Fifty-ninth General Assembly

Fifth Committee

32^nd Meeting (AM)

BUDGET COMMITTEE APPROVES DECISION CONCERNING ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

FOR HIGH-LEVEL PLENARY MEETING TO REVIEW ANTI-POVERTY GOALS

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning informed the General Assembly that, should it adopt a resolution on the organization of its High-level Plenary Meeting from 14 to 16 September 2005, the Committee would consider related resource requirements, when it takes up the second performance report for the biennium 2004-2005 at the sixtieth session.

That decision, adopted without a vote, was taken after consideration of the programme budget implications of draft resolution A/59/L.53 (document A/C.5/59/25), introduced by Warren Sach, Director, Programme Planning and Budget Division.

Mr. Sach stated that additional resource requirements for the High-level Plenary Meeting to review progress towards implementation of the Millennium Declaration, as well as other events, including the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development on 27 and 28 June and the substantive session of the Economic and Social Council thereafter, were estimated at $1.06 million.  If additional requirements resulted, the Assembly would be informed in the second performance report for the biennium 2004-2005.

A report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (document A/59/613), introduced by its Chairman, Vladimir Kuznetsov, however, recommended that every effort be made to absorb the requested amount, and that the Assembly should be informed that no additional appropriation would arise at this time in case the resolution were adopted, pending submission of the second performance report.

Mr. Kuznetsov expressed the opinion that better analysis should have been provided of the resource requirements and possibilities for absorption and redeployment within existing capacity and that the Secretariat should make a greater effort to reorder priorities to accommodate those activities from within existing resources.  The Advisory Committee had identified some potential savings and possibilities for absorption and redeployment within existing capacity.

While the representative of the United States agreed with the Advisory Committee’s recommendations, the representative of Cuba asked how the Secretariat could reorder its priorities without guidance from the Assembly.  Moreover, she said, although the Advisory Committee had said that the Secretariat had not provided enough information, its own recommendations were not grounded in information either. She proposed to grant the appropriations asked for by the Secretariat and to await the second performance report for the biennium 2004-2005.

Explaining his position on the vote, the representative of Qatar (on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China) supported the High-level Plenary Meeting and said that the Group would be ready to support approval of a charge against the contingency fund as prepared by the Secretary-General.  He regretted that the Advisory Committee, without proper justification, had recommended that resources requested should be absorbed within existing capacity.  The Group could neither endorse nor take note of that report.  However, taking into account the time constraints, it would accept, on an exceptional basis, the decision to revert to the issue of additional appropriations in connection with the Meeting in the context of the second performance report.  The representatives of Cuba, South Africa (on behalf of the African Group) and Syria supported that statement.

Also explaining his position, the representative of the Netherlands (on behalf of the European Union) agreed with the decision to revert to consideration of the matter in the context of the second performance report.  That would provide the Secretariat with the necessary resources to finance the Meeting, which the European Union fully supported.  However, the Union also agreed that every effort should be made to absorb those requirements from existing resources.

The Committee will meet again at a date to be announced.

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