Fifth Committee

Seven years after they gave the go-ahead for the massive, multi-billion-dollar renovation of the United Nations historic Headquarters building, delegates at the Fifth Committee (Budgetary and Administrative) today urged the Secretariat and managers of the Capital Master Plan to rein in cost overruns and add-ons that tallied nearly $400 million.

Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today again voiced their concerns about the methods, techniques and cutbacks the Secretariat had used to turn out a proposed $5.4 billion budget for the 2014-2015 budget cycle that begins with the new year. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had formally unveiled the upcoming budget outline at Monday’s Committee meeting.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today heard United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon formally unveil an initial budget proposal of $5.404 billion for the 2014-2015 biennium that begins on 1 January. That figure was 2.9 per cent lower than the budget for the current biennium that was set forth last December, he said. Despite efforts to minimize the impact of reductions, it was unrealistic to think they would have no impact.

At today’s Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) meeting, delegates from the “Group of 77” developing countries and China voiced serious concerns that the Secretariat had strayed from established procedures when adjusting spending for the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research during the 2012-2013 budget cycle.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today discussed a wide range of hiring and workplace practices — from recruitment to ethics to consultants — as it considered nearly a dozen reports meant to monitor the management of tens of thousands of the Organization’s employees around the globe.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today aired its views on the evolving administrative justice system at the United Nations and the need to assess its effectiveness as Secretariat officials unveiled their annual reports on the system.

While acknowledging the overall financial health of the United Nations, delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) voiced their worries today about the unpaid assessments that produce a cash flow shortage in the Organization’s regular budget each December.

The Organization’s top auditing watchdog told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today that the Secretariat had to persist in transforming its business operations so as to update its operations and deliver on its ambitious development goals.

While labelling the Organization’s overall financial condition “generally positive”, the United Nations senior management official told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today that the regular budget’s cash position this year was under pressure with $945 million of its $2.61 billion regular budget still outstanding.