Statement by Olivier Poulin, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations on behalf of Canada, Australia and New Zealand to the UN General Assembly Fifth Committee on agenda item 140: “Administrative and Budgetary Aspects of Financing of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations”
8 May 2008
(As delivered)
Mr Chairman
I have the honour of speaking on behalf of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
I would like to thank the representatives from the ACABQ, Board of Auditors, OIOS and the Secretariat for introducing their reports. I will address a number of non-mission specific issues in this statement relating to reports listed under Item 140, the administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing of the UN peacekeeping operations.
Mr Chairman
CANZ has long been a strong supporter of UN peace operations and readily acknowledges the vital contribution peacekeeping makes to global peace, security and well-being. Peacekeeping staff in the field and those who support peacekeeping operations at Headquarters do a good job, often in very difficult circumstances.
At the outset, our delegations wish to reiterate their serious concerns about the late submission of documents. As we speak, an important number of documents, including the majority of the ACABQ reports, are still outstanding. This situation contradicts several resolutions, and prevents the appropriate consideration of budget submissions by the General Assembly. At a time when the peacekeeping budget requests are over $7 billion, it is more important than ever to ensure that the General Assembly is in a position to play its important oversight role. We believe that the ACABQ has proposed interesting options to address this situation, and look forward to discussing them with the rest of the membership. Among other things, we believe that moving the Fifth Committee second resumed session to June might contribute to improving the situation.
Member states are increasingly asking more of United Nation peacekeeping. Since last year, the Security Council has mandated two very large and complex missions. Member states have to pay for the missions they endorse. And in this climate of increasing budgets, we look to the Secretariat to ensure accountability, efficiency and innovation in peacekeeping management. We note that as peacekeeping operations, and their budgets, grow in size and complexity, so too does the impact of outstanding assessed contributions. We urge all member states to pay their assessed contributions on time, in full and without conditions. In addition, CANZ believes that the proposal of the Secretary-General on the consolidation of peacekeeping accounts might contribute to the timely reimbursement of Troop and Police Contributing Countries.
Mr. Chairman
Moving to budget presentation, CANZ wishes to reiterate its support for the inclusion of more detailed information and justification in support of operational costs. Our delegations also support the recommendation of the ACABQ to include additional information on activities of other UN entities in integrated missions so as to facilitate better understanding of the integration of efforts of the various partners in the field. We would also like to echo the ACABQ and OIOS observation on the implementation of result based budgeting in the context of peacekeeping. Result based budgeting should go beyond the paper exercise, and become both an instrument to strengthen accountability, and a management tool to assess performance and in so doing, better utilize resources.
We note that 187 posts in the missions, Department of Field Support, and the Department of Management are dedicated to the budget process. CANZ reiterates its support for a streamlined process, and believes that the time has come to review it fundamentally. While we can see the usefulness of new measures such as the Abacus teams to help Missions prepare budget proposals, we see merit in the recommendation of the ACABQ for a reorganization of the budget process with a view to consolidating headquarters functions.
We note that the Secretary General, as mandated by General Assembly resolution 60/266, has conducted an analysis of the impact of the new costing structure for air operations. We look forward to discussing the findings of the analysis in detail, in particular its conclusions on the link between the cost structure and other dependant areas, and the need to move from an invitation-to-bid procurement strategy to a performance oriented request-for-proposals approach.
Mr. Chairman,
We note with the findings of the Board of Auditors which indicate that a number of posts funded through the Support Account for Peacekeeping Operations appear to have no link with peacekeeping. As we firmly believe that the Support Account should be strictly limited to funding posts directly related to peace operations, we look forward to hearing clarifications from the Secretary General on the matter. We also note the Board’s concerns about the high incidence of cancellation of prior-period obligations which might be indicative of an apparent overstatement of expenditure in previous years. In addition, CANZ shares the views of the Board of Auditors and of the ACABQ on the inadequate inventory record-keeping of non-expendable property. We believe that this shortcoming exposes the Organization to unnecessary risks of financial loss and that strengthened control is needed in this area.
Mr. Chairman
We note the Comprehensive report of conduct and discipline including full justification of all posts. While we remain deeply concerned by the high number of allegations and cases of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeeping personnel, we are encouraged by the lower number of allegations compare to last year. Our delegations fully support the Secretary-General’s request for a conversion to regular posts for the conduct and discipline positions. Even though the structures of the units and their resource requirements will change in the future, the positions are part of ongoing functions and should be regularised. As peacekeeping posts are inherently temporary in any case, there is no sound rationale for maintaining their financing through general temporary assistance, which is intended for another use.
Mr. Chaiman,
Before concluding, let me express CANZ’s disappointment with the inability of the General Assembly to make progress on the important question of Human Resource Management. The current system fails to promote the attraction and retention of talent and experience in peace operations, and is in part responsible for the high vacancy rates and turnover. We trust that the General Assembly will address that key issue for peacekeeping at its next session.
I thank you