Delegates in Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) Discuss Cross-Cutting Issues of Peacekeeping Operations
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today heard a call for the Secretary-General to intensify efforts to identify further savings across peacekeeping missions, as the proposed 2025/26 budget would have risen by 2 per cent were it not for the closure of the UN mission in Mali.
Today’s meeting comes as the Organization prepares its peacekeeping budget for the 12-month period from 1 July to 30 June 2026 and reviews the 2023/24 budget performance. Unlike the UN’s regular programme budget, which follows a calendar year cycle, the peacekeeping budget operates on a July to June fiscal year.
Delegates had before them the Secretary-General’s report on the overview of the financing of the United Nations peacekeeping operations (document A/79/788), introduced by Maria Costa, Deputy Controller and Director of the Finance Division in the Office of Programme Planning, Finance and Budget at the Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance.
“The United Nations peacekeeping remains one of the Organization’s most important and visible conflict management and resolution instruments,” she said, emphasizing that missions must receive adequate resources to effectively discharge the mandates given by the Security Council. “The ultimate beneficiaries are the people of the countries where our peacekeepers serve,” she added.
She reported that the 2023/24 approved peacekeeping budget amounted to $6.3 billion, with $158.4 million — or 2.5 per cent of the total — remaining unspent. The variance is mainly due to underspending in three missions — the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
$5.5 Billion Budget Proposed to Finance Peacekeeping in 2025/26
She also reported that the 2025/26 proposed peacekeeping budget stands at $5.5 billion — a $94.6 million, or 1.7 per cent, decrease from the 2024/25 approved level, mainly due to the closure of MINUSMA. Key drivers of budget changes for each mission are outlined in the report’s Section XV and the supplementary information, she added.
The Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) “welcomes the launch of a strategic approach by the Secretary-General to promote a culture of efficiency in peacekeeping missions,” said Juliana Gaspar Ruas, Chair of the expert body tasked with advising the General Assembly on administrative and financial matters to ensure that UN spending is justified, efficient and in line with mandates.
Call for Behavioural Change, Well-Designed Methodology to Achieve Efficiencies
Introducing the body’s report on “Observations and recommendations on cross-cutting issues related to peacekeeping operations” (document A/79/724), she stressed the need to invoke behavioral change and develop a well-designed methodology to achieve efficiencies from the planning phase through the management of approved resources.
“The Committee [ACABQ] encourages the Secretary-General to continue and further strengthen efforts to identify areas where resource reductions could be achieved,” she said.
The Advisory Committee also expects that the budget performance reports will clearly identify and explain what the urgent and unexpected operational needs were — the specific reasons why resources had to be redeployed, she said. As for the current period, she expressed concern that three active missions do not have sufficient cash to cover the three-month operating costs, even considering cash at hand after borrowing.
ACABQ trusts that updated information on the outstanding payments for uniformed personnel and contingent-owned equipment by mission will be provided to the Assembly during its consideration of the present report, she added.
Cost-Cutting Must Be Data-Driven, Fact-Based to Ensure Proper Mandate Delivery
The representative of Iraq, speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, noted the 1.7 per cent reduction in the proposed 2025/26 peacekeeping budget mainly due to MINUSMA’s closure. However, she pointed out that “the budgets of other active peacekeeping missions have still increased significantly, which is unusual under the background of the drawdown and downsizing of peacekeeping operations”.
She added that cost-cutting exercises must be data-driven, fact-based and assessed thoroughly to ensure they do not undermine mandate delivery, especially in complex and high-risk environments. In that regard, the Group joins ACABQ in requesting a more detailed and comprehensive explanation of the methodologies and assumptions used for calculating the Secretary-General’s projected efficiency gains of $53.4 million. “Efficiency should not come at the expense of personnel safety,” she warned.
She also expressed concern about persistent high vacancy levels and supported ACABQ’s call for more realistic vacancy rates that reflect actual hiring capacity and operational needs.
Calling on Member States to make full and timely payments of their assessed contributions, she noted that the peacekeeping support account continues to be strained by liquidity challenges due to the huge arrears of the UN’s single largest contributor, with $306.6 million borrowed from closed missions as of 30 June 2024.
Among other things, she encouraged more local procurement for food, services and construction, while stressing the importance of host country assessments in evaluating mission performance.
She also underscored the need for equitable geographical staff representation, particularly at senior levels, with emphasis on troop- and police-contributing countries. The Group called for updates on efforts to broaden candidate pools and improve outreach, while stressing the importance of timely and adequate reimbursements to those countries.