GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS 3,2 BILLION US DOLLAR 2005-2006 PEACEKEEPING BUDGET; STRESSES NEED FOR STRONGER MANAGEMENT DURING SURGE IN OPERATIONS
Acting on the recommendations of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), the General Assembly Wednesday adopted a record-breaking 3,2 billion US dollar (19,3 milliarder DKR) 2005-2006 peacekeeping budget for 14 ongoing missions and emphasized the need for budgetary discipline, improved management and adequate controls over budget implementation in the face of the current unprecedented surge in peacekeeping operations.
As the financial year of peacekeeping operations runs from 1 July to 30 June, their budgetary and administrative needs are customarily assessed by the Fifth Committee during its late spring session, which concluded on 8 June this year.
Most of the texts adopted by the Assembly Wednesday address, therefore, various aspects of peacekeeping, including budgets of individual missions, the financing of the Logistics Base and the peacekeeping support account.
Adopting a 22-part consensus draft on cross-cutting issues relating to peacekeeping the Assembly sought to elaborate a coherent and focused approach to peacekeeping management and provide guidance at Headquarters and in the field on the policy to deal with the growth in the number of complexity of missions.
The text addresses all aspects of peacekeeping, ranging from budget presentation and training to the conditions of service, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes, procurement and recruitment in the field.
Among the actions envisioned by this draft is an annual overview of peacekeeping financing, which should include information on trends in the size, composition and funding of missions, relevant developments, efforts to improve the missions functioning, and management priorities for the coming year.
The Assembly also expressed concern over the unevenness in the quality of the presentation of missions budgets, reiterating its request to the Secretary-General to fully justify his budget submissions.
Under the drafts terms, the submission of budget proposals would now become part of the leadership and accountability functions of the head of mission/special representative.
The text draws attention to the importance of budgetary discipline and the need to enforce adequate controls over budget implementation. The Assembly requested the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), as a matter of priority, to carry out a comprehensive management audit to review the practices of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and identify risks of duplication, fraud and abuse of authority.
In the light of increasing demands on the Department, the Oversight Office would also be entrusted with a review of the Departments management structures, paying particular attention to its cooperation and interaction with other departments, offices, relevant funds and programmes.
Acting on the individual mission budgets for 2005-2006, the Committee approved the following amounts in US dollar:
MINURSO (Western Sahara)
47,948,400
MINUSTAH (Haiti)
494,887,000
MONUC (Dem. Republic of the Congo)
403,408,500
ONUB (Burundi)
307,693,100
UNAMSIL (Sierra Leone)
113,216,400
UNOCI (Ivory Coast)
386,892,500
UNDOF (Israel-Syria Disengagement)
43,706,100
UNFICYP (Cyprus)
46,512,600
UNIFIL (Lebanon)
99,228,300
UNOMIG (Georgia)
36,380,000
UNMEE (Ethiopia and Eritrea)
185,993,300
UNMIK (Kosovo)
252,551,800
UNMIL (Liberia)
760,567,400
UNMISET (Timor-Leste)
1,757,800
Total
3,180.743.200 billion US dollar
The appropriation for each mission includes a prorated share for the Support Account and the United Nations Logistics Base in Brindisi. The total requirements for the Support Account amount to some 130,4 million dollar, and for the Logistics Base to 29,07 million.
All but one of the drafts – that on the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) – were adopted without a vote. The UNIFIL text was adopted by a vote of 126 in favour to 2 against (Israel, United States), with 1 abstention (Tonga).
A separate vote was held on several paragraphs of the text relating to the call for Israel to pay for the damages resulting from an Israeli assault on the UNIFIL base at Qana in southern Lebanon on 18 April 1996. The Assembly adopted those paragraphs by a recorded vote of 77 in favour to 2 against (Israel, United States), with 47 abstentions.
By the text on special political missions, good offices and other political institutions authorized by the Assembly and the Security Council, the Assembly appropriated some 24,2 million dollar for the United Nations Political Office for Somalia and the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
To provide for the continuation of design work and other pre-construction projects under the Capital Master Plan, the Assembly converted 17,8 million dollar of existing commitment authority into an appropriation with assessment for the current year and renewed the existing commitment authority for the balance of 8,2 million dollar for 2006.
As many parameters of the Plan remain unclear, the Secretary-General was requested to report on all its aspects during the next session.
By the terms of a resolution on the reports of the Board of Auditors, the Assembly accepted the audited financial statements on the United Nations peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2004; endorsed related recommendations of the Board of Auditors and the Advisory Committee; and requested the Secretary-General to indicate an expected time frame and priorities for the implementation of those recommendations, as well as the office holders to be held accountable.
Also adopted was a draft resolution on the financing of the UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH), whose mandate expired on 31 December 2002. By another text, the Assembly took note of several reports on the disposition of the assets of the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Mission.
The Assembly adopted a draft resolution on a comprehensive strategy to eliminate future sexual exploitation and abuse in UN peacekeeping operations. It welcomed the report submitted by the adviser to the Secretary-General on the matter and endorsed recent proposals and recommendations and conclusions of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations. Those include enforcement of uniform standards of conduct, as well as training in those standards for both military and civilian personnel.
The report emphasizes that managers and commanders must lead by example and ensure that all those under their supervision are aware of the Secretary-Generals policy of zero tolerance of sexual exploitation and abuse. Those found culpable must be punished by their supervisors.
Also Wednesday, the Assembly took note of the fact that Togo, Mauritania and the Republic of Moldova had made the necessary payments to reduce their arrears below the amount specified in Article 19 of the Charter, under which the Member States whose arrears equal or exceed the amount of their dues for two full years are not allowed to vote in the General Assembly.
Kilde: www.runiceurope.org
