Summary of the work of the Fifth Committee
during the first part of the resumed
56th session
4 to 19 March 2002
The Fifth Committee held the first
part of the resumed 56th session
from 4 March to 19 March 2002. In
accordance with decision 56/458, the General Assembly, on the recommendation of
the Fifth Committee decided to defer consideration of a number of items to the May session of the Committee.
Due to incomplete documentation on
issues dealt with under human resources management, this item was deferred to
the first part of the resumed 56th session. Although, a number of reports on human
resources management had been issued for this part of the session,
particularly, the most awaited report of the Secretary-General on the mandatory
retirement age of 62, the Committee, taking into account the views expressed by
the Rio Group, Japan and the Republic of Korea, decided to defer the consideration
of this question to the 57th session. Agenda item 169: entitled
“Administration of Justice” was also deferred to the second part of the
resumed 56th session, as well as, the
report of the Secretary-General on the monitoring capacity in the Office of
Human Resources Management of all relevant activities in the Secretariat (Draft
decision A/C.5/56/L.54/Rev.1).
Under this agenda item, the Fifth
Committee considered a letter dated 27 December 2001 from the Secretary-General
addressed to the President of the General Assembly regarding the arrears of the
Former Yugoslavia. Owing to the
shortness of the session, the Committee decided to recommend to the General
Assembly draft resolution A/C.5/56/L.42, whereby the Assembly would request the
Committee on Contributions to consider the issues raised in the
Secretary-General’s letter and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its
57th session.
Review of the efficiency of the
administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations.
The Committee adopted two draft resolutions under this agenda
item. Draft resolution
A/C.5/56/L.41 on the report of the
Joint Inspection Unit on Common Services at Geneva, and draft resolution
A/C.5/56/L.45 on the proposed regulations
governing the status, basic rights and duties of officials other than
the Secretariat officials and experts on mission and regulations governing the
status, basic rights and duties of the Secretary-General.
Programme budget for the biennium
2000-2001.
The Committee resumed its
consideration of this item and recommended to the General Assembly the adoption
of five draft resolutions. By draft
resolution A/C.5/56/L.46 on the report on the Integration Management
Information System (IMIS), the Assembly would approve the utilization of an
amount of $5,634,700 of interest accrued under the IMIS Fund from the
investment income available at 30 June 2001, to meet the requirements of the
IMIS relating to the activities detailed in the report of the
Secretary-General. It would request the
Secretary-General to continue to report to the General Assembly, in the context
of the proposed programme budget, under the corresponding section of the
budget, on progress in the development and implementation of the IMIS. As regards draft resolution A/C.5/56/L.43
on the Construction of Office space facilities at the Economic Commission for
Africa, the Assembly would decide to approve the utilization of an amount of
$7,711,800 for the construction of additional office facilities at the Economic
Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, to be financed within the available
balance of the construction-in-progress account. In draft resolution A/C.5/56/L.60 on the Standards of accommodation
for air travel, the General Assembly would request the Secretary-General to
continue to submit annual reports on standards of accommodation for air travel
to the General Assembly through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and
Budgetary Questions. It would call upon
the Secretary-General to improve coordination among the various departments in
order to expedite settlement of travel reimbursement claims and would emphasize
that all travel reimbursement claims must, to the extent possible, be settled
within thirty (30) working days of their submission.
In connection with the second
performance report: Final appropriation
for 2000-2001, the Committee recommended for adoption by the General Assembly
draft resolution A/C.5/56/L.53, whereby the Assembly would resolve that for the
biennium 2000-2001, the revised
appropriations and commitment authority totalling 2,561,578,000 United States
dollars approved in the resolution 56/240 A of 24 December 2001 shall be
decreased by 391,100 dollars, resulting in a final appropriation of
2,561,186,900. dollars).
As regards draft resolution
A/C.5/56/L.55 on the comprehensive study of the question of honorariums payable
to members of organs and subsidiary organs of the United Nations, the General
Assembly would decide, with effect from 6 April 2002, to set at a level of $1
(one dollar) per year, all honorariums currently payable on an exceptional
basis to the members of the International Law Commission, the International
Narcotics Control Board, the United Nations Administrative Tribunal, the Human
Rights Committee, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Assembly would request the Secretary-General to report on the
appropriation of the adjustments required as a consequence of the present
decision and the related transfers in respect of the provision of Internet
services to Member States.
The Committee adopted five
draft resolutions on questions relating
to the programme budget for the biennium 2002-2003. They are: draft
resolution A/C.5/56/L.57 on the availability of documentation in the six
official languages on the UN web-site; draft resolution A/C.5/56/L.58 on ESCWA documents
and publications; draft resolution A/C.5/56/L.59 on the Review of public
information activities in the United Nations.
In recommending the adoption of draft resolution A/C.5/56/L.56 to the
General Assembly on the implementation of the measures outlined in the note
verbale from the Secretary-General dated 28 February 2002 and in information
circular ST/IC/2002/13 in relation to the reductions to certain areas which
directly affect services provided to Member States, the General Assembly would
request the Secretary-General to implement resolutions 56/253, 56/254 and
56/242 in a way that would not adversely affect the services provided to member
states, in accordance with the current budgetary procedures and the relevant
regulations and rules. Most importantly,
the Assembly would stress the need for the Secretary-General to implement all
General Assembly resolutions in a transparent and non-selective manner. Indeed, the appropriate provision of
conference support services to the bodies, and committees of the Organization
and to the regional groups was noted; and in that regard, the Assembly would
request the Secretary-General to minimize the adverse effect of any changes
resulting from his implementation of the measures he outlined in the note verbale dated 28 February 2002 and circulated in
ST/IC/2002/13, from the existing and
established practice in provision and availability of conference servicing. In addition, the Assembly would request the
Secretary-General to restore immediately the Internet services, including web
hosting, e-mail and support services to Permanent Missions, utilizing the
resources released as a result of the resolution on the comprehensive study of
the question of honorariums payable to members of organs and subsidiary organs
of the United Nations, and to reflect the necessary transfers among sections of
the budget in the context of the first performance report to be submitted at
the 57th session. The
Assembly would also request the Secretary-General to present proposals to implement
the provisions of resolution 56/242 within the resources specified in
resolution 56/254 for its consideration and action during the second part of
the resumed 56th session.
Financing of the two International
Criminal Tribunals (Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda)
The Committee considered the
financing of the International Criminal Tribunal in Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and adopted draft resolutions
A/C.5/56/L.50 and A/C.5/56/L.51. Both
draft resolutions recommended approval of the resources for the continuation of
oversight functions at both Tribunals for the remainder of the biennium
2002-2003 in the amount of $430,300 for ICTY and 493,300 for ICTR. In both draft resolutions, the Assembly
would regret the delay in the issuance of the comprehensive report on the
results of the implementation of the recommendations of the Expert Group to
Conduct a Review of the Effective Operation and Functioning of the ICTY and
ICTR and would reiterate the request for its submission for consideration by
the General Assembly at its 57th session. It would request the Secretary-General to take all necessary
steps to address accountability, management and efficiency problems at the ICTY
and ICTR and to report thereon to the General Assembly on the measures
taken. The Assembly would decide on a revised appropriation for the
Special Account for ICTY of a total amount of $248,926,200 dollars gross
($223,169,800 dollars net) and for the Special
Account for ICTR of a total amount of $197,127,300 dollars gross (177,739,400
net) for the biennium 2002-2003.
The Committee also considered, under
the items on the Financing of the two International Criminal Tribunals and on
the item entitled “Report of the Secretary-General on the activities of
Internal Oversight Services,” a
report of the OIOS entitled “Follow-up investigation into possible fee
splitting arrangements between defence counsel and indigent detainees at ICTR
and ICTY and recommended to the General Assembly the adoption of draft
resolution A/C.5/56/L.44, whereby, the Assembly would request the Secretary-General
to further follow-up on the investigation expeditiously with a view to ensuring
that errant officials are held accountable.
Financing of the UN Organization
Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC)
The Committee recommended to the General Assembly the
adoption of draft resolution A/C.5/56/L.62 on the financing of MONUC, whereby
the Assembly would decide to appropriate the amount of $56,757,600 dollars
(gross ($57,229,300 dollars net) for the maintenance of the Mission for the twelve-month
period from 1 July 2001 to 30 June 2002, in addition to the amount of
$405,739,878 dollars gross ($396,685,872 dollars net) for the maintenance of
the Mission for the period from 1 July 2001 to 31 March 2002, inclusive of the
amount of $11,634,563 dollars gross ($10,366,479 dollars net) for the support
account for peacekeeping operations, the amount of $862,915 dollars gross
(774,893 dollars net) for the UN logistics Base appropriated and assessed by
the General Assembly in its resolutions 55/275 and 56/252. In the same resolution, bearing in mind the
concerns expressed by member States at the reported award of the air service
contract to Pacific Architects and Engineers Inc/Daher and other procurement
related issues, the Committee recommended to the General Assembly to request
the Secretary-General to submit, as a matter of priority, the report of OIOS on
the audit it recently conducted regarding the award of the current contract on
air services to the UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo to the General Assembly during the second part of the resumed 56th
session.
The Committee will hold the second
part of the resumed 56th
session in May (dates to be determined); and in accordance with resolution 49/233, the Committee will give
priority consideration to the financing of peacekeeping operations and related
peacekeeping issues as well as all other outstanding issues on the agenda of
the Fifth Committee.