Fifth Committee Concerned by Top-Heavy Structure, Resource Distribution in Ebola Response Mission, Proposed Budget Cuts to Darfur Peacekeeping Operation
Speakers Consider Reports on Revised Estimates for Human Rights Council, General Assembly Resolutions
As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) began its examination of the revised budget proposal for the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) for the biennium 2014-2015, some delegates expressed deep concern that sufficient resources would not reach the field, where assistance was most needed.
Susana Malcorra, Chef de Cabinet of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, introducing his budget proposal, said that the resource requirements for the period from 19 September 2014 to the end of 2015 amounted to $189.6 million, net of staff assessment. The appropriation would cover 376 positions in the Office of the Special Envoy and UNMEER, and 20 positions in 2014 and 9 positions in 2015 at Headquarters for backstopping in the areas of legal support, medical services, finance and budget, procurement and security coordination, as well as operational costs in support of the Mission.
Togo’s representative, speaking for the African Group, pointed out that the Mission’s top-heavy structure implied that a substantive proportion of the resources were proposed to support overhead, not the actual needs on the ground. The Group would be interested in presenting a concrete proposal aimed at ensuring most of the resources were directed to support substantive requirements, including financial assistance, equipment, protective clothing, mobile laboratories and other facilities to the affected countries, in order to track, contain and eliminate the disease. The Group would support approval of the budget for the Mission on condition that major adjustments were made to the proposal and a separate special account was established.
Bolivia’s representative, speaking for the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, also said that the budget proposal did not direct resources in the most efficient manner to support the core and required needs of Ebola victims, continuing to reflect a structure of high-level posts and failing to address duplication and overlap. The Group also offered to present proposals addressing those issues so that Member States would be in a position to approve the budget. Disagreeing with the recommendation by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) to extend the commitment authority, she stressed that it was important to adopt a budget for 2014-2015, and echoed the African Group’s call for a special and separate account for the Mission so that it would be able to discharge its mandate.
Carlos Ruiz Massieu, Chair of ACABQ, explained that the Secretary-General’s report was insufficient to enable the Assembly to make an informed decision on the Mission’s proposed organizational structure, staffing and resource requirements. Therefore, the Advisory Committee recommended that the General Assembly extend and supplement the commitment authority and ask the Secretary-General to submit a more detailed budget proposal for consideration at its resumed sixty-ninth session.
Turning to the financing of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), Mr. Ruiz Massieu said that the Advisory Committee recommended a reduction to the budget proposed for UNAMID in 2014/15 in the amount of some $58.8 million under the resource categories of uniformed personnel, civilian personnel, official travel, facilities and infrastructure. That reduction represented 4.9 per cent of the proposed resource requirements of $1.2 billion. Togo’s representative, speaking for the African Group, expressed serious concern that the arbitrary reduction of the budget would negatively impact mandate delivery.
Sudan’s representative said that no one could dispute the importance of the quick-impact projects in meeting the concerns of local communities. Those, however, had slowed down considerably, starting in 2012, because not all resources had been provided. Thus, resources should be ratcheted up, he said.
Also today, the Fifth Committee discussed revised 2014-2015 budget estimates resulting from resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council, as well as the programme budget implications of implementing the Assembly’s resolution on the investigation into the conditions and circumstances of Dag Hammarskjöld’s tragic death and its text on the post-2015 development agenda in addition to a consolidated statement on revised estimates and programme budget implications of the contingency fund.
Johannes Huisman, Director of the Department of Management’s Programme Planning and Budget Division, and Chandru Ramanathan, Officer-in-Charge of the Department’s Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts, introduced the Secretary-General’s reports on those subjects; Mr. Ruiz Massieu presented ACABQ’s corresponding documents.
Several delegates expressed concern about the late issuance of documents as it seriously undermined the quality of the budget Committee.
Also speaking today were representatives of Sweden, Sri Lanka, Eritrea, Japan, Sierra Leone, United Republic of Tanzania, Russian Federation and Uruguay.
The Fifth Committee will meet again at a date and time to be determined.
Programme Budget Implications of Human Rights Council Resolutions/Decisions and Investigation into Conditions/Circumstances of Dag Hammarskjöld’s Death
JOHANNES HUISMAN, Director, Programme Planning and Budget Division, introduced the Secretary-General’s report on the revised estimates resulting from resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council at its twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh sessions and its twenty-first and twenty-second special sessions (document (A/69/615), and the Secretary-General’s statement (document A/C.5/69/14) on the programme budget implications of draft resolution A/69/L.42 titled “Investigation into the conditions and circumstances resulting in the tragic death of Dag Hammarskjöld and of the members of the party accompanying him”.
Regarding Human Rights Council decisions, he said the report detailed total budgetary requirements estimated at $52.1 million for the biennium 2014-2015 and the proposed programme budget for 2016-2017. Of that amount, some $25 million related to activities of a perennial nature and thus were already included in the programme budget for 2014-2015; $10.1 million related to requirements for 2014 approved by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) through commitment authorities under General Assembly resolution 68/249 on unforeseen and extraordinary expenses. The related appropriations were requested in the context of the first performance report on the 2014-2015 programme budget.
He said that out of the some $12.5 million balance of the 2014-2015 requirements, it was proposed that $158,300 come from existing appropriations of the 2014-2015 programme budget and the remaining $12.3 million be appropriated as a charge against the contingency fund for that biennium. It was also proposed that, from January 2015, one P-5 post, one P-4 post and seven P-3 posts be established under section 24, Human rights, of the programme budget for the biennium 2014-2015, to support the activities mandated by the Human Rights Council in its resolutions 25/25, 26/20, 26/22, 27/1 and 27/21. The net additional requirements for the biennium 2016-2017 of some $4.5 million would be considered in the context of the proposed programme budget for 2016-2017.
Turning to the statement on the programme budget implications of draft resolution A/69/L.42, he said that under draft resolution A/69/L.42, the Assembly would ask the Secretary-General to appoint an independent panel of experts to examine new information and to assess its probative value and also to report on progress made to the Assembly at its seventieth session. Should the Assembly adopt the draft, an additional $451,000 would be required for 2015 to implement those requests. As there were no provisions in the 2014-2015 budget for that purpose, it was proposed that the additional $451,000 be approved as a charge against the contingency fund.
CARLOS RUIZ MASSIEU, Chair, Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), then introduced that body’s related report (document A/69/670) on revised estimates resulting from Human Rights Council resolutions and decisions. The Advisory Committee considered that there was a need to overhaul the structure and format of the Secretary-General’s report to make it more reader-friendly and condensed, which would reduce the cost of producing the document in the Organization’s six official languages. On the subject of absorption of requirements from existing resources, ACABQ saw room to absorb more than the $153,800 proposed by the Secretary-General. ACABQ’s comments and recommendations on specific resource reductions in 2014 appeared not to have been taken into consideration. The Advisory Committee maintained its stance and recommended that the proposed additional requirements for the biennium 2014-2015 be reduced accordingly.
He said a specific database used by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) was not developed within but by an external contractor. The Secretary-General should include in his future reports information on the use of non-governmental organizations and other institutions for data collection and analysis. Subject to the observations and recommendations made in its report, the Advisory Committee recommended approval of the Secretary-General’s proposals.
Mr. RUIZ MASSIEU then introduced ACABQ’s report (document A/69/669) on the budget implications arising from draft resolution A/69/L.42. The Advisory Committee, having considered the status of expenditure as of 30 November 2014, recommended the $400,100 being requested be absorbed within section 1 of the programme budget for the 2014-2015 biennium. While ACABQ had no objections to the additional appropriation of $50,900 requested under section 2, General Assembly and Economic and Social Council affairs and conference management, it intended to examine the costing model for the processing of official documents at the Organization’s four headquarter stations — New York, Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi — in greater detail in the context of the proposed programme budget for 2016-2017. That amount would be charged against the contingency fund, under section 2.
DAYANA RIOS (Bolivia), speaking for the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, supported the provision of the additional $451,000 to implement the requests of the Assembly in draft A/69/L.42 on the investigation of Dag Hammarskjöld’s tragic death.
PER THÖRESSON (Sweden), said the vision and pragmatism that had marked Dag Hammarskjöld’s tenure had paved the way for policies and practices that had been mainstreamed and consolidated in ways that “we now take for granted”. The purpose of the resolution was to help shed new light on the circumstances surrounding Mr. Hammarskjöld’s death, as well as that of the others on his flight. It would begin the final path to closure. He requested the support of all Fifth Committee colleagues to process the budgetary implications of the resolution expeditiously so that it could be adopted by the Assembly early next week, in an appropriate setting, with high-level participation and the presence of family members of the departed.
LANKA VARUNI MUTHUKUMARANA (Sri Lanka) said the Secretary-General’s report on revised estimates of the Human Rights Council sought funding for the OHCHR investigation on her country, established pursuant to resolution 25/1 adopted by that body. Her Government did not wish to legitimize “this flawed process” which set a negative precedent. Sri Lanka was continuing its own internal processes to address the very same issues raised in resolution 25/1. During a Human Rights Council meeting in June 2014, the Government stated clearly that it would not cooperate with OHCHR’s investigation. She expressed concern that the investigation had been carried out in an arbitrary manner and that the funds authorized for travel had been used for other purposes. The investigation team had spent almost all of its allocation without visiting Sri Lanka. One third of the budget was allotted for an envisaged visit that never took place, she said, seeking clarification from the Human Rights Council on how the investigation had exhausted all the funds allocated, particularly at a time when the Human Rights Council has publicly complained about budgetary constraints.
AMANUEL GIORGIO (Eritrea), associating himself with the Group of 77 and China, pointed out that when the Human Rights Council had been formed, the importance of institution-building to protect human rights had been stressed. That continued to be of critical importance. At the same time, he noted the proliferation of country mandates, sometimes with the creation of double mechanisms for the same countries, leading to duplication of efforts. He called on the human rights body to justify its work in order to increase efficiency.
United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER)
SUSANA MALCORRA, Chef de Cabinet of the Secretary-General, introduced the Secretary-General’s report of the Office of the Special Envoy on Ebola and the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (document A/69/590) on the “Revised estimates relating to the programme budget for the biennium 2014-2015 under sections 5, Peacekeeping operations, 8, Legal affairs, 27, Humanitarian assistance, 29B, Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts, 29C, Office of Human Resources Management, 29D, Office of Central Support Services, 34, Safety and security, and 36, Staff assessment” and its corrigendum (document A/69/590/Corr.1).
She said that the Mission, which had been established following the adoption of Assembly resolution 69/1 in September, would cease to operate once the Ebola outbreak within the affected countries was contained, and when national Governments of those countries felt sufficiently able to transition to a normal Ebola transmission prevention and response approach. To best respond to the challenges of the Ebola crisis across the three most-affected countries, the Mission would be configured in a manner where the structure was closely aligned with the four critical lines of action: case finding (contact tracing, laboratory surveillance); case management; community engagement and social mobilization; and safe and dignified burials.
The resource requirements for the period from 19 September 2014 to the end of 2015 amounted to $189.6 million, net of staff assessment, she said, noting that the appropriation would cover 376 positions in the Office of the Special Envoy and UNMEER, and 20 positions in 2014 and 9 positions in 2015 at Headquarters for backstopping in the areas of legal support, medical services, finance and budget, procurement and security coordination, as well as operational costs in support of the Mission.
In the span of only two and a half months since UNMEER’s original deployment on 29 September, considerable progress had been achieved, she said. The improvements seen illustrated that the four-pronged strategy of isolation, treatment, safe burials and social mobilization was working where it was fully implemented. More people were gaining access to treatment. More contacts were being traced. Burials were becoming safer, and communities were mobilizing to protect themselves. However, the Secretary-General’s message was clear: “Now is not the time to ease our efforts, but rather to redouble them to bring the crisis to a definitive end.”
Mr. RUIZ MASSIEU, introducing ACABQ’s related report, said that the Secretary-General’s report lacked clarity and/or detail in many elements, and was insufficient to enable the Assembly to make an informed decision on UNMEER’s proposed organizational structure, staffing and resource requirements. Therefore, the Advisory Committee recommended that the Assembly extend and supplement the commitment authority granted the Secretary-General in resolution 69/3 and request that he submit a more detailed budget proposal for consideration at its resumed sixty-ninth session. The budget document lacked information on UNMEER’s specific coordination role and how it fit in the Organization’s system-wide effort to respond to Ebola, as well as information on the roles, responsibilities and activities of other key players, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Food Programme (WFP). The budget should distinguish between the resources proposed for UNMEER’s maintenance and those for its operations as part of the overall Ebola response effort.
Furthermore, UNMEER’s proposed structure appeared to be modelled on requirements for a typical long-term field operation, rather than one with a singular strategic objective having operational targets with goals to be achieved over 30-day, 60-day and 90-day periods, he said. Thus ACABQ questioned the number of positions proposed for UNMEER headquarters in Accra rather than in the affected countries, and held that the Mission’s organizational structure should be streamlined, in particular by reducing the number of proposed positions. Efforts should be made to fulfil UNMEER requirements through cost-reimbursable arrangements from neighbouring missions. The proposed UNMEER budget exceeded the 2014-2015 regular budget share of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs sevenfold. He expressed concern that as a result the regular budget share section 27, Humanitarian affairs, would be artificially inflated, creating a distortion.
He, therefore, recommended that the Assembly establish a separate and distinct special account for income and expenditures related to the Office of the Special Envoy on Ebola, and that the Assembly authorize the Secretary-General to enter into commitments of $104.6 million — including some $50 million authorized in resolution 69/3 to provide for that Office and UNMEER — for the period from 19 September 2014 to 30 June 2015 pending the submission of a detailed budget during the Assembly’s second resumed sixty-ninth session. The Assembly should also assess a total amount of $104.6 million to the special account for the Office of the Special Envoy and UNMEER. That figure was 10 per cent less than the prorated level of resources sought by the Secretary-General for the period from 19 September 2014 to 31 December 2015.
Ms. RIOS (Bolivia), speaking for the Group of 77 and China, disagreed with the extension of the commitment authority recommended by ACABQ, emphasizing that it was important to adopt a budget for 2014-2015, as well as to establish a special and separate account for the Mission so that it would be able to discharge its mandate. She also expressed disappointment that the budget proposal did not take into account reservations expressed by delegations when the item was first introduced on 3 October, and also ignored previous observations, comments and recommendations of the Advisory Committee endorsed by the Assembly. The proposal before the Committee did not direct resources in the most efficient manner to support the core and required needs of Ebola victims, continuing to reflect a structure of high-level posts and failing to address duplication and overlap, she said. The Group would present proposals addressing those issues so that Member States would be in a position to approve the budget.
KODJOVI DOSSEH (Togo), speaking for the African Group and associating himself with the Group of 77 and China, expressed concern that the Secretary-General’s proposal continued to lack clarity and detailed information concerning the proposed organizational structure, staffing and resource requirements of the Mission. Specifically, he expressed concern over its top-heavy structure, which implied that a substantive proportion of the resources were proposed to support overhead, not the actual needs on the ground. Furthermore, the proposal did not seem to take into account existing mechanisms in the region including those related to leadership, the role of the country teams and other United Nations system actors.
The Group would support approval of the budget for the Mission, with major adjustments to the proposal, as well as the establishment of a separate special account, he said. The Group would be interested in presenting a concrete proposal aimed at ensuring most of the resources were directed to support substantive requirements, including financial assistance, equipment, protective clothing, mobile laboratories and other facilities to the affected countries, in order to track, contain and eliminate the disease. He also emphasized the need for a clear chain of command, accountability and proper governance among many actors involved so that the United Nations system, including WHO and WFP, could deliver as one.
HIROSHI MINAMI (Japan), detailing his country’s role in combatting the Ebola crisis, said that it had allocated $55 million and pledged an additional contribution of up to $100 million to the effort. Japan had also sent 11 experts to the affected countries through the WHO mission, with 30 more expected to participate, and provided other in-kind assistance. Regarding ACABQ’s recommendations, he said the proposed amount of the resource requirements as a whole, as well as where the UNMEER budget belonged in the proposed programme budget, including the first performance report of 2014-2015, would be scrutinized.
AMADU KOROMA (Sierra Leone) said that the unprecedented outbreak of the Ebola disease had created a devastating social and humanitarian crisis with severe negative economic impact, thus reversing the gradual but impressive economic growth in recent years. Since the outbreak, more than 6,000 Sierra Leoneans had been infected and about 1,500 had died. Alarmingly, over two thirds of those infected were between the ages of 15 and 55, the most economically vibrant members of the population. The good news was that as of 14 December, more than 1,200 cases had been treated and discharged. His Government was hopeful that by the end of the first quarter of 2015, the disease would be eradicated. The epidemic had negatively impacted national social development programmes. If a robust and concerted effort was not maintained to eradicate the Ebola menace, Sierra Leone’s remarkable post-conflict achievement was in danger of complete reversal. Lastly, he urged the entire international community to consider making meaningful interventions in rebuilding his nation’s socio-economic infrastructure in the post-Ebola period.
JUSTIN KISOKA (United Republic of Tanzania), associating himself with the Group of 77 and China and with the African Group, said the mandate should support local authorities on the ground to establish and strengthen their health infrastructure and activities beyond the Mission’s lifespan.
Budget Implications for Post-2015 Development Agenda and Contingency Fund
CHANDRU RAMANATHAN, Officer-in-Charge, Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts, Department of Management, introduced the Secretary-General’s report (document A/C.5/69/15) containing the programme budget implications from draft resolution A/69/L.43 and draft decision A/69/L.44 on the post-2015 development agenda. By the terms of L.43, the Assembly would decide to convene the United Nations Summit to adopt the post-2015 development agenda from 25 September to 27 September in New York. By the terms of L.44, the Assembly would decide to convene meetings of the intergovernmental negotiations’ process on that agenda. To implement the texts, an additional requirement of $1.315 million would incur as a charge against the contingency fund.
Mr. Ramanathan then introduced the Secretary-General’s report, titled “Contingency fund: consolidated statement of programme budget implications and revised estimates” (document A/C.5/69/16). He said that potential charges to the contingency fund totalled some $25.4 million, which exceeded the remaining balance in the contingency fund ($13.8 million) by $11.6 million. Subsequent to the compilation of the report, the Advisory Committee revised its estimates, taking into account resolutions and decisions of the Human Rights Council and the programme budget implications on the post-2015 development agenda. As a result, potential charges to the contingency fund would now total $24.6 million, exceeding the remaining balance of the fund by $10.8 million.
Mr. RUIZ MASSIEU, presenting ACABQ’s oral reports on the budget implications of implementing resolutions L.43 and L.43, noted that the $1.315 million total additional requirements named in the Secretary-General’s statement comprised $1.109 million under section 2, General Assembly and Economic and Social Council affairs and conference management; $153,200 under section 28, Public information; and $52,900 under section 34, Safety and security, of the programme budget for the biennium 2014-2015. The total would represent a charge against the contingency fund, thus requiring additional appropriation for the biennium.
The Advisory Committee had no objections to the proposed additional requirements under section 2, but intended to examine the costing model for the processing of official documents at the four main duty stations — New York, Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi — when considering the proposed programme budget for 2016-2017, he said. The $153,000 requested under section 28 could be absorbed within the section. But in light of the status of expenditures under section 34, the additional $52,900 could not be absorbed, thus the Advisory Committee had no objections to the proposed additional requirement and recommended that should the Assembly adopt the drafts, an additional appropriation of $1.162 million would be required, representing a charge against the contingency fund under section 2, General Assembly and Economic and social council affairs and conference services ($1.109 million), and under section 34, safety and security ($52,900) of the programme budget for the 2014-2015 biennium.
Presenting an oral report on the “Contingency fund: consolidated statement of programme budget implications and revised estimates”, Mr. Ruiz Massieu recalled that the Assembly had decided, in its resolution 67/248, that the level of the contingency fund for the biennium 2014-2105 should be set at 0.75 per cent of the overall level of resources, or $40.44 million, within which additional requirements would be accommodated. In his report, the Secretary-General had indicated that following additional charges of $8.5 million approved at the sixty-eighth resumed session, there was a balance of $13.84 million in the fund for 2014-2015. Thus, potential new charges to the fund of $25.4 million, according to the Secretary-General, exceeded the remaining balance by some $11.59 million.
Given the magnitude of resources proposed in the context of the Strategic Heritage Plan ($28.4 million), he said the Secretary-General had requested extra appropriation outside the provisions of the contingency fund, proposing various amounts for absorption of additional requirements resulting from new and expanded mandates in paragraph 4 of his report. But their magnitude did not allow for full absorption. The contingency fund was an essential budgetary instrument for addressing additional resource requirements, he said, emphasizing the need to adhere to the provisions of the relevant Assembly resolutions. On the request in paragraph 7 of the Secretary-General’s report, the Assembly might consider the potential charges related to new and expanded mandates against the contingency fund for 2014-2015 and offer appropriate guidance to the Secretary-General.
Ms. RIOS (Bolivia), speaking for the Group of 77 and China, expressed support for the additional requirements of $1.314 million, including $1.108 under section 2, General Assembly and Economic and Social Council affairs and conference management, $153,200 under section 28, Public information, and $52,900 under section 34, Safety and security. The Group fully supported the provision of the resources requested by the Secretary-General, should the Assembly adopt draft resolutions A/69/L.43 and A/69/L.44, she said, calling for all mandates approved by intergovernmental bodies of the United Nations to be provided with adequate resources from the regular budget for their implementation.
African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) Financing
Mr. RAMANATHAN introduced the Secretary-General’s report on the “Revised budget for the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur for the period from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015” (document A/69/549). The revised 2014/15 budget for the Mission addressed the concerns raised by the Advisory Committee in its report A/68/782/Add.15 and reflected the implementation of the recommendations of the strategic review undertaken by UNAMID at the request of the Security Council in its resolution 2113 (2013). The requirements totalled $1.207 billion, down $128.7 million, or 9.6 per cent, from the previous 2013/2014 financial year. The revised budget also reflected the drawdown of military contingents and United Nations police personnel, a reduction of 770 posts and positions, and the reconfiguration of the Mission’s air transportation assets.
Mr. RUIZ MASSIEU, introducing the related ACABQ report (document A/69/671), said that the Advisory Committee recommended a reduction to the budget proposed for UNAMID in 2014/15 in the amount of some $58.8 million under the resource categories of uniformed personnel, civilian personnel, official travel, facilities and infrastructure. That reduction represented 4.9 per cent of the proposed resource requirements of $1.2 billion. The UNAMID budget was presented with several errors and incorrect information and the extra information requested was often received late, affecting ACABQ’s ability to analyse the Mission’s budget estimates. He trusted those shortcomings would be addressed in future reports. He also took note of the civilian staffing review undertaken pursuant to Assembly resolution 66/264 and the strategic review conducted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2113 (2014). With the information provided, ACABQ was not able to determine the budgetary impact of each review and asked the Assembly to provide additional information.
The proposed reductions in the Mission’s uniformed and civilian personnel categories should be factored into the vacancy rates applied to the estimates for those resource categories and any proposals for new or redeployed posts justified, he said. He expressed concern at the anomalies regarding official travel whereby training-related activities were categorized as non-training travel, as it reflected improper application of the provisions of Assembly resolution 67/254 A and had adverse cost implications for the Organization. ACABQ took note of UNAMID’s efforts to achieve economies by reconfiguring its aviation fleet and reducing its light vehicle fleet, and asked the Secretary-General to report on the results in future budget submissions. ACABQ also urged UNAMID to intensify efforts to implement construction and quick-impact projects.
Mr. DOSSEH (Togo), speaking for the African Group, expressed serious concern about late submission of the documentation. It was unfortunate that the revised budget for a complex mission of this size and level of resources was being introduced, with only a few days before the conclusion of the main session. The Group shared ACABQ’s concern about the quality of reports and delay in providing written responses. Regarding the 2013/14 budget performance, the Group emphasized the need for timely reimbursement for troops and contingent-owned equipment, as well as settlement of claims as priorities. Noting that the Secretary-General was proposing a 9.6 per cent budget reduction for UNAMID, he said the Group was seriously concerned that the arbitrary reduction of the budget would negatively impact mandate delivery. The Group sought clarification on a number of issues related to reorganization and a 24 per cent staffing reduction, as well as implementation of quick-impact projects. The Group was also concerned that the Security Council continued to encroach on the mandate of the Assembly on some administrative elements including on the civilian component. Each body should respect its own prerogative.
IDREES MOHAMMED ALI MOHAMMED SAEED (Sudan), associating himself with the African Group, reaffirmed his country’s cooperation with UNAMID. Recent meetings in Khartoum had led to a clear exit strategy. That strategy would require considerable coordination and resources. Budgets should be reduced gradually. His delegation would monitor the drawdown with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations to ensure that the strategy moved forward smoothly. On the 2014/2015 budget he said that no one could dispute the importance of the quick-impact projects in meeting the concerns of local communities. Those, however, had slowed down considerably, starting in 2012, and not all resources had been provided. Thus resources should be ratcheted up and provided. The environmental impacts of such a large Mission were visible on the ground. UNAMID should step up its efforts in that regard. International posts should be converted to national posts. He expressed satisfaction at the expected number of such conversions, but he was dissatisfied with the elimination of 209 General Service national posts. The abolishment of national posts must be gradual, while the replacement of international posts with national posts must be done quickly. Praising the building of roads and solar centres providing clean energy, he also said that local markets were able to meet procurement needs.
SERGEY KHALIZOV (Russian Federation) noted with regret that the documents under consideration had not been translated into all official languages. His delegation understood that an extreme situation had taken place but the decision to proceed without documentation in all official languages should not set any precedent.
Mr. SAEED (Sudan) sought clarification from ACABQ on the late issuance of its reports.
Mr. RUIZ MASSIEU said it usually took four to five weeks to produce its reports. Given that the reports from the Secretariat came in the second or third week of November, they were issued within a normal time frame.
Mr. RAMANATHAN explained that the Secretariat was striving hard to meet requests for issuance of additional reports. It would review the issue holistically and discuss how best to address it going forward.
Organization of Work
IMELDA SMOLCIC (Uruguay) expressed concern that the late issuance of reports negatively impacted the quality of work in the Fifth Committee and that the trend was getting worse. “This extraordinary situation had become customary and ordinary,” she said, stressing the need for the Fifth Committee to conduct an exhaustive analysis of its working methods. With half of the issues still pending, this was not the best time to discuss it further. But her delegation wished to raise the issue during the first resumed session. Regarding the current main session, she said that the Fifth Committee’s work should under no circumstance go beyond Christmas Eve.