Fifth Committee

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) recorded 617 human rights abuses, including 165 killings by armed groups in the country, which is 37 per cent higher than the previous six months.  The deteriorating human rights situation is also marked by a steep rise in abductions.

The recent improvement in the United Nations cash position isn’t something to celebrate yet, as the world body continues to face difficulty carrying out its mandates without adequate financial resources, the Organization’s top budget official told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today.

Speakers began discussing the Secretary-General’s proposed $6.47 billion budget to cover the cost of a dozen United Nations peacekeeping missions in 2021/22, while stressing the need to break a four-year deadlock over issues that cut across operations, notably sexual exploitation and abuse, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) opened the second part of its resumed seventy-fifth session today.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) concluded the first part of its resumed seventy-fifth session today, sending — without a vote — three draft resolutions and one draft decision to the General Assembly for adoption, but failing to reach agreement on the longstanding issue of human resources management.

The global COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the economic health of Member States is driving home the critical importance of a robust culture of accountability within the United Nations, delegates said today as the resumed session of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) took up the latest reports on the subject against the backdrop of the Secretary-General’s ongoing efforts to reform the Organization.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today opened the first part of its resumed seventy-fifth session, with a view to ending the ongoing deadlock in negotiations on aspects of the United Nations human resources management reform, such as greater recruitment of staff members from unrepresented or underrepresented countries and the removal of career advancement barriers for General Service staff.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) wrapped up the main part of its seventy-fifth session on Wednesday by approving resources of $3.21 billion for the 2021 regular budget, the Organization’s second annual budget in nearly 50 years.  After the United States’ representative’s request for a recorded vote, the budget was approved with 151 delegates voting in favour, the United States and Israel voting against, and one abstention by Sudan.

Speakers today urged the Secretariat to closely track the efficiency and cost benefits gained from the massive restructuring of the United Nations peace and security architecture into two main departments — the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and the Department of Peace Operations — as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) reviewed progress in implementing the reform begun in January 2019.

Speakers in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today laid out the urgency of adequately funding the Organization’s 39 special political missions — which form a crucial part of its global peace and security pillar while consuming nearly one quarter of a regular budget facing a worsening liquidity crunch.

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.