BUDGET COMMITTEE CONSIDERS FINANCING OF PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS IN HAITI, TIMOR-LESTE

budget committee considers financing of peacekeeping

operations in haiti, timor-leste

As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning took up the financing of the peacekeeping operations in Haiti and Timor-Leste, several speakers supported provision of adequate resources for the functioning of the missions and expressed concern over the interim nature of budget requests presented by the Secretariat.

[Due to a large number of new and expected missions this year, the Secretariat has only been able to prepare preliminary estimates for the two Missions discussed today.  As the Fifth Committee is expected to close its second resumed session at the end of this week, and as a result of the interim nature of the estimates for the missions, the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), in its report, states that it would be unrealistic to attempt a detailed examination of the requirements for these missions at this stage.  It would therefore be the intention of the Advisory Committee to conduct such a detailed examination on the basis of the fully justified estimates to be presented in September or October 2004.]

Speaking on behalf of thirteen members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the representative of the Bahamas -- supported by Guatemala’s representative -- urged Member States to provide the newly established United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) with adequate resources to successfully fulfil all of its mandates.  In light of the challenging security situation in Haiti, the Mission should have sufficient capacity to deal with security threats and set the stage for the country’s long-term development. 

The CARICOM welcomed the adoption of Council resolution 1542 (2004) that established MINUSTAH for an initial period of six months, with the intention to renew its mandate for further periods, as appropriate and necessary, she said.  In that resolution, the Security Council also supported the establishment of a Core Group that would include CARICOM and other regional bodies, in order to facilitate the implementation of the Mission’s mandate, promote interaction with the Haitian authorities and enhance the effectiveness of the international response in Haiti.  The CARICOM also welcomed the fact that the multidimensional Stabilization Mission would seek to assist Haiti in building and strengthening functioning democratic institutions, supporting the re-establishment of the rule of law; and in promoting social and economic development. 

She recalled that on 26 February, the Foreign Ministers of Jamaica and the Bahamas had addressed the Security Council on the situation in Haiti – a member of the Community, where law and order had broken down.  It was not possible for the countries of the region to sit by idly while the crisis grew at an alarming rate.  They had been and remained concerned about the human rights situation within Haiti.  The insecure environment was exacerbated by the existence of numerous armed gangs, many of which exercised effective control over large sections of Haitian territory, underscoring the need to make disarmament a priority.  During last month’s meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations, CARICOM Foreign Ministers had reaffirmed the importance of the restoration of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, the rule of law and the principles of democracy and good governance in Haiti.

It was unfortunate that time constraints had not allowed for a detailed examination of the requirements of the Mission at this stage, she added.  The resolve of the international community to assist Haiti was extremely encouraging to CARICOM States.  The Community remained committed to participating in the efforts to achieve economic, social and institutional development of Haiti and reiterated its intention to participate in MINUSTAH and its various components.

Ghana’s representative expressed hope that following the establishment of the United Nations presence in Haiti, comprehensive efforts would be made to ensure that the people of that country could pursue peace and stability.  He also asked several questions regarding the Mission’s financial requirements up until December and the timing of the consideration of the matter.

The representative of Australia reiterated his delegation’s appreciation for the work of the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET), noting that the Mission had been an exemplary one.  Pleased that it had been extended for another year, he supported the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions’ (ACABQ) recommendation that the Committee not consider the interim budget at the current stage, but grant commitment authority until the consideration of the full budget during in the fall.  He noted that for both missions, the ACABQ had recommended commitment authority with appropriation until 31 October.  He assumed the Committee would not take formal action on the budgets of the two missions until mid-December.  In that regard, he wondered if there would be a gap in funding.

Support for the extension of UNMISET was also expressed by the representatives of Indonesia and Japan, who also asked some questions about the financing of the Mission. 

Cuba’s representative expressed concern that only interim budgets were being presented to the Committee, especially in the case of UNMISET.  As a result, the Assembly was not in a position to analyse the budget proposals for both missions in detail.  She understood that the mission in Haiti had just been established, but wondered about the reason why a complete budget document had not been presented for UNMISET.  She supported the comments of the Advisory Committee, which had mentioned in its report that not all of the budget needs were being presented.  The trend to present interim provisional budgets was not appropriate.  For example, as not all details were available, her delegation was not in a position to take a stand on certain new posts.  At this point, such requests were of a strictly provisional nature.  She also wondered about a 120-strong international response unit at the UNMISET. 

Responding to questions on the timing of resource requests, Director of Peacekeeping Financing, Catherine Pollard, said that the Secretariat had been in a difficult situation in terms of getting ready for the adoption of the mandates by the Security Council, particularly in the case of Timor Leste.  In that respect, the Secretariat had tried to come up with preliminary estimates.  Regretfully, as the Secretariat was battling time, it had not been in a position to come up with the normal types of budget estimates.  Producing preliminary estimates would not be a trend.  The estimates provided had been an attempt to give legislative bodies more information than in earlier years when large missions had been deployed in very short time periods.  That did not take away from the Secretariat’s responsibility to provide a full budget, which it would do in the fall.  She also noted that UNMISET’s International Response Unit consisted of 125 gendarmes who would respond to major security threats.

Following that explanation, the representative of Trinidad and Tobago took the floor to put on record that he accepted the explanation regarding the unique circumstances when several operations had come up at the same time.  He expected that, next autumn, the Committee would deal with the financing of the Haiti mission in a manner, which would allow the financing of MINUSTAH to continue without jeopardizing the operation.

The documents before the Committee were introduced by Ms. Pollard and the Chairman of the ACABQ, Vladimir Kuznetsov.

The Committee will continue its work at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 25 May.

Background

The report of the Secretary-General on the interim budget for the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET) for the period 1 July to 31 December 2004 (document A/58/795) notes that, pending submission to the General Assembly during its fifty-ninth session of a full budget for the period from 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2005, including results-based frameworks, the report contains the interim budget for the period 1 July to 31 December 2004, which reflects preliminary financial requirements of UNMISET and amounts to some $45.73 million excluding budgeted voluntary contributions in kind.

In its resolution 1543 (2004) of 14 May 2004, the Security Council extended UNMISET for a period of six months, with a view to extending the mandate for a further and final period of six months, until 30 May 2005.  The Council also decided to reduce the Mission’s size and revise its tasks.  Owing to the extension of the Mission, the report supersedes the budgetary proposals in the Secretary-General’s December 2003 report (document A/58/645), which contained the Mission’s liquidation budget.

The present interim budget provides for the deployment of 42 military liaison officers, 310 military contingent personnel, a 125-person International Response Unit, 157 civilian police, 58 civilian advisers, 278 international staff, 614 national staff including 21 national officers and 144 United Nations Volunteers.  Human resource requirements have been presented at an aggregate level, comprising military and civilian personnel, executive direction and management, substantive and support staff.  During the budget period, the Mission plans to deliver a number of support outputs shown in section II of the report.

The Assembly is requested to appropriate some $45.73 million for the Mission’s maintenance for the period from 1 July to 31 December 2004; assess the amount of $35.56 million for the period from 1 July to 20 November 2004; and to assess the amount of $10.2 million at a monthly rate of $7.62 million for the period from 21 November to 31 December 2004, should the Council decide to continue the Mission’s mandate.

The budget proposal for the newly-established mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for the period from 1 May to 31 December 2004 was presented to the Committee in document A/58/800.  Pending submission of a full budget for the Mission next fall for the period from 1 May 2004 to 30 June 2005, the report contains the interim budget for the Mission for the periods from 1 May to 30 June 2004 and from 1 July to 31 December 2004, which reflects the preliminary financial requirements of MINUSTAH and amounts to some $49.26 million and $215.55 million, respectively.  The proposal provides for the deployment of 6,700 military contingent personnel including 120 staff officers, 1,622 civilian police including 750 in formed units, 548 international and 995 national staff and 154 United Nations Volunteers.

The Advisory Committee, in a related report (document A/58/809) notes that as a result of the time constraints involved in the preparation of financing requirements for the two missions, the proposals presented to the Committee “constitute more of a projection than fully justifiable estimates”.  As a result, these presentations can be called “interim budgets”.  The situation, in which a number of large and complex missions are being organized almost simultaneously, puts a tremendous strain on the Organization and its legislative process.  In this connection, the Advisory Committee points out that it is necessary to seriously consider the means “to better address the surge capacity in the planning and budgeting of peacekeeping missions”.

In view of the time constraints resulting from the planned closing of the resumed session of the Fifth Committee on 28 May 2004, and the nature of the projections/estimates for the missions, the Advisory Committee believes that it would be unrealistic for either it or the Fifth Committee to attempt a detailed examination of the requirements for these Missions at this stage.  It would therefore be the intention of the Advisory Committee to conduct such a detailed examination on the basis of the fully justified estimates to be presented in early fall 2004.

The Committee has, under the provisions of Assembly resolution 49/233, already concurred on commitment authority of up to $49.26 million for MINUSTAH for the period from 1 May to 30 June 2004.  This amount should also be assessed.  It also proposes providing some $172.48 million for the maintenance of the Mission in July-October 2004.  Thus, the total assessment for MINUSTAH would amount to some $221.74 million.

For UNMISET, the Advisory Committee proposes an amount of some $30.49 million for July-October 2004.

Those recommendations of the Advisory Committee are made without prejudice to any conclusions it may come to in the fall or any decision that the General Assembly might take on the budget and administration of UNMISET and MINUSTAH. 

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