Fifth Committee Approves Draft Authorizing over $130 Million to Operate United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan during 2022

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today sent the General Assembly for its adoption a draft resolution that would appropriate $131.345 million from the 2022 programme budget to run the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

The resolution, “Revised estimates relating to the programme budget for 2022 under section 3, Political affairs, and section 36, Staff assessment:  special political missions — United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan” (document A/C.5/77/L.4) was approved without a vote.

If the Assembly adopts the text, it would appropriate the related staff assessment portion of $10.9 million under section 36, Staff assessment, to be offset by a corresponding amount under income section 1, Income from staff assessment, of the programme budget for 2022.  The resolution also endorses the conclusions and related report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions.

At their first meeting of the seventy-seventh session on 3 October, delegates heard officials from the Advisory Committee and Secretariat deliver their respective reports on the Mission’s revised budget needs.  The revised 2022 proposed budget was formulated after adoption of Security Council resolution 2626 (2022) in March, which extended the Mission’s mandate until 17 March 2023.  It reflects revised staffing and financial resources to effectively carry out the Mission’s renewed and adapted mandate.  The proposed resource requirements for 2022 amount to $133.6 million, a decrease of $3.3 million, or 2.4 per cent, compared with the approved budget for 2021.  The reduction relates primarily to staff costs, specifically the application of a higher vacancy rate of 14 per cent for international staff, and 9 per cent for national staff, in the 2022 budget, versus vacancy rates of 6 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively, in 2021.  This is offset partly by increases under operational costs, primarily air operations, other supplies, services and equipment, and medical costs, he explained.

The Fifth Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 2 November, to consider several items under the proposed programme budget for 2023, including conditions of service of judges and construction and property management issues; as well as the administrative and budgetary coordination of the United Nations specialized agencies.