UN SAFETY AND SECURITY: MEASURES TAKEN TO IMPROVE

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001873 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AORC KUNR UNGA SUBJECT: UN SAFETY AND SECURITY: MEASURES TAKEN TO IMPROVE COST-SHARING ¶1. In its resolution 59/276 the General Assembly established the Department of Safety and Security and, while recognizing "the operational difficulties linked to cost-sharing by organizations", decided to maintain existing arrangements with regard to UN system cost-sharing for safety and security. Further, the Assembly requested the Secretary-General, to submit a report to the Assembly at the SIPDIS 61st session on measures taken to improve the "operational administration" of existing cost-sharing arrangements. The Secretary-General's report (A/61/223) in response to the SIPDIS request, will be considered by the Fifth Committee this fall, and it details the difficulties of implementing the cost-sharing mechanism for costs associated with safety and security of UN personnel. ¶2. In response to General Assembly resolution 59/276, the High-level Committee on Management met in February 2005 to discuss the budget requirements subject to cost-sharing, as well as different options for future cost-sharing arrangements. In April 2005 they endorsed the recommendation of the technical meeting and agreed that the apportionment of field-related security costs would be done on the basis of actual percentage of field staff (as per the revised Census of July 18, 2003),with a minimum amount of $75,000. ¶3. The World Bank has indicated that it disagrees with the cost-sharing formula and has withheld its contribution. Discussions are ongoing with that organization. All other agencies, funds, and programmes have stated that they have no additional funds to absorb the potential shortfall. Therefore, the operations of the Department of Safety and Security may be impacted. The High-level Committee on Management agreed that all discussion regarding the substantive aspects of field-related security, including the details of jointly financed posts, should be taken up in the context of the Inter-agency Security Management Network. Comment: The report provides no detail concerning the actual amount of the potential shortfall in funds for field security, and USUN intends to follow-up on this during the consideration of the report in the Fifth Committee this fall. End comment. ¶4. Below is a listing of some of the major contributors to the cost-sharing mechanism, including their current rates and dollar amounts. ORGANIZATION FIELD-RELATED COSTS PERCENTAGE FAO 6 407 678 3.79 ILO 3 716 596 2.2 IOM 4 677 866 2.77 UNDP 26 197 003 15.49 UNESCO 3 580 971 2.12 UNHCR 10 738 154 6.35 UNICEF 17 676 434 10.45 WFP 21 961 702 12.99 WHO 14 992 490 8.86 World Bank 10 343 177 6.12 BOLTON