Sixty-seventh General Assembly

Fifth Committee

13^th Meeting (AM)

Budget Committee Makes Recommendations to Fill Vacancies on Subsidiary Bodies

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today moved to fill upcoming vacancies in the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, and four other bodies that help it manage the United Nations vast human resources and keep its finances on track.

The dozens of recommendations will be sent on to the General Assembly for its stamp of approval later during the sixty-seventh session.  The four other bodies considered today were the Committee on Contributions, Investments Committee, International Civil Service Commission and United Nations Staff Pension Committee.

Fifth Committee delegates first turned their attention to the five pending vacancies on the 16-member Advisory Committee.  Also known as ACABQ, that body plays a crucial role in helping the Fifth Committee examine the Organization’s budget and numerous management initiatives put forth by the Secretariat.

The Committee recommended by acclamation the appointment ofJasminka Dinic (Croatia), from the Group of Eastern European States;Conrod Hunte (Antigua and Barbuda), from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States; and Mohanad Ali Omran (Iraq), from the Group of Asia-Pacific States.  After two rounds of voting by secret ballot, it recommended the appointment of Tesfa Alem Seyoum ( Eritrea) and Babou Sene ( Senegal) and from the Group of African States.  (See details of voting results below.)

The Fifth Committee then turned its attention to the Committee on Contributions, which advises the General Assembly on the apportionment of the Organization’s expenses among the Member States.  It recommended by acclamation six persons for the six three-year slots that would begin 1 January 2013 on the Contributions Committee.  They included Josiel Motumisi Tawana (South Africa), from the Group of African States; Kazuo Watanabe (Japan) and Syed Yawar Ali (Pakistan), from the Group of Asia-Pacific States; Andrzej Abraszewski (Poland) and Ihor Humennyi (Ukraine), from the Group of Eastern European States; and Susan McLurg (United States), from the Group of Western European and other States.

Turning to the two vacancies that would emerge on the nine-member Investments Committee on 31 December 2012, the Fifth Committee recommended by acclamation the reappointment of Linah Mohohlo ( Botswana) as a regular member for a three-year term and Emilio Cardenas ( Argentina) as a regular member for a one-year term beginning 1 January 2013.  It then recommended by acclamation the reappointment of Ivan Pictet ( Switzerland) and the appointment of Cecilia Reyes ( Philippines) and Gumersindo Oliveros ( Spain) as ad-hoc members for a one-year term that also would begin the first of January.

The Investments Committee meets quarterly to review investment policy and provide advice to the Secretariat regarding the investments of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund.

The Fifth Committee then backed the reappointment of Fatih Bouayad-Agha (Algeria) and Elhassane Zahid (Morocco), from the African States; Sergei Garmonin (Russian Federation), from the Eastern European States; and Wang Xiaochu (China), from the Asia-Pacific States, as well as the nomination of Mohamed Mijarul Quayes (Bangladesh), also of the Asia-Pacific States, to four-year slots on the 15-member International Civil Service Commission beginning the first of the new year.

The International Civil Service Commission regulates and coordinated the conditions of service of the United Nations common system.

Finally, the Fifth Committee turned to the eight vacancies on the United Nations Staff Pension Committee.  It recommended that the Assembly reappoint Dmitry Chumakov (Russian Federation), Valeria María González Posse (Argentina), Hitoshi Kozaki (Japan), Gerhard Kuntzle (Germany) Lovemore Mazemo (Zimbabwe), Philip Richard Okanda Owade (Kenya) and Thomas Repasch (United States), and to appoint Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh) to four-year terms beginning on 1 January 2013.  Also known as the United Nations Staff Pension Board, the 33-member Committee helps administer the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund.

The Fifth Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. Friday, 16 November, to discuss human resources management.

Voting Results for Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions

First Round of Voting

African States (2 Seats)
Number of ballot papers:	183
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	183
Abstentions:	0
Number of Members present and voting:	183
Required majority:	92
Number of votes obtained by nominee:
Tesfa Alem Seyoum ( Eritrea)	90
George Morara Orina ( Kenya)	74
Babou Sene ( Senegal)	73
Collen Vixen Kelapile ( Botswana)	65
Joseph Acakpo-Satchivi ( Benin)	59

Second Round of Voting

African States (2 Seats)
Number of ballot papers:	182
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	182
Abstentions:	0
Number of Members present and voting:	182
Required majority:	92
Number of votes obtained by nominee:
Tesfa Alem Seyoum ( Eritrea)	107
Babou Sene ( Senegal)	99
George Morara Orina ( Kenya)	84
Collen Vixen Kelapile ( Botswana)	64

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For information media • not an official record