United Nations General Assembly: Fifth Committee
10 May 2007
Item 146 Financing of the United Nations Mission in the Sudan
Statement by Olivier Poulin
First Secretary
Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations
On behalf of Canada, Australia and New Zealand
(as delivered)
Mr. Chairperson,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the delegations of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Let me start by thanking Warren Sach, the United Nations Controller, for the introduction of the Performance Report on the Budget of UNMIS for the Period from 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006 (A/61/689) and the Budget of UNMIS for the Period from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008 (A/61/745), as well as Mr. Rajat Saha, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), for the introduction of the related report of the ACABQ (A/61/852/Add.13).
Mr. Chairperson,
CANZ strongly supports UNMIS and the implementation of the three peace processes in the Sudan. Despite operating in a complex and difficult environment, UNMIS has proven able to largely implement its mandate, and provide support to the African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS). We welcome the appointment of Mr. Rodolphe Adada of the Republic of Congo as Joint AU-UN Special Representative for Darfur, and look forward to the appointment of a Special Representative of the Secretary General for UNMIS.
Our delegations support the conclusions and recommendations of the ACABQ, and favour their endorsement by this Committee. We share ACABQ’s concerns at the magnitude of over-budgeting for 2005/06, representing 17.4% of the budget. We urge the Secretary-General to look at lessons learned from the shortcomings of the assessment mission for future peacekeeping operations. CANZ looks forward to engaging in discussions with Secretariat officials on the feasibility of presenting revised budgets once it is clear that expenditures differ significantly from budgetary assumptions, as suggested by the Advisory Committee.
While we are aware of the particular challenges facing UNMIS, we are concerned by the findings of the Office of Internal Oversight Services audit of UNMIS, which includes serious control weaknesses, wasteful expenditures, overpayments to vendors, and questionable procurement practices. We are encouraged by the proactive steps taken by the Mission to address the problems. We trust that these initiatives will lead to the improvement of the procurement function and the strengthening of the control mechanisms.
We wish to congratulate the Mission for the efforts it has made to address the serious recruitment and retention challenges it is facing. As we highlighted in our statement on cross-cutting issues, CANZ is of the view that there is a need to look at best practices in terms of working conditions and how such conditions affect the quality of life and retention rates of staff in peacekeeping operations. We believe that UNMIS offers a good example of the impact that improving living and working conditions has on recruitment and retention.
CANZ welcome the Mission’s strategy to reduce dependency on outside contracted services by taking over ground handling at three airports, as well as its intention to increase its use of surface transportation. These initiatives are in line with resolutions of the General Assembly and will lead to substantial savings.
Our delegations wish to express our surprise at the request of the Secretary General to continue financing the Conduct and Discipline Team of UNMIS through general temporary assistance, which appears in contradiction with the recommendations of the comprehensive policy on sexual exploitation and abuse contained in document A/60/862. Since we see no rational for financing an ongoing function through general temporary assistance, we favour the establishment of posts.
CANZ strongly supports the utilization of existing UNMIS budget resources to support AMIS through the Light Support Package. It also strongly supports the utilization of UNMIS savings from the current period to finance the immediate requirements for the implementation of the Heavy Support Package, as well as the flexible employment of the resources appropriated for UNMIS for 2007/08 for 1 July onwards. We look forward to considering the upcoming revised budget of UNMIS in the main part of the 62nd session in order to properly examine the Result Based Budgeting framework and the resource requirements related to the Heavy Support Package. We trust that the next stage of the UN support to the AU in Darfur – the transition to a Hybrid Mission – will rapidly materialized before the end of 2007/08, and will build on the lessons learned from the Heavy Support Package. In the meantime, we urge the Secretary General, in collaboration with the AU, to plan carefully the delineation of responsibility and accountability structure of the Hybrid Mission. In this vein, we would encourage the Secretariat to ensure that the implementation of the Heavy Support Package will be carried out to allow a seamless and speedy transition to the Hybrid Mission immediately upon Security Council approval.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairperson, let me express my gratitude on behalf of CANZ to UNMIS peacekeepers, and to the friends and families of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
I thank you.