UNIFIL financing – GA draft resolution

Draft resolution submitted by Qatar*

Financing of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon

  The General Assembly,

 Having considered the reports of the Secretary-General on the financing of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, ¹ the related reports of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions ² and the report of the Board of Auditors, ³ 

  Recalling Security Council resolution 425 (1978) of 19 March 1978 regarding the establishment of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, and the subsequent resolutions by which the Council extended the mandate of the Force, the latest of which was resolution 1525 (2004) of 30 January 2004,

 Recalling also its resolution S-8/2 of 21 April 1978 on the financing of the Force and its subsequent resolutions thereon, the latest of which was resolution 57/325 of 18 June 2003,

 Reaffirming its resolutions 51/233 of 13 June 1997, 52/237 of 26 June 1998, 53/227 of 8 June 1999, 54/267 of 15 June 2000, 55/180 A of 19 December 2000, 55/180 B of 14 June 2001, 56/214 A of 21 December 2001, 56/214 B of 27 June 2002 and 57/325 of 18 June 2003,

 Reaffirming also the general principles underlying the financing of United Nations peacekeeping operations, as stated in General Assembly resolutions 1874 (S-IV) of 27 June 1963, 3101 (XXVIII) of 11 December 1973 and 55/235 of 23 December 2000,

 Noting with appreciation that voluntary contributions have been made to the Force,

 Mindful of the fact that it is essential to provide the Force with the necessary financial resources to enable it to fulfil its responsibilities under the relevant resolutions of the Security Council,

 1.  Takes note of the status of contributions to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon as at 15 April 2004, including the contributions outstanding in the amount of 77 million United States dollars, representing some 2 per cent of the total assessed contributions, notes with concern that only twenty-eight Member States have paid their assessed contributions in full, and urges all other Member States, in particular those in arrears, to ensure payment of their outstanding assessed contributions;

 2.  Expresses its appreciation to those Member States that have paid their assessed contributions in full, and urges all other Member States to make every possible effort to ensure payment of their assessed contributions to the Force in full;

 3.  Expresses its deep concern that Israel did not comply with General Assembly resolutions 51/233, 52/237, 53/227, 54/267, 55/180 A, 55/180 B, 56/214 A, 56/214 B and 57/325;

 4.  Stresses once again that Israel should strictly abide by General Assembly resolutions 51/233, 52/237, 53/227, 54/267, 55/180 A, 55/180 B, 56/214 A, 56/214 B and 57/325;

 5.  Expresses concern at the financial situation with regard to peacekeeping activities, in particular as regards the reimbursements to troop contributors that bear additional burdens owing to overdue payments by Member States of their assessments;

 6.  Also expresses concern at the delay experienced by the Secretary-General in deploying and providing adequate resources to some recent peacekeeping missions, in particular those in Africa;

 7.  Emphasizes that all future and existing peacekeeping missions shall be given equal and non-discriminatory treatment in respect of financial and administrative arrangements;

 8.  Also emphasizes that all peacekeeping missions shall be provided with adequate resources for the effective and efficient discharge of their respective mandates;

 9.  Reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to make the fullest possible use of facilities and equipment at the United Nations Logistics Base at Brindisi, Italy, in order to minimize the costs of procurement for the Force;

 10.  Endorses the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, ⁴ requests the Secretary-General to ensure their full implementation, and, with regard to the recommendation contained in paragraph 16 concerning the Secretary-General’s proposal ⁵ to convert forty-five individual service agreements into forty-five national posts, requests the Secretary-General to provide further information so that the General Assembly may take a decision on this question at its fifty-ninth session;

 11.  Requests the Secretary-General to take all necessary action to ensure that the Force is administered with a maximum of efficiency and economy;

 12.  Also requests the Secretary-General, in order to reduce the cost of employing General Service staff, to continue efforts to recruit local staff for the Force against General Service posts, commensurate with the requirements of the Force;

 13.  Reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to take the measures necessary to ensure the full implementation of paragraph 8 of its resolution 51/233, paragraph 5 of its resolution 52/237, paragraph 11 of its resolution 53/227, paragraph 14 of its resolution 54/267, paragraph 14 of its resolution 55/180 A, paragraph 15 of its resolution 55/180 B, paragraph 13 of its resolution 56/214 A, paragraph 13 of its resolution 56/214 B and paragraph 14 of its resolution 57/325, stresses once again that Israel shall pay the amount of 1,117,005 dollars resulting from the incident at Qana on 18 April 1996, and requests the Secretary-General to report on this matter to the General Assembly at its resumed fifty-ninth session;

    Financial performance report for the period from 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2003

 14.  Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the financial performance of the Force for the period from 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2003; ⁶ 

    Budget estimates for the period from 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2005 

 15.   Decides to appropriate to the Special Account for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon the amount of _______ dollars for the period from 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2005, inclusive of 92,960,300 dollars for the maintenance of the Force, ________________ dollars for the support account for peacekeeping operations and ______________ dollars for the United Nations Logistics Base;

    Financing of the appropriation

 16.   Also decides to apportion among Member States the amount of _____ dollars at a monthly rate of ______ dollars, in accordance with the levels set out in resolution 55/235, as adjusted by the General Assembly in its resolution 55/236 of 23 December 2000 and updated in its resolution 58/256 of 23 December 2003, and taking into account the scale of assessments for 2004 and 2005, as set out in its resolution 58/1 B of 23 December 2003, subject to the decision of the Security Council to extend the mandate of the Force;

 17.  Further decides that, in accordance with the provisions of its resolution 973 (X) of 15 December 1955, there shall be set off against the apportionment among Member States, as provided for in paragraph 16 above, their respective share in the Tax Equalization Fund of ______________ dollars, comprising the estimated staff assessment income of 4,685,400 dollars approved for the Force, the prorated share of ___________ dollars of the estimated staff assessment income approved for the support account and the prorated share of ___________ dollars of the estimated staff assessment income approved for the United Nations Logistics Base;

 18.  Decides that for Member States that have fulfilled their financial obligations to the Force, there shall be set off against their apportionment, as provided for in paragraph 16 above, their respective share of the unencumbered balance and other income in the total amount of 15,788,700 dollars in respect of the financial period ended 30 June 2003, in accordance with the levels set out in resolution 55/235, as adjusted by the General Assembly in its resolutions 55/236 and 57/290 A of 20 December 2002, and taking into account the scale of assessments for 2003, as set out in its resolutions 55/5 B of 23 December 2000 and 57/4 B of 20 December 2002;

 19.  Also decides that, for Member States that have not fulfilled their financial obligations to the Force, there shall be set off against their outstanding obligations their respective share of the unencumbered balance and other income in the total amount of 15,788,700 dollars in respect of the financial period ended 30 June 2003, in accordance with the scheme set out in paragraph 18 above;

 20.  Further decides that the increase of 878,900 dollars in the estimated staff assessment income in respect of the financial period ended 30 June 2003 shall be added to the credits from the amount referred to in paragraphs 18 and 19 above, and that the respective shares of Member States therein shall be applied in accordance with the provisions of those paragraphs, as appropriate;

 21.  Decides that for Member States that have fulfilled their financial obligations to the Force, there shall be set off against their apportionment, as provided for in paragraph 16 above, their respective share of the retained surplus in the total amount of 63,312,709 dollars, representing the net accumulated surplus in the account of the Force from 1978 to 1993, ⁷ in accordance with the composition of groups set out in paragraphs 3 and 4 of General Assembly resolution 43/232 of 1 March 1989, as adjusted by the Assembly in its resolutions 44/192 B of 21 December 1989, 45/244 of 21 December 1990, 46/194 of 20 December 1991, 47/218 A of 23 December 1992 and 51/218 B and C of 18 December 1996, and taking into account the scale of assessments for 1993 as set out in its resolution 46/221 A of 20 December 1991, as adjusted by the Assembly in its decision 47/456 of 23 December 1992 and its resolution 48/223 A of 23 December 1993;

 22.  Also decides that, for Member States that have not fulfilled their financial obligations to the Force, there shall be set off against their outstanding obligations their respective share of the retained surplus in the total amount of 63,312,709 dollars, in accordance with the scheme set out in paragraph 21 above;

 23.  Emphasizes that no peacekeeping mission shall be financed by borrowing funds from other active peacekeeping missions;

 24.  Encourages the Secretary-General to continue to take additional measures to ensure the safety and security of all personnel under the auspices of the United Nations participating in the Force;

 25.  Invites voluntary contributions to the Force in cash and in the form of services and supplies acceptable to the Secretary-General, to be administered, as appropriate, in accordance with the procedure and practices established by the General Assembly;

 26.  Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-ninth session, under the item entitled “Financing of the United Nations peacekeeping forces in the Middle East”, the sub-item entitled “United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon”.

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Notes

¹  A/58/637, A/58/659, A/58/705.

²  A/58/759 and Add.6.

³ Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-eighth Session, Supplement No. 5 (A/58/5), vol. II.

⁴ A/58/759/Add.6.

⁵ See A/58/659.

⁶  A/58/637.

⁷  See Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-eighth Session, Supplement No. 5 (A/58/5), vol. II, chap. V, notes 4 (c) and 7 to the financial statements.

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