Sixty-first General Assembly

Fifth Committee

7^th Meeting (AM)

BUDGET COMMITTEE TAKES UP CONFERENCE MANAGEMENT, PROGRAMME PLANNING,

INCLUDING PROPOSED STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR 2008 - 2009

 

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning took up the management of the many conferences and meetings organized within the United Nations system, addressing matters such as utilization of facilities, translation and interpretation services, and timely publication of documents.  The Committee also began a discussion of United Nations programme planning, including a proposed strategic framework for 2008-2009.

The representative of South Africa took up an issue addressed by a number of delegations, specifically the budgetary arrangements for conference management at the United Nations Office in Nairobi, and its problems with filling vacancies for Arabic interpretation.  She noted that the Nairobi Office needed to rely on extrabudgetary resources for nearly half of its funding of conference services, as well as central planning and coordination functions, which was contrary to the General Assembly’s recognition that all duty stations should be treated equally.

She and other delegates also expressed concern that interpretation services were only provided to the meetings of regional and other major groupings on an ad hoc basis, and looked forward to further elaboration of the Secretary-General’s two proposals to overcome the problem.  In contrast, the representative from the United States was strongly in favour of maintaining the current policy, which he said had proven largely successful, as 87 per cent of requests for conference services for the meetings of regional groups had been met, even though the number of such requests had risen substantially.  He referred to the Secretary-General’s report, which warned that meeting 100 per cent of those requests would entail the use of significant resources –- something his delegation deemed ill-advised.

The representative of the Russian Federation emphasized that the main goal of the reform of the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management was to improve the provision of services to Member States in six official languages at all duty stations.  Addressing the issuance of documentation, he noted cases of violation of the rules requiring simultaneous distribution of documents in all six official languages.  The latest clear case of such a violation was the issuance of the first consolidated report of the United Nations for 2005.  In fact, the report had been issued in only one of the six official languages.

Syria’s representative agreed that the question of languages at the United Nations was of great importance.  He called for uniformity in the terminology used by both the translation and interpretation services.  He and other delegations also worried that 20 per cent of the language services staff at Headquarters would retire soon and, therefore, supported efforts to train new staff, such as through the Secretariat’s establishment of contacts with universities training interpreters, so graduates could have sufficient skills for work in the Organization.

China’s representative took note of a draft resolution produced by the Committee on Conferences for the Assembly’s consideration.  The Department for General Assembly and Conference Management had made a lot of progress and had gradually turned from a reactive servicing department into a proactive and integrated one.  He noted progress in many areas, including the global management initiative and increased interaction among all duty stations.  He also noted some progress in the area of the issuance of documentation, saying that delayed issuance had much to do with delayed submission of reports.  He hoped the Department would further enhance its communication with author departments to reduce delayed issuance.

Over the issue of programme planning, representatives of South Africa (on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China) and Guyana (on behalf of the Rio Group) stressed the importance of the Committee for Programme and Coordination as the main subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly for planning, programming and coordination and the main body entrusted with the responsibility of assuring a correct translation of the mandates approved by the Assembly into programmes of action by the Secretariat.

The representative of Finland, speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States, highlighted the importance of improving the Committee for Programme and Coordination’s working methods to efficiently respond to the requirements of the United Nations’ current organizational structure.  He said the Union recognized the good work achieved by the Chair of the Committee for Programme and Coordination.  The Union had approved the report on improving the Committee’s working methods, but expected that the matter would be further reviewed in the next session.  He also hoped to address some of the issues in the context of the review of budgetary procedures in the sixty-second session of the Assembly.  With those expectations, the Union confirmed its commitment to finding a common agreement that would allow better and more practical results.

Also speaking today were the representatives of Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Ethiopia.

Reports before the committee were introduced by Nonye Udo (Nigeria), Chairperson of the Committee on Conferences; Jian Chen, Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly Affairs and Conference Management; Rajat Saha, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions; Norma Taylor Roberts, Chairperson of the Committee for Programme and Coordination; Warren Sach, United Nations Controller; and Vladislav Guerassev, representative of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).

The Committee will continue its consideration of programme planning at 3 p.m. Wednesday, 18 October.

Background

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met this morning to consider the issues related to the Organization’s pattern of conferences and programme planning.

On the first issue, the Committee had before it a 2006 report of the Committee on Conferences (document A/61/32), which contains the Organization’s calendar of conferences and meetings and presents the Committee’s deliberations on the utilization of conference-servicing resources and facilities, as well as matters related to documentation, publications, translation, interpretation, and information technology.

A related report of the Secretary-General (document A/61/129) covers integrated global management of conference services, meetings management, proactive document management, and translation- and interpretation-related matters, putting forward a number of proposals on the servicing of regional and other major groupings of Member States, timely submission of documents, control and limitation of documentation, dynamic prioritization of document processing, training of language staff and improvement in the quality of the language services.

According to the document, approaches common to duty stations in New York, Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi were identified at the Seventh Coordination Meeting of Conference Managers last June.  Agreement was reached on such issues as proactive document management; capacity calculations; a common terminology database for language staff; and computer-assisted translation.  The duty stations decided to encourage the use of computer-assisted translation (CAT) and to increase the proportion of documents translated with such technology.  Each station would identify the documents of a repetitive nature that would lend themselves to being processed with CAT and the staff who would work with CAT tools.

The documents also contain information on a study undertaken to document the current state of technology processes, and to recommend ways to upgrade and standardize the information technology at all duty stations.  An information technology governance board was established under the Assistant Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management, comprising senior managers and information technology professionals from all duty stations.  Several project teams were also set up to further integrate and update the system.

According to the statistics in the report, at 85 per cent in 2005, the conference services overall utilization factor was 2 per cent higher than in 2004.  That increase was due solely to the improvement of utilization in New York, as utilization had dipped slightly at all other duty stations.  The benchmark of 80 per cent was surpassed in New York for the first time.  Reassignments of services from cancelled meetings rose from 48 per cent in 2004 to 75 per cent in 2005.  In addition, there was continued improvement in planning accuracy.  In 2005, there was a 34 per cent increase in the number of meetings held without interpretation.  The percentage of meetings held by regional and other major groupings of Member States that were provided with interpretation increased to 87 per cent.

The report also presents two options for servicing meetings of regional and other major groupings of Member States.  The first one relates to “piggybacking” onto a plan to allocate specific services on a weekly basis for meetings of those bodies shown in the calendar with an entitlement to meet “as required”, with no additional budgetary appropriations.  However, additional services for regional groups would still not be guaranteed.  The second option is to earmark specific resources and funds to enhance the predictability for servicing these meetings.

On documentation, the report states that, after years of strict enforcement, the timeliness of submission has improved steadily, although the overall level still shows room for improvement.  Since delays are often caused by factors beyond the Secretariat’s control, the Assembly may wish to encourage Member States to submit their inputs before deadlines in order to ensure timely issuance of the mandated documents.  The report also recommends that, in cases when overwhelming workload, insufficient processing capacity and late submissions combine to make six-week issuance impracticable, the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management be allowed to give first priority to minimizing very late issuances, rather than focusing on achieving six-week issuance.

Efforts to enhance the quality of language services and staff training and to replenish the ranks of the language services will be a major priority of the Department in the year ahead, the report states.  The Secretariat will participate in outreach activities targeting universities that train language professionals in order to make them aware of the staffing needs of the international organizations, and to help develop their curricula to ensure that graduates can function effectively in international organizations.

An addendum to the report (document A/61/129/Add.1) contains a draft calendar of conferences and meetings for 2007.

The Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), in a related report (document A/61/499) encourages further efforts aimed at enhancing the coordinated approach to conference servicing, while emphasizing the need for quality and consistency in all official languages.  In connection with the use of conference services, the ACABQ is of the view that a precise identification of what constitutes “time lost for conference servicing” is very important for proper calculation of the utilization factor; a detailed explanation should be provided of all factors contributing to the loss of time for conference servicing.

Regarding documentation management, the Advisory Committee recommends that timely submission of documents should be included in the proposed programme budget as a performance indicator for author departments.  To better determine the Secretariat’s capacity to produce documentation in a timely manner, the ACABQ requests that an analysis of printing capacity of the United Nations be included in future conference servicing and document management reports.

Concerned that the Secretary-General has not yet implemented the Assembly’s request with regard to the development of quantitative methods and indicators to assess productivity and cost-effectiveness, the ACABQ welcomes the intention of the Secretary-General to report on a regular basis, beginning in 2007, an additional array of performance indicators, including timeliness, quality, financial performance and client satisfaction.  This will represent a concrete step in responding to the General Assembly request contained in paragraph 10 of resolution 58/250.

According to the report, despite the efforts to fill vacant language posts in Nairobi, there were no desired results.  Provided with detailed information on the vacancy situation in the language services in New York, Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi, the Advisory Committee notes that the vacancy rate in the Arabic interpretation booth at Nairobi was 50 per cent as at 31 August 2006.  The ACABQ urges the Department to further intensify its efforts to improve the vacancy situation in Nairobi conference services, considering all possible approaches.  It also sees merit in the Secretariat’s intention to participate, where appropriate, in outreach activities targeting universities that train language professionals to make them aware of the Organization’s staffing needs.  At the same time, it is necessary to expedite timely replacement of retired language staff, expand the recruitment base of linguists and enhance staff training programmes to adequately meet the current and forthcoming challenges of the Organization.

The Secretary-General’s report on the impact of the Capital Master Plan on meetings at Headquarters (document A/61/300) provides a review of the proposal under strategy IV for a phased approach to the renovation.  The construction of a swing space to accommodate meetings during construction is expected to start in July 2007 and finish in June 2008.  While the calendar of meetings of the United Nations for the renovation period, from 2008 to 2013, has not been prepared, there are expected to be about 3,000 meetings of intergovernmental bodies held at Headquarters each year.  Headquarters activities would be largely retained during the renovation, and core activities would not be affected if planned ahead and scheduled carefully.  However, there would not be sufficient conference facilities to accommodate meetings other than these core activities.  Parallel consultations and other events that would involve a large number of participants should be avoided, reduced, or held off-site.

The report suggests that the Assembly may wish to inform calendar bodies to take into consideration the limitations and inflexibility of the entire conference facilities at Headquarters during the renovation period; to instruct all meeting organizers to consult closely with the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management to allow maximum predictability in coordinating Headquarters activities and construction work; and to note that all meetings -– with the exception of those of the Security Council, the General Assembly, and the high-level segment of the Economic and Social Council -– should be held strictly within regular meeting hours, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on working days.

Programme Planning

The Proposed Strategic Framework (document A/61/6, and Programmes 1 through 27) for the biennium 2008-2009 constitutes the principal policy directive of the United Nations and serves as the basis for programme planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation, in accordance with the Regulations and Rules Governing Programme Planning.

The strategic framework is composed of two parts, first the “Plan outline” and then the 27 programme plans, each of which corresponds to the work carried out by an organizational entity, usually at the departmental level.  Each programme is also subdivided into subprogrammes, which report on the objective of the Organization, expected accomplishments of the Secretariat, and the indicators of achievement.

In the Report of the Committee for Programme and Coordination (document A/61/16), that Committee’s forty-sixth session is detailed, in which it took up the Programme performance of the United Nations for the biennium 2004-2005, as well as the proposed strategic framework for 2008-2009.

Regarding the 2004-2005 biennium, the Committee called for the use of programme performance data in decision-making by programme managers.  The Committee also said that all departments needed to provide the required information on time, but appreciated the brief descriptions provided on challenges, obstacles and unmet goals in the report.  It stressed the need to enhance quality control and evaluation criteria for programme implementation, as well as a more introspective and analytical approach.

Concerning the proposed framework for the 2008-2009 period, the Committee said that the efforts to implement the Millennium Declaration and the outcomes of major international conferences and summits needed to be accurately captured in the plan outline, and that all activities and outputs mandated by Member States must be included within the strategic framework.  It sought to understand more about which entities were responsible for each subprogramme.  The Committee recommended retaining the previous biennium’s priorities.  It also called on both the Secretary-General and the General Assembly to review the plan outline and ensure that it accurately reflected the longer-term objectives of the Organization.

The Committee also discussed improving its working methods and procedures, based on a variety of General Assembly resolutions calling on it to do so, as well as the expression in the Committee of the view that its utility should be measured based on what it achieved.  After a thorough discussion of the subject, a broadly supported informal paper was presented by the Chairman which addressed means of improving the Committee’s working methods.

Another report before the Committee (document A/61/125) presents four programmes that have been subject to revision as a result of decisions taken following the adoption of biennial programme plans for 2006-2007.  The proposed revisions to the biennial programme plan (document A/59/6/Rev.1) concern programme 7 (Economic and social affairs) in connection with a resolution adopted by the United Nations Forum on Forests; programme 11 (Environment), owing to the organizational restructuring of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); Programme 14 (Economic and social development in Africa), due to the repositioning of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) to better respond to Africa’s priorities; and Programme 16 (Economic development in Europe) to reflect the reform of the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE).

The Organization’s programme performance report for the biennium 2004-2005 (document A/61/64) provides a comprehensive review of the Secretariat’s performance in implementing expected accomplishments of 188 subprogrammes of the budget approved for 2004-2005, based on the delivery of mandated outputs.  A product of collaboration between the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) and the managers of substantive programmes, the document includes a review of lessons learned and obstacles to implementation.

Chapter I of the report provides an overview of the results accomplished by the Secretariat as a whole, summary output implementation statistics and data on resource use and gender mainstreaming, as well as the observations of OIOS on advancements in implementing results-based management.

Chapter II covers the programme performance of each of the programme budget’s 28 sections, including a summary of programme-level results and performance constraints, followed by a review of performance pertaining to individual subprogrammes and associated expected accomplishments.  Overall, the report includes information on more than 33,000 scheduled outputs, 974 indicators of achievement, and 641 expected accomplishments.

According to the document, notable progress has been achieved by the Organization in the areas of international peace and security; promotion of sustainable development; support for the development of Africa; promotion of human rights and global humanitarian assistance; strengthening international law, drug control and crime prevention; and combating international terrorism.  The output implementation rate of 91 per cent is higher than in any previous biennium.

The report also notes that, while the discipline of programme performance monitoring and reporting has improved considerably, its scope and complexity have brought about the need for a qualitative enhancement of the Integrated Monitoring and Documentation Information System as its main tool.  Also needed is further strengthening of the Organization’s capacity for results-based management, programme performance monitoring and evaluation, as highlighted in the Secretary-General’s most recent reform proposals.

By his note in document A/61/83 and Corr.1, the Secretary-General transmits the report of OIOS on strengthening the role of evaluation findings on programme design, delivery and policy directives.  The Secretary-General takes note of the OIOS recommendations, while drawing attention to the independent external evaluation of auditing, oversight and governance, which is currently under way.

The overall conclusion of the report is that the evaluation practice at the programme level presents a mixed picture and that the Secretariat’s central evaluation capacity is inadequate.  Most evaluation reports received high ratings for “contextual framework” and for the “strength of findings and recommendations”.  However, it is still necessary to strengthen methodological approaches to evaluations and to ensure that conclusions are based on evidence.  It is also important to enhance “usability and impact” of the evaluation reports.

According to the document, a total of 214 evaluations were conducted in 2004-2005.  Problems uncovered during the review include insufficient clarity and uniformity in conducting self-evaluations.  Some progress has been made in the formulation of evaluation plans and identification of resources for monitoring and evaluation activities in 2006-2007.

On the organizational level, there are 14 units throughout the Secretariat that support self-evaluation.  However, the majority of them are responsible for other activities, as well.  In order to determine whether programme evaluation needs are being met with these arrangements, clear criteria for how evaluation needs are to be determined and met are essential.  Overall, only 26 Professional staff members are assigned full-time to evaluation activities.  At the central level, the evaluation function has been weakened over the years.  With a current total staff of three Professionals, it is unable to fully meet its mandate to produce objective evaluations of relevance, efficiency and impact of the Organization’s activities.  At best, it can produce an in-depth evaluation of each Secretariat programme only once every 27 years, together with an annual thematic evaluation.

The OIOS is going to conduct a Secretariat-wide needs assessment exercise to establish evaluation needs at the programme level, including specification of resources required.  It also intends to issue specific guidelines aimed at clarifying current regulations and rules regarding evaluation.  In addition, the OIOS programme budget for 2008-2009 will reflect requirements for rigorous and regular central evaluation of performance and outcomes of Secretariat programmes and activities.  The report concludes with the presentation of topics for in-depth and thematic evaluation for the period 2007-2009.

Pattern of Conferences

NONYE UDO, Chairperson of the Committee on Conferences, introduced that body’s report, saying, among other things, that despite last year’s difficulties, during this year’s session the Committee had decided to work towards producing a draft resolution that could be recommended for adoption by the Assembly, through the Fifth Committee.  The spirit of cooperation had prevailed throughout the meetings, and there was a general feeling that the session had been one of the smoothest ones for some time now.  The draft resolution -- to be found on pages 21 to 27 of the report -- as well as the report itself, had been adopted by consensus.

Regarding the utilization of conference-servicing resources, she said that, like her predecessors, she had conducted consultations with the chairs and secretaries of bodies that had been underutilizing their resources for three years in a row, with a view to finding efficient ways and means to improve the situation.  Following such consultations, three of those bodies had reached or surpassed the 80 per cent benchmark in 2006.

On the provision of conference services to regional and other major groupings, she said that the Committee had noted with concern that, although the percentage of meetings provided with interpretation in 2005 had increased to 87 per cent, it was still below the levels attained in previous reporting periods.  Once again, intergovernmental bodies were urged to spare no effort at the planning stages, to take into account the meetings of regional and other major groupings.

JIAN CHEN, Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management, introduced the Secretary-General’s reports on the matter.  He said that the submission, for the first time, of a single consolidated report on the pattern of conferences was in itself a reform measure aimed at streamlining the Department’s reporting obligations.  He drew the Committee’s attention to the new elements of the report, including the conclusions, many of which were the Secretariat’s proposals to better implement the mandates.

Noticeable achievements had been made by the Nairobi Office, with an increase of 40 per cent in the utilization rate for interpreters during 2004-2005, as compared with the previous biennium, and a utilization factor of 100 per cent up to 31 May this year.  Selection had just been made for the P-3 information technology post, and two candidates had been identified to fill the vacancies in the Arabic interpretation booth.  Moreover, the Department was working with the Office of Human Resources Management on arranging competitive examinations in Arabic as early as feasible in 2007.

Outlining the main accomplishments of the Department, he said that serious efforts had been made to address specific concerns of Member States.  As a result, summary records of the Assembly were now issued within three months of the closure of meetings; backlogs back to 2003 had been cleaned up, and those before 2002 were being worked on; annual surveys of a core sample of intergovernmental bodies were conducted and informational meetings on the quality of language services held twice yearly.  With the help of OIOS, further efforts would be made to improve the procedures for gauging Member States’ satisfaction with conference services.  Specific complaints from Member States were looked into immediately and remedial measures taken.

In conclusion, he said that progress had been made, because the Department planned its work carefully and worked out its plan diligently.  Of the four goals set for the Department, timeliness and cost-effectiveness had improved, as evidenced by a steady increase in the timely issuance of documents and the ability of the Department to maintain a sound budgetary position for two bienniums in a row.  Enhancing productivity from a full-system perspective was a continuous process that had already led to noticeable efficiency gains.  Improving quality had always been a high priority for the Department, even through it was affected by a number of factors, sometimes beyond the Department’s control.

RAJAT SAHA, Chairman of the ACABQ, introduced that body’s report.

Statements

KAREN LOCK (South Africa), speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, supported the Committee on Conferences’ recommendations, saying that they provided a good basis for the Fifth Committee’s work.  She noted that overall utilization of conference resources at all duty stations had increased in 2005 due to improved utilization of Headquarters in New York, which had surpassed the benchmark of 80 per cent for the first time.  She shared ACABQ’s view that time lost for conference servicing needed to be accurately and properly calculated.  She hoped future chairpersons of the Committee would continue to consult with intergovernmental bodies that had utilized less than the applicable benchmark of their allocated resources.  She was concerned that the United Nations Office in Nairobi needed to rely on extrabudgetary resources for nearly half of its funding of conference services, as well as central planning and coordination functions, which she said was contrary to the General Assembly’s recognition that all duty stations should be treated equally.  She appreciated that use of the Economic Commission for Africa’s conference centre had improved considerably.

She said she remained concerned that interpretation services were only provided to the meetings of regional and other major groupings on an ad hoc basis, depending largely on cancellations of meetings by calendar bodies, noting that the actual percentage of provision of interpretation services was far below the levels of four years ago.  She looked forward to further elaboration of the Secretary-General’s two proposals to overcome the problem, particularly with regard to the option of earmarking specific resources and programming meetings in the calendar so as to provide more predictable servicing.

She noted that late issuance of documents from the Department of General Assembly and Conference Management remained a chronic problem, and urged the Secretary-General to hold author departments accountable.  She acknowledged that a shortage of time prevented the Committee on Contributions from issuing recommendations on clear accountability mechanisms, and hoped it would deal with the issue as soon as possible.  She reiterated that guidelines on document page limits issued by the Secretariat should be implemented with some flexibility, and required explanation on why rules governing simultaneous distribution of documents in all official languages were not being adhered to.

She stressed the importance of summary and verbatim records, and sought further details on setting a time frame for the issuance of summary records.  She noted the vacancy situation in Nairobi’s language section, particularly in Arabic, and expected more concrete action to solve that longstanding problem through the assistance of Member States in advertising and facilitating language examinations.  She said cost savings should not be pursued at the expense of quality when recruiting short-term language services staff.  Finally, she looked forward to considering the final assessment of the Secretariat on the Integrated Global Management Project, and supported the Committee on Contributions’ recommendations regarding the impact on meetings held at Headquarters during the Capital Master Plan.

TAPIO PYYSALO ( Finland), speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States, placed great value on the effectiveness, efficiency, accuracy and quality of conference services with consistency in all official languages in the United Nations.  He welcomed the progress achieved in reform, particularly in the areas of proactive document management, capacity calculations, terminology coordination, computer-assisted translation, and in the information technology global initiative, which were improving the working methods and tools of the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management.

He agreed with ACABQ that a precise identification of lost time in conference-servicing was important to further advancing efficiency.  During the implementation of the Capital Master Plan, he noted the recommendation that meetings should be held within regular meeting hours to allow for uninterrupted construction work.  He said the European Union could endorse the draft resolution proposed by the Committee on Conferences as a package, but that it could revisit some elements, if the overall balance was questioned.

DAVID IBSEN ( United States) commended the members of the Committee on Conferences for putting forward a consensus resolution containing recommendations for the Fifth Committee’s consideration.  He endorsed most of the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report.

With a budget of nearly $590 million for the current biennium, he said that conference management was the second largest budget line item.  As a strong supporter of effective and efficient conference management, his delegation appreciated the ongoing efforts of the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management to improve efficiency of operations.  In particular, he noted the increase in the overall utilization rate at the United Nations duty stations, the Secretary-General’s recommendations pertaining to control and limitation of documentation, and strategies for further implementing an integrated global management strategy.  While noting the steps taken by the Department towards streamlining operations, however, it was still imperative for Member States to encourage the Department to make continued efforts towards enhancing efficiency.  Any step taken towards reducing the cost, frequency and duration of meetings in the future was a step in the right direction.

With regard to the Calendar of Conferences and Meetings, he noted that overall utilization rates had steadily increased across the four duty stations.  His delegation encouraged the Department to continue to find ways to effectively utilize conference services across the United Nations.  The loss of resources as a result of late starts, early endings and cancellations of meetings was largely avoidable if the chairmen of various committees communicated effectively with the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management.

His delegation was strongly in favour of maintaining the current policy of providing conference services, as resources were available, for the meetings of regional and other major groupings, he said.  That ad hoc arrangement had proven largely successful, as 87 per cent of requests for conference services for the meetings of regional groups had been met even though the number of such requests had risen substantially.  That rate of accommodation was more than acceptable, considering the limited resources available.  As indicated in the Secretary-General’s report, meeting 100 per cent of those requests would entail the use of significant resources –- something his delegation deemed ill-advised.  He encouraged the Department to work with the chairmen of other main committees and major conferences in making arrangements with regional groups, similar to what had been done in the Fifth Committee.

Regarding document management, he noted that the timeliness of submissions had improved steadily and that timely submission was now included as a performance indicator in the Secretary-General’s annual compact with department heads.  He appreciated that it was part of an overall effort by the Department to enhance transparency and accountability as far as issuance of documents was concerned.

MUHAMMAD MUHITH ( Bangladesh) said that the draft resolution of the Committee on Conferences mirrored substantive discussions Member States had in the Committee, and formed a good basis for the work of the Fifth Committee, as well as guidance for the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management to carry out its responsibilities more effectively.  He commended the Department’s progress in reform, and trusted that it would continue to further develop and meet the requirements of the intergovernmental process.  He was pleased to learn that the project on integrated global management had also made progress, and brought the New York, Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi duty stations closer together, and sought continuous improvement of the process.  He underlined that quality and consistency of translations should not be compromised due to implementation of computer-assisted translation.  He also sought more information on the Department’s reported lack of actual oversight and control over the use of common funds at duty stations other than New York.

He then underscored the need for duty stations to readily gather, access, and share information.  He appreciated the Department’s information technology global initiative, sought to know more about the work of its information technology governance board, and looked forward to ACABQ’s consideration of information technology matters.  He remained concerned about the perennial problem of late issuance of documents, and agreed with ACABQ that timely submission of documents should be included in the proposed programme budget as a performance indicator for author departments.  He called for innovative ideas from the Secretariat to find a tangible solution to the problem of vacancy rates at the language sections of different duty stations, particularly Nairobi, and worried that the problem would be further aggravated by the retirement of 20 per cent of language staff at Headquarters in the next five years.  He was happy to learn that two Arabic language staff were to be hired at Nairobi.

MAXIM N. GOLOVINOV ( Russian Federation) noted the Committee on Conferences’ successful work in 2006 and emphasized the extremely important role of that body in ensuring effective management of United Nations conferences and meetings and consideration of issues in the area of conference management.  His delegation attached great importance to the reform of the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management, the main goal of which was to improve the provision of services to Member States in six official languages at all duty stations.  He noted many initiatives of the Department, including implementation of e-systems to improve document processing and management of meetings.  However, in pursuing reform, any innovations had to be carefully analysed.  The development of new working methods and implementation of new technologies should be targeted, taking into account the unique nature of various existing services.  Reform must move in an evolutional way, replacing outmoded methods and technologies with new ones, whose effectiveness was proven and undisputed.

Particular prudence was needed in reforming the language services, whose unique nature could not be doubted, he continued.  The primary goal of reforming their work was to enhance the quality of interpretation and translation in six official languages.  As for the project undertaken by the Department to pursue global management, the key to success lay in a balanced division of labour between United Nations duty stations and Headquarters.  He also expected that the implementation of that project would help to rapidly address completion of posting of all United Nations documents on the Organization’s website, the use of new technologies in all languages, and unification of United Nations terminology with full respect to grammatical and stylistic norms of respective languages.

Turning to the issuance of documentation, he noted cases of violation of the rules requiring simultaneous distribution of documents in all six official languages.  The latest clear case of such a violation was the issuance of the first consolidated report of the United Nations for 2005.  In fact, the report had been issued in only one of the six official languages.  His delegation requested the Secretariat to reissue that document as soon as possible in all official languages.

Continuing, he stressed that the primary criterion for the success of the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management was the degree of satisfaction of Member States with the services provided.  The Department should work out effective integrated mechanisms that would make it possible to systematically trace the degree of client satisfaction.  The delegations who used conference services in six official languages should be given equal opportunities for conveying their opinions to the management.  He gave a positive assessment to the regular briefings on the quality of language services conducted by the Secretariat.  However, the outcome of such sessions must lead to specific measures to resolve the problems raised by Member States.  In that connection, his delegation continued to have serious concerns over the interpretation from Russian into English.  As for the interpretation and translation into Russian, the quality of services -- while not above reproach -- had become better.  The management of the Russian Translation Service had introduced measures to improve accountability of individual staff members for the quality of their work.

He also expected that recent competitive exams for Russian translators, interpreters, verbatim reporters and editors would allow the Secretariat to staff those services with highly qualified staff.  He hoped that similar results would be achieved as a result of examinations in other languages.  He supported the initiative of the Department to revitalize contacts with language education institutions in various countries to improve the preparation of language staff for the United Nations.  One factor determining the stability of the quality of translation and interpretation was providing equally favourable conditions for staff in all languages.  The Russian Federation was also of the view that implementation of the Capital Master Plan in New York should not compromise the quality of conference services or equal treatment of all language services in the Secretariat.

YASSAR DIAB ( Syria) called the question of languages at the United Nations of great importance to his delegation.  He was satisfied with the utilization rate of resources in the four duty stations, but stressed the need to have them treated equally.  He called the Nairobi Office one of the most important, and was concerned with the difficulty in filling its Arabic language posts.  He called on the Secretary-General to urgently deal with the matter, and asked for Member States’ help in announcing vacancies and facilitating tests to fill the posts.  He said interpretation for regional groups was important to facilitating their work.  He also said there was a need for the translation and interpretation services to reflect standards and norms at the most recent levels, and called for uniformity in the terminology used by those two services.  He noted that 20 per cent of the staff at Headquarters would retire soon, and supported efforts to enhance the quality of services and train new staff, such as the Secretariat’s establishment of contacts with universities training interpreters, so graduates could have sufficient skills for work in the Organization.

He also attached importance to document quality and timeliness, as well as simultaneous issuance in all official languages.  He drew attention to the problem of some documents not appearing in all official languages on the Internet.  He called those documents the institutional memory of the United Nations, and was pleased with the pilot project of the sixtieth session General Assembly aimed at publishing all summary records three months following the regular session.  He believed timetables should be set for publication of summary records.

SHEN YANJIE ( China) endorsed the position of the Group of the 77, but wanted to make additional comments on some issues.  This year, the Committee on Contributions, after intensive discussions, had produced a draft resolution for the Assembly’s consideration.  He noted with appreciation that, in the past five years, the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management had made a lot of progress and that the Department had gradually turned from a reactive servicing department into a proactive and integrated one.  He noted progress in many areas, including the global management initiative and increased interaction among all duty stations.  He also noted some progress in the area of the issuance of documentation, saying that delayed issuance had much to do with delayed submission of reports.  She hoped the Department would further enhance its communication with author departments to reduce delayed issuance.  As for transparency and accountability, he noted that the Department had gradually adopted measures to better measure performance.  For instance, customer satisfaction had been included as an indicator of performance.

On language services, he noted a series of measures to improve their quality, including the training of language staff and information meetings with Member States.  The feedback from clients would help to improve the quality of language services.  Meanwhile, the internal control and management of language services was very important.  It was important to ensure the use of the latest terminology by translation and interpretation staff.  As for the language staff, efforts should be made to let them enjoy equal treatment and working conditions.  Efforts must be made to improve the working conditions so they could produce the best quality of service.  Also, attention must be paid to simultaneous distribution of documents in all six official languages.

IMTIAZ HUSSAIN ( Pakistan) said that the Committee on Conferences’ draft resolution provided a good basis for the Fifth Committee’s work.  He called existing reforms dealing with translation and interpretation steps in the right direction, and said that the accuracy and quality of translation should not be affected by computer-assisted translation.  He was pleased that the benchmark for utilization of resources had passed 80 per cent for the first time, although it had been offset by utilization of resources in other duty stations.  He said every hour of conference time cost the Organization thousands of dollars, and new meetings should, therefore, only be conducted when they were essential.  He suggested that resources used for that purpose were better off spent on the Development Account.  He observed that important matters came up after 6 p.m., and sound services should be available when extraordinary matters emerged.  He called for equitable treatment of all duty stations and all languages.  For servicing of regional and other group meetings, he said there was still a wide scope for improvement, as existing improvements were far below the interpretation services provided in 2002.  Those services were a requirement, not a luxury, if the view of each and every Member State was to be accurately reflected.

He then stated that he wanted to know more about the system of follow-up on complaints about the quality of translation.  In light of the pending retirement of a sizeable group of translators, he called current planning a step in the right direction.  For the summary records of meetings, he said the primary goal should be effective preservation of records, and not cost savings.  He warned that late issuance of documents impaired consideration of matters before the General Assembly by smaller delegations.  While compliance with the rules had shown improvement, he said it was still far below the desired level.  Finally, he noted that, with the Capital Master Plan coming to implementation soon, bodies holding conferences must be cognizant of the scarcity of conference space.

HAILE SELASSIE GETACHEW ( Ethiopia) supported the position of the Group of 77 and China and expressed his pleasure that the Committee on Conferences had been able to successfully complete its session.  He was confident that the draft resolution produced by the Committee would be a good basis of the Fifth Committee’s consideration of the agenda item on conference services.

On the utilization of conference facilities at different duty stations, he noted with satisfaction the increase in use at all duty stations, including the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) conference centre in Addis Ababa.  The Commission had a strong information technology team and publishing facility.  He concurred with the suggestion that the African Union should consider outsourcing some of its publishing to the Commission.  The Commission also needed to cooperate more closely with the United Nations Office at Nairobi, as far as information technology and exchange of experiences and best practices were concerned.

Ms. UDO expressed appreciation to the committee for its stewardship of the subject matter, and suggested that, during the informal consultations on the agenda item, she would offer more thorough answers to questions that were raised.

Mr. CHEN said that the comments of the Committee were carefully noted by him and his staff, and would be taken into account in their future work.  He said more detailed remarks would be offered in informal consultations.  In reference to the First Consolidated Report on the Work of the United Nations referred to by the Russian Federation, it was his understanding that it was a prototype, and was not for consideration at the current stage.

Programme Planning

NORMA TAYLOR ROBERTS, Chairperson of the Committee for Programme and Coordination, noted that, after considering the Biennial Programme Plans, the Committee had made recommendations on 26 of 27 Programmes presented to it.  It had decided to recommend that the General Assembly allocate Programme 19 (Human rights) to the Third Committee for its review and action, and subprogramme 1 (Economic and Social Council support and coordination) of Programme 7 (Economic and social development) to the Second Committee for its review.  She also said the Committee for Programme and Coordination had recommended that the General Assembly review the Plan Outline (Part One) for the proposed strategic framework for the period 2008-2009 to ensure it more accurately reflected the longer-term objectives of the Organization.

Continuing, she said the Committee for Programme and Coordination agreed that OIOS should continue to undertake evaluations for submission to the Committee, and topics to be presented to it by OIOS had been selected up to 2009.  The Committee made a number of recommendations related to the annual overview report for 2005-2006 of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, particularly in the area of malnutrition and hunger.  It also made note of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development’s (NEPAD) key achievements, and recommended that the General Assembly consider recommendations 1 through 10 from the Joint Inspection Unit’s report on “Further measures to strengthen the United Nations system support for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)”.

WARREN SACH, United Nations Controller, presented the proposed Strategic Framework for the period 2008-2009.  He said work would continue to ensure the programmes were updated to reflect the impact of intergovernmental decisions taken subsequent to the presentation of the Strategic Framework, and that the outcomes of some detailed reviews had already been incorporated into the proposals, while other proposals had been provided to the Committee for Programme and Coordination when it reviewed the Strategic Framework.  He noted that the proposal had benefited from the experience gained for the 2002-2005 period, when the logical framework showing the relationship among objectives, strategy, expected accomplishments, and indicators of achievement was first applied.  He said revisions were required for programmes 7 (Economic and social affairs), 11 (Environment), 14 (Economic and social development in Africa), and 16 (Economic development in Europe).  He also said that programme narratives contained in the revised estimates for the 2005 World Summit Outcome would be considered by the Committee for Programme and Coordination.

VLADISLAV GUERASSEV, Officer-in-Charge, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Consulting Division of the OIOS, introduced the report of the Secretary-General on the programme performance of the United Nations for 2004-2005.  He observed a noticeable improvement in monitoring and reporting by programmes during the last biennium, which had been contributed to by OIOS’ intensive training and coaching to 770 managers and staff in 8 duty stations.  The programme performance report had been presented with a heavy electronic component to reduce the volume of documentation while also providing a gateway to diverse and detailed programme information.  He said the first part of the programme performance report provided an overview of key results achieved by the United Nations, while Part II contained the results accomplished by programmes.  Those parts included an analysis of delivery of outputs and resource utilization, as well as total implementation rates for each programme and subprogramme.  He noted that the 90 per cent implementation rate for mandated outputs was 6 per cent higher than the 2003-2004 rate, the highest ever achieved by the Secretariat, which indicated more realistic planning and more effective use of resources in implementing outputs.  He said collaboration with the Programme Planning and Budget Division and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs were essential to the work of OIOS.  He also noted the high volume of downloading of the programme performance report.  He concluded by referring to the Committee for Programme and Coordination’s commendation of OIOS for advancing a results-based culture in the United Nations.

He also introduced the report on “strengthening the role of evaluation and the application of evaluation findings in programme design, delivery, and policy” (document A/61/183).

Speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, Ms. LOCK ( South Africa) said that the Group attached great importance to the work performed by the Committee for Programme and Coordination as the main subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council and the Assembly for planning, programming and coordination.  The Committee performed a fundamental role in programme design by ensuring that the Secretariat accurately interpreted and translated legislative mandates into programmes and subprogrammes.  It also identified programmatic changes arising from decisions by intergovernmental bodies, which was crucial for the Organization’s smooth functioning.  The Committee for Programme and Coordination also provided assurances that the objectives and strategies of the Organization had been derived from the priorities and goals set by Member States.  The Group consequently welcomed the detailed evaluation carried out by the Committee for Programme and Coordination of the programmes.

The Group strongly endorsed the recommendations of the Committee for Programme and Coordination, she continued, and appreciated the improvements in the format of the programme performance report.  The Group trusted that programme managers would make every effort to improve programme delivery and that those that underperformed consistently would be held accountable for less than satisfactory implementation of programmes.

Regarding the strategic framework for 2008-2009, she said that during the forty-sixth session, the Committee for Programme and Coordination had successfully reviewed the proposed outline.  In that connection, she recalled that the first outline had not met the expectations of the Assembly in 2004 and that it had consequently requested the Committee for Programme and Coordination to monitor that aspect of the budget and planning experiment embarked on in 2003.  The Group noted that the proposed outline for 2008-2009 did not meet the provisions of resolution 58/269, as it did not accurately reflect the longer-term objectives of the Organization based on its legislative mandates.  It would be useful if the Secretariat revised the proposed plan outline and resubmitted it for Member States’ consideration, to facilitate the Assembly’s decision in 2007 on the future of the experiment.  Programme managers should play a more active role in the preparations of the plan outline, and it might be useful if the Office of the Secretary-General oversaw the drafting process.  In the meantime, it would be prudent to approve the priorities for the next biennium, not to delay the preparation of the next budget.

She also congratulated the Committee for Programme and Coordination for completing its revision of the proposed biennial programme plan for 2008-2009 within the time allocated for that crucial task.  That was one of the most important mandates of the Committee for Programme and Coordination and was crucial for the smooth functioning of the Organization.  She also noted that the Committee had been able to make recommendations on programmes that it had been unable to reach consensus on during its forty-fourth and earlier sessions, due to political sensitivities.  She appreciated the constructive approach of the Committee for Programme and Coordination to those sensitive programmes.  Also valuable was its detailed examination of coordination questions in the report of the United Nations Chief Executive Board and the reports on NEPAD.  The Group trusted that every effort would be made by the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination to strengthen the implementation of the development agenda.  She welcomed the efforts of the Board to develop a system-wide approach in the fight against hunger and poverty and firmly supported the recommendation of the Committee for Programme and Coordination that the Board continue to work on that important issue and report on the progress achieved.  The Board should also continue to ensure effective coordination of the United Nations system support for NEPAD.

The Group was appreciative of the efforts by the Committee for Programme and Coordination to respond to the provisions of resolution 60/257 by not only ensuring that it effectively concluded important matters before it, but also by successfully addressing the request to consider measures to improve its working methods, she continued.  The Group had always maintained that the Committee for Programme and Coordination alone, as an intergovernmental body, had the right to improve its working methods in any manner it deemed necessary.  She was pleased that the Committee had been able to reach broad agreement on the Chairman’s text, which it had, for the first time ever, agreed to reflect in its report.

TAPIO PYYSALO ( Finland), speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States, said that the strategic framework was a fundamental pillar for building the United Nations’ budget, and felt that the capacity of reports should, therefore, be strengthened to implement and rationalize targets and indicators of achievement.  He highlighted the importance of improving the Committee for Programme and Coordination’s working methods to efficiently respond to the requirements of the United Nations’ current organizational structure.  He said the European Union had approved the report on improving the Committee for Programme and Coordination’s working methods, but expected that they would be further reviewed in the next session.  He also looked forward to the review of budgetary procedures during the General Assembly’s sixty-second session, and confirmed a commitment to find a common agreement.  He noted that the plan outline contained in part one of the Secretary-General’s report and the specific programmes of Economic and Social Council support and coordination, as well as Human Rights, remained to be finalized, and he trusted that the Second and Third Committees, in particular, would find a successful conclusion to those latter two issues.

TROY TORRINGTON (Guyana), speaking on behalf of the Rio Group, supported the position of the Group of 77 and China and endorsed the recommendations of the Committee for Programme and Coordination, reiterating its importance as the main body entrusted with the responsibility of assuring a correct translation of the mandates approved by the Assembly into programmes of action by the Secretariat.  He stressed its valuable action in reflecting the interests of all Member States.  He also welcomed the successful outcome of the Committee’s deliberations on the strategic framework for 2008-2009, which constituted the basis for the elaboration of the programme budget, and commended the Committee’s role in coordinating various issues, including system-wide support for NEPAD and the fight against hunger and poverty.

He appreciated the discussions and conclusions of the Committee for Programme and Coordination on the ways of improving its working methods, he continued.  The Group commended the Chairman for the submission of a text that had reached broad agreement within the Committee, and he took this opportunity to restate the Group’s commitment to advancing discussion on that aspect, openly building on the Chairman’s text.  He hoped that, unlike in the Committee for Programme and Coordination, it would be possible for all Member States to be associated with the final consensus, in that regard.

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For information media • not an official record