Budget Committee Approves Texts on United Nations Internal Justice System, Cash Position of Mission in Mali
Speakers Also Discuss Proposed 2016-2017 Funding for Special Political Missions
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today approved a draft resolution renewing its support for the United Nations internal justice system set up in 2009 to resolve disputes for tens of thousands of employees worldwide.
By the draft, approved without a vote, the General Assembly would welcome the panel of outside experts established in April to assess the system which comprises two tribunals, the Office of Staff Legal Assistance and the Management Evaluation Unit, as well as an informal office with an ombudsman and mediation services. The Assembly would trust that its recommendations and the Secretary-General’s comments on them would cover all major aspects of the system and be submitted for consideration during the Assembly’s seventy-first session.
The Assembly was also asked to endorse the related recommendations and conclusions of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), as well as to extend until the end of next year the positions of three ad litem – or temporary – judges serving on the Dispute Tribunal and the voluntary mechanism to supplement funds for the Office of Staff Legal Assistance.
Among other things, the Assembly was asked to approve some amendments to the statute of the Dispute Tribunal and the Appeals Tribunal regarding the privileges and immunities of judges serving on the bodies, and the Appeal Tribunal’s rules of procedure.
The Committee also approved, without a vote, a draft text which would have the Assembly take note of the Secretary-General’s report on the cash position of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) as of 9 October and endorse ACABQ’s related conclusions and recommendations.
The morning began with a discussion of the proposed 2016-2017 programme budget for the Organization’s 36 special political missions, with many States calling for reform of the missions’ financing arrangements.
According to the Secretary-General’s reports on the missions, introduced by Johannes Huisman, Director of the Department of Management’s Programme Planning and Budget Division, their proposed 2016 budget amounted to $571.4 million — half of the $1.124 billion approved for the 2016-2017 biennium. Carlos Ruiz Massieu, ACABQ’s Chairman, introduced that body’s related report, which endorsed the requested 2016 resources, subject to its observations and recommendations.
Some States expressed concern that the funding and backstopping arrangements for the missions were inadequate for the growing complexity of their mandates. For example, Ecuador’s representative, speaking for the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), said current financial arrangements, bound to the regular budget structure, were unable to properly sustain the special and volatile nature of peace and security mandates. The Community strongly supported adequate backstopping arrangements and establishing a separate account for the missions financed on the same July-to-June budget cycle as peacekeeping operations to enhance the efficiency, transparency and fairness of the Organization’s budgetary process. It was reaching out to other groups and delegations on that matter to overcome the deadlock of the past four years.
In response to the funding situation, other speakers supported adopting the four recommendations from ACABQ’s 2011 report. Norway’s representative, also speaking on behalf of Switzerland, said that those recommendations, endorsed by both the High-Level Independent Panel on United Nations Peace Operations and the Advisory Group of Experts for the Review of Peacebuilding Architecture, formed a good basis to reach an outcome. They were open to alternative proposals; however, the volatility of mission resource requirements due to shifting mandates was difficult to reconcile with a programme budget designed for predictable resource allocation.
In other business, the Committee took up revised estimates and programme budget implications of three resolutions submitted to the Assembly. The reports of the Secretary-General and ACABQ under that agenda items were presented respectively by Mr. Huisman, and Mr. Ruiz Massieu. Finally, the Committee confirmed by acclamation six candidates for reappointment by the Assembly to fill vacancies for a one-year term of office, beginning 1 January 2016.
Also speaking today were the representatives of Singapore (on behalf of the Association of South-East Asian Nations), Japan, Iraq and Turkey.
The Fifth Committee will meet again at a time and date to be announced in the United Nations Journal.
Proposed Programme Budget for 2016-2017: Programme Budget Implications
JOHANNES HUISMAN, Director, Programme Planning and Budget Division, Department of Management, introduced several statements and one report. First, he introduced revised estimates resulting from the decisions in General Assembly resolution 69/292, entitled “Development of an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction” (document A/70/543). The Assembly’s decisions contained in paragraphs 1 (a), (b) and (c) of that resolution entailed additional resource requirements. Accordingly, it was proposed that the related additional appropriation of $670,000 under section 2, General Assembly and Economic and Social Council affairs and conference management, of the proposed programme budget for biennium 2016-2017 be approved as a charge to the contingency fund.
He then introduced two statements of the Secretary-General containing programme budget implications resulting from two draft resolutions. The first was the statement (document A/C.5/70/4) detailing the implications of draft resolution IX contained in the report of the Special Committee on the Situation with Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples for 2015 (document A/70/23). Should the Assembly adopt draft resolution IX, the terms of operative paragraphs 18 and 19 would give rise to additional resource requirements. Accordingly it was proposed that the related additional appropriation of $269,000 under section 2, General Assembly and Economic and Social Council affairs and conference management, of the 2016-2017 proposed programme budget be approved as a charge against the contingency fund.
Next, he introduced the Secretary-General’s statement detailing the programme budget implications of draft resolution, titled “Developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security” (document A/C.5/70/10). Should the Assembly adopt the draft (document A/C.1/70/L.45) contained in that text, the terms of operative paragraph 5 would give rise to additional resource requirements. Accordingly, it was proposed that the related additional appropriation of $565,500 under section 2, General Assembly and Economic and Social Council affairs and conference management, and $764,000 under section 4, Disarmament, of the proposed 2016-2017 programme budget be approved as a charge to the contingency fund.
CARLOS RUIZ MASSIEU, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), introduced the body’s related reports (documents A/70/7/Add.25, A/70/7/Add.24 and A/70/7/Add.26). He said that the Advisory Committee recommended that the Secretary-General’s proposal contained in document A/70/543 be approved by the Assembly and that the Secretary-General provide in future reports comprehensive information on implementation activities, as well as on the related requirements and financial implications. That should include a clear breakdown of the requirements for which a provision was included in the proposed programme budget and those for which a new appropriation was proposed. The Secretary-General should also provide the Assembly with information on the unified methodology and coherent process being developed for updating costings related to the processing of official documents at all duty stations, as well as details on the unit rates to be applied at each duty station.
On the draft resolution contained in document A/70/23, the Advisory Committee recommended the provision of $85,000 be reduced by $21,300 related to the travel of two Secretariat staff members. From the resources for local interpreters, ACABQ had been informed that there was a miscalculation of the provision. The correct figure would be $40,000, not $60,000. Should the Assembly adopt the draft, a provision of $227,700 would be additionally needed. As for the draft contained in document A/C.5/70/10, ACABQ recommended that the requested provision of $50,000 in resources for consultant services to the Group of Governmental Experts be reduced by $8,000. Should the Assembly adopt the draft, an additional provision of $1.321 million would be needed.
Proposed Programme Budget for 2016-2017: Special Political Missions
Mr. Huisman introduced the Secretary-General’s reports regarding special political missions, good offices and other political initiatives authorized by the General Assembly and/or the Security Council (document A/70/348) and on estimates for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) (document A/70/348/Add.5). But he said the 2016 budget proposals for 36 special political missions contained in the seven addenda of document A/70/348 amounted to $571.4 million, representing 50.8 per cent of the $1.124 billion provision for those missions included under Section 3, Political Affairs, of the proposed programme budget for 2016-2017 as approved by Assembly resolution 69/264.
Reports on thematic cluster I included budgets of special envoys, personal envoys and special advisors of the Secretary-General, and proposed resources for 11 special political missions under that cluster amounted to $38.3 million. Cluster II reports included budgets of sanctions monitoring teams, groups and panels, and requirements for 15 missions under that cluster totalled $39.6 million. Under cluster III, the report detailed budgets of political, peacebuilding support and integrated offices, and proposed resources for eight missions amounted to $190.1 million. Resources for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and UNAMI tallied $183.3 million and $120.1 million respectively. Proposed civilian personnel for 2016 totalled 3,648 positions, a reduction overall of 92 positions including a discontinuation of 90 positions under the United Nations Electoral Observation Mission in Burundi (MENUB).
Turning to the 2016 budget proposal for UNAMI, the Council had unanimously adopted resolution 2233 (2015) extending that Mission’s mandate for another year and welcoming the Secretary-General’s recommendation to revise and prioritize the Mission’s tasks. In response, the Mission had begun implementing those priority activities in consultation with the Iraqi Government. The 2016 UNAMI requirements amounted to $120 million, a decrease of $16 million from 2015. Staffing requirements were 879 civilian positions, reduced by 21. The 2016 requirements of the 36 missions amounting to $571.4 million would be charged against the provision for special political missions included under section 3, Political Affairs, of the proposed programme budget for 2016-2017.
Mr. RUIZ MASSIEU introduced ACABQ’s eponymous reports (documents A/70/7/Add.10 and A/70/7/Add.15). As for the first report, the Advisory Committee recommended that the Assembly approve the requested resources for the special political missions for 2016, subject to its observations and recommendations as set out in its reports A/70/7/Add.10-16. ACABQ noted that a biennial provision of $1.124 billion for those missions had been included in the proposed programme budget for 2016-2017, $6 million less than the preliminary estimate. The Secretariat explained that the reduction was part of the $30 million savings stemming from efficiencies achieved across the programme support components, but could not be broken down by missions. The Advisory Committee felt that such a reduction should have been justified.
He recalled that for the 35 continuing special political missions, the Secretary-General proposed 3,621 positions for 2016 under civilian personnel, a net reduction of 29 positions from 2015, noting that ACABQ’s comments and recommendations on the proposed staffing requirements were included in its reports A/70/7/Add.11-16.
On the Kuwait Joint Support Office, he said that the Secretary-General had indicated that the establishment of the Office had enabled the Organization to realize savings in personnel-related costs, as salaries and common staff costs prevailing in that country were lower than in Afghanistan and Iraq. For 2016, however, the Secretary-General proposed the return of the planning and budget functions to Kabul for UNAMA and the relocation of most support functions to Iraq for UNAMI. The Advisory Committee questioned repeated transfers of functions back and forth and believed that an independent review of the full costs and benefits, both qualitative and quantitative, of the Support Office would be useful. Therefore, it intended to ask the Board of Auditors to undertake such a review.
As for ratios for vehicle holdings for 2016, the Advisory Committee recommended that the Assembly request the Secretary-General to develop a policy regarding the vehicle holdings by all special political missions and report in the proposed budget for 2017, taking into account the mandate, size and operational requirements of individual missions, he said. On official travel, the Advisory Committee expected that with the implementation of the Umoja business transformation system, a detailed breakdown of trips planned and those actually taken would be available to formulate resource estimates for 2017. The Advisory Committee had identified inconsistent or over-estimated travel requests and noted low compliance rates with the Organization-wide policy of requiring a 16-day advance booking of air tickets.
On the second report, the Advisory Committee recommended that the resource requirements for UNAMI be reduced to reflect the application of a separate vacancy factor for newly established posts. Welcoming the consolidation of the Mission’s overlapping functions, such as the Acquisition Management Section and the Central Warehouse Section, ACABQ considered that other special political missions might benefit from a similar measure.
The Advisory Committee recommended that the Assembly ask the Secretary-General to commission the Office of International Oversight Services to include an operational audit of UNAMI air operations in the audit programme for 2016, he said. The Advisory Committee opposed the transfer of the resident auditor functions of both UNAMI and UNAMA, from Section 3, Political Affairs, to Section 30, Internal Oversight, as well as the merging of the Resident Audit Offices of the two missions into a single office in Kuwait.
KAREN TAN (Singapore), speaking on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), recalled how Member States addressed the issue of funding and backstopping of special political missions in the Committee’s formal meeting of 4 November. “Our views have not changed,” she said, reaffirming support for the funding and backstopping recommendations proposed by ACABQ, including the creation of a separate account aligned with the budgetary cycle for peacekeeping operations. She also reiterated the call for Member States to set aside their political differences and to produce a holistic solution that was in the best interests of special political missions. ASEAN Member States were ready to participate in an open, frank dialogue on the matter.
AMÉRICA PEREIRA SOTOMAYOR (Ecuador), speaking on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), said inadequate backstopping arrangements did not allow for an effective and efficient discharge of the increasingly complex mandates of special political missions. Current financial arrangements, bound to the regular budget structure, were unable to properly sustain the special and volatile nature of peace and security mandates. The Secretary-General, the Advisory Committee and the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations, among other groups and delegations, had clearly stated the need to reform funding and backstopping arrangements for the missions. The Community also highlighted the Board of Auditors’ report, which stated their concern over various technical aspects of the missions’ functioning, whose negative effect on the regular budget was magnified by their growth and budget proportion, which amounted to more than 20 per cent. The Auditors’ observations would be addressed by implementing comprehensive reform such as that proposed since 2011.
She said the Community also strongly supported establishing a special and separate account for the missions which would be budgeted, funded and reported on annually with a 1 July to 30 June financial period. It would be financed on the same terms as peacekeeping operations to enhance the efficiency, transparency and fairness of the Organization’s budgetary process, and the provision of adequate backstopping arrangements. The Community was reaching out to other groups and delegations on that matter to overcome the deadlock of the past four years. She called on Member States to engage with flexibility and good will, particularly calling on those Member States with special responsibilities in ensuring the proper functioning of the peace and security pillar of the Organization.
HAJIME KISHIMORI (Japan) said Member States should benefit from enhanced accountability from special political missions including a clear mandate, sound operations, and a clearly defined timeline of their activities. He reiterated that the total sum of the 2016 and 2017 missions’ budgets should be contained within the provided envelope of $1.124 billion which reflected a reduction of $6 million from the preliminary estimate. In that context, Japan called for a further look at the Secretary-General’s report on budgets as well as the Secretariat’s response to be presented at the informal meetings to seek further efficiencies in resource utilization. While expressing concern for the current funding and backstopping arrangements for the missions, he said he was not convinced of the need to establish a separate account for them as it could negatively affect the Organization’s fiscal discipline and cause the overall budget to increase.
GEIR O. PEDERSEN (Norway), also speaking on behalf of Switzerland, noted that the budget for special political missions had increased exponentially over the past 15 years to account for 20 per cent of the Organization’s regular budget. He regretted that the Secretariat was still not equipped with adequate funding and backstopping for the missions. The consideration of options to increase their effectiveness and efficiency, enhance transparency and accountability, avoid duplication and facilitate oversight had been deferred every year since 2011, which was unfortunate and unsustainable. Flexible access to funds for backstopping and annual appropriations was essential to addressing mission mandates. He expressed confidence that an outcome was now within reach. Both the High-Level Independent Panel on United Nations Peace Operations and the Advisory Group of Experts for the Review of Peacebuilding Architecture had recommended adopting the four recommendations from ACABQ’s 2011 report. Those recommendations formed a good basis to reach an outcome, though they were also open to alternative proposals. However, the volatility of mission resource requirements due to shifting mandates was difficult to reconcile with a programme budget designed for predictable resource allocation.
AMMAR AL-KHALIDY (Iraq) said he appreciated the growing workload on officers responsible for issuing reports, but reports should be issued early enough to allow Member States to examine them thoroughly and make informed decisions. He thanked States that had contributed to funding UNAMI, and stressed that the Iraqi Government was keen to provide the best possible facilities to enable the Mission to fulfil its mandate. The Iraqi delegation was willing to participate constructively in all related discussions.
ZEYNEP AŞIK (Turkey) said that the international peace and security landscape had deteriorated rapidly and that current financing arrangements of the special political missions, which had proven serviceable in the past, were no longer optimal and sustainable. He called for a funding framework that better accommodated the volatility and unpredictability of the resource requirements of the missions. It was time to think about financial adjustments or even establishing new financial mechanisms. A special and separate account for funding the missions that would be budgeted, funded and reported upon an annual basis was the only option in that regard.
Administration of Justice: Action on Draft Resolutions
The Fifth Committee then turned to the agenda item “Administration of Justice”, which related to the United Nations’ system of resolving internal disputes for its employees via formal and informal mechanisms. Acting without a vote, the Committee approved draft resolution A/C.5/70/L.6, by which the Assembly would endorse the conclusions and recommendations by ACABQ. Welcoming the establishment of the experts panel to conduct an interim independent assessment of the Organization’s internal justice system, the Assembly would trust that the panel’s recommendations and the Secretary-General’s comments on those proposals would cover all major aspects of the system and be submitted to the Assembly for consideration during the main part of its seventy-first session. The Assembly would also extend the three ad litem judge positions for one year from 1 January 2016.
Reaffirming that the informal resolution of conflict was a crucial element of the system, the Assembly would encourage all possible use of the informal system to avoid unnecessary litigation, without prejudice to the basic right of staff members to access the formal system of justice. The Assembly would request that information on the number and nature of cases from non-staff personnel continue to be clearly set out in future reports on the activities of the Office of the United Nations Ombudsman and Mediation Services.
The Assembly would note with concern the increase in the number of pending cases before the Dispute Tribunal and the high cost to the Organization due to financial compensation paid to staff, and in that regard encouraged further efforts to handle cases in an effective and efficient manner, including through enhanced cooperation between the formal and informal parts of justice system and proactive case management by the judges of the Dispute Tribunal. Regarding the voluntary supplemental funding mechanism for additional resources for the Office of Staff Legal Assistance, the Assembly would decide to extend the experimental period for the mechanism by one year through 31 December 2016.
Further, the Assembly would approve some amendments to the statute of the two tribunals regarding the judges’ privileges and immunities as well as the rules of procedure of the Appeals Tribunal. On the mechanism for addressing complaints concerning alleged misconduct or incapacity of the judges of the Tribunals, the Assembly would adopt the Secretary-General’s proposal and the suggested amendment made by the Assembly’s Sixth Committee (Legal), as annexed to the present resolution.
Financing of United Nations Mission in Mali: Action on Draft Resolution
The Committee then took up draft resolution A/C.5/70/L.7, submitted by the Chair, entitled “Financing of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali”. By its terms, the Assembly, having considered the report of the Secretary-General on the Mission’s cash position as of 9 October and the related ACABQ report, would take note of the Secretary-General’s report and endorse the conclusions and recommendations of the Advisory Committee’s report. That resolution was then approved without a vote.
Appointments in Subsidiary Organs
Reviewing the Secretary-General’s notes on confirmation of the appointment of members of the Investments Committee (documents A/70/103 and A/C.5/70/8), the Fifth Committee confirmed by acclamation the six candidates for reappointment by the Assembly to fill vacancies for one-year term of office, beginning 1 January 2016. They are Masakazu Arikawa (Japan), Madhav Dhar (India), Nemir A. Kirdar (Iraq), Michael Klein (United States), Linah K. Mohohlo (Botswana), and Gumersindo Oliveros (Spain). The nomination of an additional candidate for one remaining vacancy had been postponed to a later date.