Examining Reports on Pattern of Conferences, Budget Committee Praises Increased Utilization Rate, Calls for Equal Treatment among Official Languages
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today began its examination of conference management, including issues related to overall costs, multilingual translation and interpretation, document issuance, and the use of resources and facilities, while approving proposed revisions to programme planning and evaluation rules as well as recommended ways to better implement results-based budgeting.
On conference management, delegates commended the increased utilization rate of conference-servicing resources and facilities at the United Nations four headquarters - New York, Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi - which rose from 82 per cent in 2013 to 86 per cent in 2014. They, however, called for further efforts to promote multilingualism, reduce overall conference-servicing costs, and improve the vetting process for use of venues by non-governmental organizations.
South Africa’s representative, speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said the effective delivery of quality conference services, which gave equal treatment to the Organization’s six official languages, was very important, especially for the work of the Organization’s intergovernmental and expert bodies. The Group was satisfied that 98.5 per cent of the documents submitted on time and within the word limit had been processed within four weeks by the Department of General Assembly and Conference Management. The Group asked the Secretary-General to take steps to ensure the nature and content of events, especially those conducted by nongovernmental organizations, were approved before a venue was used.
Echoing the previous speaker, the United Republic of Tanzania’s delegate, speaking for the African Group, stressed multilingualism must be promoted in the Organization for the effective delivery of quality conference services and to give equal treatment to the six official languages. On the use of conference space, the Group was satisfied that last year the overall utilization at the four main duty stations was more than the established benchmark rate of 80 per cent, urging intergovernmental bodies whose past use was below the benchmark to take remedial steps.
He said the Organization’s facilities and premises should be used only for activities that promoted multilateralism and in line with the Organization’s objectives. The Group strongly discouraged any activities, including those of nongovernmental organizations and other non-state actors, which contradicted the values and principles of the Organization, including those which undermined the efforts of any Member States.
Japan’s delegate urged Member States to refrain from adding unnecessary conference resource requirements when deciding the modalities of new meetings in General Assembly resolutions. The whole cost of conference services could be reduced by planning fewer meetings and shortening the duration of meetings. As for the digitization of important older United Nations documents, the question remained as to what constituted “important”, and further consideration was also needed on the scope, quantity, cost and timeframe of the project.
Tegegnework Gettu, Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management, said that demand for translation of documents had been on the rise, and due to the proposed reductions in the 2016-2017 budget, it would be difficult to absorb further increases. Translation capacity had been limited by shortages of qualified professionals in certain language combinations, he said.
At the end of the meeting, the Fifth Committee approved without a vote a draft resolution, by which the General Assembly would endorse the Committee for Programme and Coordination’s conclusions and recommendations on proposed revisions to the Regulations and Rules Governing Programme Planning, the Programme Aspects of the Budget, the Monitoring of Implementation and the Methods of Evaluation, as well as proposals on ways to improve the implementation of results-based budgeting, among other things.
Also today the Fifth Committee heard the introduction of the revised proposed 2016-2017 programme budget for the International Trade Centre and then discussed the matter. Johannes Huisman, Director of the Programme Planning and Budget Division of the Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts, introduced the Secretary-General’s report on that budget. Babou Sene, Vice Chair of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), introduced ACABQ’s related report.
Marcelo Scappini Ricciardi, Chair of the Committee on Conferences, introduced that body’s report for 2015. Mr. Gettu introduced the Secretary-General’s report on the pattern of conferences, while ACABQ Chair Carlos Ruiz Massieu introduced the Advisory Committee’s related report.
Also speaking today were representatives of India and Paraguay.
The Fifth Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 22 October, to discuss the financial situation of the Organization.
Patterns of Conferences
MARCELO SCAPPINI RICCIARDI, Chair of the Committee on Conferences, introduced that body’s report for 2015 (document A/70/32), noting that the report, which contained a draft resolution on the pattern of conferences, was transmitted through the Fifth Committee and recommended for adoption by the General Assembly. Chapter I noted the Committee now had full membership. Chapter II dealt with matters related to the calendar of meetings. The Committee examined the draft biennial calendar of conferences of the United Nations for 2016 and 2017 and recommended it for adoption by the Assembly.
In Chapter III on meetings management, the Committee reviewed the statistical data on utilization of conference-servicing resources and facilities at the Organization’s four main duty stations - New York, Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi - and at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa, he said. The Committee Chair held consultations with intergovernmental bodies that had not met the benchmark utilization rate of 80 per cent for the past three years. He said he was pleased that the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, including its working groups, had increased its utilization rate from 45 per cent in 2012 to 83 per cent in 2015. The Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations had improved its rate from 41 per cent in 2012 to 91 per cent this year. The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law had improved its rate from 76 per cent to 92 per cent in 2015. There was, however, a concern about the slow pace of improvement at ECA. The need for continuous improvement to videoconferencing infrastructure at all the four main duty stations and at regional commissions was also reemphasized.
Chapter IV dealt with issues related to integrated global management, he said, noting that the draft resolution in the document asked the Secretary-General to complete internal reviews concerning accountability mechanisms and the clear delineation of responsibilities between the Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management, and the Directors-General of the United Nations Offices in Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi. Chapter V focused on documentation and publication. By the draft resolution, the Assembly would ask the Secretary-General to present a proposal for the digitization of older United Nations documents by the seventy-first Assembly session. In Chapter VI on translation and interpretation services, the Committee reiterated its request to provide at all duty stations, adequate staff, with a view to ensuring appropriate quality control for external translation, with due consideration of the principle of equal grade for equal work.
TEGEGNEWORK GETTU, Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management, introduced the Secretary-General’s report on the pattern of conferences (document A/70/122). Providing an update on the high-level segment of the current General Assembly session, he said that 780 multilateral meetings had been held from 21 September to 3 October. Of those, 226 had been serviced by interpreters and 551 without them. Of the 202 interpretation teams reserved, 187 had actually been used.
He said that the Department of the General Assembly and Conference Management serviced 1,687 bilateral meetings from 25 September to 3 October, compared with 1,396 in 2014 and 1,235 in 2013, reflecting an increase of 21 per cent and 37 per cent respectively. The number of meetings and events during the high-level period increased from 219 in the sixty-seventh session to 402 in the sixty-ninth session, an increase of 84 per cent. In preparation for the current session, 328 reports had been slotted for processing in New York. By 12 October, the Department had received 304 documents with a total of 3.41 million words. Of those, 80 exceeded the word limit, clearly indicating a need for more concise drafting. And 257 submissions, or 85 per cent, had met the agreed deadlines.
On meetings management, the utilization rate regarding conference-servicing resources and facilities at the four main duty stations had risen from 82 per cent in 2013 to 86 per cent in 2014, he said. In 2014, 75 per cent of all pre-session documents issued in New York had met the mandated timely issuance benchmarks, up from 71 per cent in 2013. With demand for translation of documents on the rise, and due to the proposed reductions in the 2016-2017 budget, it would be difficult to absorb further increases. Translation capacity had been limited by shortages of qualified professionals in certain language combinations. The Department was considering a proposal to transfer some staff of the Headquarters-based French Translation Service to the United Nations Office in Vienna to address a high vacancy rate. As a Secretariat-wide coordinator for multilingualism, he intended to initiate consultations with multiple stakeholders.
CARLOS RUIZ MASSIEU, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), introduced that body’s related report (document A/70/432), stressing that information on utilization rates in the Secretary-General’s report on patterns of conferences should include data based on actual occupancy against total capacity. The Advisory Committee provided comments on multilingualism and digitization, including on the need for expediting the process of digitization of important older United Nations documents, as requested by the Assembly, and recommended that the Assembly ask the Secretary-General to provide a concrete proposal to address the vacancy situation of posts in the language services and succession planning, particularly in the French Translation Service at Headquarters.
LYLE DAVIDSON (South Africa), speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said the proposed draft on the pattern of conferences, submitted by the Committee as part of its report, gave an excellent basis for negotiations. The effective delivery of quality conference services, which gave equal treatment to the six official United Nations languages, was very important, especially for the work of the Organization’s intergovernmental and expert bodies. The Group said the overall use factor for meetings with interpretation in the four duty stations had increased from 82 per cent to 86 per cent, surpassing the 80 per cent utilization benchmark rate. It was very important to complete the remaining work on the Capital Master Plan, including rectifying the errors and omissions that Member States had identified: physical and technological accessibility, power sockets and video-conferencing infrastructure.
On integrated global management, he welcomed cooperation among the main duty stations to delineate their responsibilities on conference management policies, operations and the use of resources. He called for timely issuance of documents, as well as their improved quality, to help intergovernmental bodies, particularly the Fifth Committee, work more effectively and efficiently. The Group was satisfied that 98.5 per cent of the documents that had been submitted on time and within the word limit had been processed within four weeks by the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management. Other duty stations should take steps to reach their target. The use of United Nations facilities had to be consistent with the Organization’s principles and purposes. The Group asked the Secretary-General to take all necessary steps to ensure the nature and content of events, especially those conducted by nongovernmental organizations, were approved before the venue was used, to ensure compliance with the Organization’s principles. The Group would follow-up on this issue in informal consultations.
JUSTIN KISOKA (United Republic of Tanzania), speaking for the African Group and aligning with the statement made by South Africa’s delegate on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, said multilingualism must be promoted in the Organization for the effective delivery of quality conference services and to give equal treatment to the six official United Nations languages. On the use of conference space, the Group was satisfied that last year the overall utilization factor at the four main duty stations was more than the established benchmark rate of 80 per cent. He urged intergovernmental bodies whose past use was below the benchmark rate to take steps to reach it when planning their future sessions. The African Group welcomed the ongoing initiatives, including a marketing strategy, aimed at improving the conference facilities at ECA. It encouraged the Secretary-General to continue those efforts, including the modernization of conference facilities, particularly Africa Hall, and at all duty stations, particularly in Nairobi.
Regarding the use of the United Nations premises, the African Group shared the Group of 77 and China’s concern that the Organization’s facilities and premises should be used only for activities that promoted multilateralism and in line with the Organization’s objectives. It strongly discouraged any activities, including those nongovernmental organizations and other non-state actors, which contradicted the values and principles of the Organization, including those which undermined the efforts of any Member States. The Group asked the Secretary-General to ensure that the use of conference and United Nations facilities was in strict compliance with the established principles related to their use. The Group would continue to monitor that matter in fora. Regarding the digitization of important older documents, the Group looked forward to receiving the comprehensive proposal on the digitization of all important documents, including parliamentary documents, by the Assembly’s seventy-first session.
S.P. MUDDAHANUME GOWDA, Member of the Parliament of India, aligning with the statement made by South Africa on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, said the Department of General Assembly and Conference Management’s major objective was to provide high-quality documents in a timely manner in all official languages as well as high-quality conference services to Member States at all duty stations. It needed to achieve those goals as efficiently and cost effectively as possible. The satisfaction of Member States was a key performance indicator in conference management and conference services. India joined others in urging the Conference Management Department to make sustained efforts to seek evaluation by Member States. Quality documents must be issued on time to facilitate consideration of issues by intergovernmental bodies, particularly the Fifth Committee. He also stressed the importance of multilingualism and called for continued improvements in translation and interpretation in the six official languages, which let Member States carry out smooth deliberations. All reports should include a summary, consolidated conclusions, recommendations and other proposed actions, as well as relevant background information. He welcomed the efforts of the Departments of Public Information and of General Assembly and Conference Management to digitalize important United Nations documents, noting that about 11 per cent of 3 million documents, identified from 17 million paper documents belonging to the pre-1993 era, had already been digitalized.
HIROSHI ONUMA (Japan) said that while the Secretariat should continue to seek cost-saving measures for conference servicing, Member States must refrain from adding unnecessary conference resource requirements when deciding the modalities of new meetings in General Assembly resolutions. His delegation welcomed all initiatives to increase the resource utilization rates, but it was important to reduce the whole cost of conference services through such measures as planning fewer meetings and shortening the duration of meetings. While delegates enjoyed the benefit of the digital distribution of publications, the two document assistance centres established at the New York Headquarters also provided them with hard copies. As for the digitization of important older United Nations documents, the question remained as to what constituted “important”. Further consideration was also needed on the scope, quantity, cost and timeframe of the project. The Secretariat should engage in further efforts to seek additional voluntary contributions for the project.
JULIA ANSELMINA MACIEL GONZALEZ (Paraguay), endorsed the statement by South Africa on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, and said the issues in the pattern of conferences’ agenda item were very important. They should be given sufficient resources to comply with the Organization’s mandates. The principle of multilingualism had to be given adequate resources, and adequate time had to be given to ensure documents were translated into the six official languages. It was important to provide quality control of translations and the required resources for their implementation were necessary. She praised the important work done at the Committee on Conferences’ meeting in September. She hoped the delegates had the ability to reach a collective agreement on the budget required for the pattern of conferences. Paraguay hoped the Committee’s seventieth session would be approached with a heightened sense of commitment. Paraguay would enter negotiations with good faith and pragmatism, and would work with all delegations.
Proposed 2016-2017 Programme Budget: International Trade Centre
JOHANNES HUISMAN, Director, Programme Planning and Budget Division, Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts, introduced the report of the Secretary-General on the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2016-2017 for the International Trade Centre (document A/70/6 (Sect.13/Add.1/Rev.1)). The Centre was the joint development agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization (WTO). It was mandated to provide technical assistance to facilitate the integration of developing countries and economies-in-transition, particularly the least developed countries, into the multilateral trading system through export promotion and international business development. The Centre focused on improving the international competitiveness of micro, small- and medium-size enterprises from developing countries and countries with economies-in-transition. The proposed overall level of resources for the 2016-2017 biennium totalled SwF75.1 million after recosting, he said. Based on the 50 per cent share for which the United Nations was responsible, the proposed resources for the upcoming 2016-2017 budget cycle totalled SwF37.5 million, which after recosting equalled $39.5 million.
BABOU SENE, Vice Chair of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), introduced the ACABQ’s related report (document A/70/7/Add.1) on the Centre’s proposed programme budget for 2016-2017. The Advisory Committee recommended approval of the proposed budget under that section and welcomed the new liaison arrangement proposed for Addis Ababa. Regarding official travel, the Advisory Committee noted the low rate of compliance of the requirement for advance booking and purchase of tickets, particularly in view of the Centre’s predictable travel requirements. It expected immediate steps to be taken to ensure compliance with that requirement. It also welcomed the simplified budget procedure proposed by the Centre for the presentation of its programme budget.
LYLE DAVISDSON (South Africa), speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, reaffirmed the importance of the work carried out by the International Trade Centre to benefit developing countries. The Centre played a crucial role in helping developing countries foster the competitiveness of small-and medium- enterprises, strengthen productive capacity-building and gain enhanced trade and market intelligence information. The Group particularly appreciated the Centre’s focus on least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, small island developing States, sub-Saharan Africa and countries in conflict and post-conflict situations. The Group was particularly encouraged by the creation of an International Trade Centre office in Addis Ababa. It also noted the proposed simplified budget procedure taken by the Centre and would seek more information during the informal deliberations.
Programme Planning
Acting without a vote, the Fifth Committee approved draft resolution A/C.5/70/L.3, by which the Assembly would endorse the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee for Programme and Coordination, which covered proposed revisions to the Regulations and Rules Governing Programme Planning, the Programme Aspects of the Budget, the Monitoring of Implementation and the Methods of Evaluation, as well as proposals on ways to improve the implementation of results-based budgeting, evaluation, the annual overview report of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) for 2014, and the United Nations system support for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
Also by the text, the Assembly would stress that setting the priorities of the United Nations was the prerogative of the Member States, and that they needed to participate fully in the budget preparation process, from its early stages and throughout the process.