FIFTH COMMITTEE SPEAKERS SUPPORT REGULAR BUDGET APPROPRIATION FOR CAMEROON-NIGERIA BOUNDARY DISPUTE COMMISSION

Fifty-ninth General Assembly

Fifth Committee

5^th Meeting (AM)

FIFTH COMMITTEE SPEAKERS SUPPORT REGULAR BUDGET APPROPRIATION

FOR CAMEROON-NIGERIA BOUNDARY DISPUTE COMMISSION

Several speakers in the Administrative and Budgetary Committee (Fifth) this morning supported the Secretary-General’s recommendation to provide some $5.4 million from the regular budget for the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, which was established to implement the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the border dispute between those two countries.  That amount would represent a reduction compared with the $6 million commitment authority granted to the Secretary-General by Assembly resolution 58/294 last June. 

Speakers welcomed the efficient management of resources that had led to a reduction of $580,700 in the revised requirements and called for additional voluntary contributions for United Nations support to the Commission. 

The Commission was established in November 2002 in order to implement the decision of the International Court of Justice on the Cameroon-Nigeria land and maritime boundary dispute.  Its initial support requirements were met, under an ad hoc arrangement, from extrabudgetary resources.  As that arrangement was not sustainable, the requirements for the Organization’s support to the Mixed Commission for the period 1 June through 31 December 2004 were submitted for funding under the regular budget, which would cover the technical, logistical and substantive costs.  In particular, such assistance relates to demarcation, rights of the affected population, observation of the withdrawal and transfer of authority in boundary areas.  The cost of the demarcation exercise itself, estimated at $12 million, is to be funded from voluntary contributions.

The Committee was informed that the third and final phase of withdrawals and transfers of authority in the Bakassi peninsula, initially scheduled to take place by mid-September 2004, had suffered a temporary setback for technical reasons.  However, the parties have reiterated their commitment and a new date (not anticipated to be later than the end of the year) is to be set during meetings to be held in Abuja this month.

The documents before the Committee were introduced by Director of Programme Planning and Budget Division, Warren Sach, and Chairman of the ACABQ, Vladimir Kuznetsov, who said that to ensure consistency of treatment, the amount approved should be charged against the unallocated balance of the provision for special political missions in the 2004-2005 budget.

Participating in the discussion were representatives of Qatar (on behalf of the Group of 77 developing countries and China), the Netherlands (on behalf of the European Union and associated States), South Africa (on behalf of the African Group), Jamaica, Cameroon and Japan.

The next formal meeting of the Committee will be held at 10 a.m., Tuesday, 12 October.

Background

This morning, under its agenda item on the programme budget for 2004-2005, the Fifth Committee had before it proposed resource requirements of the United Nations support to the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission for a seven-month period from 1 June to 31 December 2004 (document A/58/886), as revised, in the amount of some $5.42 million.  The report includes information on the elements funded from sources other than the regular budget, as requested in resolution 58/294 of 18 June 2004, by which the Assembly already authorized the Secretary-General to enter into commitments in the amount of $6 million in support of the Commission and requested him to submit a comprehensive financial report to the Assembly.

The Mixed Commission was established at the request of the Presidents of Cameroon and Nigeria following their tripartite summit with the Secretary-General in Geneva in November 2002, in order to move forward on the implementation of the decision of the International Court of Justice on the Cameroon-Nigeria land and maritime boundary dispute.  Its initial support requirements were met, under an ad hoc arrangement, from extrabudgetary resources.  As that arrangement was not sustainable, following an exchange of letters between the Secretary-General and the Security Council last spring, the requirements for the Organization’s support to the Mixed Commission for the period 1 June through 31 December 2004 were submitted for funding under the regular budget.

The Secretary-General recommends that the Assembly reduce the amount of commitment authority previously approved from $6 million to $5.42 million to be considered under section 3, Political Affairs, of the programme budget, in the context of action to be taken on the first performance report for the biennium 2004-2005.

The report notes that while there has been no financial contribution or pledge in support of United Nations efforts on behalf of to the Mixed Commission, in-kind support is being provided by the Government of Norway in the form of services of a legal expert on maritime boundary issues and by the Government of Senegal in the form of rent-free office space.  Boundary demarcation activities, which are estimated to cost approximately $12 million, are funded from extrabudgetary sources.  To date, four donors have pledged or contributed a total of nearly $8.3 million (approximately two thirds of the estimated requirements for boundary demarcation).  In addition, in-kind contributions are being provided by Cameroon and Nigeria in connection with a number of field visits to the Lake Chad area, the land boundary and the Bakassi peninsula.

The Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), in a related report (document A/59/411) recommends that the Assembly approve the revised requirements proposed by the Secretary-General in the amount of some $5.42 million, while also recommending that efforts continue to seek further voluntary contributions for United Nations support to the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission.  At the same time, the Advisory Committee makes suggestions that could lead to savings, to be reflected in the performance report, in the areas of translation, interpretation, facilities and infrastructure.  It also draws attention to the need to closely monitor official travel expenses.

In its consideration of revised requirements, the Advisory Committee was constrained by the fact that, following the grant of the commitment authority, 13 of the international staff positions have already been filled and two are under active recruitment.  All local staff are already on board.  Under the circumstances, the ACABQ interposes no objection to the staffing in support of the Mixed Commission.  It expects, however, that any future presentation for a special political mission will, in the first instance, contain detailed justification for both post- and non-post proposals.

The Advisory Committee noted that the decrease of $580,700, compared with the commitment authority granted, is mostly due to the reduction of fees for 32 civilian observers, who are now budgeted for seven months at a monthly rate of $6,500 each, instead of the previously budgeted monthly rate of $12,000 per observer.

Introduction of Documents

The Secretary-General’s report (document A/58/886) was introduced by Director of Programme Planning and Budget Division, WARREN SACH.

Chairman of the ACABQ, VLADIMIR KUZNETSOV, introduced that body’s report contained in documents A/59/411 and Corr.1, saying that commitment authority had been initially granted for the Commission, as neither the ACABQ, nor the Fifth Committee had had time to consider the original request in May. 

Detailed information on staffing had been received subsequent to the consideration of the issue in May.  The Advisory Committee was constrained by the fact that, following the grant of the commitment authority, 13 of the international staff positions have already been filled and two were under active recruitment.  All local staff were already on board.  Under the circumstances, presented with a fait accompli, the ACABQ posed no objection to the staffing in support of the Mixed Commission.  It expected, however, that any future presentation for a special political mission would, in the first instance, contain detailed justification for both post- and non-post proposals, in the same manner as provided for peacekeeping missions.

In conclusion, he added that there was a technical problem with the Secretary-General’s report, which had been repeated in the report of the Advisory Committee.  Upon further reflection and to ensure consistency of treatment, he believed that the amount approved should be charged against the unallocated balance of the provision for special political missions appropriated under section 3 of the budget for 2004-2005, rather than treated in the manner indicated in paragraph 19 of Secretary-General’s report.

MISHAL MOHAMMED AL-ANSARI (Qatar), speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, noted the request by the Secretary-General to reduce the amount of the commitment authority previously approved in resolution 58/294 from $6 million to $5.4 million.  The Group strongly supported the request of the Secretary-General to appropriate this amount under section 3, Political Affairs, of the programme budget, and noted the comments of the Advisory Committee and the Security Council’s support for his handling of this matter.  The Group commended those countries that made voluntary contributions to the United Nations Trust Fund for the financing of the demarcation process estimated to cost $12 million -- including Cameroon and Nigeria, which each gave $3 million -- and urged donor countries to make additional contributions to the Fund.

RONALD ELKHUIZEN (Netherlands), speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States, noted the importance of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission.  However, he reviewed some of the earlier concerns raised by the Advisory Committee and the Fifth Committee regarding staffing structure, level and number of posts, requirements for consultants and experts, potential savings in transportation costs, and the possibility of additional voluntary contributions, noting that the Secretary-General’s report answered some but not all of those questions.  They would seek additional information in the informals.  The European Union was in a position to approve the proposed budget, but concurred with the Advisory Committee that additional measures were needed for further savings.

The Union also noted that the requirements were lower than the initial bid in part because of problems in the implementation rate.  They invited all parties to agree with the proposed time frame.

KAREN LOCK (South Africa), speaking on behalf of the African Group, fully associated herself with the statement made by Qatar, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.  The African Group, welcoming the efficient management of resources that led to a reduction of $580,700 in the revised requirements, supported the Secretary-General’s request to appropriate $5.4 million under section 3 of the programme budget, and endorsed the recommendation of the Advisory Committee contained in paragraph 14, asking that the General Assembly approve the revised requirements.  The Group commended all parties involved in this exercise for their effort, including those countries that made voluntary contributions in cash and in kind to the actual demarcation exercise.  They recognized, however, that there was still a shortfall, and appealed for additional voluntary contributions to support the boundary demarcation activities and the joint projects as part of the confidence-building measures.

NORMA TAYLOR ROBERTS (Jamaica) associated herself with position of the Group of 77 and China and the African Group and noted that the request for funding from the regular budget had been revised downward to some $5.42 million from the commitment authority of $6 million approved by the Assembly for 1 June to 31 December 2004.  That amount had been recommended for approval by the ACABQ, and her delegation supported that recommendation. 

When the item had been presented in May, her delegation had made an observation that both countries had taken ownership of the process, not only in their expressions of good intentions, but by tangible financial commitments, and she commended them for that.  She also commended the countries that had made contributions to the Commission, including those in kind.  Although there had been some delays in the third and final phase of withdrawals and transfers of authority from affected areas, significant achievements had been made. 

She took cognizance of the observations by the ACABQ regarding the need for submission of detailed information and justification of proposals relating to special political missions in the same manner as peacekeeping missions.  In that regard, she supported approval of appropriation of the requested amount, in the context of the first performance report.  Following the meeting of the Mixed Commission at the end of August, the Chairman of the Commission had stated that Nigeria and Cameroon were willing to maintain the spirit of cooperation and friendship that had characterized the work of the Commission.  That process should be encouraged and supported.

PAUL EKORONG À DONG (Cameroon) supported the position of the Group of 77 and the African Group and recalled that the Assembly had authorized the Secretary-General to spend some $6 million in support of the Mixed Commission.  Now that amount had been revised to some $5.4 million, as recommended by the Secretary-General and the ACABQ.  He did not object to that, provided the implementation of the goals of the Commission was assured.  The Secretary-General had described in his report the support provided by the United Nations to the efforts to ensure a peaceful settlement of the dispute with regard to land and sea boundaries between the two countries.  Cooperation had deepened between the two nations, and both Governments were committed to strengthening their bilateral ties through cooperation and dialogue.  With the help of the United Nations, Cameroon and Nigeria had undertaken to abide by the ruling of the International Court of Justice, choosing peace over conflict.

He stressed that the activities of the Mixed Commission, already bearing fruit, deserved support and encouragement.  He appealed to the whole international community to continue to mobilize in favour of keeping that unique process in Africa intact, so that it could reach a successful conclusion.

HITOSHI KOZAKI (Japan) had several questions regarding the report of the Secretary-General.  He noted that an earlier report of the Secretary-General had stated that the work of the Mixed Commission was gaining momentum and was expected to be completed by end of 2005.  However, the latest report did not say anything about that momentum.  He sought clarification of the actual pace of events on the ground and inquired whether the Commission could complete its work by the end of 2005.  He also sought additional details about the reasons behind the reduced requirements in the Secretary-General’s report.  He further sought information on the duration of boundary demarcation activities and the status of maritime boundary commission.

Mr. SACH responded that the reduced estimates were due in part to a reduction in the requirements for civilian observers, because of the lower level of deployment and lower costs for them.  Other reductions reflected the fact that the Organization was working in a new area and that initial estimates could be made more precise after work began.  There was no change in the nature and scope of activities, just more and better financial information about activities on the ground.

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