Meetings Coverage and Press Releases

In progress at UNHQ

Fifth Committee

GA/AB/3907

Speakers Reiterate Importance of Paying Budget Assessments in Full, on Time, Without Conditions, as Fifth Committee Debates UN Financial Situation

In its general debate on the United Nations financial situation this morning, members of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) once again reiterated the importance of every country paying their assessed contributions in full, on time and without conditions, while calling for financial prudence on the part of the Secretariat in its management of funds, given the world’s poor financial state of affairs.
GA/AB/3906

Budget Committee Takes up Financing for Missions in Cyprus, Georgia, Liberia

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today took up the proposed budgets of $56 million for the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), $38.84 million for the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) and $593.49 million for the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).
GA/AB/3905

Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Briefs Budget Committee on Restructuring; Describes Positive Steps, Says 22 Months in, ‘We Are Very Much a Work in Progress’

As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today continued its consideration of peacekeeping finance, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, Alain Le Roy, described the early results of the peacekeeping restructuring exercise, elaborating on several positive steps on the provision of Headquarters support to the field, and saying that, 22 months into the process, “we are very much a work in progress”.

GA/AB/3904

Under-Secretary-General for Management Provides ‘Mixed Picture’ of United Nations Financial Situation in Briefing to Budget Committee

Angela Kane, Under-Secretary-General for Management, painted a “mixed picture” of the United Nations financial health in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today, saying that, while 2008 had seen progress, a negative trend had emerged in 2009, with a growing number of States not fully meeting their financial obligations, an evolving situation whose outcome would depend largely on actions taken by Governments.
GA/AB/3903

Fifth Committee Takes Up 2009/10 Budgets for Observer Force on Golan Heights, Mission in Sudan, Hybrid Operation in Darfur

As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today took up the first three of more than a dozen peacekeeping budgets to be considered for the upcoming 2009/10 financial year, the Committee was told that projected delays in the deployment of troops to Sudan suggested the possibility of reductions to the amounts proposed by the Secretary-General for the multi-million dollar UNMIS and the billion-dollar UNAMID, although some States cautioned against underbudgeting.
GA/AB/3902

Fifth Committee Takes Up Proposed $8.2 Billion Peacekeeping Budget for 2009-2010, Board of Auditors Report on Peacekeeping Operations for Year Ending June 2008

With the United Nations total peacekeeping budget ballooning to $8.2 billion in 2009-2010, speakers in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today stressed the importance of austerity in a weakened global economic climate, and timely, full payment of assessed contributions so that peacekeeping missions could effectively carry out their mandates.
GA/AB/3901

Budget Committee Takes Up Reports on Department of Safety and Security Concerning Request for Additional Resources, Internal Oversight Audit

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning began its second resumed session -- a four-week session largely dedicated to the funding of peacekeeping-related activities – with speakers urging the Secretariat to avoid a piecemeal approach to strengthening safety and security arrangements in the field, just as the Secretary-General is preparing to present a comprehensive report on security policies at the United Nations this year.