Fifth Committee

The United Nations financial situation “was healthy” at the end of 2012 thanks to the efforts of many Member States and continued to depend on those States meeting their monetary obligations “in full and on time”, the Organization’s top management official told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today was briefed by the United Nations Controller on the preparation of the 2014/2015 programme budget that would reflect a $100 million reduction to the $5.49 billion previously outlined by the Secretary-General.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning took action on a contentious text concerning reimbursement rates to troop-contributing countries that had delayed conclusion of the earlier part of its resumed session, and began the second part of its session, which is aimed at approving a peacekeeping budget for the year 2013/14.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this afternoon approved by consensus eight draft texts addressing, among other issues, human resources management, progress in setting up an accountability system in the United Nations and the cost to recover from the damage to Headquarters caused by storm Sandy last October, while failing to reach agreement on a decision to defer several agenda items to a later session.

Immediate measures were needed to mitigate the United Nations Headquarters’ vulnerabilities to future flooding events, delegates warned in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today, as they discussed the costs incurred by the Organization in the aftermath of storm Sandy.

Recommendations from a group of senior peacekeeping experts to craft a more equitable, predictable system for reimbursing troop contributors to United Nations peacekeeping operations drew much praise, as well as some concerns, from the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today, as it examined several reports on that subject.

Concern over reimbursement rates for peacekeeping troop contributors, the cost of staff air travel, implementation of the staff mobility initiative, and the report of the Joint Inspection Unit dominated the debate of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today, as it opened its resumed session.

Emerging from protracted negotiations that continued throughout the weekend, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today wrapped up the main part of its sixty-seventh session by recommending that the General Assembly retain the existing formula for assessing Member States’ financial contributions to the Organization’s regular budget and its peacekeeping operations during the 2013-2015 period.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this afternoon examined revised budgetary estimates for the 2012-2013 cycle related to a diverse array of issues, including sustainable development, decisions of the Human Rights Council, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the arms trade treaty, the contingency fund and financing of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today began its consideration of the Secretariat’s review of the first year of the 2012-2013 budget cycle, an exercise that this year re-evaluated budget requirements for the current two year-biennium upwards by $263.3 million, or 5.1 per cent, to $5.41 billion.