Delegates Urge Creation of Separate Account for Special Political Missions as Fifth Committee Considers 2016-2017 Resource Requirements
Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today reiterated a call for establishing a separate account for special political missions as their growing share in the regular budget, at above 20 per cent, distorted the United Nations’ finance and could usurp funding for development and other key areas.
Delegates noted that $1.124 billion earmarked for financing the 34 special political missions for the biennium 2016-2017 comprised more than one fifth of the Secretary-General’s regular budget proposal, which totaled $5.57 billion — 1.6 per cent below the appropriation for the current two-year period.
Singapore’s representative, speaking for the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), argued that the proposed increase of $8.4 million for the special political missions “cannibalized” funding for other equally important parts of the budget, namely development, a key priority for many developing countries.
Supporting the creation of a separate account for those missions, delegates said it must align with the annual budget for peacekeeping operations, which operates on a 1 July to 30 June cycle, to enhance the efficiency, transparency and fairness of the Organization’s budget process. A separate account would also facilitate the transfer of resources between the special political missions and the peacekeeping operations.
Ecuador’s representative, speaking on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), said that the current funding and the lack of backstopping arrangements for special political missions meant their mandates were not discharged effectively and efficiently, urging immediate action to review those arrangements.
“No consensus in the past four years is not an excuse for failing to reach consensus in this session,” said Mexico’s delegate, stressing that the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions’ (ACABQ) recommendations in 2011 on reforming the backstopping and funding arrangements must be implemented promptly.
At the outset of today’s meeting, Bettina Tucci Bartsiotas, Assistant Secretary-General and Controller, introduced the Secretary-General’s budget estimates for 14 sanctions monitoring entities, comprising 78 experts. The budgetary requirements of those missions for 2016 totalled $34.5 million, down $1.4 million, or 3.9 per cent, from the previous year, mainly due to lower average fees of the experts and a reduction in travel requirements of experts and staff, she said.
Carlos Ruiz Massieu, ACABQ Chairman, introduced that body’s related report, which recommended approval of the Secretary-General’s proposal for the 2016 resource requirements for the 14 missions. He said cross-cutting issues pertaining to all 34 special political missions would be included in its forthcoming main report.
Also speaking today were the representatives of Qatar (on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council) and the United Republic of Tanzania (on behalf of the African Group).
The Fifth Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Friday, 6 November, to discuss personnel appointments to fill vacancies in the General Assembly’s subsidiary organs, including the ACABQ, the Committee on Contributions and the Board of Auditors.
Special Political Missions: Thematic Cluster II
BETTINA TUCCI BARTSIOTAS, Assistant Secretary-General and Controller, introduced the Secretary-General’s report, titled “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 II: sanctions monitoring teams, groups and panels” (document A/70/348/Add.2), noting that, over the past six years, the Council had expanded the use of such entities as part of its tool-box for maintaining international peace and security.
Today, she said, 14 such panels comprised 78 experts who frequently deployed all over the world to act as the eyes and ears of the Council. Considerable time and effort was spent to recruit the most qualified experts and ensure high-quality administrative and advisory support to them. Moreover, the Department of Political Affairs, the Office for Disarmament Affairs and the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate promoted and facilitated cooperation across those diverse sanctions panels, and ensured their collaboration with other special political and peacekeeping missions. To maintain consistency in the performance of cluster II missions, the results frameworks continued to be revised and harmonized. Inherent differences in the sanctions regimes had been retained. The Secretariat continued to improve the way information was presented to the Assembly.
The budgetary requirements of the 14 cluster II missions for 2016 totalled $34.5 million, down $1.4 million, or 3.9 per cent, from the previous year, mainly due to lower average fees of the experts and a reduction in travel requirements of experts and staff, she said. There were no changes proposed in the composition or levels of staff. Those requirements would be charged against the provision of $1.1 billion proposed for special political missions under Section 3, Political Affairs, of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2016-2017.
CARLOS RUIZ MASSIEU, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), introduced that body’s related report “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 II: sanctions monitoring teams, groups and panels” (document A/70/7/Add.12).
The Advisory Committee recommended a reduction of $121,000 in the proposed requirements for the Panel of Experts on Liberia for 2016, he said. Subject to that reduction, as well as the recommendations in the forthcoming main report (document A/70/7/Add.10), ACABQ recommended approval of the Secretary-General’s proposal for the resource requirements for 2016 for the 14 special political missions under thematic cluster II. No provision under consultants was proposed for 2016 under cluster II. The Advisory Committee welcomed the efforts made to reduce reliance on external consultants, as well as to recruit experts with the requisite professional and language skills. Issues of a cross-cutting nature pertaining to all special political missions would be contained in the main report (document A/70/7/Add.10), he said.
KAREN TAN (Singapore), speaking for the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), noted that the Secretariat had proposed an overall budget of $5.57 billion for the biennium 2016-2017, 1.6 per cent below the appropriation for the current two-year period. The share of special political missions in the shrinking regular budget had grown. Even assuming that the Council would not create such missions for the next two years, their provision would still increase by $8.4 million, meaning that they would account for more than 20 per cent of the regular budget. Each increase in the budget for those missions inevitably cannibalized funding for other equally important parts of the budget, notably development, a key priority for many developing countries.
“Special political missions have been crying out for urgent attention for the last five years,” she said, expressing support for the immediate implementation of reform of the funding and backstopping arrangements proposed in 2011 by the ACABQ. It was also imperative to create a separate account for those missions aligned with the budgetary cycle for peacekeeping operations. A separate account would facilitate the implementation of recommendations regarding transfers between the missions and resources currently accessed only by peacekeeping operations, such as the peacekeeping support account and strategic deployment stocks.
DIEGO MOREJÓN PAZMIÑO (Ecuador), speaking on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), said the budgets of special political missions had grown dramatically over the last decade and distorted the regular budget. The missions now made up a considerable portion of the Organization’s regular budget and current funding and the lack of backstopping arrangements meant their mandates were not discharged effectively and efficiently. CELAC also noted the special responsibilities of permanent Council members to ensure the proper functioning of the Organization’s peace and security pillar through adequate funding, oversight and accountability. CELAC reiterated the importance of reviewing these arrangements as a matter of urgency.
He noted three recently published documents — including reports of the Advisory Group of Experts on the Review of the Peacebuilding Architecture and the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations — that highlighted the urgent need to reform the missions’ financing and backstopping arrangements. He noted the $1.124 billion earmarked for financing the missions in the proposed 2016-2017 programme budget comprised more than one fifth of the Secretary-General’s 2016-2017 budget proposal. CELAC reiterated its view that the current funding arrangements were inadequate, in line with the view of the Secretariat, ACABQ and other groups and delegations. The changes outlined in the Secretary-General’s proposal were holistic and inseparable measures that would strengthen and improve the functioning of these missions. CELAC strongly supported creation of a separate account that would be budgeted, funded and reported on an annual basis, with a financial period running from 1 July to 30 June, and financed on the same terms as peacekeeping operations to enhance the efficiency, transparency and fairness of the Organization’s budget process. Last year, CELAC countries contributed $207.98 million to the regular budget. Their estimated contribution for the upcoming budget period, based on the proposed scale of assessment, would increase to $240.45 million.
JUSTIN KISOKA (United Republic of Tanzania), speaking on behalf of the African Group, noted the proposed 2016 resource requirements for the 14 special political missions under thematic cluster II totalled $34.5 million, down $1.4 million from the resources approved for 2015. He said that no extra-budgetary resources were requested in 2015, or projected for 2016, for the Group of Experts, except for the support to the Security Council Committee, established pursuant to Council resolution 1540 (2004) on the non-proliferation of all weapons of mass destruction, and the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate. The African Group was encouraged that, at the end of September, most of the posts had been filled and it encouraged the Secretary-General to ensure all remaining positions were filled. The African Group also noted that, for 2016, there would be no change in the approved staffing structure of all the Groups of Experts.
The African Group wanted more details on the composition of the different expert groups, the designation process and the operational costs, highlighting the need to rely more on home-based expert groups, he said. He stressed the importance of consultation, collaboration and partnership among key stakeholders, including the concerned countries, regional and subregional organizations. He emphasized the need for the United Nations to partner with the African Union and other subregional organizations on the work carried out in that area. Regarding the funding and backstopping of special political missions, the African Group wanted to join other delegations in addressing the issue. It strongly expected that matter would be concluded by the end of the main session and by consensus and it was ready to contribute innovative ideas during the informal consultations.
GHANIM AL-HUDAIFI AL-KUWARI (Qatar), speaking on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council, associated himself with the statements made by the delegates of the United Republic of Tanzania, Singapore and Ecuador, made on behalf of the African Group, ASEAN and CELAC, respectively. Qatar was aware of the fact that the missions operated in an increasingly complex environment and they had more diverse mandates and carried out multidimensional mandates, in addition to political tasks. They were now involved with human rights, the rule of law and sexual violence in conflict zones. Their number had increased to 35 missions and that expansion impacted the regular budget. It was important to maintain a balance in the budget appropriations and let the missions discharge the tasks assigned to them. He was deeply concerned that the Fifth Committee could not make a decision on the financial situation of the missions, taking into account the recommendations of the Advisory Committee. This was during a time when the financial resources needed by the missions had increased significantly. Their needs were not subject to the regular budget cycle and to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness, it would be best to create a separate account for the process. The Gulf Cooperation Council wanted to ensure the success of the work of the Fifth Committee.
FELIPE GARCÍA LANDA (Mexico), associating with CELAC, said that the estimated budget for the 14 special political missions under the thematic cluster II for 2016 represented only a part of the total needs. Altogether, 34 special political missions would account for more than 20 per cent of the regular budget. Therefore, he had to refer to the ongoing discussion on the reform of backstopping and funding arrangements for those missions proposed by the ACABQ. “No consensus in the past four years is not an excuse for failing to reach consensus in this session,” he said. The three important documents, released recently, supported that reform, as mentioned in the CELAC statement. The Board of Auditors’ report also stated a concern about technical issues regarding the growth of special political missions in the regular budget. It was time to implement a comprehensive reform proposed in 2011, including the establishment of a separate account for those missions. The same position had been voiced by the previous speakers representing regional groups.