Fifth Committee

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today considered the financing requirements of two special political missions, as well as revisions to the way in which Member States contributing troops to United Nations peacekeeping operations were reimbursed for their equipment.

While noting the Organization’s improved financial situation at year-end 2010, Member States gathered at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) session today reminded each other of their obligation to pay their assessments in full and on time so as to keep the United Nations running smoothly. Their debate came a week after the Under-Secretary-General for Management, Angela Kane, gave the Committee her semi-annual snapshot of the Organization’s financial picture.

Secretariat officials today laid out their financing proposals for the 2011/12 period for four peacekeeping operations — the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS), the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) and support for African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) — to the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today at its second resumed session.

The United Nations top management official told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today that the Organization’s overall financial situation had improved, as the number of Member States that had paid in full as of 10 May 2011 was above the level of a year ago across all funds except for one, the Capital Master Plan.

The Fifth Committee today heard the United Nations top officials responsible for peacekeeping and the mission support needed to sustain it review the successes and difficulties of the restructuring of operations begun in 2007, and lay out the approach they developed to ensure the support account for the operations strengthened the capacity to manage them in a changing world of greater financial constraints.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning heard the budgetary reports of 13 United Nations peacekeeping missions, as well as proposals for the disposition of $230.7 million of unspent funds from 18 closed operations and deficits of $86.7 million from 5 others.

Speakers lauded last year’s launch of the global field support strategy and called for its further implementation as the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning considered cross-cutting administrative and budgetary aspects of financing United Nations peacekeeping operations.

Speakers affirmed the importance of adequately, efficiently and accountably funding United Nations peacekeeping operations as the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee opened the second part of its resumed session this morning.

Concluding the first part of its resumed sixty-fifth session, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this afternoon approved by consensus and recommended to the General Assembly resolutions on the Capital Master Plan, Joint Inspection Unit and various aspects of the programme budget for the 2010-2011 biennium.

The Fifth Committee today took up proposed budgets for two United Nation’s special political missions — namely its Office in Burundi and its representative to the International Advisory and Monitoring Board — in the amounts of $23.1 million and $24,600 net, respectively.