INSTITUTE FOR DISARMAMENT RESEARCH, LOGISTICS BASE AT BRINDISI AMONG ISSUES ADDRESSED, AS BUDGET COMMITTEE ADOPTS SEVEN TEXTS

Fifty-eighth General Assembly

Fifth Committee

26^th Meeting (AM)

INSTITUTE FOR DISARMAMENT RESEARCH, LOGISTICS BASE AT BRINDISI

AMONG ISSUES ADDRESSED, AS BUDGET COMMITTEE ADOPTS SEVEN TEXTS

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning recommended seven draft texts to the General Assembly, addressing such matters as a request for a grant for the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, the transfer of buildings by the Government of Italy to the Logistics Base in Brindisi, Italy, and conditions of service of the Chairmen of the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) and the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ).  Action on all texts was taken without a vote.

The Committee recommended approval of a grant of $227,600 to the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research for the year 2004.  To further clarify the issue, however, it also suggested that the Assembly should request the Secretary-General to report next year on the continuing need for such subventions.

Another recommendation approved today related to the approval of a transfer of five buildings from the Government of Italy to the United Nations Logistics Base, which is situated in that country.

By another draft, the Assembly would adjust by 6.3 per cent, effective 1 September 2003, the compensation of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the ICSC and the Chairman of the ACABQ. 

The Committee also recommended that the Assembly take note of various documents it has considered during the session, including the report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services on the review of duplication, complexity and bureaucracy in the United Nations; the reports on the construction of additional office facilities at the Economic Commission for Africa; and on strengthening the United Nations Web site in all official languages.

Also on the Fifth Committee’s recommendations, the Assembly would take note of a document on special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse and chapters of the report of the Economic and Social Council that are allocated to the Fifth Committee.

The Committee will take up programme budget implications of several drafts before the Assembly at 10 a.m. Thursday, 11 December.

Action on Drafts

At the opening of the meeting, the Committee Chairman, HYNEK KMONÍČEK (Czech Republic) said that to save time, the Bureau had decided to recommend that the Committee dispense with the formal introductions by the coordinators of the drafts.

The Committee first took up a draft resolution on review of duplication, complexity and bureaucracy in the United Nations administrative processes and procedures (document A/C.5/58/L.32), by the terms of which the Assembly would take note of the report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services on the matter.

The document was approved without a vote.

The Committee then approved a draft decision (document A/C.5/58/L.33), by which the Assembly would take note of the report of the Secretary-General on the construction of additional office facilities at the Economic Commission for Africa and of the related report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ).

Also acting without a vote, the Committee then approved a draft decision (document A/C.5/58/L.34) by which the Assembly would take note of the report of the Secretary-General on strengthening the Department of Public Information, within the existing capacity, in order to support and enhance the United Nations web site in all official languages of the Organization: follow-up, and of the related report of the ACABQ.

The Committee then turned to a draft resolution on the conditions of service and compensation of full-time members of the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) and the Chairman of the ACABQ (document A/C.5/58/L.35).  By this text, the Assembly would adjust, effective 1 September 2003, the compensation of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the ICSC and the Chairman of the ACABQ.

[In order to maintain the salary relativity of the other-than-Secretariat officials following a 6.3 per cent increase in the salary scale for staff at the D-2 grade and above, which took effect on 1 January 2003, the Secretary-General, in his report A/C.5/57/35, proposed to apply a similar increase to the net compensation of the three officials in question.  The adjustment would bring the pensionable remuneration of the Chairman of the ICSC and the Chairman of the ACABQ to $217,326 per annum.]

At the same time, the Assembly would maintain the procedure for adjusting the compensation of the three officials on the basis of the movement of the consumer price index in New York and reaffirm the principle that their conditions of service and compensation shall be separate and distinct from those of officials of the Secretariat.  The Secretary-General would be requested to bring the matter to the attention of the Assembly when the annual compensation of the Chairman of the ICSC and the Chairman of the ACABQ falls below the level of the compensation of the Assistant Secretary-General, but no sooner than its sixty-third session.  The Assembly would decide that the adjustment procedure would replace the requirement for future five-year compensation reviews outlined in the Secretary-General’s report.

Committee Secretary, MOVSES ABELIAN presented the Secretary-General’s statement on programme budget implications, saying that additional financial requirements for the 2002-2003 biennium arising from the proposals to increase the net salary effective 1 September 2003 for the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the ICSC and the Chairman of the Advisory Committee -- amounting to some $5,780 -- would be absorbed from within the resources allocated for the 2002-2003 biennium.  Additional financial requirements of $27,366 related to the 2004-2005 biennium would be addressed in the context of the first performance report for that biennium.

The representative of Cuba asked the Chairman to distribute a copy of the Secretary’s statement.

The Committee then turned to draft resolution (document A/C.5/58/L.30), by which the Assembly would approve a request for a subvention of $227,600 for the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research for the year 2004 from the approved regular budget of the United Nations, on the understanding that no additional appropriation would be required under section 4, Disarmament, of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2004-2005.  It would further request the Secretary-General to report at the main part of the fifty-ninth session on the continuing need for a subvention to the Institute, taking into account previous reports and any relevant decisions on the issue of subventions.

The draft was approved without a vote.

By the terms of a draft resolution on improving and modernizing the conference facilities at the United Nations Office at Nairobi in order to accommodate adequately major meetings and conferences (document A/C.5/58/L.31), the Assembly would authorize the modernization of the existing conference facilities at the United Nations Office at Nairobi.  It would decide to appropriate related resources under section 33 -- construction, alteration, improvement and major maintenance -- of the 2004-2005 proposed programme budget to finance the modernization, on the understanding that within the overall appropriation an amount of some $1.14 million would represent a charge against the contingency fund, if approved in the context of the Assembly’s consideration of the consolidated statement of programme budget implications and revised estimates to be submitted by the Secretary-General.

By further terms of the text, the Assembly would also decide to approve the utilization of some $913,000 for the modernization of the existing conference facilities at the Nairobi Office, to be financed with the available balance of the construction-in-progress account, subject to the decision mentioned above.  It would request the Secretary-General to report on the experience gained from operating the modernized conference facilities during the 2006-2007 biennium.

The text was approved without a vote.

By the terms of draft decision (document A/C.5/58/L.29), the Assembly would approve the transfer of five additional buildings pledged by the Government of Italy to the United Nations Logistics Base, which is situated in that country.  Expressing its appreciation to the Government of Italy, it would also take note of related documents and decide to keep the financing of the Base under review during the current session.

The text was approved without a vote.

The Committee then recommended that the Assembly take note of a note by the Secretary-General on special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (document A/58/599).

Turning to the report of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) (Chapters I, VII, Sections B and C, and IX), the Committee then decided to recommend that the Assembly take note of the chapters of that report allocated to the Fifth Committee.

The representative of Cuba drew attention the Committee’s attention to several differences in the Spanish version of the draft resolution A/C.5/58/L.30, requesting that a corrigendum be issued.  She also asked for information on the Committee’s work programme for the remainder of the session, including which items it intended to defer.

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