Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) voiced their alarm over an ongoing cash crunch that could threaten the Organization’s effectiveness as a multilateral institution determined to help the developing world rebound from the global pandemic.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today took up the Secretary‑General’s request for $730.7 million to fund 38 special political missions in 2022, with several delegations renewing calls for a separate budget to be established to address their requirements.
The United Nations senior management official told members of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today that the Organization’s budget process is locked in a vicious circle of annual liquidity shortages that are hampering the delivery of mandates.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today began its line-by-line consideration of a proposed $3.12 billion regular budget for the United Nations in 2022, before recosting, which puts an accent on development and human rights in the final decade of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, while also drawing lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the Organization’s work.
Following are UN Secretary‑General António Guterres’ remarks to the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), in New York today:
United Nations humanitarian personnel in Yemen report escalating clashes in recent weeks, with more than 10,000 people displaced in Marib Governorate in September. They warned of devastating impacts on civilians and expressed particular concern over the situation in Al Abdiyah district, home to an estimated 35,000 people.
Speakers in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) agreed today that the capacity to pay must remain the core principle that determines how much each Member State must pay into the United Nations’ regular and peacekeeping budgets, but they differed on how best to readjust the scales of assessment for the period 2022‑2024, particularly in the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today stressed the need to share responsibility for the Organization’s financial stability to avert any liquidity crisis and achieve the essential mandates laid out by the General Assembly.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) elected Mher Margaryan (Armenia) as Chair on 7 June.
Calling on all States to address new and emerging terrorist threats through investigations, information exchanges and cooperation, the General Assembly today held a debate on counter-terrorism and adopted a related resolution, and also approved more than $6 billion for 12 peacekeeping missions for the 2021/22 fiscal year.
