerns and capabilities within the region, the development and conducting of training programmes, and the organization of expert groups, on subjects chosen by the countries, and establishment of communication links within the intra-regional network.

The same department would also administer a programme of capacity-building and institutional development for equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities, during 2000-2002, costing some $940,660 (project H). It would involve policy design, planning and evaluation of practical action for equalization of opportunities, advocacy and empowerment of civil society for broad human rights approaches, and implementation of international norms and standards and beneficiary monitoring and evaluation.

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) would implement a programme to enhance the economic and social development policy capabilities in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, costing $325,440 during 2000-2002 (project I). The project would include a launch of a network of economics experts and professionals and organization of a seminar of that network to address exchange rate regimes and macro-economic management of the financial cycle. It would also organize an expert meeting to examine recent regional experience of the impact of the exchange rate regime on macroeconomic fluctuations.

A project for the development of a collaborative framework for integrated environmental assessments and reporting for West Africa would be undertaken during 2000-2001, costing $642,200, and administered by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)(project J). It would involve assessment of existing institutional data and information management capacities of institutions, capacity-building and technical assistance, including provision of hardware and software to strengthen national institutions. It would also involve the design and development of a network infrastructure to facilitate delivery of data and information products, and the establishment of quantitative information base, including core data sets, spatial and temporal data and information, and the production of a State of the Environment report for West Africa.

The United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (HABITAT) would administer a project on sustainable waste management for African countries, costing $500,000, and taking place in 2000-2001 (project K). The project would assess waste management strategies in three African cities to develop a needs assessment and an action plan. It would hold capacity-building workshops and exchange visits to promote new approaches, prepare audio-visual awareness material for policy makers and local officials, launch a pilot good practices demonstration in three cities, and conduct a regional meeting to develop a regional strategy for solid waste management in Africa.

The UNEP, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), HABITAT and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) will administer a project on urban pollution of superficial and groundwater aquifers in Africa (project L). This project would cost $250,000 and run from 2000-2002. The project would include an assessment of groundwater vulnerability, identification of hot spots and major threats to superficial groundwater aquifers, and the development of policy options for better safeguarding. An early warning network for possible water supply contamination would be established, and work on hydrogeological modelling on groundwater vulnerability in African residential areas.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations University would administer a capacity-building and policy networking project for sustainable resource-based development, costing $498,000 and undertaken during 2000-2002 (project M). The project plans to organize a workshop to identify network node institutions, launch a policy network linked to the United Nations, enhance existing United Nations development Web sites, provide support to selected regional institutions, prepare training materials and prepare a terminal report.

The UNCTAD would also administer a project to enhance the capacity of developing countries and countries with economies in transition for effective integration in the Multilateral Trading System (project N), over the biennium at a cost of some $900,000. This would involve human and institutional capacity- building in the World Trade Organization (WTO) acceding countries through training and the mobilization of international expert services to do sectoral analysis and provide policy advice. It would also involve strengthening logistical and technical bases of acceding governments by translating legal texts, establishing databases and reports, and procuring modern equipment and supplies.

A project for capacity-building for debt-sustainability analysis would also be administered by UNCTAD for 2000-2001, at a cost of $500,000 (project O). This would involve development and maintenance of the improved Debt Sustainability Model (DSM+) with the World Bank, the design of a training curriculum for it and the preparation of training material, the translation of DSM+ into French and Spanish, and the installation of it.

The sixteenth project would also be administered by UNCTAD, and would be for capacity-building for diversification and commodity-based development. It would cost $900,000 and would operate in 2000 and 2001. It would involve the preparation of policy-oriented studies in export diversification strategies and development implications, the organization of three regional workshops for enterprises and government officials, and the development of training materials. Advisory and technical assistance would be provided to governments and ten national workshops, bringing government, civil society, enterprises and relevant intergovernmental organizations together, would be undertaken to develop strategies.

In related comments from the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ)(document A/54/7/Add.8) the ACABQ states that it trusts that implementation and supervision of activities financed under the Account will not lead to the establishment of a structure within the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. It notes that, in the absence of performance indicators, the benchmarks used to measure the performance of the projects are the criteria set out by Assembly resolutions 53/220 A and B.

The ACABQ commends the Secretary-General for the clarity and quality of the presentation of the projects and notes that they have been formulated on the basis of the guidelines and criteria set out in the Assembly resolutions. It agrees with the proposals made by the Secretary-General and recommends that the General Assembly approve them.

The Committee also had before it the proposed programme budget of the International Trade Centre (ITC) for the year 2000 (document A/54/6/Rev.1/Add.1). The report notes that the United Nations and the WTO equally share the funding of this programme.

The General Assembly endorsed revised budgetary arrangements for it at its last session, the report states. In line with these revised arrangements, the Secretary-General submitted and the Assembly noted an outline of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2000-2001 for ITC of Swiss francs 29,197,300.

This level of resources is the foundation of the current report, it states. The biennial contribution of each organization, after deducting the miscellaneous income, is estimated to be some $19.98 million, which would be a resource growth of 1.3 per cent. The increase is mainly due to the proposed establishment of two P-4 posts to strengthen capacity-building activities of the ITC in least developed countries in the context of the multi-agency Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance to least developed countries. It will enhance ITC support to the business sector in developing countries and countries with economies in transition in their efforts to better understand, and take advantage of the evolving multilateral trading system.

In addition to two new P-4 posts, the ITC proposed the reclassification of two P-3 posts to the P-4 level, and one P-2 post to the P-3 level, with which the United Nations Secretariat did not agree. As the ITC secretariat insisted, with support from the WTO secretariat, that these reclassifications be included in the ITC proposed budget, the matter was brought before the WTO Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration. In the absence of a decision of the governing bodies of the WTO on the proposed WTO 2000 budget (including its share of the ITC budget and the proposed reclassifications), the present report includes only a proposal for the establishment of the two new P-4 posts.

In related comments from the ACABQ (document A/54/7/Add.6), that body, noting agreement has been reached between the United Nations and the WTO on the proposed programme budget for ITC, including the request for the two new P-4 posts. The ACABQ recommends acceptance of the proposal.

However, it expresses concern at the disagreement between the United Nations and the WTO on the reclassification of three other posts. A consistent approach in budgetary matters and in determining actual post requirements was needed. The ACABQ asks both organizations to review the matter, bearing in mind the expressed needs of the ITC, and says the results of the review should be submitted in the first performance report on the 2000-2001 programme budget.

The Committee also had before it a Secretary-General's report on methods of financing activities for natural disaster mitigation, prevention and preparedness beyond 1998-1999 (document A/53/641).

It states that the options for future financing of the management and administration of the operational natural disaster activities transferred to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are prescribed by the decision of the General Assembly. According to the resolution the resources for this task will be separate and additional to those for development activities. They are limited too by the significant decline in recent years of official development assistance funds, and the decline in UNDP core resources. The UNDP will not be in a position to support the management and administrative costs for the assumed disaster reduction functions from its development resources.

The continuation of the present arrangement, whereby contributions are made from the regular budget to support these responsibilities by UNDP is justified on the basis that UNDP assumed, at the Assembly's request, responsibilities that had been funded from the regular budget since 1992. This arrangement also recognizes that the reform process should add to the burden on already constrained voluntary contributions made towards development cooperation.

There was general consensus at the Executive Board of UNDP on the need to put into place a long-term and predictable funding base, and not at the expense of UNDP development resources, but there were differences of opinion on how that base should be established, the report states. Most Executive Board members indicated their support for continuing the allocation of United Nations regular budget resources to UNDP for this purpose.

The UNDP will establish an open trust fund to support programmes similar to those previously funded through trust fund arrangements made with the United Nations, the report states. The support of donor governments in increasing this resource will be needed to maintain and build upon the level of activity previously undertaken by the Emergency Relief Coordinator.

The Secretary-General recommends that the resources for managing and coordinating operational activities for natural disasters continue to be separate from UNDP resources for development activities. Therefore, he recommends that they continue to be provided by a grant from the regular budget of the United Nations for future bienniums.

In a related report of ACABQ on the proposed programme budget (document A/54/7), that body states that at the time of the transfer of activities to UNDP it was advised that the subvention was a one-time grant. The ACABQ notes the Secretary-General's recommendation that the subvention be continued. Should the Assembly decide to continue the subvention, the ACABQ recommends that an amount of $2.31 million be approved.

The Committee also had before it a statement of the programme budget implications of a request for a subvention to the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), resulting from the recommendations of its Board of Trustees on its work programme for 2000 (document A/C.5/54/26).

It communicates the recommendation of the Board of Trustees of UNIDIR for a subvention of $213,000 from the United Nations regular budget to the Assembly for approval. The Secretary-General reports that a related provision to finance this subvention has already been incorporated in section 4 of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2000-2001.

The Committee also had before it a report by the Secretary-General analyzing the structure and resources of the Secretariat's Non-Governmental Organizations Section (document A/54/520).

The Section handles the workload of the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations and meets the growing needs of a rapidly expanding non-governmental community seeking participation in the United Nations work. After analyzing this workload, the report concludes that the crowded agenda for the year 2000, with the preparation of the various millennium-related events, will substantially increase the workload of this Section and further challenge it to find new ways to meet its goals.

Section II of the report details the work performed by the Section on a regular basis. Key tasks are described, with an estimate of the staff time in work/months that will be required for each task during the biennium 2000-2001. It also describes special projects undertaken in 1999 and those proposed for the 2000-2001 biennium to increase the Section’s effectiveness and efficiency in providing support to the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, the Council and the broader United Nations system as related to NGO matters.

Section III describes the outreach and liaison activities of the Non- Governmental Organizations Section.

Section IV provides details of the organization and structure of the Non- Governmental Organizations Section.

In a related report (document A/54/657), the ACABQ states that the matter has been procedurally mishandled by the Secretariat, and that there was a lack of coordination between Secretariat units. The substantive aspects of the report should have been submitted to the Third Committee of the General Assembly. However, it was issued after the end of that Committee's main fifty-fourth session, thereby making full consideration impracticable.

Accordingly, the ACABQ recommends that the Secretary-General address its concerns without further delay, together with the administrative and financial issues raised in document A/54/520.

The Committee also had before it the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation by UNCTAD of activities financed from the unspent regular budget balance for 1996-1997 and how these contributed to strengthening its capacity in priority areas, on savings resulting from improved cost-effectiveness (document A/54/501).

This report provides the status of implementation by UNCTAD of the activities financed from the unspent balance of $5.53 million, and of the extent to which those activities and the related resources have contributed to strengthening UNCTAD in a number of priority areas. It also provides an analysis of the savings achieved during that biennium 1996-1997 as a result of the restructuring of the programme of work and of the intergovernmental machinery of UNCTAD.

It says the activities undertaken using the unspent balance have enlarged the scope and extent of UNCTAD programmes in priority areas of immediate relevance to the trade and development of developing countries. The impact of such activities has been significant.

It adds that some activities undertaken as a result of the allocation of the unspent balance -- for example, the development of training packages for international commercial diplomacy or the lessons learned through evaluation exercises -- have strengthened the capacity of UNCTAD on a permanent basis. Other activities have been linked to specific intergovernmental processes. A detailed description of expenditures and accomplishments achieved is set out in an annex.

In its analysis of savings resulting from the improved overall cost- effectiveness achieved pursuant to the ninth session of the Conference, the report says a total of 1,026 meeting units were utilized in the 1994-1995 biennium, as compared to 391 in 1996-1997 and an anticipated 500 in the current biennium. Thus, the changes introduced by the ninth session of the Conference resulted in a reduction of 526 meeting units in 1998-1999 as compared to the number of meeting units required in the 1994-1995 biennium.

However, the report adds that the 1996-1997 biennium was not representative of a normal biennium in terms of the number of meeting units used.

The Committee also had before it the related ACABQ report (document A/54/7/Add.3). Regarding the future disposition of the special account and the unencumbered balance, the ACABQ recommends that, on an exceptional basis, the special account be maintained and the unspent balance retained until all activities and programmes in the Secretary-General's 13 May 1998 report approved by the Assembly are completed. The Committee cautions that this should not set a precedent.

The Committee also had before it a draft decisions under its agenda item on administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing of the United Nations peacekeeping operations on the relocation of Ukraine for the purposes of peacekeeping assessment to the group of Member States set out in paragraph 3 (c) of General Assembly resolution 43/232 (document A/C.5/54/L.16).

By its terms, the General Assembly would decide that, from the date of adoption of the present decision and without prejudice to the relevant financial regulations and rules of the United Nations, all financial contributions of Ukraine to the Organization should be counted against the minimum payments required to avoid the loss of voting rights in the General Assembly under provisions of Article 19 of the Charter of the United Nations.

**** [For background on the financing of the International Tribunals, see Press Release GA/AB/(3351) of 10 December.]

Statements on International Tribunals

ERLING SKJONSBERG (Norway) said the continued work of the Tribunals represented an important stepping stone to the establishment of the International Criminal Court. However, he was concerned about the administrative difficulties that the Rwanda Tribunal had been confronted with, and there were still delays in the judicial work. The pace of the trial proceedings undoubtedly needed to be expedited. He had noted the difficulties in evaluating the need for additional posts until the Tribunal reduced the vacancy rate. He asked for the Secretariat’s comments as to whether the reduction could cause any further delays in the judicial work. The Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia had developed into an efficient operating court and had come a long way in bringing justice to those individuals whose presence impeded the establishment of civil society in the Former Yugoslavia, he said. He asked the Secretariat whether proposed budget reductions might adversely affect the work of the Tribunal.

AMJAD SIAL (Pakistan) said he regretted the late submission of the reports on financing the two Tribunals, but he appreciated the work done by the ACABQ and its comprehensive comments. He also regretted the non-submission of the study of the expert group on the Tribunals, but believed that this report would not have a bearing on the Tribunal’s financing, and that a decision on financing could be taken without them.

On the question of a lump-um survivors benefit for judges of the International Tribunals, he said the options should have been in line with the benefits of the International Criminal Court. He noted a financial implications report was requested by the ACABQ, but he believed such a report was not possible because of the unpredictable nature of the cause of the benefit.

Jean-Pierre Halbwachs, Assistant Secretary-General for Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts and United Nations Controller, Jean-Pierre Halbwachs, then responded to Member States’ questions. On the question raised previously on type 2 gratis personnel used in Kosovo, he said the scale of the Tribunal’s activities had increased following the information about atrocities there. The Secretary-General had advised the Security Council and the General Assembly of the use of gratis personnel for the forensic project for Kosovo. Those personnel had finished their work in October.

On the proposed resource growth for 2000, the conversion of the exhumation project from extrabudgetary to regular budget resourcing was in part responsible. There were increases proposed for temporary posts as a result of increased activities in Kosovo. The increase was mostly due to the increase in the proposed number of posts to strengthen judicial support for the expediting of trials and for evidence gathering and investigations.

On voluntary contributions, these were detailed in the annex of the report. To 30 September, $20 million had been received. As of 31 October, $29 million had been received, of which $18.2 million had been spent.

The vacancy rate for the Former Yugoslavia Tribunal had been 7.5 per cent on 23 November, he said. The monthly vacancy rate to end September was annexed to the Secretary-General’s report.

On the status of implementation of OIOS recommendations on the Rwanda Tribunal, many of these were contained in the Secretary-General’s report on financing the Tribunal for 1999. An audit had been conducted in 1999 and its findings showed that the Tribunal had satisfactorily implemented many recommendations satisfactorily, and had made improvements, but the same needed to be done for control of assets and for procurement. The audit findings were summarized in the Oversight Office’s 1999 report.

Voluntary contributions for the Rwanda Tribunal were in an annex to the report, he said. They had been used to support investigation activities, for the transport of witnesses and staff, for some witness protection activities, and for the enhancement of communication infrastructure.

At end of October, the vacancy rate of the Rwanda Tribunal 19.3 per cent overall, he said. Between January and August 1999, 100 vacant posts had been filled.

The Secretary-General’s reports had been delayed because not all information needed for their preparation had been received from the two Tribunals in time to allow their submission by the 1 November deadline. The Secretariat would start the process earlier next year, in the hope of receiving the information on time.

On financial implications of the two options presented for changes to the conditions of service of the Tribunal’s judges, this had eventually been provided to the ACABQ and it would be made available to Member States during their informal consultations.

The Chairman of the ACABQ, C.S.M. MSELLE, said the Advisory Committee had asked for the submission to the General Assembly of the report of the Expert Group, and he cautioned against any hasty conclusions until this had been commented upon. As to whether this report would impact on the budgetary estimates, he felt the effect of the implementation of many of the recommendations regarding efficiency of the Tribunals would be felt on a long-term basis. It might be difficult to use the Expert Group’s reports to adjust the present estimates until they had been evaluated properly.

Mr. SIAL (Pakistan) said the report should be submitted to the Tribunals for their comments and the Committee should then take a comprehensive decision. The progress of the report should not hinder a comprehensive decision by the Committee.

NESTER ODAGA-JALOMAYO (Uganda) said he supported the statement of the representative of Pakistan.

Statements on Proposed Programme Budget for the Biennium 2000-2001 – Development Account, International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO, Natural Disaster Mitigation and the Request for Subvention Request by UNIDIR

Mr. MSELLE introduced the ACABQ's reports on the topics under consideration.

NITIN DESAI, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, then introduced the Secretary-General’s report on projects to be funded from the Development Account. Projects had been guided by criteria established by the Assembly, including capacity-building with multiplier and demonstrative effects, promotion of inter-regional, regional and subregional cooperation, and the use of human and technical resources available in developing countries.

The 16 proposals were derived from a larger pool and addressed a broad range of development activities, he said. That there were jointly administered projects was of importance. However, he assured the Committee that all projects would fully comply with all United Nations financial rules and regulations.

He noted that an annual report of the first year of the operation of the Account would be submitted in May 2001.

GARFIELD BARNWELL (Guyana), speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 developing countries and China on the Development Account, regretted the delay in the submission of the Secretary-General’s report. Detailed proposals should in future be submitted to the Committee for Programme and Coordination (CPC) and he planned to offer his substantive comments in due course.

The Group noted that in the second performance report there was no indication of the saving realized by efficiency measures, he said. He looked forward to details on these to facilitate discussion. On the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development/World Trade Organization, he also regretted the late submission of the programme budget, which had again deprived the Committee of the benefit of the CPC’s views.

ERNESTO HERRERA (Mexico) said he shared the representative of Guyana‘s concerns about late submission of the Development Account projects. While development for Africa was very important, activities in support of African development should not be undertaken to the detriment of other regions.

Of the projects proposed, only one, for some $300,000, was for Latin America and the Caribbean, he said. In addition, Member States could have a lengthy discussion about whether this project fulfilled the criteria set by the Assembly. He was very disappointed that there were four proposals for Africa, three for Asia, but only one for Latin America. To a certain extent, it appeared there was one region that appeared not to have priority in the work of the United Nations.

DJAMEL MOKTEFI (Algeria) associated himself with the statement made by the representative of Guyana. Speaking on the topic of the non-governmental organizations Section, he said its workload had reached a very high level. He was puzzled about how the Section could meet its goals given this reality, and in the absence of proposals to assist it. He asked why the Secretary-General’s report did not contain any such specific proposals.

SUN MINQIN (China) endorsed the representative of Algeria’s comments on the resourcing of the Secretariat’s NGO Section. According to the Secretary-General’s report, the workload of the Section had increased, especially for the biennium 2000-2001, in which the number of meetings were expected to double. It was necessary to provide adequate resources to this section to enable it to accommodate the increasing workload.

Mr. SIAL (Pakistan) said he wanted information in answer to the representative of Guyana’s questions. The criteria established by the Assembly included that resources in developing countries should be employed, and he sought information on how these projects implemented this criteria.

The Assembly had repeatedly emphasized that the Account should be in full accord with financial and programme planning regulations and rules, he said. However, he saw that in all the projects time limits had been proposed. This was not in conformity with the rules and regulations, and should not have happened. The Assembly had clearly stated that time limits and sunset clauses were not to be used. He sought an explanation of why they had been used here.

MOHAMED ABDALLA (Sudan) said he recalled that the interaction between NGOs and the United Nations had been the subject of discussion of reform. He expressed deep concern over the situation of the NGO Section and its need for immediate support. The volume of its work had doubled, and the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations had been forced to extend its resumed session, which involved increases in work for the Secretariat.

He noted with concern the ACABQ comments on administrative mistakes committed by the Secretariat, he said. Support for the Section was necessary and all its needs should be met. Necessary resources must be provided if such a large load of work was to be undertaken. Member States could not throw the Secretariat in the water and not expect it to be wet.

THOMAS REPASCH (United States) said he was concerned about the method of measuring accomplishments set down for the Development Account projects. He asked exactly how this was to be done and stressed that there must be clarity on this. He was concerned about the capability of UNCTAD to carry out the projects assigned to it. He insisted that the Secretary-General take immediate action to fix management shortcomings in UNCTAD.

On the ITC budget, he was not inclined to support any increases and was not in a position to accept the increase in the ITC budget. The United States also did not support the proposed subvention to the UNDP for natural disaster mitigation. The UNDP had had ample opportunity to cover this activity from other sources. He opposed the proposed UNIDIR subvention, stressing that savings should come from within.

On the NGO Section, he said he agreed with the ACABQ and awaited further information from the Secretariat.

DULCE BUERGO RODRIGUEZ (Cuba) said she wanted to point out, regarding the proposed Development Account projects, that the Assembly had not yet taken any decision on performance indicators.

She appreciated the Secretariat’s work in preparing the project proposals, she said, but would have liked the reports introduced with more time, so the General Assembly’s Second Committee (Economic and Financial) could also have reviewed the proposals. Recommendations on the programmatic part should, in future, also be considered by the CPC as well.

Cuba was fully supportive of UNCTAD carrying out the projects proposed, she said. The UNCTAD’s importance as a focal point deserved emphasis. She also appreciated the importance of the subjects the proposals dealt with. Regarding the International Trade Centre and the grant for UNIDIR, Cuba supported the subventions, she said. They were consistent with the decisions of the Assembly on the matter.

On the report on the NGO section, Cuba supported calls for adequate resourcing, she said in particular given the reported significant increase in its workload. She was concerned about the late submission of this report too, and would have hoped it could also be submitted to the Assembly’s Third Committee (Social and Humanitarian) before that Committee finished its work.

She was concerned about the lack of any concrete budget proposal in this report, despite its presentation under the programme budget agenda item. The Fifth Committee should be considering the budget implications of the increase, she said. It seemed a contradiction that the report mentioned substantial increases in the workload but had no proposal for concrete action to solve the problem.

RON ADAM (Israel) quoted a comment by the Secretary-General in which he had said that the United Nations aspired to join international civil society, and that peace and prosperity could not be achieved without such partnership. The United Nations was at a crucial juncture: either the importance of civil society should be recognized and adequate resources devoted to the NGO Section, or it would have to decide that it had changed its mind on the issue highlighted by the Secretary- General.

GUSTAVO PAREDES (Colombia) shared concern over the low priority given to Latin America and the Caribbean for projects in the Development Account. He also supported the comments of the Advisory Committee on the resources set aside for the NGO Section.

JARMO SAREVA (Finland), speaking on behalf of the European Union, said the Development Account projects fully complied with the budgetary rules, but agreed that there was a need to strengthen monitoring to better measure the results achieved.

ABDELSALAM MEDINA (Morocco) associated himself with the statement made by the representative of Guyana. The late submission of documents caused serious problems –- particularly for small delegations. He emphasized his support for the NGO Section and asked for it to be given the resources it needed to carry out its work.

CLAUDIA PETROSINI (Venezuela) said she was disappointed that only a single project was proposed for the Latin America and the Caribbean region, and this was for less than 3 per cent of the budget for the Account. In addition, she endorsed the ACABQ’s recommendation that in future the project proposals should be sent to the Assembly’s Second Committee for evaluation.

CARLOS ALBERTO DEN HARTOG (Brazil) said he, too, sought answers to the questions raised by the representative of Guyana. He also shared the concerns raised by the representatives of Mexico and others, on the proposal of only one project for Latin America and the Caribbean, and that it was for less than 3 per cent of total resources. He supported priority being given to Africa, but would appreciate a better balance of regions in the projects proposed.

EDUARDO GALLARDO (Bolivia) said he too was concerned over the geographical distribution for the projects of the Development Account. He asked for the Secretary-General to take these concerns into consideration.

DENYS TOSCANO (Ecuador) supported the comments of other Latin American representatives on the distribution of Development Account projects, and said he too was concerned over the late submission of the relevant documents. He was also concerned about the usefulness of some specific projects put forward.

Mr. DESAI said the constraint on the timing of the release of the proposals was the late issuance of the legislative mandate -- the General Assembly had not decided on the modalities for the Account before 29 October. Now that there was full-fledged agreement on this it ought to be possible to follow not just the financial rules but the programme planning rules as well.

On geographical distribution, he said “quite a few” projects were to be implemented in Latin America -– several projects which looked like single units were in fact spread across more than one continent, he said. There are also quite a few projects that were not region-specific. The Account was also a good means of effecting South-South cooperation, such as had been advocated by some delegates.

While the Account had to accord priority to Africa, there also had to be equitable geographical distribution, he said. There was more than met the eye for Latin America and the Caribbean in the full proposals. There was no time limit -– just an expected duration for the various activities. Some time frame had to be laid down. He also agreed that clear criteria for assessing the impact of the projects had to be established, and the starting point was the criteria laid down by the General Assembly. He again asked the Committee to recognize the late issuance of the decision on the multi-year Account.

Mr. HALBWACHS, Assistant Secretary-General for Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts and United Nations Controller, said he believed that the Development Account questions had been addressed by Mr. Desai, so he would not address them.

On the International Trade Centre, the Assembly had approved a new budget process, he said. A review of the interaction of the processes between the World Trade Organization and the United Nations would need to be undertaken to make internal changes to ensure the timely submission of this report next year.

An increase of 1.3 per cent was recommended, for the ITC, he said. This was higher than the increase proposed for the budget as a whole, and a reflection of the priority given to the issues it covered. The two proposed reclassifications had not been approved by the Secretariat. Reclassifications anywhere in the Secretariat were only recommended with caution, he said, as it was necessary to keep entry level posts available and to maintain the post structure of the Secretariat as a whole. The ACABQ had suggested a review of this matter, and, if the Fifth Committee agreed, this would be done.

On the NGO Section, the level of resources had been reviewed in the proposed programme budget, and the Economic and Social Council had asked for analysis of the structure of the Section. The report before the Committee addressed this Economic and Social Council request.

He offered a clarification on the UNIDIR subvention. This subvention was never meant to be a temporary or a “one-off” subvention. The UNIDIR statute clearly showed this, and that statute had been approved by the Assembly on the recommendation of the Fifth Committee.

BRENDA MERCEDES CASTELLANOS GONZALEZ (Guatemala) associated herself with the statement made by the representative of Guyana and regretted that the Secretariat had not taken the interests of small delegations into account in issuing documents late. She also wished to support the comments of other Latin American delegations on the geographical distribution of the Development Account.

ALVARO JARA (Chile) also aligned himself with the statements of the representatives of Guyana and Mexico. He too was concerned about the late submission of documents and felt that the explanation given was not fully satisfactory. The problem of geographical distribution was very serious and he asked what percentage of the resources in question were assigned to Latin America and the Caribbean. He also wished in future to have a specific breakdown of resources by region so that this information could be submitted to the capitals concerned.

Mr. SIAL (Pakistan) said that the Assembly had previously decided that savings to be made as a result of efficiency measures would be identified in programme performance reports. He therefore sought guidance from the Secretariat as to what report was mentioned in the final paragraphs of the ACABQ report.

The ACABQ had requested that, in future, a summary of the projects be submitted to the Committee for Programme and Coordination, he said. According to the rules and regulations, all the budget fascicles should be submitted in a comprehensive manner to both the ACABQ and the Committee for Programme and Coordination. The Development Account was a section of the regular budget, and should be dealt with in accord with the rules and regulations governing budget fascicles. Not a summary but a comprehensive report should be submitted to the Committee for Programme and Coordination.

He had no difficulty with the Second Committee examining proposed projects, he said, but, in principle, once the fascicles had been submitted to the CPC and the ACABQ they should be passed on to the Fifth Committee for consideration. This was the established procedure.

On the question of late submission and the explanation given on the mandate, he said he did not accept this, as the mandate had been created in Assembly resolution 53/206. He hoped that in future all budgetary procedures would be carried out for the Development Account, as they were for every other section of the budget.

Mr. MOKTEFI (Algeria) said he was still concerned about the workload of the NGO Section and was not wholly satisfied with the answer given by the Secretariat. It was logical to expect concrete proposals on how to deal with this. Algeria believed the best way to take a final decision on the question was the context of the programme budget for 2000-2001.

Mr. TOSCANO (Ecuador) said countries in his region needed resources for specific and practical projects.

WARREN SACH, Director of the Budget Division, further clarified the timing of the Secretary-General’s report and the criteria for project assessment.

Mr. HERRERA (Mexico) said there had been a problem with the interpretation into English of the statement made by Ecuador. He had never said the United Nations would be an agent undermining development. This was not then first time there had been problems with interpretation from Spanish.

Mr. Toscano (Ecuador) said that he had said that the United Nations could miss an opportunity unless Development Account resources were directed properly. It needed to become a real agent of development.

Mr. DESAI, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Mr. Desai, said the purpose of the project proposals was to see how the Account could be used to get the type of linkages among countries that would benefit them all. There was no point in using this money in a general way; rather the projects tried to use it precisely, for very specific purposes.

Besides project proposal D, which was clearly both in the Latin America and Caribbean and the Asian region, he said the disability project had four regional exercises feeding into a world programme, and these would clearly be carried out in the Latin America region.

Proposals M,O and P involved many activities that would be implemented in that region. The first tranche had contained many projects aimed at the Latin America and Caribbean region. These projects had been established. In tranche two the same projects were being extended to other regions. He asked Member States to look at balance over the two tranches.

Regarding late submission, he repeated that this was a special year, with the consideration and ultimate approval of the modalities, and that in the future normal processes would be followed.

Mr. MSELLE said in response to a question from Pakistan that it was not the intention of the Advisory Committee to contravene the rules and regulations which governed the provision of information to the CPC. The project proposals should be submitted to the CPC in accordance with the present rules and regulations. Later on, the Advisory Committee would review them in accordance with its own mandate.

Mr. JARA (Chile) welcomed Mr. Desai’s latest clarifications. Evaluating projects should be carried out by the respective capitals. The Development Account was a sensitive and delicate process, he said.

Statements on Programme Budget for 1998-1999

Mr. BARNWELL (Guyana), speaking on behalf of the Group of 77, said the Group supported the role of UNCTAD, which was very important for developing countries. It supported its programme of work and would make specific proposals on it in the context of the consideration of the programme budget.

It endorsed the recommendation that the special account for UNCTAD savings should be maintained, he said, and that the unspent balance in that Account be retained until all activities approved by the Assembly were completed.

Ms. BUERGO-RODRIGUEZ (Cuba) said there was a need for all the resources to be maintained in this account until all mandated activities were carried out.

The Chairman, PENNY WENSLEY (Australia), then proposed the following draft decision:

“The General Assembly

“Takes note of the information provided in the report of the Secretary- General contained in document A/54/501 and the related comments and observations of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions.”

The Committee approved this draft decision without a vote.

Statements on Financing Peacekeeping Operations

The Committee then resumed consideration of its agenda item on the administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing of the United Nations peacekeeping operations, in particular sub-item (b) entitled “relocation of Ukraine to the group of Member States set out in paragraph 3 (c) of General Assembly resolution 43/232.”

IHOR HUMMENY (Ukraine) took the floor to introduce a related draft decision to the Committee, which he said should be considered under agenda item 151 and not 151b as stated and should include the name of Belarus.

ULADZIMIR VANTSEVICH (Belarus) said the omission of the name of Belarus had been purely a technical mistake, and he asked for time for a round of informal consultations on this matter.

Mr. SAREVA (Finland) also asked for time for a round of informal consultations on the matter.

PAUL EKORONG A DONG (Cameroon) said he understood the concerns set out by Ukraine and Belarus and would not have any problem acting on this as soon as possible as it was a specific problem.

NIKOLAI LOZINSKI (Russian Federation) said he would support the draft decision, which posed no problems for the Russian Federation.

The Committee then turned its attention to the election of a Vice Chairman of the Committee, from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, to replace Judith Cardoze of Panama who had left the Permanent Mission of that country to the United Nations. The Latin American and Caribbean States had nominated Dulce Buergo Rodriguez of Cuba to fill that vacancy.

In the absence of any other nominations, the CHAIRMAN, proposed that the Committee elect Ms. BUERGO RODRIGUEZ as its Vice Chairman by acclamation.

She was so elected.

JARMO SAREVA (Finland), speaking on behalf of the European Union, said that at the Committee’s last meeting the European Union had asked that a decision on the programme budget implications of the draft resolution on Haiti be held over until the ACABQ report was available in all official United Nations languages. It was available in all languages as of this morning.

In the interim, there had been informal consultations on the matter, he said. As a result a draft decision had been provided to the Secretariat. He hoped this could be approved at the current meeting to clear the item from the Committee’s agenda.

The CHAIRMAN, then invited the Committee to resume its consideration of the programme budget implications of the International Civilian Support Mission in Haiti (document A/C.5/54.38). The Chairman then proposed the Committee approve a draft decision as follows:

“The General Assembly,

“1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General of the programme budget implications of draft resolution A/54/L.36 (A/C.5/54/38) and endorses the observations and recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) thereon (A/54/659);

2. Emphasizes that the mission shall be provided with all resources needed for the full implementation of its mandate;

1. Requests the Secretary-General, should extra-budgetary resources for the mission become insufficient, to report to the General Assembly for further action.”

The Committee then approved the decision without a vote.

The Secretary of the Fifth Committee, JOSEPH ACAKPO-SATCHIVI, said that the decision just taken must be preceded by the recommendation of the Secretary- General. He then read that recommendation to the Committee for the Secretary- General’s report.

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