PRESS BRIEFING BY DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMME PLANNING AND BUDGET DIVISION

PRESS BRIEFING BY DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMME PLANNING AND BUDGET DIVISION

The Organization’s $3.16 billion budget for the biennium beginning on 1 January 2004 -- approved by the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) yesterday -- nominally represented an increase of $270 million over the current budget, Warren Sach, Director of the Programme Planning and Budget Division, said at today’s noon briefing.  In real terms, however, it remained at the same level, as the $270 million difference had resulted from currency and inflation adjustments.

He said the new budget reflected resource shifts and the main priorities of the United Nations, including the Secretary-General’s reform package agreed upon during the General Assembly’s fifty-seventh session.  The package strengthened human rights, humanitarian and, to some extent, economic and social activities, following up on the decisions of the 2002 International Conference on Financing for Development and the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development.

Extra resources in the humanitarian area had been provided for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), he continued.  In terms of staffing, there would be 64 new posts, including 10 in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, six in the area of human rights and five in UNRWA.

There would be a change in the management of staffing during the 2004-2005 biennium, he said.  The Secretary-General would be given additional powers to transfer posts between different parts of the budget, which would give him the ability to place staff in the areas where they were required for programme priorities.  It would be a limited experiment involving up to 50 posts that he could move around at his discretion.  There would be a freeze on recruitment of General Service staff to address some concerns about appropriate staffing levels in light of the application of new technologies.

He said that other reforms agreed in the budget and planning process would address the need for better alignment between resources and programme priorities through the shortening of the planning period from four to two years and the streamlining of the intergovernmental review process.  There would also be some reductions in non-post provisions due to the discontinuation of one-time items not related to security improvements in 2002-2003.  The budget also contained a provision of $169 million for special political missions, which included $65 million for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and $45 million for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) in 2004.

The budget included an extra $30 million for information and communications technology items, he said, bringing the total amount for that purpose to $190 million.  An important part of that strategy was the modernization and updating of the Secretariat’s operating methods.  Among the reductions envisioned by the budget was a smaller amount for information centres as a result of the creation of a single regional hub in Brussels to replace several national offices.

The negotiations on the budget had been “pretty much a cliff-hanger” towards the end, he concluded.  Although the resource level had essentially remained at the same level, it was the result of negotiations between different groups of countries.

Responding to several questions regarding the level of the budget, Mr. Sach said it had been adopted by consensus, with full support from the Organization’s membership.  The United Nations had been in a constrained budgetary position since the mid-1990s, which had initially meant zero nominal growth (the same dollar level from one period to the next).  In reality, that meant a reduction in resources as inflation was not taken care of during that period.  However, in the current budget, there was a full reflection of inflation and currency fluctuations.

While the Secretary-General had sought a 0.5 per cent growth in his budget request, the budget for 2004-2005 showed 0 per cent growth in real terms, he explained.  For example, only 64 out of the 117 proposed additional posts had been approved.  Those 64 included 62 regular-budget posts and two resulting from the decisions of the Economic and Social Council.  There would be 900,118 regular-budget posts in 2004, with the payroll amounting to about 80 per cent of the budget.  Some 52 posts would be converted from temporary status.

Asked to comment on yesterday’s statement by the representative of Japan that a sharp increase in his country’s assessment would result in a reduction of Japan’s voluntary contributions to development and humanitarian organizations, he said that the position of the second largest contributor was of great importance and it was satisfying that Japan had joined the consensus.  As for the adjustments the country had to make within its national sphere, they were a matter of domestic policy.

To an additional question, he replied that the scale of assessments had been changed three years ago and according to an incremental process agreed in 2000, at about 20 per cent, Japan’s level of contributions was at its highest level ever.

Asked how the Secretary-General’s proposal fared against the budget amount approved yesterday, the Director said that in essence, the proposal had been adopted.  A reform of the budget processes and flexibility to move posts around in responding to priority needs had been very important.  No budget was easy but consensus had been achieved.

The final budget reflected a 22 per cent increase for crime prevention and criminal justice and a rise of 5.8 per cent for human rights.  Significant increases had been provided for the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and support for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).  The main priorities had been taken care of, including the need to strengthen technology.  Where the Secretary-General’s budget proposal had not fared so well was in the restoration of common services cuts, where some $13 million had been requested and $3 million approved.  Otherwise, the outcome of the negotiations had been a success.

Asked about the measures to increase the Organization’s revenue, Mr. Sach said that in general, the changes had been minor and the situation had moved from bad to adequate.  Lately, the United Nations Postal Administration had experienced some difficulties, but the situation was more optimistic now, due in part to the introduction of the “personalized stamps” project.

He said that largely as a result of currency fluctuations and inflation, the 2002-2003 budget had been increased to a total of some $2.97 billion.  As for the expectations for 2004-2005, it would be overly optimistic to count on the strengthening of the dollar.

To a question about the Afghanistan mission, he replied that the provision for 2002-2003 had amounted to $80 million, and the amount of $65 million for 2004 represented an increase.  A substantial amount had been provided for holding elections in the country next year.  As for 2005, the amount depended on the decisions of the Security Council.

Regarding financing of the security area, he said a significant increase had resulted from the events of 11 September 2001.  In 2002, the Assembly had agreed to an additional $50 million to strengthen security.

Asked about peacekeeping financing, he replied that the peacekeeping budget cycle ran from July to June each year, and the Fifth Committee would make recommendations on that matter following its resumed session in May.  On the whole, the annual peacekeeping budget exceeded the biennial budget of the United Nations.

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