Fifth Committee
Summary record of the 28th meeting
Held at Headquarters, New York, on Monday, 11 December 2006, at 10 a.m.
Chairman: Mr. Yousfi …………………………………………………………………………………………………… (Algeria)
Contents
The meeting was called to order at 10.15 a.m.
Agenda item 117: Programme budget for the biennium 2006-2007 (continued )
1. Ms. Van Buerle (Director, Programme Planning and Budget Division), …
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5. Lastly, introducing the statement of programme budget implications of draft resolution A/ES-10/L.20 (A/C.5/61/13), she drew attention to chapters I and III of document A/C.5/61/13. The estimated costs of the establishment and maintenance of the Register of Damage for a one-year period from 1 January to 31 December 2007 amounted to $3,098,700. Paragraph 17 of the statement gave a detailed breakdown of those costs. Accordingly, should the General Assembly adopt draft resolution A/ES-10/L.20, an additional appropriation of $3,098,700 would be required under section 3, Political affairs, and section 35, Staff assessment, to be offset by the same amount under Income section 1, Income from staff assessment, of the programme budget for the biennium 2006-2007.
6. Mr. Saha (Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions), …
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9. Introducing the Advisory Committee’s report on the statement of programme budget implications of draft resolution A/ES-10/L.20 (A/61/614), he said that, while the additional estimated requirements for the programme budget for the biennium 2006-2007 for the establishment of the Register of Damage amounted to some $3.1 million, that estimate reflected the application of a 50 per cent vacancy factor for 2007. The estimated annual requirements at full cost would amount to some $3.9 million.
10. The Advisory Committee was recommending that the Fifth Committee should report to the General Assembly that, should it adopt draft resolution A/ES-10/L.20, an additional appropriation of up to $3,098,700 would be required under the programme budget for the biennium 2006-2007, including $2,812,000 under section 3, Political affairs, and $286,700 under section 35, Staff assessment. The latter sum would be offset by the same amount under Income section 1, Income from staff assessment.
11. Mr. Kozaki (Japan), referring to the programme budget implications of draft resolution A/61/L.30, said that he trusted that the additional requirements would be met from within approved resources. …
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12. Lastly, he pointed out that the ongoing discussions on draft resolution A/ES-10/L.20 might have consequences for the programme budget implications of the draft resolution. He would require further information from the Secretariat before taking any action.
13. Mr. Fluss (Israel) said that, while he recognized the Fifth Committee’s competence to consider budgetary matters, the programme budget implications of draft resolution A/ES-10/L.20 were far greater than those originally envisaged in the relevant report of the Secretary-General (A/ES-10/361). It was clear that the issue had become politicized, even though the construction of the fence had been motivated by security rather than political concerns. In the face of Palestinian terror, the fence had become a necessity and, while the inconveniences it caused were reversible, the murder of Israeli citizens by Palestinian terrorists was not. Moreover, the Israeli judicial system had already implemented appropriate compensation mechanisms.
14. Draft resolution A/ES-10/L.20 was the result of a politicized process. The Palestinians and their supporters had become all too confident of their ability to hijack the General Assembly for their own purposes. Such actions ran counter to the objective of the tenth emergency special session, namely, uniting for peace.
The meeting was suspended at 10.35 a.m. and resumed at 12.30 p.m.
15. Mr. Abelian (Secretary of the Committee) read out the following draft decision:
16. Ms. Lock (South Africa), speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, requested a written text of the draft decision.
The meeting rose at 12.30 p.m.
This record is subject to correction. Corrections should be sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned within one week of the date of publication to the Chief of the Official Records Editing Section, room DC2-750, 2 United Nations Plaza, and incorporated in a copy of the record.
Corrections will be issued after the end of the session, in a separate corrigendum for each Committee.
Document Type: Meeting record, Verbatim Record
Document Sources: General Assembly, Register of Damage caused by the construction of the Wall (UNROD)
Subject: Agenda Item, Fence, Separation barrier, Wall
Publication Date: 11/12/2006