Sixty-first General Assembly

Fifth Committee

34^th Meeting (AM)

Budget committee recommends $170.2 million for Timor-Leste mission; Also takes up

financing for political missions, 2006-2007 performance report

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning recommended that the General Assembly authorize an amount not exceeding some $170.22 million for the establishment of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) to cover the period from 25 August 2006 to 31 March 2007.

According to a draft resolution, which was approved by consensus, the commitment authority provides for deployment of 34 military liaison and staff officers, 1,608 police personnel, 480 international staff, 1,075 national staff and 380 United Nations Volunteers, as well as requirements for 22 general temporary assistance positions.  The Secretary-General would be authorized to finance up to 22 general temporary assistance positions at Headquarters to provide support for the deployment of the Mission from the resources approved for the peacekeeping support account.

The Fifth Committee also considered a report regarding the estimates for special political missions, good offices and other political initiatives that had been authorized by the General Assembly and/or the Security Council.  That report had been grouped around three thematic clusters, namely:  Special and Personal Envoys, Special Advisers and Personal Representatives of the Secretary General; Sanctions Monitoring Teams, Groups and Panels; and United Nations offices, peacebuilding support offices, integrated offices, as well as the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

The report, introduced by Sharon Van Buerle, Director, Programme Planning and Budget Division, stated that the total requirements of those mission in 2007 would amount to $389.89 million gross ($364.87 million net) for 27 missions, of which $98.5 million would be met through unencumbered balances.  The overall additional requirements requested would thus amount to some $294 million gross ($269 million net).  UNAMA and UNAMI would account for nearly 70 per cent of the total resources requested, and 72 per cent of all posts requested.

Dagfinn Knutsen, Acting Director of the Internal Audit Division of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), presented the OIOS report on the audit of the Department of Political Affairs’ management of special political missions, saying that, while the results of the audit indicated that the Department’s ability to guide and manage such missions was generally satisfactory, the shortcomings could, to some extent, be attributed to a lack of clearly established responsibilities and specific policies relating to the management of special political missions.  Furthermore, the Department had advised that its human and financial resources were not adequate to carry out its mandated responsibilities.  The political and peacekeeping Departments’ mandates had not been updated, and did not accurately reflect their current roles.  There was an inherent risk of duplication and overlap regarding the functions of Department of Political Affairs regional divisions and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations Office of Operations.

The accompanying report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), introduced by its Chairman, Rajat Saha, while welcoming the improved format, recommended an overall reduction of 10 per cent, or $36.49 million in the proposed resource requirements.

Speakers, expressing frustration at the late issuance of the documents, mostly expressed support for the required resources and welcomed efforts by the Secretariat to improve the budget presentation.

The representative of South Africa, on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, noted that the initial special political missions’ appropriation for the entire 2006-2007 biennium had been $355 million.  In the first year of the biennium, the Organization had already used more than that.  Now, there was a request to provide for 2007 almost the same amount that the Secretariat had thought would be needed for the whole biennium.

Another report considered this morning was the Secretary-General’s first United Nations performance report for 2006-2007, introduced by Warren Sach, Controller.  That report identified adjustments in the level of appropriations required as a result of variations in exchange rates, inflation, unforeseen and extraordinary experts and additional mandates approved by the General Assembly and the Security Council.  The revised net requirements amounted to some $3.45 billion, an increase of $52.4 million vis-à-vis the appropriation approved at the end of July.

The representative of South Africa, on behalf of the Group of 77, said the Group had noted the increase in provisions for special political missions, the only real areas of growth in the regular budget.  As the development agenda was also of great importance, he was concerned about the lack of growth in that area and regretted, in that regard, the breakdown in negotiations on funding the Development Account from savings in the budget.  The report had not contained any information on such savings.  Clearly, the funding mechanism was not functioning and concrete action was required by the Assembly.  Also, in 2005 the Assembly had agreed to increase the Development Account by $5 million.  That had not happened, either.

He also noted that the experiment of limited discretion approved by the Assembly, which authorized the Secretary-General to enter into commitments for up to $20 million per biennium for posts and non-post requirements, had not been utilized.  The Secretariat had been unable to identify posts to be redeployed as part of the experiment.

Other matters addressed this morning were a report on the utilization of the $11.2 million subvention for the Special Court for Sierra Leone; revised estimates resulting from resolutions and decisions adopted by the Economic and Social Council at its 2006 substantial session; revised estimates resulting from resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council; and programme budget implication of a draft resolution on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.

The representatives of Finland (on behalf of the European Union), Japan, Brazil, Egypt, Pakistan, Guatemala, Cuba, Syria and the Sudan also spoke.  Catherine Pollard, Director, Peacekeeping financing Division also made a short statement.

The Fifth Committee will meet again at a date to be announced to take action on all outstanding issues.

Background

This morning, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) was expected to take up a number of reports remaining to be considered before the end of the session.

The Secretary-General’s first United Nations performance report for 2006-2007 (document A/61/593) -- a document that is traditionally submitted in the first year of each biennium -- identifies adjustments in the level of appropriations required as a result of variations in exchange rates, inflation, unforeseen and extraordinary items and additional mandates that were approved by the General Assembly and the Security Council following the adoption of the budget.

Following adoption of various resolutions of the General Assembly during the course of its resumed sixtieth session this year, the revised requirements under the expenditure sections of the 2006-2007 budget amount to some $3.91 billion -- an increase of $81.2 million vis-à-vis the appropriation approved by the end of July 2006 (or $112.3 million more than the initial appropriation approved in December 2005).  The revised estimate under the income sections amounts to $463.7 million, an increase of $28.9 million.  Consequently, net requirements amount to some $3.45 billion, an increase of $52.4 million.

An addendum to this document contains a report on the utilization of the $11.2 million subvention for the Special Court for Sierra Leone (document A/61/593/Add.1), which was provided to meet the Court’s cash requirements for the end of 2005 and cover the liquidation of its outstanding obligations.

As at 31 December 2005, remittances to the Sierra Leone Court for November-December 2005 amounted to $4.5 million from the regular budget, reflecting a decrease of $1.7 million from the previously estimated amount of $6.2 million, due to the slower than anticipated pace of the Court’s activities.  Accordingly, as of 1 January 2006, the unencumbered balance from the appropriation amounted to $6.7 million.

However, the Court’s liabilities as at 31 December 2005 reflected an increase of some $589,327 from the projected amount of $5 million.  During the period from January 2006 to the date of the report, a sum of some $3.41 million was disbursed in monthly instalments to the Court to cover the liquidation of those obligations.  At the same time, an amount of just over $281,804 in obligations has been cancelled.  Accordingly, at present, the level of unliquidated obligations has been reduced to some $1.89 million.  The Court anticipates that cash requirements in the amount of some $885,178 will be required to cover the liquidation of obligations before the end of this year and that the remaining balance of $1.01 million will be cancelled.  Accordingly, the remaining balance of obligations would be settled by 31 December this year.

The report recommends that the Assembly note that the estimated unspent balance of some $2.4 million of the $11.2 million subvention to the Special Court in Sierra Leone will be surrendered under the programme budget as at December 2006, in accordance with regulation 5.3 of the Financial Regulations and Rules of the United Nations.

In a report on the revised estimates resulting from resolutions and decisions adopted by the Economic and Social Council in 2006 (document A/61/370) the Secretary-General states that the requirements arising from those texts are estimated at $257,500, all of which could be absorbed within the existing budget for 2006-2007, or via extrabudgetary funds.  Consequently, no additional appropriation is sought over and above the level of funding already approved.

Resolutions and decisions adopted by the Council authorized functional commissions, standing committees or expert bodies to undertake additional activities, including meetings, for which no provisions had been made in the 2006-2007 programme budget.  Resolutions requiring additional budgetary resources concern the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti (2006/10), Follow-up to the World Summit on the Information Society and review of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (2006/46), and the outcome of the sixth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (2006/49).

The Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), in a related report (document A/61/498), notes that, should the actual requirements exceed the absorptive capacity of the budget, additional provisions would be reported in the context of the second performance report for the biennium 2006-2007.  The Advisory Committee has no objection to the Secretary-General’s approach.

Also before the Committee were revised estimates resulting from resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council in 2006 (document A/61/530).  Expenditure requirements arising from the work of the Council are estimated at $6.03 million, with provisions already made for $4.32 million in the 2006-2007 budget.  The balance of $1.7 million was anticipated to be absorbed within resources already provided for the current biennium, and the requirements for 2008-2009 estimated at $2.64 million will be considered in the context of the proposed programme budget for that biennium.

Two particular decisions of the Council accounted for a significant portion of the additional required resources:  resolution 1/1:  International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, would require $1.88 million, but not until the 2008-2009 biennium, as the Convention has not yet come into force; and the President’s Statement 1/PRST.1 on entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment would require an estimated $2.37 million.  However, a thorough review of the use of resources by the Secretariat found it possible to accommodate all of these resource requirements within the existing budget.

Other matters requiring additional resources include resolutions on:  the Open-Ended Working Group on an optional protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (requiring $830,800); the right to development; the Intergovernmental Working Group on the effective implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action; the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory; and the grave situation of human rights in Lebanon caused by Israeli military operations (requiring $537,500).  Resources were also required from decisions on extension by the Human Rights Council of all mandates, mechanisms, functions and responsibilities of the Commission on Human Rights, universal periodic review, implementation of paragraph 6 of General Assembly resolution 60/251 (which required $738,600 to be absorbed within the 2006-2007 budget), and the human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories.

An addendum to this document (document A/61/530/Add.1) describes the budgetary requirements resulting from resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council at its resumed second session, its third session and its third special session in 2006.  The requirements arising as a result of the decisions that are the subject of this report are estimated at $1.57 million.  It is envisaged that, to the extent possible, this amount would be accommodated within the existing appropriation for 2006-2007 and reported in the context of the second performance report on the budget for 2006-2007.  Furthermore, the indicative requirements for the biennium 2008-2009, estimated at $755,100, will be considered in the context of the proposed programme budget for 2008-2009.

According to the programme budget implication statement on the Third Committee’s draft resolution A/C.3/61/L.38/Rev.1 on the situation of human rights in Myanmar (document A/C.5/61/14), the adoption of that text would entail additional requirements amounting to $234,800 gross, under the 2006-2007 budget, for the continuation of the Secretary-General’s good offices in Myanmar.  The proposed resources would cover the salaries for the Special Envoy for Myanmar, to be engaged on a “when actually employed” basis, and for a local staff member who would provide support to that official; the official travel of the Special Envoy; the services of a consultant, and miscellaneous services in support of the mission.

The Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), in a related report (document A/61/613) recommends that the Committee inform the Assembly that, should it adopt the draft, additional requirements of up to $234,800 gross would be required for the period from 1 January to 31 December 2007 for the continuation of the good offices of the Secretary-General relating to the situation in Myanmar.  Requirements would be included in the report of the Secretary-General on estimates in respect of special political missions, good offices and other political initiatives authorized by the Assembly and/or the Security Council, to be submitted to the Assembly during its current session.

An addendum of the Secretary-General’s Estimates in respect of special political missions, good offices and other political initiatives authorized by the General Assembly and/or the Security Council, Thematic Cluster I. Special and personal envoys, special advisers, and personal representatives of the Secretary-General (document A/61/525/Add.1) contains proposed resource requirements for 2007 for seven special political missions, with the ACABQ recommendations on presentation of the reports, including their budget proposals.  The estimated requirements for 2007 for special political missions grouped under the cluster amounted to $6.7 million.

The requirements of three of the missions are beneath $500,000 each:  Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Myanmar; Special Adviser of the Secretary-General for Africa; and Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara.  The costs of the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on Cyprus are estimated at $571,300, with $375,000 met within the unencumbered balances from 2006.

The Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide’s requirements are estimated at $1.08 million, with only $234,600 met by unencumbered balances from 2006 and the greatest amount directed to the international staff costs of the Special Adviser and his/her support staff.  The objective of the Special Adviser is defined as facilitating international action to prevent massive violation of human rights and international humanitarian law of a national, ethnic, racial or religious character that could lead to genocide, and was expected to be achieved provided that there is political will on the part of members of the Security Council and other intergovernmental bodies to engage with the Special Adviser and act on his/her recommendations and analysis.  The Special Adviser’s work has been particularly concentrated in the area of Darfur in the Sudan.

The other two bodies are both concerned with Lebanon.  The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004) requires $1.19 million, with $804,600 accounted for within unencumbered balances of the 2006 appropriations, and most costs accounted for by travel expenses ($780,100).  The objective of the Special Envoy is full implementation of the Security Council resolution in question, and all subsequent related decisions of the Council, in particular resolution 1680 (2006) and the relevant provisions of 1701 (2006).  The Personal Representative of the Secretary-General for Lebanon requires $3.08 million, with $415,500 accounted for in unencumbered balances from 2006, and $2.2 million devoted to civilian personnel costs.  The objective of the Personal Envoy is overall political stability in Lebanon and the maintenance of international peace and security in southern Lebanon, in particular prevention of violations of the Blue Line.

The second addendum to the report (document A/61/525/Add.2) contains the proposed resource requirements for 2007 for eight special political missions grouped under the thematic cluster of sanctions monitoring teams, groups and panels, which emanate from the decisions of the Security Council.  The estimated requirements for the missions in this cluster amount to some $20.53 million.  The report takes into account the Advisory Committee’s recommendation that thought should be given to reorganizing budget proposals for special political missions in order to present them in clusters, on the basis of thematic or regional considerations.

The $20.53 million total includes some $1.19 million for the Monitoring Group on Somalia; $1.32 million for the Panel of Experts on Liberia; $1.22 million for the Group of Experts on Côte d’Ivoire; $1.42 million for the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo; $1.82 million for the Panel of Experts on the Sudan; $3.65 million for the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team on Al-Qaida and the Taliban; $2.29 million in support to the Security Council Committee on non-proliferation of all weapons of mass destruction; and $7.72 million for the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate.

Contained in addendum 3 to the report (document A/61/525/Add.3) are proposed resource requirements for 2007 for 10 special political missions grouped under the thematic cluster of United Nations offices, peacebuilding support offices, integrated offices and commissions, which emanate from the decisions of the Security Council.  The estimated requirements for 2007 for special political missions grouped under this cluster amount to about $100.76 million.

According to the report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) on the audit of the management of special political missions by the Department of Political Affairs (document A/61/357), the audit’s objectives were to determine whether the Department properly managed and directed the missions to ensure efficient use of resources and whether sufficient internal control and accountability mechanisms were in place.  The Department of Political Affairs directs 10 field missions, and 4 more are directed by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

After conducting surveys and interviews concentrating on the Department of Political Affairs’ 10 field missions, OIOS found that the Department’s ability to backstop the missions appears to be satisfactory and it has improved its ability to recruit in a timely manner qualified personnel for the missions.  But, the Department’s ability to provide political and substantive policy guidance to the missions and to equip the Department’s desk officers with management tools needed significant improvement, and its budget controls were inadequate.  The Department commented that it did not have sufficient human and financial resources to carry out its mandated responsibilities.  Another problem identified by OIOS is the lack of sufficient performance indicators for the Department’s work under the results-based management framework.  The mandates of both the political and peacekeeping Departments also need to be updated to accurately reflect recent inauguration of the Peacebuilding Commission and the Peacebuilding Support Office for the former, and the expansion of responsibilities for directing special political missions in addition to peacekeeping missions for the latter.

OIOS also found that there are 29 work programmes under the budgetary category of special political missions, but only 14 are considered special political missions by the Department of Political Affairs.  The 15 bodies not counted as special political missions include sanctions committees, expert groups, good offices, fact-finding missions, peacemaking activities, and other arrangements.  OIOS, therefore, worried that the current budget provision might generate the perception that the Department of Political Affairs does not fully carry out its responsibilities, while other departments are duplicating and overlapping its functions.

A number of problems with decision-making and transparency were also identified.  First, the Secretary-General established a Policy Committee to assign “lead responsibility” for special field missions to one Department or another, but it lacks any clear criteria or transparent decision-making, which increases the risk of misunderstandings over the roles and responsibilities of involved parties.  Additionally, risks of overlap and duplication are evident, first between the Department of Political Affairs’ responsibilities and the proposed structure of the new Peacebuilding Support Office, and in the functions of regional divisions of the Department of Political Affairs and the Office of Operations of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.  This arrangement was especially of concern in countries in which there were both peacekeeping missions and special political missions/special envoys of the Secretary-General, such as Cyprus, Western Sahara and Kosovo.  The Secretary-General’s measures to reduce duplication have not been sufficiently implemented.

OIOS provided the Secretariat and its departments with 15 recommendations on improving the management of the special political missions, many of which were accepted by the political affairs and peacekeeping Departments without reservation.  The Departments are also currently in discussions with other entities on a number of the recommendations.

Responding to the recommendation that it should develop exit strategies for all special political missions and present them in the proposed budgets and periodic reports to the Security Council, the Department of Political Affairs said it accepted the recommendation, while noting that exit strategies would be developed on a case-by-case basis.  It also commented that another recommendation -- that it develop a methodology for establishing interdepartmental task forces and relevant terms of reference specifying functional responsibilities in managing the missions -- was for the consideration of the Executive Office of the Secretary-General.  Additionally, the Executive Office of the Secretary-General did not provide comments on the recommendation that it should ensure effective implementation of forming interdepartmental task forces.

Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions

The accompanying report of the ACABQ (document A/61/640) notes that, although improvements to the presentation of the report have been made, there is room for further improvement in explaining the variances between appropriations and expenditures.  Information on staffing reviews or internal assessments should be included in the budget submission for special political missions.  As to the issue of overlap and duplication between the Department of Political Affairs and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, referred to by the OIOS, the Committee expects identifiable progress in the programme budget for 2008-2009.

Regarding Thematic Cluster I on special and personal envoys, the Committee has recommended approval of up to $198,400 for the Secretary-General’s good offices relating to the situation in Myanmar.  Resources for the Special Adviser on Cyprus should be maintained at the 2006 level ($399,600).  The Committee does not object to the upgrade of the position of the Special Representative for Lebanon to the level of Under-Secretary-General.  It also agrees with other post recommendations.  As for the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, the Committee points out the need for regular coordination between his Office, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and other relevant bodies.

Addressing the travel costs for sanctions monitoring teams, groups and panels (Cluster II), the Committee notes that an increase of $95,000 for 2007 was mostly attributable to travelling costs for a special meeting to be held in Africa.  It, therefore, encourages further efforts to obtain the necessary extrabudgetary resources for that purpose.

On Cluster III -- United Nations offices, peacebuilding support offices, integrated offices and commissions -- the Committee recommends acceptance of the posts and positions asked for, as it does for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).  Addressing the issue of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), the Committee notes that the deployment of many of the positions is contingent upon the launching of related activities.  In light of the difficult security situation, the Committee requests that the recruitment and deployment of staff be carefully planned and phased.  It reiterates its concerns regarding the need for adequate air transportation facilities.

The Committee is concerned that UNAMI continues to have large unencumbered balances.  The Mission should make budgetary assumptions taking into account the prevailing environment, expenditure trends and an analysis of the causes of variances.

Taking into account the pattern of expenditures for special political missions, the Committee recommends a 10 per cent overall reduction ($36.49 million) in the proposed resource requirements of $364.87 million.  The Committee, accordingly, recommends that the Assembly appropriate an amount of $232.4 million under section 3, Political affairs, and of $22.52 million under section 35, Staff assessment, to be offset by a corresponding amount under income section I, Income from staff assessment, of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2006-2007.

Introduction of Reports

WARREN SACH, Controller, introduced the Secretary-General’s report on the first performance report for the biennium 2006-2007 (documents A/61/593 and Add.1).  He said revised estimates and statements of programme budget implications were not included in the report.  Those amounts were still subject to Assembly decisions.  Currency fluctuations had the greatest impact on the revisions, namely a total of $55.1 million.  Revisions due to inflation amounted to some $18.7 million.

He said the Professional and General Service vacancy rates had turned downwards.  Given that trend, a further reduction in realized vacancy rates was to be expected.  No adjustments for that had been made in the current expenses.  He also detailed requirements arising from unforeseen and extraordinary expenses, which amounted to some $4.9 million, $4.4 million of which had been certified as relating to the maintenance of the peace and security.  Requirements resulting from decisions from policymaking organs came to some $9.6 million.

RAJAT SAHA, Chairman, ACABQ, introducing report A/61/635, said the Advisory Committee had been informed that additional requirements for the current biennium not included in the first performance report would amount to some $301 million for requests contained in revised estimates and statements of programme budget implications regarding draft resolutions considered by the Main Committees.  If approved, that would bring the total revised requirements for the biennium to $4.21 billion.  Furthermore, on the basis of trends shown in the latest vacancy statistics, it was anticipated that the realized vacancy rates for the biennium would be lower than the budgeted rates.

The Advisory Committee recommended that the Assembly approve the revised estimates contained in the Secretary-General’s report, subject to such adjustments as may be necessary as a result of its consideration of matters now before it, including the consolidated statement of revised estimates and programme budget implications.

Statements

DUMISANI KUMALO ( South Africa), speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said Member States would have benefited from receiving the first report in a timely manner.  The Group had noted that revised requirements had increased by some $112 million, that some programme budget implication statements would impact on the revised appropriations, and that the bulk of the increases could be attributed to the World Summit 2005.  Reforms came at a cost, he cautioned.  He, therefore, supported the Secretary-General’s request for the level of funds to be increased.

He said the Group had noted the increase in provisions for special political missions, as the provision for those mission had almost been depleted.  Provisions for such missions remained the only real areas of growth in the regular budget.  As the development agenda was also of great importance, he was concerned about the lack of growth in that area and regretted, in that regard, the breakdown in negotiations on the Development Account.  He was greatly concerned that the performance report had not responded to resolution 54/15, whereby savings identified should be transferred to the Development Account.  The report had not contained any information on such savings.  Clearly, the funding mechanism was not functioning and concrete action was required by the Assembly.  A firm decision was required in the coming days to increase the Development Account by the $5 million, which was agreed to, in principle, by the Assembly in 2005.

As for the experiment of limited discretion approved by Assembly resolution 60/283, authorizing the Secretary-General to enter into commitments for up to $20 million per biennium for posts and non-post requirements, he noted that that authorization had not been utilized.  He stressed that the implementation of the experiment should be consistent with the principles and guidelines of Assembly resolution 60/283.  The Secretariat had been unable to identify posts to be redeployed as part of the experiment.  It had not utilized the experiment to provide for the three posts in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and one post in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.  The decision of the Assembly had not yet been fulfilled.

He said the Group also noted the reference in paragraphs 29 and 30 of the report to the costs related to procurement reform measures that were being considered by the Fifth Committee.  The Assembly had not taken a decision on the reclassification and other resource requirements.  It was, therefore, not clear why the information had been included in the report.

SINIKKA KOSKI (Finland), speaking on behalf of the European Union, welcomed the first performance report introduced by the Secretariat and the comments of the ACABQ.  She noted that, while the initial appropriation for the current biennium had amounted to some $3.8 billion, the appropriations revised during the sixtieth session had increased to $3.9 billion, reflecting adjustments for the 2006-2007 budget.  The ACABQ had recommended approving the revised estimates in the first performance report, noting that a significant additional amount had not been included and the total would amount to some $4.2 billion.  The Union looked forward to receiving information on the limited budgetary discretion mechanism that the Secretary-General had been authorized to use.  So far, no commitments had been made under those arrangements.

HITOSHI KOZAKI ( Japan) said that his delegation was concerned over the late submission of the performance report, which put some Member States, including his own, in a difficult position.  He requested that, in the future, the report be submitted no later than the end of November.  Regarding the limited discretion for budget implementation, he trusted that the Secretary-General would exercise his leadership in the use of resources.  His delegation would seek further information in informals.

FERNANDO DE OLIVEIRA SENA ( Brazil) supported the statement by South Africa on behalf of the Group of 77 and China and stressed the importance of the issue of redeployment of posts, echoing the Group’s position on the need for a formal elaboration of the posts that had been agreed to in resolution 60/246.  It was necessary to reemphasize why the posts had not been fulfilled, including those in the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and UNCTAD.  He also joined the appeal for all delegations to honour their commitment to increase the Development Account.  It was a serious issue, which should be treated accordingly.  He also sought further clarifications on why the issue of procurement was duplicated in the performance report, since procurement reform was part of another agenda item.

HESHAM MOHAMED EMAN AFIFI ( Egypt), aligning himself with the statement made on behalf of the Group of 77 and supporting the statement made by the representative of Brazil regarding the Development Account, said the end of the session was near.  He was concerned that the Development Account negotiations were going nowhere.  The Group of 77 had put forward some proposals, on which there was no real engagement from partners.  Although progress had been made on many other issues, on the Development Account there was no progress at all.  A resolution on that issue should be discussed today.  He appealed to Member States to get engaged on the issue.

IMTIAZ HUSSAIN (Pakistan), aligning himself with the statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and supporting Brazil and Egypt regarding the Development Account, was also concerned at the lack of any progress.  Clearly, there was a stalemate.  The Account partially supplemented some of the activities in the area of capacity-building.  It had worked well and had been efficient.  He was concerned that the issue of recosting had been presented as a major obstacle.  The commitment of adding the $5 million agreed had not been met.  He failed to understand the system’s failure to identify that rather meagre amount.  Political support for development was not there.  He would support any other appropriate course of action to address the issue.

Mr. SACH said there had indeed been a short period available to discuss the report, as the performance report had to be based on exchange rates experienced for the first 10 or 11 months.  Therefore, the performance report was never issued before the last days of November.  This report had been issued on 1 December.  If earlier, there would be outdated information.

As for the question of the 50 posts and the exercise of the Secretary-General’s discretion, he said the flexibility had distinct limitations.  There had been made some transfers under the 50-post area, which had been detailed in paragraph 34 of the report.  No new redeployment between sections had been implemented.  As for the posts in UNCTAD and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, both departments had identified long term vacancies that could fulfil the needs.  Therefore, no recourse to the 50-post flexibility had to be taken.  Three D-1 posts for the Ombudsman had also not been implemented because three D-1 positions were not available elsewhere.  The experiment had, indeed, some deficiencies.  Vacancy information had been given in paragraph 27.  The report also drew attention to the tightening vacancy situation both for Professional and General Service.  That would mean that the vacancy situation by the end of the biennium would be tighter and that there would be no net resources available for redeployment.

He said that the Assembly had decided that the Development Account would be recosted.  Document A/61/282 had outlined the options available to meet the requirements of $5 million.  The performance report had addressed the recosting of the Account in annex I.

The representative of Guatemala supported the position of the Group of 77, particularly on the Development Account.  She also thanked the Controller for his clarifications on the 50 posts, requesting that those answers be provided in writing.

KAREN LOCK ( South Africa), addressing the efforts to redeploy posts, said that functions agreed to should be implemented in UNCTAD and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.  A written indication of those answers was needed.  In fact, the exact same answer had been provided to the Committee last June, six months after adopting the budget.  The answer had not been satisfactory at that point, as no effort had been made to redeploy the posts, as decided by the Assembly.  Subsequently, the Assembly had requested the Secretary-General to expeditiously implement the relevant resolution.  The Group had long stated that the experiment had failed, but others did not share that view.  To the proposal to terminate it, a deal was made under which the experiment would be allowed to run the full two years and would be terminated by the end of the biennium.  Another part of the agreement was that immediate measures would be made to address the matter and that posts would not be met through existing resources.  Now, another six months later, the exact same information had been provided to the Committee.

The fact was that, during the budget negotiations, the Group had not said the posts should be absorbed or existing vacancies be used, she added.  Therefore, she was not happy that still nothing had been done, and vacancies were used.  She intended to follow up on that issue in informal consultations and hoped to get written information on the matter.

Turning to the Development Account, she noted from the performance report that no savings had been identified to meet the decision on the financing of the Account.  She wanted to know if, at any point in time since 1998, information had been provided on possible savings.  She also stressed the importance of resolving the issue before the end of the session.

Regarding the experience over the years on the identification of savings, Mr. SACH said that the Secretariat had repeatedly indicated that it had not been successful in identifying efficiency savings to be transferred to the Development Account under the terms of the original resolution on the matter.  No programme manager was willing to identify such savings because, as a result, he would face a reduction of budgetary resources in that particular area.  Hence, no transfers had been made to the Development Account under that heading.  He fully recognized the commitment of Member States to look at the requirements of the Development Account and find ways and means to augment resources.  It was necessary to look at all sources of savings -- not just those due to the realization of efficiencies.  A broader approach might open the way to solving the problem.

ANA RODRIGUEZ ABASCAL ( Cuba), aligning herself with previous speakers, said it was clear that the financing mechanism for the Development Account did not work.  There was an absolute need to take a decision on how to finance the Account in the little time remaining until the end of the session.  Measures must be adopted so that the Account could continue to function.

Economic and Social Council/Human Rights Council Reports

SHARON VAN BUERLE, Director, Programme Planning and Budget Division, introduced the reports on revised estimates resulting from resolutions and decision adopted by the Economic and Social Council during its 2006 substantive session (contained in document A/61/370), as well as the programme budget implications regarding the human rights situation in Myanmar (document A/C.5/61/14).  She also introduced the reports on revised estimates resulting from resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council in 2006 (document A/61/530 and Add.1)

Mr. SAHA, introduced the related ACABQ report in documents A/61/498.

Regarding the Human Rights Council, (the report will be contained in document A/61/613), he said that the Advisory Committee noted that, to the fullest extent possible, the requirements would be met from the appropriation of the programme budget for the biennium 2006-2007 and reflected, as necessary, in the second performance report for the biennium 2007-2007.  The Advisory Committee also noted that “indicative requirements for 2008-2009” were shown in paragraph 21 of the report.  The Committee stressed that approval of the revised estimates should not be seen as prejudging, in any way, the outcome of the consideration of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2008-2009.

Statement

Mr. KOZAKI ( Japan) supported the conclusions of the ACABQ on Economic and Social Council resolutions and decisions.  On the Human Rights Council, he trusted that the Secretariat would take the utmost efforts to absorb within the appropriated amount.  As for the Myanmar resolution, he was not against it, but the issue would be taken up in the context of special political missions.  He also pointed out that resources of the United Nations were not limitless and, when considering programme budget implications of various decisions, the Committee should address them from the point of view of efficiency and appropriate financial management.

Reports on Special Political Missions

Ms. VAN BUERLE, Director of the Programme Planning and Budget Division, introduced the Secretary-General’s reports on the estimates in respect of special political missions (documents A/61/525 and Adds. 1-5), saying that requirements of the two largest missions -- UNAMA and UNAMI -- accounted for about 70 per cent of the total resources for special political missions and 2,531 positions, or about 72 per cent of all posts requested.

Regarding the missions’ mandates, she said that six missions had open-ended mandates, three had mandates until 31 December 2007, one had a mandate until April 2008, six missions’ mandates would end at various dates ranging from March to September 2007, and one mission was under consideration by the Assembly.  The remaining 10 missions’ mandates would expire at the end of December 2006.  It was anticipated that the Council would extend the mandates of those missions on the basis of reports and requests already submitted or expected to be submitted to it.  It was assumed that all missions would be extended for periods similar to those approved for 2006.

Although the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB) was not anticipated to be extended, the Council had extended its mandate through December 2007.  As the report before the Committee was already being finalized at the time the resolution was adopted, the requirements of the Office of the IAMB representative had not been included in the document.  Those requirements, as well requirements for the follow-up mission in Burundi and the potential mission in Nepal would be submitted in a separate report during the first resumed session.  She also recalled that 29 special political missions had been in operation in 2006, but the United Nations Office in Timor-Leste (UNOTIL) had since been transformed into a peacekeeping mission.

The total requirements of those missions in 2007 would amount to some $389.89 million gross, or $364.87 million net, she said.  Of the total net amount, $95.8 million would be met through the utilization of anticipated unencumbered balance against the amounts provided in 2006, with UNAMI accounting for most of the unspent balance ($70.3 million).  That was attributable to the difficulties on the ground, owing to which full deployment and operation of the mission was impossible.  Thus, the total additional requirements requested in the report amounted to some $269 million net ($294 million gross.)

Proposed resource requirements for UNAMA were contained in Addendum 4 to the report, she said, totalling some $74.17 million gross for 2007.  The report specified that UNAMA would maintain its current presence of eight fully integrated regional offices and 11 provincial offices.  No further expansion was envisaged.  The Mission would increase its efforts to rely on national staff to ensure a long-term approach to building the capacity of Afghan human capital.  Recent deterioration in the security situation was of fundamental concern.

Addendum 5 to the report presented proposed resource requirements for UNAMI in the amount of about $176.5 million gross, she said.  According to the report, the UNAMI budget was based on the revised concept of operations for the United Nations presence in Iraq, including the latest developments concerning the International Compact for Iraq, and its implementation would take place according to the UNAMI operational plan currently under development.

DAGFINN KNUTSEN, Acting Director of the Internal Audit Division of the OIOS, presented the OIOS report on the audit of management of special political missions by the Department of Political Affairs, saying that the success of those missions depended primarily on effective guidance and oversight and the existence of adequate accountability mechanisms.  In addition, the expansion of the responsibilities of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, as well as the establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission and its Support Office, highlighted the need for coordinating efforts of all entities involved in order to minimize duplication and overlap, ensure efficient use of resources and establish effective internal controls.

While the results of the audit indicated that the Department’s ability to guide and manage such missions was generally satisfactory, the shortcomings discussed in the OIOS report could to some extent be attributed to a lack of clearly established responsibilities and specific policies relating to the management of special political missions.  Furthermore, the Department of Political Affairs had advised that its human and financial resources were not adequate to carry out its mandated responsibilities.  The Department of Political Affairs and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations mandates had not been updated, and did not accurately reflect their current roles.  There was an inherent risk of duplication and overlap regarding the functions of Department of Political Affairs regional divisions and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations Office of Operations.  Both Departments could be assigned the lead role for directing substantive political operations of field missions.  Also, budget documents did not clearly establish the responsibilities of the Departments.  The 15 recommendations of the OIOS included the suggestions to update the mandates of the two Departments; establish clear policies and guidelines; ensure closer monitoring and greater accountability; improve internal controls; and enhance coordination.  The Office’s recommendations had been generally accepted and several were in the process of implementation.

RAJAT SAHA, Chairman of the ACABQ, introduced a related report of the ACABQ (document A/61/640).

Statements

Ms. KOSKI ( Finland), speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States, regretted the fact that many reports had arrived at a late stage.  The Union was committed to providing sufficient resources for those important activities described in the reports.  She would ask specific questions during informal consultations.

NAJIB ELJI ( Syria) said it attached great importance to the Secretary-General’s good offices and special missions.  The budget for special political missions had increased several times over the last few years, causing States, in particular smaller Member States, to incur great expenditures as assessments were assigned under the regular budget.  Given that special political missions were created under Security Council resolutions, their budget should be financed under peacekeeping assessments.

The budgets for special political missions had been based on results-based budgeting.  However, that kind of budgeting had certain shortcomings.  The bulk of outcomes ran counter to the principles on which the missions had been established and did not reflect the needs of the missions.  The mandate, for instance, of the Special Envoy for the Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559 (2004), had been exceeded many times.

Under anticipated outcomes and indicators in the results-based budgeting for that mission, it addressed diplomatic efforts between Syria and Lebanon that were not related to the resolution, such as border issues.  That was being discussed on a bilateral basis.  The lack of neutrality was surprising.  Under resolution 1559, foreign forces had to leave Lebanon, but Israel had not done so.  The Secretariat continued to highlight secondary issues, instead of focusing on the Israeli occupation.  He asked that the Secretariat and the ACABQ to revisit the issue.  He took note of the OIOS report and specifically appreciated what had been stated on weaknesses in the management of the Department of Political Affairs.

Mr. KOZAKI ( Japan) said that he was concerned about the timing of the issuance of the documents.  He had a similar situation year to year, with the Committee not provided with the minimal necessary time to consider the financing of special political missions.  Because of the importance of the issue and the size of the budget involved, the Committee must take a proper look at that budget.  The Committee might need to consider the option of resorting to commitment authority with assessment, based on the ACABQ recommendation.  He also noted the efforts by the Secretariat to improve the budget presentation, but agreed with the ACABQ that there was room for further improvement in explaining the variances between appropriations and expenditures.  He agreed with the ACABQ on the 10 per cent reduction and asked for additional information on 10 special political missions that were to be terminated in December.  Finally, he recalled his delegation’s previous position that special political mission budgets should be addressed through a peacekeeping scale of assessment.

Ms. LOCK ( South Africa) said that, like others, she was concerned over the late issuance of the reports, which had been presented after the initial closing date of the work of the Committee.  With the large amount to consider, that was clearly a matter of great concern.   South Africa attached great importance to the effective functioning of special political missions and would continue providing the necessary resources.  However, along with peace and security, South Africa also attached great importance to human rights, development and other issues before the Organization.

The initial appropriation for special political missions for 2006-2007 had been $355 million, she continued.  In the first year of the biennium, the Organization had already used more than that.  Now, the total appropriation stood at $375 million, but the Assembly now requested to provide for 2007 almost the same amount that the Secretariat had thought would be needed for the whole biennium.

She added that, from experience, she knew that the Committee would express concern over the late issuance of documents, but at the end of the day approve the amount needed.  When it came to development, it would discuss the issue for months, and quibble “over a million here or a million there”.  That meant that the same treatment was not accorded to development.

Her delegation would appreciate clarifications on paragraph 91 of the ACABQ report, which recommended a 10 per cent overall reduction in the resource requirements for the special political missions.  As a rule, her delegation did not support “across the board” reductions, as each mission was unique.  Before considering that recommendation, she would need a full explanation of it.

Turning to the OIOS report, she fully supported the request for that audit.  Her delegation would not be in a position to conclude consideration of that document, as it needed to look at it in more detail.  Like Japan, she also complimented the Secretariat for its efforts to improve the budget presentation, finding the report before the Committee to be “one of the better reports received by the Committee”.

Mr. SAHA replied that, in paragraph 91, the Advisory Committee recommended “a 10 per cent overall reduction in the resource requirements proposed by the Secretary-General”.  It was not an “across the board” reduction.  Rather, it took into account various other comments of the ACABQ.

Action

The Committee then turned to a draft resolution on the financing of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (document A/C.5/61/L.11), by which the Assembly would authorize the Secretary-General to establish a special account for this follow-up mission and to enter into commitments for the period from 25 August 2006 to 31 March 2007 for its establishment, in a total amount not exceeding some $170.22 million.  That amount would include about $50 million previously authorized by the ACABQ.

The request for commitment authority was presented to the Assembly, pending submission of a full budget for the Mission during the first part of the Fifth Committee’s resumed session next spring.  Following the establishment of the Mission on 25 August, the commitment authority provides for deployment of 34 military liaison and staff officers, 1,608 police personnel, 480 international staff, 1,075 national staff and 380 United Nations Volunteers, as well as requirements for 22 general temporary assistance positions.

In that connection, the draft authorizes the Secretary-General to finance up to 22 general temporary assistance positions at Headquarters to provide support for the deployment of the Mission from the resources approved for the peacekeeping support account for the period from 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007, to be reported to the Assembly in the context of the support account’s performance report for 2006-2007.

CATHERINE POLLARD, Director, Peacekeeping Financing Division, said the Secretary-General’s report on the financing of UNMIT of 17 October (document A/61/519) had provided for 22 general temporary positions at the Headquarters for backstopping.  Based on a subsequent review of the support account, financing of the 22 temporary positions, estimated at some $2.3 million, could be financed from the peacekeeping account.

MOHAMEB YOUSIF IBRAHIM ABDELMANNAN ( Sudan) stressed that, regarding a letter of the Secretary-General to the President of the Assembly (document A/61/598), there was no linkage between the United Nations Mission in the Sudan and UNMIT.  He was, therefore, surprised to see that the letter had drawn such a linkage.  The authorization for the mission in Darfur, as stipulated by Security Council resolution 1706 (2006) on the expansion of the Mission in the Sudan, could not be completed until the Government of the Sudan had accepted it.  As for rapid deployment of personnel for the Darfur mission, referred to in paragraph 2 of the letter, he said additional deployment of personnel should have been detailed, and it should have been made clear that that deployment would go through the African Union mission.  A correction should be issued.

The Committee then adopted, by consensus, the draft resolution on the financing of UNMIT.

Other Matters

Mr. ELJI ( Syria) addressed the inspection of cars entering the United Nations garage and the quality of food at the United Nations cafeteria.  While he understood the importance of inspecting cars entering the garage, he had noticed that, in some cases, Secretariat cars and those of friends of security officers were not inspected.  Making exceptions was endangering the United Nations and he insisted that all cars should be inspected.

Turning to the quality of food at the cafeteria, he said that people at the United Nations were suffering its deterioration.  Five years ago, when he first came to the United Nations, the prices had been lower, and the quality of food much better than now.  The premises were also cleaner.  He understood that the food contractor’s contract was expiring and was looking forward to the relevant Department to make sure that quality of food and cleanliness were accorded the high priority they deserved.  In fact, some of his colleagues had had health problems, after having eaten at the cafeteria.  All food tasted the same -- be it meat or vegetables.

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For information media • not an official record