Fifth Committee Recommends Appointing 10 Candidates to Administrative and Budgetary Advisory Body, Approves 27 Nominees for Five Other Subsidiary Entities

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today sent the General Assembly 10 nominations to the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) — which plays a crucial role in helping the Fifth Committee examine the Organization’s budget and manage its employees — while delivering 27 additional recommendations to the Assembly for four other of its subsidiary bodies and the International Civil Service Commission.

These bodies included the Committee on Contributions, the Investment Committee, the Independent Audit Advisory Committee and the United Nations Staff Pension Committee.

Delegates first turned their attention to 10 three‑year slots on the 16‑member Advisory Committee.  The Fifth Committee recommended by acclamation the appointments of Abdallah Bachar Bong (Chad); Nabil Kalkoul (Algeria); and Caroline Nalwanga (Uganda), from the Group of African States; Feliksas Bakanauskas (Lithuania) and Pavel Chernikov (Russian Federation), from the Group of Eastern European States; and Julia A. Maciel (Paraguay) and Juliana Gaspar Ruas (Brazil), from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States.  They were nominated by their Governments for appointment or reappointment to three‑year terms, beginning on 1 January 2021.

After completing today’s nominating process for the four other subsidiary bodies and the International Civil Service Commission, delegates than returned to elections for the Advisory Committee and proceeded to a secret ballot to back one of two nominated candidates from the Group of Asia-Pacific States and two of four recommended candidates from the Group of Western European and Other States.

For the Group of Asia-Pacific States, Ali Mohammed Faeq Al‑Dabag (Iraq) drew 64 votes, and Vidisha Maitra (India) obtained 126 votes.  The Fifth Committee recommended Ms. Maitra to the Assembly for a three‑year term beginning on 1 January 2021.

For the Group of Western European and Other States, Xavier Bellmont Roldán (Spain) obtained 56 votes; Donna‑Marie Chiurazzi-Maxfield (United States) drew 114 votes; Magnus Lennartsson (Sweden) received 99 votes; and Cihan Terzi (Turkey) received 108 votes.  The Fifth Committee recommended Ms. Chiurazzi‑Mazfield and Mr. Terzi to the Assembly for three‑year terms of office starting on 1 January 2021.

Committee on Contributions

For the 18‑member Committee on Contributions, which advises the Assembly on the distribution of the Organization’s expenses among Member States, delegates recommended by acclamation the appointment or reappointment of six people for three‑year terms that start 1 January 2021.  They are Michael Holtsch (Germany), Henrique da Silveira Sardinha Pinto (Brazil), Ji‑sun Jun (Republic of Korea), Vadim Laputin (Russian Federation), Lin Shan (China) and Steve Townley (United Kingdom).

Investment Committee

For the nine‑member Investments Committee, which advises the Secretary‑General on investment strategy and reviews the investments of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, the Fifth Committee sent the Assembly by acclamation the names of four persons to serve as regular members for three-year terms, beginning on 1 January 2021.  They are Yasir O. al-Rumayyan (Saudi Arabia), Sarah Omotunde Alade (Nigeria), Natalia Khanjenkova (Russian Federation) and Patricia Parise (Argentina).  The Fifth Committee backed the Secretary‑General’s selection of Michael Klein (United States) as Chair of the Investments Committee, also starting on 1 January 2021, and recommended the Assembly reappoint Macky Tall (Mali) as an ad hoc member for a one‑year term beginning on 1 January 2021.

International Civil Service Commission

The Fifth Committee then turned its attention to the five pending vacancies on the 15‑member International Civil Service Commission, an independent body established by the Assembly to regulate and coordinate service conditions for thousands of staff throughout the United Nations Common system.  The full Commission meets twice a year.

The Fifth Committee recommended by acclamation the appointment, or reappointment, to four‑year terms, beginning 1 January 2021 of:  Larbi Djacta (Algeria) and El Hassane Zahid (Morocco) from the Group of African States; Pan‑Suk Kim (Republic of Korea) and Wang Xiaochu (China) from the Group of Asia‑Pacific States; and Igor Golubovskiy (Russian Federation) from the Group of Eastern European States.

Independent Audit Advisory Committee

For the five‑member Independent Audit Advisory Committee, a subsidiary body that serves in an expert advisory capacity and helps the Assembly fulfil its oversight responsibilities, the Fifth Committee recommended by acclamation two people — Thembekile Kimi Makwetu (South Africa) for appointment and Janet St. Laurent (United States) for reappointment — to a three‑year term beginning 1 January 2021.

United Nations Staff Pension Committee

Finally, the Fifth Committee turned its attention to the eight slots — four members and four alternate members — open with the United Nations Staff Pension Committee, which administrates pension matters.  The Fifth Committee recommended by acclamation the appointment or reappointment of these eight people to four‑year terms of office beginning 1 January 2021:  Ahmed Al Kabir (Bangladesh), Dmitry S. Chumakov (Russian Federation), Lovemore Mazemo (Zimbabwe), Philip Richard Okanda Owade (Kenya), Pía Poroli (Argentina), Jörg Stosberg (Germany), David Traystman (United States) and Tomoya Yamaguchi (Japan).

Before voting on their recommendations, delegates considered the Secretary‑General’s notes on the appointment of members of the Advisory Committee (documents A/75/101/Rev.1 and A/C.5/75/4); Committee on Contributions (documents A/75/102/Rev.1 and A/C.5/75/5); Investments Committee (documents A/75/103 and A/C.5/75/6); the International Civil Service Commission (documents A/75/104 and A/C.5/75/7); the Independent Audit Advisory Committee (documents A/75/105/Rev.1 and A/C.5/75/8); and the United Nations Staff Pension Committee (documents A/75/106 and A/C.5/75/9).