4 October 2022

Your Excellency, Monsieur Phillipe Kridelka, Chair of the Fifth Committee,

Distinguished Delegates,

I want to express my heartfelt congratulations to Ambassador Kridelka, as well as to all the bureau members, on your election.

I also want to thank the Secretariat, led by Mr. Lionel Berridge, for its important support of the work of the Committee, as well as acknowledging the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions for its crucial role.

Indeed, if we were to consider the Main Committees of the General Assembly to be different parts of a body, the Fifth Committee would be one of the indispensable vital organs: the heart or the lung.  

Former President Barack Obama once said, “A budget is more than a series of numbers on a page, it is an embodiment of our values.”

The Fifth Committee ensures that our organization has the resources it needs to confront the multiple and interlocking challenges that we face as an international community – from the climate crisis to political instability and seemingly intractable conflicts throughout the globe.

As the world looks to the UN for action and solutions, the Fifth Committee also plays the key role of upholding the reputation and credibility of the organization, by ensuring that our finances are managed in a fully accountable, transparent, and efficient manner. 

Dear delegates,

As you move forward with this important work, I have three requests from you:

The first is that, in these times of extreme politicization and deep divides, please do not let these dynamics hinder your important work.

During the General Debate, I heard world leaders repeatedly emphasizing the need to look for consensus and overcome differences.

We should build on what unites us, to increase solidarity and deepen trust.

I urge you to put in the hard work and find common ground and sustainable solutions, for the benefit of our stakeholders – the citizens of the world.

Second, while you are reviewing and assessing the Secretary General’s reforms on the budget cycle as we complete the three-year trial period, I ask that you try to transcend politics. 

You should never lose sight of the essential objective of your work: to make the United Nations more effective, more relevant and more successful.

The decisions that you will make in this seventy-seventh session will have a long-term impact on how the secretariat reports upon and manages the UN budget in the future. 

Please focus on making decisions that will improve the management of this organization and provide concrete deliverables.

Third, given the current urgent and multifaceted crises our organization is dealing with worldwide, I implore you to complete your work in a timely manner. 

Dear delegates, let me remind you of the wise words of the German poet Johann Wolfgang Goethe: “Many people take no care of their money till they come nearly to the end of it, and others do just the same with their time.”

I sincerely hope for your understanding in this matter, too.

As for me, I can assure you of my full support, and that of my Office, as you undertake your demanding but critical endeavor.

I thank you all.