Concerned by the high level of overdue payments for peacekeeping operations, speakers in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today called on Member States to meet their financial obligations to the United Nations promptly so it could completely fulfil its mandate to maintain international peace and security.
Delegations voiced support today for the Secretary-General’s efforts to reform peacekeeping, but warned that cost-cutting must not undermine the ability of missions to effectively carry out their mandates, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) took up the Organization’s proposed 2017/18 peacekeeping budget and budget performance for 2015/16.
Eradicating sexual exploitation and abuse in United Nations peacekeeping missions would require a collective and holistic approach that left no room for impunity, delegates said today as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) took up the Secretary-General’s blueprint for tackling the issue across the Organization.
Speakers today emphasized the need to give the United Nations Interim Force for Abyei (UNISFA) and the United Nations Support Office in Somalia the resources they needed to fulfil their mandates, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) continued its consideration of the financing of peacekeeping missions.
The financial situation of the United Nations was “generally sound and positive”, the Organization’s senior management official told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today, stressing the importance of Member States making timely payments in order to meet their obligations.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today opened the second part of its resumed seventy-first session, when it was expected to focus on $7.97 billion in budget requirements requested for United Nations peacekeeping operations for the 2017/18 fiscal period.
Concluding the first part of its resumed seventy-first session, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today approved — without a vote — six draft texts relating to, among other things, funding for three special political missions and protection from retaliation of whistle-blowers who report serious misconduct.
Delegates questioned the nature of proposed additional travel and consultancy costs for the United Nations first-ever conference on migration, scheduled for 2018, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) examined reports detailing the event’s budget requirements.
Delegates urged greater application of United Nations policies to crack down on fraud and corruption and results-based management, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today examined progress in establishing an accountability system in the United Nations Secretariat.
Speakers commended the substantial savings rendered in constructing a new facility at the Arusha premises of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, but expressed concern over delays in implementing the $8.8 million project, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) examined the sixth progress reports on the subject.
