Fifth Committee

The United Nations financial situation was “generally sound” at the end of 2013 thanks to the continued positive efforts of many Member States, the Organization’s top management official today told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary).

Delegates discussed strategies to better manage the United Nations budget for both active and closed peacekeeping missions, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) opened the second part of its resumed sixty-eighth session this morning and adopted its programme of work.

Acting without a vote as it concluded the first part of its resumed sixty-eighth session this evening, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) approved eight draft texts relating to the Capital Master Plan, a new staff mobility framework and progress towards establishing an accountability system for the United Nations, among other things.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today examined the financial implications of a proposed draft resolution on strengthening the United Nations human rights treaty body system — a text that would have a far-reaching impact on how it operates.

Noting the vulnerability of the Beirut headquarters of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia to attack in light of recent targeted explosions throughout Lebanon’s capital, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today welcomed the Secretary-General’s proposed measures to improve staff safety and security at the complex.

Commending the progress made towards completing the massive, $2.2 billion renovation of the United Nations Headquarters begun eight years ago, delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today sought new ways to rein in cost overruns, relocate the functions of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library and South Annex buildings, and keep the project on track for completion by 2015.

Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today underlined the importance of ensuring that all United Nations premises meet health, safety and accessibility standards, as they began the strategic capital review, an examination of the management of overseas property and construction projects.

While commending the progress made in the past two years to expand the pool of civilian experts providing immediate aid and support for institution-building in post-conflict countries, delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) sought greater clarity today on the budgetary implications of those efforts and on ways to align the work of United Nations field personnel with the national decision-making cycles of the countries concerned.

Good progress was being made on the creation of an emergency management system to better prepare the United Nations to withstand disruptive crises and natural disasters, Secretariat officials and delegates alike told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today as they scrutinized reports on the subject.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) opened the first part of its resumed sixty-eighth session today with a review of its 2014 work programme and organization of work, and of the role of the Joint Inspection Unit in light of its importance in the “United Nations oversight landscape”.