Fifth Committee

As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) took up financing of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), representatives of Serbia and Russian Federation questioned a proposed 76.2 per cent reduction in the budget of the Mission, which reflected a drawdown in personnel from an approved strength of 4,911 in 2008/09 to a proposed strength of 507 for 2009/10.

The $768.19 million proposed budget for the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) for 2009/10 represented an increase of 74.3 per cent, compared to the 2008/09 period, due to the projected phased deployment of 5,183 military contingent personnel, for which the Mission would require a total of 30 aircraft and seven additional helicopters, United Nations Controller, Jun Yamazaki, told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today took up the financing of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which is projected to require $646.58 million for its maintenance in the upcoming financial year, beginning 1 July.

Stressing the need to provide adequate financing for United Nations peacekeeping missions in Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti and Timor-Leste, several speakers in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this morning had questions about the cuts in their proposed budgets for 2009/10, which had been recommended by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ).

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.