Delegates at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today threw their support behind the Secretariat’s request for a $3.07 million intervention to keep the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone running smoothly in 2025, while raising concern over the current funding arrangement.
In progress at UNHQ
Fifth Committee
Delegates at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today considered the persistent cost overruns gripping the Strategic Heritage Plan renovation project at the United Nations Office at Geneva.
Delegates at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today commended the Secretariat’s ongoing efforts to elevate the quality of United Nations conferences held around the globe while emphasizing the need to deliver these services in all six official languages.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) sent the General Assembly five nominations for the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) today and delivered the names of 20 additional candidates for four other bodies, including 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.
Backing the Organization’s efforts to retain and build a highly skilled workforce, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today reviewed the complex compensation package meant to fairly reward thousands of United Nations employees — including those working in dangerous locales around the world.
Troubled by the ongoing liquidity crisis impeding the United Nations’ ability to deliver on its mandates, delegates at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today emphasized that Member States’ timely payments of assessed contributions to the regular budget is crucial. Delegates voiced their displeasure that Member States with the highest arrears have aggravated the Organization’s financial situation, noting that there are about $1.5 billion in unpaid regular budget assessments at the end of the third quarter, the highest amount in four years.
Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today welcomed the imminent inauguration of the newly renovated historic Africa Hall at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa as well as progress on renovations at the North Building at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), expected to be the first net-zero emissions building in the United Nations system.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today began its line-by-line consideration of a proposed $3.6 billion regular budget for 2025 that reflects priorities laid down in landmark agreements such as the Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations.
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) of the General Assembly on the proposed programme budget for 2025, in New York today:
The United Nations senior management official told delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today that if fourth-quarter collections of assessments from Member States do not arrive as estimated, the Organization could end 2024 with a cash deficit that would place more liquidity pressure on the Organization’s finances in 2025.