Fifth Committee

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) briefly met today to inform Member States of the extension of its work until Friday, 27 December.

The United Nations ability to carry out its mandate has been constrained by cash shortages in 2018 and 2019, its top official for accounting-related activities warned the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today, as the representative of the Russian Federation challenged the way the Organization is managing the liquidity crisis.

At today’s Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) meeting, Japan’s delegate expressed her concerns with a Secretariat request to approve $64.5 million in new charges against the contingency fund set aside for the Organization’s upcoming 2020 regular budget.

Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today backed the full 2020 funding of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) at $20.4 million to help the mission created in June by the Security Council carry out its mandate to create a peaceful and stable environment.

United Nations conference facilities in Kenya’s capital badly need upgrading and expansion as a centre for multilateralism, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) heard today, as it also examined the required financial resources to implement resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council.

The United Nations Controller and the Chairman of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) urged delegates today to accelerate their efforts to agree on a 2020 budget in order to prevent a shutdown of most global operations and avoid exacerbating the Organization’s ongoing liquidity crisis.

Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today expressed concern about delays in renovating the historic Africa Hall at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa and questioned the need for an independent evaluation of the ongoing flexible workplace renovation at New York Headquarters, as they debated construction and property management matters.

Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today criticized the Secretariat for the recurring delays and cost overruns enveloping the complex billion-dollar enterprise resource planning project — known as Umoja — as the Organization faces increasing fiscal constraints that are jeopardizing its delivery of mandates.

Member States expressed their concerns today that the ongoing construction project at the United Nations premises in Geneva might require more assessed contributions from them, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) discussed ways to mitigate a possible cost overrun for the more than $800 million undertaking in the Swiss city.

With less than 16 working days until the scheduled 13 December close of the main part of its seventy-fourth session, the Chairman of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budget) today warned Member States that the skyrocketing number of budget questions directed towards Secretariat officials is dangerously delaying the Committee’s work.