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| Ambassador Hynek Kmonícek of the Czech Republic
Chairman, Fifth Committee. Chronicle photo | The Fifth Committee approved $3.16 billion for the 2004-2005 budget. It's the "magic line of $3 billion", says the Chairman of the Committee, Hynek Kmonícek of the Czech Republic. "We do our best to be very, very close to it", he told the UN Chronicle, adding that "there is an understanding that it is a psychological barrier". However, in the give and take between countries, what mattered more than the figures of the budget was to spend limited resources to maximize results, he said.
Developed countries, in particular, stressed that results be maximized. Ambassador Kmonícek at the same time said: "When you look at all the extra budgetary expenses, the $3 billion is one part of a cake which is definitely bigger. If people realize that they are discussing a portion of the portion of the portion of what had to be paid anyway, it helps a little bit to go toward the logical conclusion to have a logical, transparent budget, where we know how we are going to spend the money we pay to the UN."
Three issues figured prominently at the Fifth Committee session: budget, reform and scale of assessments. "There's a difference in these three", said the Chairman. "Budget we must have, scale we must have, but reform we want to have. And I will try to make sure that we will avoid one of the golden rules I had found here in the UN system, that the longest talk about reform is usually coming from the people who have a sincere wish for a status quo. Sometimes the less the talk, the more you are prepared to sacrifice." The Committee recommended a total of 32 resolutions, all adopted without a vote.
In the debate, countries welcomed the steps taken to support Africa's development and the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). According to UN experts, the plan underlying NEPAD provides "leadership which assures ownership, and that ownership changes the rules for partnerships outside the continent". The fifty-seventh Assembly session unanimously approved the resolution "Final review and appraisal of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s and support for NEPAD".
In the budget proposals for 2004-2005, the section on Africa shows the greatest rate of growth in United Nations support, at 41.6 per cent. Many countries also welcomed the creation of the Office of Special Adviser for Africa and highlighted the need to further strengthen its capacity to fulfil its mandate effectively.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the Fifth Committee that his budget proposal represented, first and foremost, the "bare minimum for the tasks that Member States had entrusted to the United Nations". He said that the budget was being finalized at a time when the world body was wrestling with fundamental issues of "principle and practice", referring to the major events of the past year: the war in Iraq, the development setback at Cancun, and the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad.
Fulfilling Expectations of World's Peoples
Secretary-General Kofi Annan proposed a $2.9 billion budget proposal for 2004-2005. It reflected minimal real growth over the previous biennium-just one half of 1 per cent, or $15 million, and envisaged a significant reallocation of resources. Introducing the proposal to the Fifth Committee, Mr. Annan said he looked forward to the adoption of a budget that was neither profligate nor stinting, but rather provided what the Organization needed to fulfil the expectations of the world's peoples for peace, development and the renewal of the United Nations itself. The budget proposal allocated additional resources for financing for development and the special needs of Africa. There were modest, yet necessary, increases for drug control, crime prevention and human rights. Also incorporated in the budget were the results of comprehensive reviews of public information and human rights, and efforts to modernize conference servicing and strengthen the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.The Secretary-General's second budget, prepared on the basis of a results-oriented methodology, proposed to implement the information and communications technology strategy, which would include: improvements to the United Nations Web site; improved use of technology in servicing meetings; and other initiatives that would affect the entire Organization. More funds were also proposed for training, a critical investment if staff were to deal with new responsibilities and different work methods.
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In the debate, reforming the complex budget-making process was discussed. The representative of Botswana, Collen Kelapile, told the Chronicle that a four-year medium-term plan was too far ahead of the period to which it related. "It is unreal to identify priorities way ahead, and the UN budget is biennial, which means the two plans are running in parallel." The Committee requested the Secretary-General to prepare, on a trial basis, a strategic framework to replace the current four-year medium-term plan with a plan outline reflecting the longer-term objectives of the Organization, and a biennial programme plan to cover two years.
On the scale of assessments, the standard measure against which a country's UN contributions are assessed, Ambassador Kmonícek told the Chronicle that after lengthy and painful negotiations some years ago, a certain kind of consensus had been reached, that the scale should stay as it is for the time being. "But definitely there will be a wish by Member States to renegotiate the scale of assessments when the time comes. As I have seen in the discussions when this suggestion was made, it was very painful for us to be in the situation where we are now. So, we should be very cautious to open the subject now."
The UN scale of assessments was last reviewed in 2000, and one of its main features was a reduction of the ceiling from 25 to 22 per cent, with the provision that at the end of 2003 the position would be reviewed. It was agreed then that the methodology for the scale of assessments would remain in place until 2006.
In a presentation before the Committee, Under-Secretary-General Catherine Bertini of the UN Department of Management said that as of 30 September 2003, only 113 Member States (59 per cent of UN membership) had paid their regular assessments in full. She further said that unpaid regular budget assessments amounted to $693 million. Of the Organization's 15 major contributors, three owed a total of $581 million and 75 others owed $112 million.
What is Zero-based Budgeting?
Zero-based budgeting is a method by which budget demands have to be justified by each department on all expenditures, starting from a zero base. Unlike traditional budgeting techniques that require administrators to validate only increases over the previous fiscal-year budget, zero-based budgeting starts afresh, without making any references to the earlier stages of expenditure. The idea, according to a UN official at the Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts, is to move existing resources and utilize them in such a way that ensures programmes are aligned to their current mandates.
Ambassador Jarmo Sareva of Finland told the UN Chronicle that "there will be a growing number of activities required from you. It means the more effective usage of people, money and time." — Namrita Talwar
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One of the issues debated was the "capacity to pay" principle. Boubacar Tankoano of the Niger told the Chronicle that his country had been unable to pay its dues to the United Nations on account of problems in the local economy. "During 1999-2000, a new government was democratically elected. Salaries for 10 to 12 months had not been paid and that was the priority. Now we are ready to pay that to the United Nations, the African Union and regional organizations. We had proposed a plan of payment between 2004 and 2011; it will be a progressive payment", he said. Many Member States in the Committee had supported Niger, and since it is a least developed country (per capita gross domestic product under $900), it was not affected by the scale of assessments, Mr. Tankoano said.
On public information related issues, the budget allocation for information centres was reduced by $2 million. The UN Department of Public Information had integrated the United Nations information centres (UNICs) in Western Europe into one regional hub in Brussels. RUNIC Brussels replaced the nine UNICs in Western Europe that closed in Athens, Bonn, Brussels, Copenhagen, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Paris and Rome. Asdrubal Pulido Leon of Venezuela, Coordinator for the Group of 77 nations, told the Chronicle that the main focus of the Group had been the UNICs and that it had been very reluctant to close information centres in developing countries.
Commenting on the Fifth Committee, Ambassador Kmonícek said: "In a sort of a way it is the committee where the delegates aspire to a level I'd say of power to influence implementation of work into a reality, and it brings them not only power but responsibility. Surprisingly, it helps people to do better."
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