Resumed Fifty-fifth General Assembly

Fifth Committee

48^th Meeting (AM)

FIFTH COMMITTEE DISCUSSES FINANCING OF ETHIOPIA-ERITREA MISSION

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning decided to defer consideration of a revised budget for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) until its May session, when financing of several peacekeeping missions is on its agenda.

In the discussion of the matter, several speakers agreed that no action on that mission’s budget was needed at this stage, as the General Assembly had approved its budget through 30 June this year in December.  Subsequently, the Secretary-General had taken an initiative to reduce the approved gross budget for UNIFIL by some $26.44 million, to some $207.15 million because planned deployment of two battalions would not take place.  Deferral of the consideration of the item would not affect the financial situation of the mission.

Introducing the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) on the financing of the of the other mission before the Committee today -- United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) –- the ACABQ Chairman recommended appropriation of some $180 million gross, including the $150 million already recommended.  The additional assessment would be about $30 million gross. 

Speakers on this item stressed the need to provide adequate financing for the Mission and ensure its effective management.  They also supported further clarification of the structure of UNMEE, which was proposed by the Secretary-General. 

Also this morning, the Committee began its consideration of the use of gratis personnel by the United Nations.  According to the reports before the Committee, only two type II gratis employees remain within the Organization, and their contracts are going to expire this year.

The reports before the Committee were also introduced by the Director of the Operational Services Division, Denis Beissel; and the Director of the Peacekeeping Financing Division, Yeo Bock Cheng.

Speaking in the debate were the representatives of Lebanon, Iran, United Arab Emirates (on behalf of the Arab Group of States), Sweden (on behalf of the European Union and associated States), Poland and Norway.

The Committee will continue its general discussion of the question of gratis personnel and begin its consideration of the reports of the Board of Auditors at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 20 March.

Background

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met this morning to begin its consideration of the question of gratis personnel and financing of two peacekeeping missions.

[In the late 1990s, the General Assembly decided that the use of all type II gratis personnel by the United Nations must be phased out by 28 February 1999. Type II gratis staff are loaned to the Organization free of charge by Member States to serve in any position, except as interns, associate and technical cooperation experts, and with the United Nations Special Commission.  The latter are defined as type I gratis personnel.]

Gratis Personnel

The Committee had before it a quarterly report of the Secretary-General on gratis personnel provided by governments and other entities (document A/C.5/55/13), according to which, during the period from 1 April to 30 June 2000, the total number of type II gratis personnel engaged by the Organization was reduced from 17 to 11.  Of the 11 persons still engaged, nine were working at the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and two at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Regarding the International Tribunal, the document says that there were no gratis personnel there at the beginning of the reporting period.  However, this year, the Secretary-General approved the Prosecutor's request to accept gratis personnel for the Tribunal for a limited period of six months.  All engaged staff members were deployed in forensic investigations in the field in Kosovo.  Some personnel arrived between 1 April and 30 June, with additional deployments to be documented in future reports.

During the previous reporting period, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations/Field Administration and Logistics Division had a number of unreported extensions.  The records indicated that the number of type II gratis personnel with the Department as at 31 March was 15 instead of one, as previously reported.  Since then, all these staff members have been separated.  Also, UNCTAD omitted reporting the extension of two type II gratis personnel up to 31 March.  These persons have remained engaged over the current reporting period. 

The quarterly report of the Secretary-General on the gratis personnel provided by governments and other entities (document A/C.5/55/36) contains information for the period from 1 October to 31 December 2000.  According to the document, no new type II gratis personnel were brought in during that time, and all gratis personnel involved in the forensic examination at the sites in Kosovo have been phased out.  On 31 December 2000, there were no type II gratis personnel engaged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

The previously reported assignment of two type II gratis personnel at UNCTAD continued during the last quarter of 2000, but the engagement of one such employee in the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) was terminated in December.  The total number of type II gratis personnel in the Secretariat was reduced by 41 (95 per cent) over the reporting period, and on 31 December, only two remained. 

According to the report, the overall number of type I gratis personnel decreased by 50 per cent from 533 on 30 September to 265 personnel on 31 December. In conformity with a new personnel statute, all type I gratis personnel serving at the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) were phased out by 30 September 2000.  The Secretariat-wide number of associate experts decreased by 35 per cent from 336 to 218 over the same period.  The number of interns was reduced by 70 per cent from 186 to 39, and the number of technical cooperation experts -- by 27 per cent from 11 to eight.  Prior to 1999, associate experts and technical cooperation experts were not recorded in the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) and were reported separately.   Therefore, the increase in their number as compared with the figures contained in previous reports is attributable to incomplete and late reporting to the Office of Human Resource Management. 

Another Secretary-General's report before the Committee contains the quarterly report on the situation of gratis personnel from 1 July to 30 September 2000, and the annual report for the period from 1 October 1999 to 30 September 2000 (document A/55/728).

According to the annual report, type I gratis personnel include interns, associate experts, technical cooperation experts obtained on non-reimbursable loans, and gratis personnel serving with UNMOVIC.  Within the year, the overall number of type I gratis personnel decreased by 34.5 per cent, from 629 personnel as at 30 September 1999 to 412 personnel by 30 September 2000.  In conformity with a new personnel statute, all type I gratis personnel serving at UNMOVIC (25 as at 1 January 2000) were phased out by 30 September 2000.  The Secretariat-wide number of associate experts decreased by 14 per cent, from 290 as at 30 September 1999 to 250 by 30 September 2000, while the number of interns has fallen by 49 per cent from 296 to 151.  The number of technical cooperation experts over the referenced period decreased by 39 per cent from 18 to 11.

The bulk of type II gratis personnel engaged between 1 October 1999 and

30 September 2000 have been engaged with the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.  In the months of October, November and December 1999, all remaining 92 forensic investigators were phased out.  From January to March 2000, there were no gratis personnel engaged by the International Tribunal.  In response to the Tribunal’s request, the Secretary-General indicated in his letter of 27 January 2000 to the President of the General Assembly (document A/54/734) that the proper investigation and effective implementation of the mandate of the Tribunal dictate that all forensic investigations in the remaining non-investigated sites in Kosovo be completed by the end of 2000.  As a result, two gratis personnel were engaged in April 2000, three in May, one in July, 17 in August, and 18 in September 2000. In June 2000, one gratis personnel was separated from the Tribunal. 

The Department of Peacekeeping Operations/Field Administration and Logistics Division engaged 10 type II gratis personnel in October 1999 and five in November. There have been no gratis personnel engaged with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations/Field Administration and Logistics Division since June 2000.  The UNCTAD engaged two gratis personnel from 1 October 1999 to 30 September 2000.  Both have been extended for another year.  The ESCWA retained one type II gratis employee over the whole length of the referenced period, who was initially erroneously reported as type I.

Financing of UNIFIL

The Committee also had before it a report of the Secretary-General on the revised budget for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2001 (document A/55/482/Add.1).  The Secretary-General recalls that by the terms of resolution 55/180 of 19 December 2000, the General Assembly appropriated the amount of some $86.76 million gross ($86.3 million net) for the expansion of the mission for 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2001, in addition to some $146.83 million gross ($141.89 million net) already appropriated.  The total resources provided by the General Assembly for UNIFIL for the period, therefore, amount to some $233.59 million gross ($228.19 million net).  This appropriation was based on a force strength of 7,900 endorsed in a statement by its President on behalf of the Security Council on 23 May 2000.

According to the report, however, shortly after the revised financing action taken by the General Assembly in resolution 55/180, it was confirmed that the budgeted deployment of two battalions would not take place.  Subsequently, the Security Council, by resolution 1337 (2001) of 30 January 2001, extended the mandate of the Force to 31 July 2001 and endorsed, as a possible first stage of its suggested reconfiguration, the return of UNIFIL to its previous strength before its augmentation in 2000 to about 4,500 troops, by 31 July 2001.  Based on these developments, the Secretary-General has taken the initiative to immediately reduce the approved gross budget for UNIFIL by some $26.44 million, to some $207.15 million, exclusive of budgeted voluntary contributions in kind amounting to $180,000.  Thus, the Secretary-General recommends that the General Assembly should reduce the previous appropriation for UNIFIL for the 12-month period accordingly.

Also before the Committee was a report of the Secretary-General on the financing of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) (document A/55/666).  In July 2000, the Security Council established the Mission for an initial six months, and later extended its mandate until 15 March 2001.  It authorized the deployment of up to 4,200 troops, including up to 220 military observers.  The proposed budget for the establishment and operation of UNMEE

for 31 July 2000 to 30 June 2001 amounts to some $199.1 million gross (about $196.31 million net), inclusive of the commitment authority of some $50 million gross ($49.71 million net) granted by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) for the Mission's start-up costs and cost for reconnaissance and liaison teams dispatched to the Mission area in July 2000.

The cost estimates provide for the deployment of up to 4,200 military personnel, including 220 military observers and 619 civilian staff

(282 international, 322 local and 15 United Nations volunteers), the report explains.  Of the total budget, some 11.1 per cent of resources relate to civilian personnel costs, 50.2 per cent relate to operational costs, and 36.1 per cent relate to military personnel costs.

The Secretary-General asks the Assembly to establish a special UNMEE account for income received and expenditures made.  He also requests that the Assembly appropriate some $199.1 million gross (about $196.31 million net) for the establishment and operation of the Mission for 31 July 2000 to 30 June 2001, inclusive of the commitment authority of $50 million gross granted by the ACABQ. 

The Committee also had before it the related report of the ACABQ (document A/55/688).  Because of the timing of the submission of the Secretary-General’s report, the ACABQ was unable to consider it in detail during the current session of the Assembly.  The ACABQ has several concerns, especially about how the concept of operations affects and can justify the proposed structure of the Mission, including its senior staff.  Resources for the training unit mentioned in the Secretary-General's report to the Security Council on Ethiopia and Eritrea are not clearly identified in the estimates.  Moreover, ample resources are provided for the Office of Human Rights, a component which was not included in the report to the Security Council.  Further clarification must be provided on all substantive and administrative components of the Mission to determine the extent to which the existing establishment of the Mission can provide what is being proposed in budget estimates.

The ACABQ intends to resume detailed consideration of the Secretary-General during its 2001 winter session.  To address its concerns, the ACABQ asks that the Mission be represented at the highest possible level.  Pending the review, the Committee recommends that the General Assembly authorize commitment authority of some $150 million gross, inclusive of the commitment authority of some $50 million gross already granted by the Committee.  The ACABQ would, if necessary, make recommendations at its winter session for a further review of updated estimates for UNMEE for 2000-2001.  The ACABQ would also address the timing of the submission of the Secretary-General's estimates for 1 July 2001 to 30 June 2002. 

The ACABQ further recommends that this funding be granted without prejudice to any recommendations that it might make to the Assembly in February and March 2001 or any decisions that the Assembly might take thereon with regard to budgetary and administrative matters, including posts.  To avoid disruption in UNMEE operations, the ACABQ recommends that staff employed against posts that eventually are not approved would be accommodated against vacancies until the expiry of their contracts, if necessary.  The Secretary-General would be allowed to proceed with the redeployment of posts among various offices of the Mission, although the staffing table has not yet been approved for 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2001.

Also before the Committee was another report from the ACABQ on financing UNMEE (document A/55/688/Add.1).  In it, the ACABQ recommends the Assembly approve the appropriation and assessment of the amount of $180 million gross for the period from 31 July 2000 to 30 June 2001, inclusive of the commitment authority

of $150 million gross approved by the Assembly in resolution 55/237 on the Mission.

In the Advisory Committee’s opinion, the provision of this amount would permit completion of procurement and other start-up activities for the period ending 30 June 2001.

Attached to the report are annexes detailing provisional Mission expenditures for the period from 31 July 2000 to 30 June 2001 and discussing “quick impact projects” intended to provide a flexible disbursement facility to support, on short notice, activities designed to promote and facilitate United Nations peace-building efforts in the region’s temporary security zone and areas adjacent to it.

Statements

Introducing the Secretary-General’s reports on gratis personnel, DENIS BEISSEL, Director of the Operational Services Division, Office of Human Resources Management, said that from the most recent quarterly report it was clear that only two type II gratis personnel remained on board, whose contracts would expire this year.  No hiring of new gratis personnel was envisioned.

The Chairman of the ACABQ, CONRAD S.M. MSELLE, orally introduced the report of that body.  He said that the ACABQ recommended the Assembly take note of the reports on gratis personnel.

As the Committee turned its attention to financing peacekeeping operations, YEO BOCK CHENG, Director of the Peacekeeping Financing Division, Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts, introduced the report of the Secretary-General on UNIFIL.  He said that back in December the Assembly had revised the appropriation for that mission.  In the course of informal consultations, delegates became aware that the deployment of some contingents would not take place.  Based on a concern that the amount assessed was too high, it was decided to review the amount needed.  The report proposed to reduce the budget of the mission by some $26.4 million and suppress 31 posts.   The report before the Committee was being submitted for exceptional reasons, as revised budgets were not normally submitted at this point.

Mr. MSELLE then introduced the relevant report of the ACABQ, saying that, while the submission of this report was not normal, the new report from the Secretary-General had been submitted after a request from the Fifth Committee.  The ACABQ agreed with the Secretary-General’s proposals to reduce the initial appropriation of $233.8 million by $26.4 million.  Personally, he felt that the question of UNIFIL could be postponed to May, when financing of a series of peacekeeping missions would be reviewed.

HOUSSAM ASAAD DIAB (Lebanon) asked the Chairman to consider postponing consideration of UNIFIL financing until May.

COLLEN VIXEN KELAPILE (Botswana), Vice-Chairman of the Committee, asked the Secretariat to clarify the issue before action on the proposal.

Mr. YEO said that the ACABQ suggestion to defer action to reduce the current budget level of the mission until May was technically possible.  The second half of the year’s finances would still not have been assessed, and it was in this second half that the reduced level would be taken into account.  If the Assembly were to take action in May, they could then proceed with the assessment.

Mr. DIAB (Lebanon) asked if the assessment of the adjusted budget could be considered in May.

Mr. YEO said that the Secretariat could technically proceed with the monthly assessment.

SEYED MORTEZA MIRMOHAMMAD (Iran) said the Committee could go along with the proposal of Lebanon, in light of the technical advice of Mr. Mselle and the information provided by Mr. Yeo.

Mr. DIAB (Lebanon) said that, since there were no financial implications, he would prefer postponement of the item until the next budget session.

MOHAMMED RASHID AL-ABSI (United Arab Emirates), speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, said he had no objection to the request made by Lebanon.  However, he wanted to make sure that deferring consideration of the item to May would not affect the revised amounts that the Secretary-General had submitted.  He was not sure what change could take place during the current period until May.

MAGNUS LENEFORS (Sweden), speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States, said that the request to defer the item had taken him by surprise.  He wanted to know the possible financial implications of postponing the issue.

Responding to questions, Mr. YEO said that, at this point, action had already been taken to reduce the resources provided to UNIFIL to the level indicated in the Secretary-General’s report.  If the Committee deferred action until May, sufficient funds would be available to the mission.

The Committee then decided to defer consideration of the financing of UNIFIL until May.

The Committee turned to the financing of UNMEE.

Mr. MSELLE introduced the report of the ACABQ on UNMEE, contained in document A/55/688/Add.1.  He said that, in its first report (document A/55/688), the Committee had recommended commitment and assessment of some $150 million for the Mission.  The Secretary-General had submitted total requirements for the Mission of $190.7 million gross.  Those were the estimates that the ACABQ had examined in detail in its second report.  It had made a number of comments and observations and proposed a slight adjustment of about 6 per cent.  Accordingly, it was recommending appropriation of some $180 million gross, including the

$150 million already recommended.  The additional assessment would be about

$30 million gross.

Mr. LENEFORS (Sweden), speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States, said that the Union remained strongly committed to the maintenance and promotion of international peace and security.  It had supported numerous United Nations peacekeeping missions, making considerable contributions to them.  Peacekeeping was a core function of the Organization, and it was of utmost importance to provide effective financial and administrative arrangements for missions.  He welcomed the requested further clarification of the structure of UNMEE. 

As stressed by the ACABQ, it was important to ensure presence of qualified personnel in the field, he continued, and recruit civilian personnel in a timely manner.  The Union agreed with the ACABQ’s recommendation to appropriate some

$180 million for the period from 31 July 2000 to 30 June 2001, inclusive of the commitment authority of $150 million gross approved by the Assembly in

resolution 55/237.

DAREUSZ MANCZYK (Poland) said that he attached great important to United Nations peacekeeping.  Poland was present in UNMEE operations.  The report

contained useful remarks and suggestions.  He welcomed the resolution of the Security Council which extended the mandate of the Mission until 15 September.  The Mission structure continued to be a matter of concern for both Secretary-General and the ACABQ.  It needed streamlining.  He welcomed the Secretary-General’s intention to review operations of various components of the Mission.  He hoped the new structure could be reflected in the 2001-2002 estimates.  He also shared the concern of the ACABQ on contingent-owned equipment arrangements.  The ACABQ report drew attention to the difficulties of recruiting qualified civilian personnel.  The UNMEE should explore opportunities to make use of United Nations volunteers.  Regarding operational requirements, the request for land and air support was fully justified.

ANNE MERCHANT (Norway) said that the peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea of 12 December 2000, and the subsequent implementation of the agreement by the parties, must be considered as a major achievement.  The deployment of UNMEE had been swift and efficiently undertaken.  Ethiopia and Eritrea had cooperated constructively with UNMEE since the signing of the peace agreement to resolve remaining differences of substance and of interpretation.  That had enhanced the implementation of the agreement.  Important steps had been taken towards the full establishment of the Temporary Security Zone. 

Norway emphasized the close relationship between UNMEE and the Boundary Commission established under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, she said.  Termination of UNMEE required completion of the process of delimination and demarcation of the Ethiopia-Eritrea border.  An early start-up of the work of the Boundary Commission, including through proper arrangement for the Secretary of the Commission, would constitute cost-effective use of resources.  The establishment of the Boundary Commission should be given priority.  Norway agreed with the ACABQ that the Civil/Military Coordination Centre would provide a useful forum for UNMEE staff and that the Centre also could enhance collaboration among all participants in the Mission concerning matters of staff security and welfare.

She said that Norway strongly supported the establishment of a Mine Action Centre and believed that that was an important component in all United Nations peacekeeping missions.  Regarding civilian personnel, Norway shared the ACABQ’s concern about the difficulty of recruiting qualified personnel in a timely manner.  Freedom of movement for UNMEE and the establishment of direct flights between Addis Ababa and Asmara needed to be resolved through the constructed cooperation of both parties.  Norway concurred with the ACABQ’s recommendation.

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