Sixtieth session Agenda items 123 and 124 Programme budget for the biennium 2004-2005 Proposed programme budget for the biennium 2006-2007 Strengthened and unified security management system for the United Nations Coverage of staff by the malicious acts insurance policy and on security spending by organizations of the United Nations system Tenth report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions I. Introduction 1. The Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions has considered the Secretary-General’s report on a strengthened and unified security management system for the United Nations (A/60/424) and his report on the coverage of staff by the malicious acts insurance policy and on security spending by organizations of the United Nations system (A/60/317 and Corr.1). During its consideration of the Secretary-General’s reports, the Advisory Committee met with the Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security and other representatives of the Secretary-General, who provided the Committee with additional information. II. Strengthened and unified security management system for the United Nations 2. The report of the Secretary-General on a strengthened and unified security management system for the United Nations (A/60/424), submitted pursuant to section XI, paragraph 57, of resolution 59/276, outlines the progress achieved in establishing a strengthened and unified security management system for the United Nations, both in the field and at Headquarters. 3. Although the Secretary-General’s report provides some information on the current status of the security management system of the United Nations, the Advisory Committee is of the view that the report falls short of meeting all requirements for the implementation report requested by the Committee for submission to the General Assembly at its sixtieth session (see A/59/539, para. 17). The Committee recognizes that the security management system is still evolving and undergoing change. It expects that a comprehensive report on the implementation of General Assembly resolution 59/276 will be submitted to the Assembly, through the Advisory Committee, once the Department of Safety and Security has become fully operational, which it trusts will occur in the coming months. That report, which should be submitted during the sixty-first session of the Assembly, should also provide information on comments and recommendations of the Advisory Committee, expected to be approved by the General Assembly at its sixtieth session, on section 33, Safety and security, of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2006-2007. 4. The Advisory Committee notes from paragraph 4 of the report of the Secretary-General that the implementation of the provisions of General Assembly resolution 59/276 concerning safety and security depends to a large extent on procedural requirements of recruitment. The Committee was apprised of the significant time and efforts required for the cumbersome procedures for recruiting and appointing staff. Although it is indicated in the report that appointments for all new posts at Headquarters and in the field will be made by 1 December 2005, the Committee was informed that there was a delay in recruitment and that the new target for the completion of appointments was likely to be during the period from April to June 2006. Annex I below, provided by the Secretariat, illustrates the current vacancy situation in various organizational units of the Department of Safety and Security and vacancies in the General Service and related categories of posts by duty station. The Committee points out in this connection that expeditious recruitment for all authorized posts should be treated by the Secretariat with the highest priority and with due consideration given to equitable geographical distribution and other concerns expressed by the Assembly. 5. As regards the staffing of the Office of the Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security, the Advisory Committee notes from paragraph 7 of the Secretary-General’s report that the adequacy of the present level of the post of the Deputy to the Under-Secretary-General will be reviewed at the end of the current biennium. The Committee stresses in this connection the importance of reviewing the level of the post in the context of the comprehensive implementation report and careful examination by the implementation management team of the organizational structure of the Department of Safety and Security and its operational requirements. 6. The Advisory Committee recalls that in section XI, paragraph 25, of General Assembly resolution 59/276, the Assembly decided to establish the post of the head of the Division of Safety and Security Services at the D-2 level and to review the post in the context of the implementation report. In response to the Assembly’s request, the Secretary-General indicates that a senior manager at the D-2 level is essential to ensure the highest technical standards of performance across all the Safety and Security Services at the United Nations offices in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva, Nairobi, New York, Santiago and Vienna. In view of its comment in paragraph 3 above on the submission of the comprehensive implementation report, the Committee expects that the level of the post will be reviewed and justified in that report. 7. Paragraphs 21 to 24 of the report of the Secretary-General provide information on the security relationship between the Department of Safety and Security and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. The Advisory Committee was informed that through close collaboration with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, a single security management system was achieved for all United Nations civilian personnel, including those in peacekeeping operations. In Afghanistan, Iraq and the Sudan, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Safety and Security have formed integrated security management structures. A sequence of work has been identified for establishing integrated security management structures in other countries, including Haiti, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Côte d’Ivoire, where civilian personnel of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations are deployed alongside other colleagues from the United Nations system. 8. Upon enquiry, the Advisory Committee was informed that an integrated security management system is considered to be in place when a designated official is made responsible and accountable for the safety and security of all United Nations civilian personnel. The designated official is supported by one country security adviser and assisted by a security management team consisting of representatives of both the peacekeeping or special political mission and United Nations agencies, funds and programmes. Heads of mission have been appointed as designated officials in 12 countries (Afghanistan, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Iraq, Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic and Timor-Leste), one province (Kosovo) and one territory (Western Sahara). In larger and higher-risk missions, such as those in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo and the Sudan, integrated security management systems are reflected in a single “security section” which is led by the country security adviser, who reports directly to the designated official. The section consists of a mixture of Department of Safety and Security and Department of Peacekeeping Operations personnel. 9. The Advisory Committee was further informed that the Department of Safety and Security has continued to collaborate closely with United Nations agencies, funds and programmes through the Inter-Agency Security Management Network, which in April 2005 elaborated an accountability framework for the United Nations security management system, subject to discussion by both the High Level Committee on Management and the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB). The Committee recalls that under the terms of section XI, paragraphs 13 and 14, of General Assembly resolution 59/276, the Secretary-General was requested to report on the updated accountability framework for the United Nations security management system as a whole, which would, inter alia, make clear the role of each responsible official and the authority of the designated officials over security personnel in the field. The Committee trusts that information on the revised United Nations security management accountability framework will be included in the comprehensive implementation report referred to in paragraph 3 above. 10. As indicated in paragraph 25 of the report of the Secretary-General, an inventory of all existing host country agreements relating to United Nations Headquarters and offices away from Headquarters has been made by the Department of Safety and Security in consultation with the Office of Legal Affairs; a detailed examination of these agreements is currently under way with a view to determining whether the agreements adequately reflect the responsibility of the relevant host Government and the United Nations and whether, in practice, agreements in force are being fully complied with. The Advisory Committee sought clarification with regard to the information that this review was a lengthy undertaking that would take several years to complete. The Committee was assured that the review would not be an open-ended process and that efforts would be made to complete it as expeditiously as possible. In this connection, the Committee was informed that in those cases where existing agreements would need to be updated, thought was being given to effecting necessary changes through memorandums of understanding or exchange letters instead of entering into a lengthy amendment process. The Committee trusts that information on the progress of the review will be included in the comprehensive implementation report referred to in paragraph 3 above. 11. The Advisory Committee notes from paragraph 33 of the report of the Secretary-General that a team has been set up for the project on standardized access control to United Nations premises; the team will coordinate the implementation of a standardized access control system in close consultation with the Office of Central Support Services. The Committee was informed that the project is also closely coordinated with the capital master plan. 12. As concerns the new profile for security professionals (see A/60/424, paras. 37-39), the Advisory Committee notes that considerable additional research is required by the Secretariat in order to prepare proposals on the matter for consideration by the General Assembly; in the interim, while taking advantage of immediate opportunities such as assignments and exchanges, the administration sees no option other than to continue under current terms and conditions of service. The report therefore does not contain any specific proposals in connection with the new profile for security officers. 13. The Advisory Committee recommends that the General Assembly take note of the report of the Secretary-General as an interim report. III. Coverage of staff by the malicious acts insurance policy and security spending by organizations of the United Nations system 14. The report of the Secretary-General on the coverage of staff by the malicious acts insurance policy and security spending by organizations of the United Nations system (A/60/317 and Corr.1) is submitted pursuant to section XI, paragraphs 43 and 55, of General Assembly resolution 59/276. 15. As indicated in the summary of that report, the coverage of staff of the United Nations system under the malicious acts insurance policy is closely comparable system-wide, and a number of organizations of the system maintain policies to provide coverage in countries that are excluded under existing insurance policies. 16. With regard to security-related spending, the Advisory Committee notes that, due to the absence of a standardized budgeting and accounting system across the United Nations system, the presentation of security-related spending contained in the report of the Secretary-General does not reflect the necessary degree of transparency. The Committee takes note of the intention of CEB to address this problem by deploying, as early as possible, a standardized budgeting and accounting system for security-related expenditure (see A/60/317, summary). 17. The methodological difficulties concerning the collection and presentation of security-related spending are outlined in annex II to the report of the Secretary-General. The Advisory Committee recognizes the need for developing precise budgeting and accounting techniques that could be used for collecting and reporting information on security-related spending across the United Nations system. The data reflected in annex III to the report raise a number of questions that are not addressed in the report, including the question of why some co-located organizations with seemingly similar security concerns have significantly different security expenditure patterns. The Advisory Committee requests that information to this effect be provided to the Fifth Committee. The Committee also requests that future reports on security-related spending contain information on salient factors which underlie significant differences in security expenditure across the United Nations system. 18. The Advisory Committee requested additional clarification concerning the standardized budgeting and accounting framework for security-related expenditure. Information provided in response to the Committee’s query is contained in annex II below. Annex I A. Department of Safety and Security B. Vacancy situation for General Service and related category of posts by duty station Posts Safety and Security Service Existing New Total Vacant Reason for vacancies and expected date of filling UNOG 80 54 134 64 Delays due to intensive screening. 12 posts currently advertised; expected to be filled by December 2005 UNOV 94 58 152 10 Difficulties encountered in finding suitable candidates; expected to be filled by January 2006 UNON 69 47 116 6 All posts advertised; expected to be filled by January 2006 ECA 44 70 114 14 Delays due to volume of recruitment and training and integration issues; expected to be filled by January 2006 ESCAP 54 21 75 0 — ESCWA 34 19 53 1 Expected to be filled shortly ECLAC 23 26 49 26 Difficulties encountered in finding suitable candidates. Posts readvertised; expected to be filled by April 2006 Total 398 295 693 121 Annex II Standardized budgeting and accounting framework for security-related expenditure Differences in budgeting and financial reporting structures across the organizations of the United Nations system represented a challenge in the gathering and analysis of comprehensive data on security-related spending. The model framework used in the survey represents a first effort to establish a reporting template on this subject for all organizations. Because this framework included the majority of types of security-related expenditure items, it was thought that organizations would be able to find categories consistent with their individual reporting structures. The methodological difficulties that were encountered are outlined in A/60/317, annex II. While the survey has met the objective of providing a comprehensive picture of the overall security spending in the United Nations system, it is considered to be a work in progress. In view of the need to use estimates and to extrapolate expenditure data which were not directly available, an effort is under way to make any future exercises more efficient and precise. In this context, the Working Group of the Finance and Budget Network on Inter-Agency Reporting, under the auspices of the High Level Committee on Management, is carrying out an analysis of different organizations’ budgetary clusters in order to consolidate them in a consistent grouping for inter-agency reporting. The Working Group will then propose a breakdown of reporting lines for joint programming for review and eventual adoption by all member organizations. The proposed grouping will take into account the necessary reporting requirements for security-related expenditures. This project is expected to ensure greater coherence in financial reporting across the United Nations system.   \* MERGEFORMAT 8 \* MERGEFORMAT 7 United Nations A/60/7/Add.9 General Assembly Distr.: General 7 November 2005 Original: English 05-59038 (E) 101105 *0559038* Safety and Security Services of major duty stations and regional commissionsb Locations: Addis Ababa Bangkok Beirut Geneva Nairobi Santiago Vienna Headquarters Safety and Security Service 1 D-1, vacant 0 1 P-5, vacant 1 3 P-4, vacant 0 1 P-3, vacant 0 2 P-2, vacant 1 1 GS (PL), vacant 0 13 GS (OL), vacant 0 300 SS, vacant 0 Field Security Operations 26 P-5, vacant 23 137 P-4, vacant 52 83 P-3, vacant 25 4 P-2, vacant 4 369 LL, vacant 77 Field Support Services 1 D-1, vacant 1 2 P-5, vacant 0 11 P-4, vacant 9 8 P-3, vacant 8 1 P-2, vacant 1 7 GS (OL), vacant 5 Division of Headquarters Safety and Security Services 1 D-2, vacant 1 1 P-4, vacant 1 4 P-3, vacant 4 1 GS (PL), vacant 1 3 GS (OL), vacant 3 Division of Regional Operations Director (D-2) 1 D-2, vacant 1 7 P-5, vacant 4 9 P-4, vacant 2 7 P-3, vacant 5 1 GS (PL), vacant 1 18 GS (OL), vacant 7 Executive Office 1 D-1, vacant 0 2 P-5, vacant 1 3 P-4, vacant 2 1 P-2, vacant 1 2 GS (PL), vacant 2 8 GS (OL), vacant 0a Compliance, Evaluation and Monitoring Unit 1 P-5, vacant 0 2 P-4, vacant 2 3 P-3, vacant 3 2 GS (OL), vacant 1 Office of the Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security 1 USG, vacant 0 1 D-2, vacant 1 2 P-5, vacant 1 2 P-4, vacant 2 1 P-3, vacant 1 1 P-2, vacant 1 1 GS (PL), vacant 1 5 GS (OL), vacant 3 a Includes 4 General Service posts encumbered by Security and Safety Service staff. b See annex I.B, which details the vacancy situation for the General Service and related categories of posts by duty station. A/60/7/Add.9 A/60/7/Add.9