Towards a unified security system; Fifth Committee: Administrative and Budgetary.

The Fifth Committee confines its scope not just to "budgetary and administration" issues. It also monitors United Nations activities as diverse as reviewing human resources management policies and establishing strengthened security management systems to protect UN staff members worldwide. In a nutshell, it "considers all issues relating to the machinery of the Organization", Committee Chairman Don MacKay of New Zealand told the UN Chronicle.

On the recommendation of the Committee, the General Assembly added $53.63 million to the United Nations regular budget to establish the Department of Safety and Security, as requested by Secretary-General Kofi Annan. "This was a very substantive discussion, which together with human resources dominated our main session", Ambassador MacKay said. It was in December 2003 that the Committee approved a two-year regular budget of $3.16 billion for the biennium 2004-2005. In 2004, it was increased to $3.6 billion, as a result of establishing the political mission in Afghanistan, strengthening security, and exchange rate adjustments owing to the decreasing market value of the dollar.

The Department of Safety and Security will have 383 posts, 134 of them temporary. Under the plan unveiled by Mr. Annan, three separate entities currently responsible for staff safety-Office of the Security Coordinator, UN Security and Safety Services, and the security component of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations--will be combined into a new directorate of security, to be headed by an Under-Secretary-General. In presenting his proposal, the Secretary-General said that there were an "extraordinary number of people we have to protect: 100,000 international and national staff, plus 300,000 of their family members and dependents, serving the world at more than 140 field locations and Headquarters duty stations". The United Nations, humanitarian organizations and other traditional UN partners had become targets of political violence since 1992, "challenging the long-held perception that we were protected by our flag and by our status as an impartial, benevolent actor".

Denisa Hutanova of the Slovak Republic told the Chronicle that "in spite of it being an off-budget year, the Committee gave priority consideration to financing on the question of a strengthened and unified United Nations security system". It recommended 40 draft proposals to the General Assembly, which unanimously adopted 24 resolutions during its fifty-ninth session.

Based on the Committee's recommendation, the Assembly adopted a text on the preliminary budget outline for the biennium 2006-2007, some $3.621 billion. A budget outline is normally presented at the end of the "off-budget" year and contains an estimate of resources to accommodate the United Nations main priorities, positive or negative growth compared with the previous budget and the size of the contingency fund. It also reflects inflation and exchange rate variations, as well as additional mandates approved after the adoption of the 2004-2005 biennium budget.

The 2004 session also saw the preparation of a new strategic framework for 2006-2007, under the terms of Assembly resolution 57/300, "Strengthening of the United Nations: an agenda for further change", adopted in 2002. The framework has been prepared on a trial basis to replace the current four-year plan that will end in 2005. A final decision is to be made at the Assembly's sixty-second session in 2007, following a review of experiences gained. The idea first stemmed from the Secretary-General's second-term reform proposal in 2002. According to Chairman MacKay, this change should enable greater synchronization of the budget and the planning cycles so that the resources are channeled into programmes for better results. "Shorter time frames will enable the UN planning and budgeting systems to be more responsive to changes in the external environment", he added.

On the Committee's recommendation, the Assembly also acted on a wide range of other issues, such as human resources management, financing for the international tribunals, the United Nations contingency fund, the Organization's first performance report for 2004-2005, and reports of UN oversight bodies.

Another resolution, "Scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of the United Nations", was unanimously adopted by the Assembly and urges all Member States to pay their assessed contributions on time and without imposing conditions. "This is standard language that is reflected in scale resolution each year", Mr. MacKay said. The United Nations main indicators-assessments and payments, cash on hand, and debt owed to Member States--showed improvement as compared to 2003. However, UN Under-Secretary-General for Management Catherine Bertini emphasized that problems still persisted as not enough Member States had made timely payments. The number of States out of 192 that had paid in full for the regular budget was 111 (compared with 113 in 2003), she said. While the number of countries that had made full payments for the international tribunals was up at 78 from 69 in 2003, it was still disturbingly low.

There had been some improvement in the financing of the International Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia, but it remained at a very critical point, Ms. Bertini noted. Unpaid assessments for these Tribunals had doubled between 2002 and 2003 to almost $88 million, and by 15 October 2004 had been only slightly lower, at $80 million. While some significant payments were anticipated by the end of December 2004, the shortfall would still remain "at an unacceptably high level", she said.

"It is the responsibility of Member States to pay their respective assessments, so it's natural for the Assembly to ask all of the Members to pay their contributions", Park Yoon-june of the Republic of Korea told the Chronicle. "Whether countries are rich or poor, we are all obligated to pay our contributions." However, Esam Ganbour of Libya told the Fifth Committee that he was disappointed in the way the Committee on Contributions had depended on statistical points instead of the capacity of Member States to pay. He said that his country's dues had increased by 100 per cent, and such an increase was unjust as it did not accurately reflect Libya's economic situation. When the methodology is reviewed in 2006, the principle of the capacity to pay should be taken into account, he added.

One of the main features of the new scale was the reduction of the maximum rates of assessment from 25 to 22 per cent. Subsequently, the new ceiling has been applied to the United Nations main contributor--the United States--and the points arising as a result of the change were distributed among other States. "Non-payment of dues ultimately affects the Organization's ability to deliver, since resources must be juggled from other parts of the system--mostly closed peacekeeping accounts--to keep programmes on track". Mr. MacKay said. One of the ideas under discussion in the Committee of Contributions to facilitate payments was to award credit against interest earned by the United Nations to countries that made timely payments. "But those proposals have not yet attracted a consensus", he added.

Decision on the review of the statute and working methods of the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) as the sole external system-wide oversight body of the United Nations was also considered by the Fifth Committee, which addressed the issue for the third time in twelve months, with opinion divided on the type of reform needed. Several delegations objected to any linkage between the JIU reform and approval of its budget for 2005, which could only complicate the process of decision-making.

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There was also no agreement on the proposal to reduce the number of inspectors, as advocated by Canada, also speaking on behalf of Australia and New Zealand, which stated that the number of reports did not support the number of inspectors. Cheikh Niang of Senegal said the steps taken by JIU in the context of its internal reform were perfectly in keeping with efforts at strengthening the UN system, adding that the current number of 11 inspectors reflected geographical balance in the selection process. However, increasing their number would also strengthen the inspection team.

Three texts relating to strengthening the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), which manages the proper functioning of internal control mechanisms and safeguarding of United Nations assets, were also adopted by the Assembly. It has identified an average of $31 million in savings annually since it began work in 1994. "OIOS is a critical part of the UN oversight system, which together with the Board of Auditors provides assurance to senior management and Member States of a high level of fiscal responsibility, accountability and transparency," Chairman MacKay said. Every year, OIOS makes a consolidated report of its major findings to the General Assembly.