Regular Budget

Numerous reports and evaluations in recent years have noted that DPA’s budget has not kept pace with the demands placed on the Department, particularly with regard to core Charter responsibilities such as peacemaking and preventive diplomacy. In a step toward reversing that trend, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has proposed a $21 million increase in regular budget funds to strengthen and reorganize the Department of Political Affairs (DPA), as part of his $4.2 billion 2008-2009 regular budget proposal. The Department’s budget in 2006-2007 was approximately $64 million.

Introducing the plan to the Fifth Committee of the UN General Assembly on 25 October 2007, the Secretary-General said the changes would boost the United Nations' capacity to prevent and resolve conflicts and represented “among the smartest investments we can make.” The proposal would add 101 additional staff based mainly at UN headquarters and also provide an increased budget for travel of officials to areas of conflict or potential conflict. In addition, the Secretary-General is proposing the establishment, in close consultation with Member States, of a limited network of regional offices to bring the Department closer to the situations where its assistance may be required by Member States and regional organizations. DPA's policy planning and mediation support capacity would also be strengthened. All told, the proposal would redress chronic resource shortages, providing DPA with the minimum staffing and mobility it needs to adequately assist the Secretary-General in detecting potential crises, and in mounting timely diplomatic initiatives.

Trust Funds

DPA has been able to carry out a number of valuable initiatives thanks to generous voluntary contributions to the two main trust funds managed by the Department for peacemaking and preventive action: the Trust Fund for Preventive Action and the Trust Fund for Special Missions and Other Activities Related to Preventive Diplomacy and Peacemaking.

Contributions to these funds have supported activities in more than three-dozen countries between 1997 and 2005, and across many different approaches to conflict prevention and resolution. Thirty-five donors have given more than US$33 million to the funds. Continued donor support is essential for the Department to be able to seize new opportunities, to continue ongoing activities and to prepare for unanticipated “surges” in responsibility.

Recent DPA initiatives have included traditional preventive diplomacy as well as activities better associated with “structural prevention” – projects to strengthen human rights and the rule of law, carry out security sector and socioeconomic reform, or promote dialogue in polarized societies.

Activities carried out during 2004 and 2005 included, among others: diplomatic efforts and seminars related to Nepal, Colombia, Myanmar and the Korean peninsula; rule of law assistance and the training of community-based conflict-resolution specialists in Tajikistan, a conference to expand U.N.-ASEAN cooperation in peace-building; support for a women’s peace network in Guinea, and the fielding of peace and development advisers, jointly with UNDP, in several countries experiencing tension or emerging from conflict. Trust fund resources have also been dedicated to helping nations resolve territorial disputes before they turn violent.

DPA’s Trust Funds also supported the work of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. The panel’s report – A More Secure World, Our Shared Responsibility – made a major contribution to the debate on U.N. reform leading up to the September 2005 World Summit.