Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06USUNNEWYORK520
2006-03-16 19:16:00
UNCLASSIFIED
USUN New York
Cable title:  

UN: FIFTH COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER 2006 BUDGET FOR

Tags:  AORC KUNR PREL UNGA 
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VZCZCXYZ0039
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #0520 0751916
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 161916Z MAR 06
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8341
UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000520 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC KUNR PREL UNGA
SUBJECT: UN: FIFTH COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER 2006 BUDGET FOR
SPECIAL POLITICAL MISSIONS


UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000520

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC KUNR PREL UNGA
SUBJECT: UN: FIFTH COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER 2006 BUDGET FOR
SPECIAL POLITICAL MISSIONS



1. On March 20 the Fifth Committee will begin its
consideration of the budgets for Special Political Missions
(SPMs) for 2006. In its resolution 60/248 of December 2005,
the General Assembly endorsed the recommendation of the ACABQ
and approved a charge of $100 million against SPMs until the
end of April 2006. The temporary provision was made given
the late submission of the SPM budget in December 2005, which
prevented the GA's full consideration of the budget proposal.
Presently, a total of $303 million is sought to finance 29
SPMs in 2006. This figure is expected to increase later in
2006 given that four missions, including the Afghanistan
mission (UNAMA),are not budgeted for a full year and will
require additional resources upon revision of their
respective mandates.


2. As detailed in the report of the Secretary-General
(A/60/585),the provision for SPMs in the preliminary
estimate for the 2006-2007 biennium budget was set at
$355,949,300. Of this amount, a total of $303,351,600 is
being sought for 2006. This includes only partial funding
for the Group of Experts on the DRC, UNAMA, the Group of
Experts on Cote d'Ivoire, and the International Independent
Investigation in Lebanon. The mandates for these four
missions expire before the end of 2006 and additional funding
will be sought for these activities when the Security Council
extends their mandates. It is expected that the mandate for
UNAMA will be considerably expanded in light of the recent
report of the Secretary-General on the situation in
Afghanistan.


3. The SG's report highlights efforts being made to achieve
complementarities and synergies between and among SPMs and
other UN activities and locations. Thematic exchanges and
dialogue are encouraged between SPMs and other relevant
bodies (on issues such as sanctions, arms trafficking, etc.).
Efforts are also made, where possible, to achieve
administrative and logistical efficiencies through sharing of
premises and logistical support from peacekeeping missions.
Comment: The SG's report does not identify the level of
savings achieved from this and USUN will seek further
information in this regard. End comment.


4. During the 2004-2005 biennium, the appropriation for SPMs
was $391,554,800 and the estimated expenditure was
$321,642,600, representing an under-expenditure of more than
$71 million. A large part of this underexpenditure was due
to higher than planned vacancy rates; the underspending is
attributable to military contingents ($11.3 million),
international staff ($27.9 million) and air transportation
($12 million). The requirement of 3,085 total posts for 2006
reflects a decrease of 266 posts, inclusive of a reduction of
142 international posts. This is largely attributable to the
expected closure of UNOTIL this spring.


5. The ACABQ is expected to support most of the
Secretary-General's request, with perhaps a few reductions in

SIPDIS
posts and a five percent reduction in travel and consultancy
budgets. The ACABQ is also expected to recommend that
greater efforts be made to reduce travel requirements
(through the use of videoconferencing, for example),and that
future reports on SPMs indicate thematic or regional clusters
to allow for greater consideration of possible
complementarities and potential for synergies.


6. As highlighted by the ACABQ, the report provides little
information to allow for analysis of resource changes. The
current request of $303 million represents a sizable increase
from the previous biennium's level of expenditure, but the
report offers little conclusive information on the
mission-specific and overall reasons for the current
increases, particularly given the overall decrease of staff
requirements. USUN intends to seek further clarification in
this regard.

BOLTON