United Nations A/62/563/Add.2 Distr.: General 28 December 2007 Original: English General Assembly Sixty-second session Agenda item 128 Proposed programme budget for the biennium 2008-2009 Report of the Fifth Committee Rapporteur: Mr. Steven Ssenabulya Nkayivu (Uganda) I. Introduction 1. The previous recommendations made by the Fifth Committee to the General Assembly under agenda item 128 appear in the reports of the Committee contained in documents A/62/563 and Add.1. 2. The Fifth Committee considered questions related to the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund under agenda item 128 at its 17th and 26th meetings, on 12 November and 21 December 2007. Statements and observations made in the course of the Committee's consideration of the question are reflected in the relevant summary records (A/C.5/62/SR.17 and 26). 3. For its further consideration of this item, the Committee had before it the following documents: (a) Report of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board on the administrative expenses of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund and recommendation for an ad hoc measure in response to General Assembly resolution 61/240 (A/62/175); (b) Report of the Secretary-General on the administrative and financial implications arising from the report of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board (A/C.5/62/2); (c) Reports of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (A/62/7/Add.3 and A/62/7/Add.13). II. Consideration of draft resolution A/C.5/62/L.25 4. At its 26th meeting, on 21 December, the Committee had before it a draft resolution entitled "Questions related to the United Nations Joint Staff Pension 07-66207 (E) 020108 *0766207* A/62/563/Add.2 Fund" (A/C.5/62/L.25), submitted by the Chairman of the Committee on the basis of informal consultations coordinated by the representative of Poland. 5. Also at the 26th meeting, the representative of the United States of America requested a recorded vote on operative paragraph 10 and on the draft resolution as a whole. 6. At the same meeting, the Committee voted on draft resolution A/C.5/62/L.25 as follows: (a) Operative paragraph 10 was retained by a recorded vote of 93 to 1, with 47 abstentions. The voting was as follows: In favour: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Burundi, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Against: United States of America. Abstaining: Andorra, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. (b) Draft resolution A/C.5/62/L.25, as a whole, was adopted by a recorded vote of 140 to 1, with 1 abstention (see para. 9). The voting was as follows: In favour: Afghanistan, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, 2 07-66207 A/62/563/Add.2 Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Against: United States of America. Abstaining: Canada. 7. Statements in explanation of vote after the vote on operative paragraph 10 were made by the representatives of the Russian Federation and the Dominican Republic (on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are also members of the Rio Group). 8. Statements in explanation of vote after the vote on the draft resolution as a whole were made by the representatives of the United States and Argentina. 07-66207 3 A/62/563/Add.2 III. Recommendation of the Fifth Committee 9. The Fifth Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of the following draft resolution: Questions related to the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 41/208 of 11 December 1986 and 48/225 of 23 December 1993 and sections II and IV of its resolution 61/240 of 22 December 2006, Having considered the report of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board on the administrative expenses of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, 1 the report of the Secretary-General on the administrative and financial implications arising from the report of the Board 2 and the related reports of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, 3, 4 1. Concurs with the recommendations contained in the reports of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions on the administrative expenses of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund and on the administrative and financial implications arising from the report of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board,3,4 subject to the provisions of the present resolution; 2. Requests the Secretary-General to undertake a comprehensive review of services provided by the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, funded through section 1, Overall, policymaking, direction and coordination, of the programme budget and to report thereon in the context of the programme budget 2010-2011; Encourages the Fund, when submitting performance reports, to consider 3. the feasibility of an extension of the reporting period for actual expenditures and a shortening, accordingly, of the reporting period for projected estimates; Takes note of the information set out in annex V to the report of the 4. United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board1 on the need for a more strategic approach to the human resources requirements of the Fund; 5. Concurs with the request made by the Board that the Chief Executive Officer of the Fund and the Representative of the Secretary-General for investments undertake an overall review of the staffing and organizational structure in their respective areas, including on drawing on relevant industry benchmarks and best practice, and report on the results of the review to the Board at its fifty-fifth session; 5 6. Notes that all requests by the Fund for the establishment of new information technology posts have been deferred by the Board until its fifty-fifth __________________ 1 2 3 4 5 A/62/175. A/C.5/62/2. A/62/7/Add.3. A/62/7/Add.13. A/62/175, annex V, para. 19. 4 07-66207 A/62/563/Add.2 session, when a full enterprise resource planning project strategy, including a budget and project plan, will be presented to and considered by the Board; 7. Urges the Fund administration to make every possible effort to fill the existing vacancies in the staffing table as soon as feasible; 8. Authorizes the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board to supplement the voluntary contributions to the Emergency Fund for the biennium 2008-2009 by an amount not exceeding 200,000 United States dollars; Stresses the importance of securing the income replacement principle that 9. is embodied in the Fund's regulations and which has been consistently upheld by the International Civil Service Commission in its decisions and by the General Assembly in its resolutions; 10. Approves the ad hoc measure recommended by the Pension Board to address adverse, unprecedented consequences of dollarization in Ecuador as an ad hoc, one-time, ex gratia, exceptional payment; 11. Emphasizes that this arrangement would not set a precedent for any future action by the Board of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund. 07-66207 5