Fifth Committee

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.

In scrutinizing the Secretary-General’s proposed budget for 33 special political missions for 2013, delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today expressed concern over the unabated growth in financing those missions and the present arrangements for doing so.

Secretariat officials today unveiled a $5.34 billion outline to the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) that will provide the basis early next year for the Secretary-General’s proposed programme budget for the 2014-2015 biennium.

While generally lauding the aim of the United Nations initiative to expand the pool of civilian experts providing immediate aid to countries emerging from conflict, delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning said the plan lacked specifics on its servicing and resource requirements, as well as performance and development benchmarks.

Well aware of the financial constraints faced by the United Nations and its Member States, the Chairman of the International Civil Service Commission today handed the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) a series of recommendations which, if approved, would impact the salary and working conditions of the Organization’s employees around the globe.

As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today considered a wide range of human resource management issues, delegates expressed concern over such issues as the financial ramifications of the Secretary-General’s proposed mobility and career development initiative, the unequal geographical representation among the workforce, particularly in senior management posts, and the lengthy time to fill vacancies.

The implementation delays and cost overruns surrounding the Secretariat’s efforts to carry out a major enterprise resource planning (ERP) project meant to streamline the administrative practices and boost efficiency of the United Nations were in the spotlight at today’s meeting of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary).