Fifty-ninth General Assembly

Fifth Committee

26^th Meeting (AM)

budget proposal for un refugee office among issues taken up by fifth committee

As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning took up several reports related to the regular budget of the United Nations for the current biennium, many speakers addressed the Secretary-General’s proposal to continue gradual increases in contributions to the budget of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and to move toward a situation where the Organization’s regular budget would cover 50.8 per cent of the management and administrative costs of the UNHCR.

[According to article 20 of the statute of the Office of the UNHCR, unless the Assembly decided otherwise, no expenditure, other than the administrative expenditures relating to the functioning of the Office of the High Commissioner, was to be borne by the budget of the United Nations, and all other expenditures relating to the activities of the High Commissioner were to be financed by voluntary contributions.]

The representative of Norway, supported by several other speakers, said the Secretary-General’s proposal was too modest, as providing protection to the more than 17 million refugees in the world was a priority task of the United Nations and currently only 2.6 per cent of UNHCR’s budget was covered by the regular budget.  She was surprised at the proposal to move to a situation where the regular budget would cover only 50.8 per cent of the management and administrative costs, when the Assembly, in resolution 58/270, had asked for a proposal on the progressive implementation of article 20 with a view to its full implementation.

The representative of the United States said several recent reports had drawn attention to some issues within the Office, including a finding that the UNHCR did not have a reliable basis to compute data on refugees.  The Joint Inspection Unit also stated that the UNHCR oversight committee appeared to be functioning in an unsatisfactory manner.  If the UNHCR expected to receive support from the regular budget, the Organization could expect that institution to improve its efficiency and effectiveness.  Such efforts could include steps to strengthen the Inspector-General’s Office within the UNHCR, especially considering reports of mismanagement there.

Also this morning, most speakers supported a proposal to provide an annual subvention to United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), not exceeding that institution’s rental and maintenance costs.  The United States’ representative said, however, that UNITAR was supposed to be totally self-funded.  He, therefore, opposed providing it with a subvention from the regular budget.  He welcomed the steps to rationalize the financial structure of the Institute.

Also addressed today were administrative arrangements for the UNCTAD/WTO International Trade Centre, a subvention to the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research and the conditions of service of the members of the International Court of Justice and judges and ad litem judges of the International Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

Reports before the Committee were introduced by Mr. Sach; Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services Dileep Nair; and Chief, Conditions of Service Section, Office of Human Resource Management, Marianne Brzak-Metzler.

Also participating in the discussion were representatives of Iran, Republic of Korea, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, Switzerland, Cuba, Nigeria, Morocco and Yemen.

The Committee will hold its next formal meeting at 10 a.m. Wednesday, 24 November.

Background

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning was expected to take up several issues related to the programme budget for the current biennium (2004-2005).

The Committee had before it a report of the Secretary-General on administrative arrangements for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)/World Trade Organization (WTO) International Trade Centre (ITC) (document A/59/405).  The mission of the ITC is to support, through technical cooperation, developing and transitional economies in their efforts to participate in international trade, with the ultimate goal of achieving sustainable development.  The Centre, which is a joint body of UNCTAD and the WTO, is administered on the basis of agreements made between the United Nations and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1974, which were reviewed in 1998 and 1999.

However, the United Nations and the WTO have different budgetary processes, and the revised administrative arrangements, which were approved in 1999, did not succeed in completely addressing the unique situation of the ITC within the overall budget procedures of each parent.  The revised administrative arrangements resulted in a de facto duplication of some procedures and even in the creation of some additional steps.  In its decision 57/572, the General Assembly endorsed consultations with the ITC and the WTO for a joint review of these arrangements.  The report contains a series of recommendations designed to simplify the revised administrative arrangements, while adapting them to recent major changes in the budgetary processes of both parent organizations, and to clarify some procedures.  In addition, the report aims to consolidate information on the administrative arrangements to facilitate their review by the three organizations concerned.

A report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) (document A/59/543) recommends that the Assembly take note of the Secretary-General’s report and endorse its proposals.  The Advisory Committee notes that the technical foundations upon which the administrative arrangements are based remain the same and that both parent organizations are provided with the ITC’s budgetary information simultaneously.  However, the preparation of a budget outline for approval by both parent organizations will be discontinued.  Instead, a simplified fascicle will be submitted in the spring of the year preceding the next financial period to the Assembly and the WTO General Council.  The issuance of that fascicle will be followed by a full, detailed proposal to be submitted in the fall for decision by both bodies.  The ITC will submit its strategic framework to the Committee for Programmes and Coordination in the spring of the first year of a financial period, taking into account the review of the ITC Joint Advisory Board (including the UNCTAD Development Board and the WTO Committee on Trade and Development).

For the time being, the ITC will prepare two budget fascicles containing the same financial and substantive information in different formats to the WTO and the United Nations, in view of the differing requirements of the two organizations’ review bodies.  However, the Advisory Committee encourages the ITC to try to harmonize the two documents where possible, in consultation with the United Nations and WTO Secretariats.

Also before the Committee was a note by the Secretary-General transmitting a report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) (document A/59/229) on the inspection of the ITC’s programme management and administrative practices.  The inspectors noted that the contribution of the ITC to trade development has been increasingly recognized by Member States.  They also highlighted good practices such as the Global Trust Fund, the Projects portal, and the Senior Management Committee –- as well as effective use of information technology.  The ITC has built results-based elements into its planning and monitoring systems, though there remains a need for their streamlining and greater integration. The OIOS determined that the Centre’s activities in the areas of product and market development, trade support services, information, and promotion were meeting the needs of clients. Enhanced horizontal communication and strengthened inter-divisional and inter-sectional cooperation in project development and implementation would further increase the value of the Centre’s activities to developing and transitional economies.

While the ITC provides a supportive working environment for its generally well-qualified, professional, and motivated staff, recommended improvements in performance management and training would further enhance productivity and job satisfaction.  The OIOS also notes the successful renewal of the Centre in expanding its specialized trade-related technical assistance, and recommends enhancing its effectiveness in programme performance monitoring and reporting, increasing internal cohesion, and strengthening human resources management.

Also before the Committee was a report of the Secretary-General on progressive implementation of article 20 of the statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (document A/59/294), according to which, no expenditure, other than administrative expenditures related to the functioning of the Office, shall be borne by the budget of the United Nations.  All other expenditures related to the activities of the High Commissioner shall be financed by voluntary contributions.  The term “administrative expenditures” was not defined by the statute, but, as proposed by the ACABQ, is interpreted to mean “expenses other than operational expenses and their related management costs”.

The Assembly, by its resolution 52/220, requested the Secretary-General to review the funding of the Office from the regular budget above the current level.  Following consultations between the UNHCR and the United Nations Secretariat, it was found that management and administrative posts, and their related costs, were consistent with the category that should be funded from the regular budget.  Taking into account the budgetary constraints of the Organization, a limited increase could be proposed for 2002-2003, with subsequent increases in subsequent bienniums.  The Assembly approved two increases of approximately $2 million to the proposed programme budget for the UNHCR for the bienniums 2002-2003 and 2004-2005.  In both cases, the increases proposed for the Office were more or less at the same level as the average increase proposed for section VI, human rights and humanitarian affairs, of the proposed programme budget.

As initially recommended in the budget proposal for 2002-2003, the report suggests moving toward a situation where the Organization’s regular budget would cover 50.8 per cent of the management and administrative costs of the UNHCR, through subsequent increases over the forthcoming bienniums, with a view toward full implementation of article 20.  The Assembly may wish to take note of the report, with the understanding that proposals for subsequent increases in the United Nations contributions will be submitted for its review in the context of proposed programme budgets for future bienniums.

Also before the Committee was a note by the Secretary-General transmitting the response of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) (document A/59/271) to resolution 58/272, which recommended an effort “to rationalize the financial structure of the Institute, including through possible application of a consistent programme support rate to the Special Purpose Grants Fund in order to bring it in line with the standard rate applied by the United Nations”.

The Board reiterates that UNITAR is totally self-funded -– not receiving any subsidies from the United Nations regular budget –- and delivers, free of charge, training courses to diplomats and delegates accredited to the United Nations headquarters in New York, Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi.  Those courses are useful for the civil servants of Member States, particularly for diplomats from developing countries, and for the Organization.  However, the level of non-earmarked voluntary contributions remains too low to make those programmes sustainable.

After considering possible ways to rationalize the financial structure of the Institute, the Board suggested that the Executive Director:  continue to insist that donors of special purpose grants obtain full recovery of programme support costs (overhead) whenever possible, and to bring such recovery in line with the standard 13 per cent applied by the United Nations; make sure that any further expansion of training programmes should be commensurate with the level of resources available for both direct, administrative, and common-service costs involved; and consider the possible downsizing of the number of staff remunerated by the General Fund.

The Board recalls the Secretary-General’s proposal that UNITAR be provided with an annual subvention in an amount not exceeding its annual rental and maintenance costs in order to compensate the Institute for its expenditures under the General Fund of UNITAR related to the free provision of training in multilateral diplomacy and international affairs management to diplomatic personnel at the missions to the United Nations.

Also before the Committee was a report of the Secretary-General on conditions of service and compensation for officials other than Secretariat officials (document A/C.5/59/2 and Corr.1), which focused particularly on members of the International Court of Justice and judges and ad litem judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).  The Secretary-General proposes that any increases in the annual emoluments decided upon for members of the Court and judges of the Tribunals also be extended to ad litem judges of the Tribunals, effective 1 January 2005.  No change has been proposed in the arrangements for ad hoc judges.

The Secretary-General recalls that, in its resolution 56/285, the Assembly decided that conditions of service and remuneration of the officials in question would be reviewed at its fifty-ninth session.  If it is decided to continue the three-year review cycle, the next comprehensive review by the Assembly would be undertaken at its sixty-second session, in 2007.  The programme budget implications of the Secretary-General’s proposals total $2.32 million for the current biennium, which would cover increases in the annual salary, pension payments for former judges and the widows of judges, and the costs of educating the children of the members of the Court and judges of the Tribunals.

Regarding remuneration, the report recalls that the emoluments of the members of the Court and the judges of the Tribunal have remained at $160,000 since January 1999 –- the level lower than that provided by the main national judiciaries.  In real terms, the emoluments of the members of the International Court of Justice have not kept pace with increases in the cost of living in the Netherlands –- and their salaries were not adequately protected against the weakening of the United States dollar vis-à-vis the euro.  In addition, the Assembly has approved in its resolution 57/285 increases in salaries for certain grades of the Professional and higher categories, which raised the base salaries of staff at the Under-Secretaries-General level by 6.3 per cent.  Accordingly, the Secretary-General suggests that Member States may wish to consider increasing the annual emoluments of the members of the Court, the judges of the Tribunals, and the ad litem judges from $160,000 to $177,000 –- an increase of 10.6 per cent.

The report also proposes that pension payments be increased by 10.6 per cent.  The Secretary-General believes that, in order to protect the level of pensions from further erosion, consideration should be given to applying the “floor/ceiling mechanism” to pension payments to former judges and their survivors residing in euro zone countries.  On education, the Secretary-General proposes that the increase in the level of the education grant applicable to staff in the Professional and higher categories, which was approved by the Assembly in resolution 57/285, should be extended to members of the Court and judges of the Tribunals as from the school year in progress on 1 January 2003.

The Advisory Committee, in a related report (document A/59/557), recommends that the annual salary of those non-Secretariat officials be set at $177,000, effective 1 January 2005.  However, the ACABQ finds a number of uncertainties with regard to the current system, since the cost of living does not fluctuate evenly at all places where the judges of the International Court of Justice and the Tribunals sit. The Secretary-General should be requested to make proposals for the future that should take this factor into account.

The Advisory Committee further agrees with several other proposals related to the other conditions of service of non-Secretariat officials in question, but does not support the recommendation related to the application of a floor/ceiling mechanism to the pensions to former judges and their survivors residing in the euro zone.  The ACABQ believes that the approach proposed is too narrow and recommends further elaboration of the proposal and other options.

Contained in document A/C.5/59/3 and Corr.1 and Add.1, is a request for a $227,600 subvention from the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).  The Disarmament section of the current budget of the Organization already contains a provision of $561,600 for the biennial subvention to UNIDIR.  A formal request is submitted to the Assembly on an annual basis, in keeping with the established procedure.  The subvention for 2005 should be adjusted through recosting in the context of the first performance report for the current biennium.

While the General Assembly, in section III of its resolution 58/272 of 23 December 2003, requested the Secretary-General to report at the main part of its fifty-ninth session on the continuing need for a subvention to UNIDIR from the regular budget of the United Nations, UNIDIR’s Board had strongly appealed for continuation of the subvention and annual cost adjustments, stressing that they assured the unbiased nature of the Institute’s research programme and assisted the Director in raising voluntary funds.

The Advisory Committee, in a related report (document A/59/553) recalls that the Institute was established in October 1980 for the purpose of undertaking independent research on issues of disarmament and international security.  The Assembly, in section IV of its resolution 37/99 K on institutional arrangements relating to the process of disarmament, provided that the Institute should function as an autonomous institution, working in close relationship with the Department of Disarmament Affairs, and that its activities should be funded by voluntary contributions.  It also requested that the Secretary-General give administrative and other support to the Institute.

The 1984 statute of UNIDIR stipulated that voluntary contributions from States and public and private organizations should form its principal source of financing and that a subvention towards meeting the costs of the Director and the staff might be provided from the regular budget of the United Nations.  With a view to ensuring that the Institute not be funded from the subvention alone, it further specified that the amount of the subvention should not exceed an amount equivalent to 50 per cent of the assured income of the Institute from voluntary sources.

Noting that the requested amount represents approximately 15 per cent of the total voluntary funds available in 2005, the Advisory Committee recommends that the Assembly approve the request of $227,600, to be recosted, for UNIDIR for 2005, on the understanding that no additional provision would be required under the Disarmament section of the 2004-2005 budget.

Introduction of Reports

Director of the Programme, Planning and Budget Division, WARREN SACH, introduced the reports on the International Trade Centre/UNCTAD-WTO (document A/59/405); proposal for the progressive implementation of article 20 of the statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (document A/59/294); financial viability of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) (document A/59/271); and request for a subvention to the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (document A/C.5/59/3 and Corr.1 and Add.1).

The OIOS report on the inspection of programme management and administration of the ITC/UNCTAD-WTO (document A/59/229) was introduced by Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, DILEEP NAIR, who said that one of the indications of the value of the ITC’s services to developing countries and economies in transition was the increase in the financial resources provided by Member States to enable activities beyond those financed by the regular budgets of the United Nations and the WTO.  The Centre’s annual project delivery financed from extrabudgetary sources had grown by 73 per cent between 2000 and 2003, reaching $20 million.  The inspection had ascertained that the funds channelled through the Centre’s Global Trust Fund had played an increasingly important role in its work and the mechanism had been found to be efficient and effective.  The OIOS had also received positive feedback from stakeholders on the relevance and quality of services provided by the ITC.

The OIOS had made recommendations aimed at deepening the commitment of the Centre to results-based management at all levels of the ITC and achieving greater coherence among the monitoring and reporting systems in place, he said.  It had also addressed the need for more horizontal communication among staff and managers.  While the Senior Management Committee was considered effective at enhancing coherence at the top level, increased communication and coordination between divisions and sections would benefit the Centre’s products and services.  To enhance human resource management, the OIOS recommendations referred to more goal-oriented planning of the ITC Human Resources Section, streamlining of the recruitment process, finalization of the training strategy and strengthening implementation of the Performance Appraisal System.  The Centre had accepted all 12 recommendations and had initiated their implementation.

MARIANNE BRZAK-METZLER, Chief of the Conditions of Service Section, Office for Human Resources Management (OHRM), introduced the report of the Secretary-General on the conditions of service and compensation for other than Secretariat officials (document A/C.5/59/2 and Corr.1).

Chairman of the Fifth Committee, DON MACKAY (New Zealand) then drew the Committee’s attention to the reports of the ACABQ and to several oral statements of the Advisory Committee distributed in the room.  According to an oral statement on the report on the rationalization of the financial structure of UNITAR (document A/59/271), the Advisory Committee recommended that the Fifth Committee take note of that document.

In connection with the report of the Secretary-General on the progressive implementation of article 20 of the statute of the Office the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (document A/59/294), the Committee had before it an “oral statement”, according to which the Advisory Committee had taken into account the observations and recommendations of the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) in its consideration of the UNHCR’s annual programme budget for 2005.

Statements

MARI SKAARE (Norway), addressing the Secretary-General’s report on the UNHCR, said United Nations humanitarian organizations should receive much larger contributions from the regular budgets than was the case today.  The UNHCR was aimed at assisting governments in providing protection to the more than 17 million refugees in the world.  Although she considered that a priority task for the United Nations, she noted that only 2.6 per cent of the UNHCR’s budget was covered by the regular budget.

She said the Secretary-General’s proposed continuation of limited increases in the budgets to come, as had been done over the past two bienniums, was too modest.  She was surprised at the proposal to move to a situation where the regular budget would cover only 50.8 per cent of the management and administrative costs when the Assembly, in resolution 58/270, had asked for a proposal on the progressive implementation of article 20 with a view to its full implementation.

SEYED MORTEZA MIRMOHAMMAD (Iran) said resolution 58/270 called for full implementation of article 20, which stated that the administrative expenditures should be borne by the regular budget.  The Secretary-General’s proposal, which put 50 per cent of management and administrative cost to be borne by the regular budget, seemed to be contradictory.

YOO DAE JONG (Republic of Korea) said the total number of refugees was 17 million, an unacceptably large number.  The people living in refugee-like circumstances across borders should also be taken into account.  He supported, therefore, the Secretary-General’s recommendation to gradually increase contributions to the UNHCR.  That would help the UNHCR to perform its important task fully and effectively.

KEIKO KURODA (Japan) sought clarification on the budgetary and practical implications of taking note of the Secretary-General’s report on the statute of the UNHCR.  She also wondered about the scope of the proposal before the Committee and the increase of the United Nations contributions to the Office in the coming bienniums.

DIEGO SIMANCAS (Mexico) focused on the financial viability of UNITAR.  While welcoming the measures to rationalize the financial structure of the Institute, he noted that the level of voluntary contributions remained too low to maintain the training programmes for diplomats accredited to the United Nations.  The Executive Director of the Institute had been requested to ensure that any expansion of training, especially offered free of charge, be adapted to the level of resources available.  He took note of the important work by UNITAR in such places as Iraq or Timor-Leste and added that he himself had benefited from the work of that institution.  The Institute should be able to focus on the execution of its projects and programmes, without having to deal with surviving financially.

THOMAS REPASCH (United States) first addressed the report on the inspection of the International Trade Centre by the OIOS.  While pleased that the Centre had undergone a renewal, he was concerned, however, that it was not more of a results-based organization.  For example, its directors were not employing the results-based methodology to measure achievement of goals and little data had been provided on the indicators of achievement.  Further improvements were needed in that regard.

Regarding the UNHCR, he took note of the report, which called for continuation of a progressive increase in the regular-budget share of its financing.  His delegation supported the work of the UNHCR –- in fact, the United States was one of its major contributors.  However, he recalled several recent reports, which had drawn attention to some issues within the Office.  One of the findings was that the UNHCR did not have a reliable basis to compute data on refugees.  The Joint Inspection Unit also stated that the UNHCR oversight committee appeared to be functioning in an unsatisfactory manner.  He believed that, if the UNHCR expected to receive support from the regular budget, the Organization could expect that institution to improve its efficiency and effectiveness.  Such efforts could include steps to strengthen the Inspector-General’s Office within the UNHCR, especially considering reports of mismanagement there.

Turning to UNITAR, he said that it was supposed to be totally self-funded and his delegation opposed providing it with a subvention from the regular budget, for that reason.  He welcomed the steps to rationalize the financial structure of the Institute and agreed with the call for the management to make sure that any further expansion of training programmes, especially those offered free of charge to diplomats and delegates accredited to the United Nations, be commensurate with the funding available for both direct and administrative and common-service costs involved.

On the conditions of service of other-than-Secretariat officials, he proposed that a three-year review should be replaced with a review conducted every five years.  He also noted that, in paragraph 6 of the ACABQ report, the Advisory Committee said that it had found a number of uncertainties with regard to the current system, since the cost of living did not fluctuate evenly at all places where the judges of the International Court of Justice and the Tribunals sat.  The Secretary-General should be requested to make proposals for the future that would take that factor into account.  In that connection, he had a question for the Secretariat:  Were the Secretary-General to make those proposals today, what would they look like?

Regarding UNIDIR, he said that his delegation supported the objectives and work of that organization.  However, as the Institute had been established to be a voluntarily funded organization, he opposed financing it from the regular budget of the United Nations.  Since the Assembly had been approving the subventions, however, he believed that requests for subvention should be made on an annual basis.

SHOZAB ABBAS (Pakistan) expressed satisfaction with the work of UNITAR and urged the Committee to provide UNITAR with the recommended subvention.

ANJA ZOBRIST RENTENAAR (Switzerland) expressed support for the statements by Norway and Iran regarding the implementation of article 20 of the statute of the Office of the UNHCR.  She said the report on the matter did not meet expectations and she did not agree with the recommendation of a 50.8 per cent contribution towards the management and administrative costs.

NORMA GOICOCHEA ESTENOZ (Cuba) said she supported the proposal that UNITAR be given the subvention, as proposed in the report.

NONYE UDO (Nigeria) said the protection of refugees was a daunting task and every effort should be made to properly support the UNHCR.  Supporting the statement made by Norway, she said Assembly resolutions should be implemented in the spirit the resolution was adopted.  Her country had always supported the activities of UNITAR, as it performed a very important task.  She saw no reason for the Assembly not to continue to support UNITAR.  She, likewise, supported the recommended subvention to UNIDIR.  In conclusion, she expressed concern about the introduction of oral reports.

FATIMA BAROUDI (Morocco) joined the delegations supporting the financial support for UNITAR through an annual subsidy to the Institute.

ABDULMALIK AL-ERIANI (Yemen) reaffirmed the importance of UNITAR, as well as the services it provided free of charge to the delegations, including his own.  He expressed his support for all the activities of the Institute, as well as financial support for UNITAR.

Responding to questions on the progressive implementation of article 20 of the statute of the UNHCR, Mr. SACH said that he found support for its work very encouraging.  The proposal in terms of moving more regular budget funds to support the administration of the UNHCR in implementation of article 20 had been progressing over several bienniums.  That would continue in the future.  Were the United Nations to provide 100 per cent of administrative costs, its share would gradually grow to $145 million.

In the spirit of realism, two bienniums ago, the proposal had been made to begin moving in the direction of a situation where the Organization’s regular budget would cover 50.8 per cent of the management and administrative costs of the UNHCR.  As noted by several speakers, that appeared to be a contradiction with article 20, which called for the United Nations to cover all the administrative costs of the UNHCR.  Over the years, the article had been the subject of interpretation, for its wording was not crystal-clear.  According to its text, unless the Assembly decided otherwise, no expenditure, other than the administrative expenditures relating to the functioning of the Office of the High Commissioner, was to be borne on the budget of the United Nations, and all other expenditures relating to the activities of the High Commissioner were to be financed by voluntary contributions.

He added that the percentage set was not seen as the ceiling.  Given the amount involved, it would have to be understood, however, that any further movement would require financing.  There was no way of supporting the principle without actually paying for it.  Currently, the Secretariat was working on the basis of moving forward at the same pace as in the last two bienniums.

Mr. MIRMOHAMMAD (Iran), reacting to Mr. Sachs statement, said that, based on the interpretation of resolution A/58/270, one could move forward with the issue of progressive implementation and not put 50 per cent as a target.  The resolution was clear.

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