Date: December 18, 2007
Original Source: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2007/gaab3833.doc.htm

Sixty-second General Assembly 
Fifth Committee 
24th Meeting (AM)

FIFTH COMMITTEE TAKES UP SECOND PERFORMANCE REPORT ON 2006-2007 BUDGET,

FINANCING IMPLICATIONS OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY LAW OF THE SEA TEXT

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today took up the Secretary-General’s second performance report on the 2006-2007 programme budget, as well as the budget implications of a General Assembly draft resolution on oceans and the Law of the Sea.

The second performance report (document A/62/575), which provides an estimate of the anticipated final level of expenditures under the programme budget for the biennium 2006-2007, puts the revised requirements under the expenditure sections at $4.2 billion, reflecting a decrease of $113.3 million.

The performance report was introduced by United Nations Controller Warren Sach, who said the report reflected actual expenditure experience and was based on 22 months of expenditures and projections for the last two months of the year. Final estimates for 2006-2007 were $4.2 billion for expenditure sections and $505.1 million for income sections.  Those figures, if approved by the Assembly, would be reflected in the final appropriation for the biennium.

Regarding the redeployment of posts experiment, he recalled that, by its resolution 60/283, the Assembly had decided not to extend the experiment beyond the end of the current biennium.  The text also authorized a limited discretion for budgetary implementation for the Secretary-General.  In accordance with that text, information on the utilization of all commitments made within the context of the experiment was included in paragraph 33 of the performance report.

In its report on the second performance report (document A/62/589), the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) commended the Secretary-General for presenting a clear and concise report on the financial aspects of the Organization’s performance, but expressed concerned with the timing of the issuance of the document, as its late issuance hindered the work of the General Assembly.  The second performance report should be available to Member States in time for their consideration of the proposed budget for the next biennium.  Accordingly, the Advisory Committee requested that, in the future, efforts be made to issue both the first and second performance reports in the first week of December.

Notwithstanding the explanations provided in the Secretary-General’s report, ACABQ stressed that large discrepancies between the budgeted and realized vacancy rates indicated a need for careful monitoring of budgetary assumptions.  Efforts should be made, in that regard, and reported in the context of the second performance report for 2008-2009.  The Advisory Committee, while not denying the importance of networking and face-to-face consultations, reiterated that travel of senior managers and others could be reduced considerably through greater recourse to videoconferencing and other electronic means of communication.  Also, recognizing that there were factors that might lead to an unexpected need for additional travel funds, it states that analysis should be undertaken of the underlying causes of over-expenditure under travel of staff in cases where it occurred in consecutive bienniums.

The Advisory Committee recommended that the Assembly take note of the second performance report on the programme budget for the biennium 2006-2007.

The ACABQ report was presented by the Advisory Committee’s Chairman, Rajat Saha.  He added that, on travel, an increase of $8.5 million had been reported in requirements for travel of staff.  The Advisory Committee pointed out that 11 budget sections had exceeded the level of appropriation for travel of staff by more than 25 per cent.  The Advisory Committee continued to believe that travel could be considerably reduced through greater recourse to electronic means of communication.

On the budget implications of the Law of the Sea text (document A/C.5/62/16) the Chief of Service 1 of the Programme Planning and Budget Division, Dennis Thatchaichawalit, said that, under operative paragraphs 26 and 49 of draft resolution A/62/L.27, the General Assembly would request the Secretary-General to convene a special Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on the Law of the Sea in New York on 30 January 2008 and the eighteenth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention in New York from 13 to 20 June 2008, and to provide the services required.  It would also approve the convening of the twenty-first and twenty-second sessions of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in New York from 17 March to 18 April 2008 and from 11 August to 12 September 2008.

Continuing, he said that, under operative paragraphs 46 and 47 of draft resolution A/62/L.27, the Assembly would endorse the request by the Meeting of States Parties to the Convention to take timely measures, before the twenty-first session of the Commission, to strengthen the capacity of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, serving as the secretariat of the Commission, to ensure enhanced support and assistance to the Commission and its subcommisions.  It would further urge the Secretary-General to take all necessary actions to ensure that the Commission could fulfil the functions entrusted to it under the Convention.

He said the conference services required in operative paragraphs 24 and 49 of the draft resolution would result in a net increase of 12 meetings, since some of the meetings had already been included in the 2008 calendar of meetings.  Those requirements, at full cost, had been estimated at $174,300.  Also, the estimated requirements in connection with the enhancement of the capacity of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea would amount to $1.96 million for the acquisition of licensed software, data processing services and infrastructure, and related training.

He said that, in sum, should the General Assembly adopt draft resolution A/62/L.27, additional requirements amounting to $1.96 million would be required under section 8 (legal affairs) of the programme budget for the biennium 2008-2009.  That would represent a charge against the Contingency Fund.

Mr. Saha, Chairman of ACABQ, introduced the related report of the Advisory Committee (document A/62/7/Add.27) and said it recommended that the Fifth Committee inform the General Assembly that, should it adopt the draft resolution, additional requirements totalling $1.96 million would be required under section 8 (legal affairs), of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2008-2009.  The Committee also recommended approval of the additional requirements under section 8 for the biennium 2008-2009, as a charge against the Contingency Fund.

The Committee was informed that the programme budget implications on global efforts for the total elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action contained in document A/C.5/62/21 would not be introduced at the meeting, since the related report of the Advisory Committee was not yet available. 

In that connection, the representative of Brazil said his delegation supported the approval of the resources for oceans and the Law of the Sea and considered it very important to consider the racism programme budget implication statement, as well.  He encouraged the Committee to find a solution, in order to introduce and consider that issue.

The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 19 December, to continue its discussions.