DRAFT RESOLUTION ON UNIFIL INTRODUCED IN FIFTH COMMITTEE

Press Release
GA/AB/3416

DRAFT RESOLUTION ON UNIFIL INTRODUCED IN FIFTH COMMITTEE

In a short meeting this morning, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) continued its consideration of the financing of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and took up some organizational matters.

By the terms of the draft resolution on UNIFIL, which was introduced by the representative of Nigeria on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, the Assembly would take note of the status of contributions to the Force as at 31 October 2000, including the outstanding amount of $139.4 million (3.9 per cent of the total assessed contributions since the inception of the mission). It would also note that some 21 per cent of Member States have paid their assessed contributions in full, and urge all countries to ensure full payment.

Expressing its deep concern that Israel had not complied with its resolutions 51/233, 52/237, 53/227 and 54/267, the Assembly would stress the need for that country to strictly abide by them. It would also reiterate its request to the Secretary-General to ensure full implementation of relevant resolutions, stressing once again that Israel must pay some $1.28 million resulting from an incident at Qana on 18 April 1996, and request the Secretary-General to report on this matter at the Assembly’s resumed fifty-fifth session.

Also by the terms of the text, the Assembly would appropriate to the Special Account for UNIFIL the amount of some $86.76 million gross ($86.3 million net) for the expansion of the Force for the period from 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2001, in addition to some $146.83 million gross ($141.89 million net) already appropriated.

The representative of Lebanon introduced an amendment to the text, saying that in reference to draft resolution 54/267 the date of its adoption should be included.

As the Committee turned to organizational matters, its Chairman, Gert Rosenthal (Guatemala), said that with little time left until the end of the session, the Committee was experiencing delays in its work due to the heavy workload and the controversial nature of some questions it faced. There were some problems in connection with late issuance of documentation and with the need to observe the rule of working by consensus.

The Committee had taken a decision to establish a list of priority items and to hold three meetings daily, he continued. It had also requested an extension of its session until 20 December. However, the General Assembly intended to conclude

Fifth Committee - 2 - Press Release GA/AB/3416 34th Meeting (AM) 4 December 2000

its work on 15 December, which meant that the Fifth Committee would have to finish before that time. Appealing to all members of the Committee to accelerate the work as far as possible, he also suggested holding meetings on Saturdays. He also said he intended to contact the President of the General Assembly to explain the situation and to look at the deadline.

Turning to the scales of assessment, he said that some progress had been made on both regular and peacekeeping scales, and concrete proposals had been submitted. However, some methodological and practical questions remained, and some points remained controversial. An informal meeting would be held on 7 December, with the participation of permanent representatives of interested countries, to try to make progress on that issue.

Following an inquiry from the representative of Egypt regarding an evaluation letter, which was supposed to be presented to the Committee under a deadline contained in a May resolution, on reimbursement of contingent-owned equipment, the Committee was informed that the document would be distributed today.

The representative of Syria said that human resources management should have been afforded more attention, as this year was “a personnel year”. The situation was extremely complicated. While all other Assembly Committees were winding down, new items were still being inscribed on the agenda of the Fifth Committee. As for the two scales, there was a pressing need to conclude work on the regular scale of assessments. The United Nations would have to adopt a scale for the regular budget and it was important to increase the number of meetings dedicated for the discussion on that item. It was a priority for the United Nations by comparison to the peacekeeping scale. He noted that the Bureau assigned two meetings a week for each of the scales, while only one meeting was devoted to human resources.

The representatives of Cuba, Venezuela and Iran also spoke on the programme of work and made suggestions on items to be discussed in forthcoming meetings.

The Committee will hold its next formal meeting at 3 p.m. Wednesday, 6 December, when it is scheduled to consider the financing of International Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

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