UNGA: INSTRUCTIONS ON "NEW GLOBAL HUMAN ORDER"

UNCLAS STATE 167353 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EFIN AORC UN SUBJECT: UNGA: INSTRUCTIONS ON "NEW GLOBAL HUMAN ORDER" REF: GEORGETOWN 978 ¶1. (U) This is an action request. Please see paras. 2 and 3. ¶2. (U) The Department instructs USUN to delay consideration of the resolution under UN General Assembly (UNGA) agenda item 50, "New Global Human Order," entitled "The role of the UN in promoting a new global human order" (A/62/L.35), introduced by the Government of Guyana, when it comes before the UNGA plenary on Monday, December 17. The purpose of this delay is to seek withdrawal of the resolution or substantial change in the content by a later date. ¶3. (U) If the motion to defer consideration of the resolution is denied by the General Assembly Secretariat, USUN is instructed to call a vote, and vote "No" on the resolution. After the vote has been taken, USUN is instructed to deliver the explation of vote in paragraph 6. ¶4. (U) Reftel alerted the Department and USUN that the Government of Guyana intended to introduce a resolution on the "New Global Human Order" in the 62nd session of UNGA, which began in September. The last time a resolution was introduced on this item was in the 57th session; consideration has been deferred since then. Though USUN attempted with other states to convince the Guyanese to withdraw the resolution, the request was denied several times. The Guyanese circulated a draft resolution informally, but declined to negotiate in good faith, refused to formally table the text for negotiation, and now plan to seek plenary approval without further discussion. ¶5. (U) USUN should consider the following options for delaying this resolution: -- The Department understands that neither the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions nor the Administrative and Budgetary Committee (Fifth Committee) have considered a program and budgetary impact (PBI) statement from the Secretariat. Therefore, when the item is introduced, if the facilitator introduces the draft resolution for consideration, USUN can request that consideration of the resolution be deferred under Rule 153 of the General Assembly Rules of Procedure, which states, in relevant part: "(...) No resolution in respect of which expenditures are anticipated by the Secretary-General shall be voted by the General Assembly until the Administrative and Budgetary Committee (Fifth Committee) has had an opportunity of stating the effect of the proposal upon the budget estimates of the United Nations." -- If the Secretariat presents an oral PBI statement during the plenary session, USUN can request that the statement be submitted in writing to the appropriate UN body through the appropriate channels. -- If the Secretariat submits a PBI statement on this resolution to the Fifth Committee on Monday, December 17, USUN can request that the budgetary increase for the resolution not be approved because the report -- the first ever requested under this item -- would overlap with reports of other resolutions and would have little coherence, while potentially costing a great deal to cover the scope of the request. ¶6. (U) Explanation of vote: "It is with regret that the United States is compelled to vote against this resolution. The U.S. participated in the informal informal discussions on the draft resolution on this item, and expressed concern several times that the report requested in the resolution on "the implications of increasing inequality for development, peace, stability and international economic cooperation" would have significant budgetary implications. Unfortunately, it was only one business day ago that this resolution was formally tabled, and therefore the budgetary implications could not be given the appropriate consideration. "The broader context of this resolution should also be examined. While it ostensibly intends to develop a "holistic framework towards the achievement of the goals of development and poverty eradication," these same issues are being taken up under other items, in other committees of this august institution, and in a manner that thoroughlly examines the best way forward. This resolution has been deferred from the 57th session of the General Assembly to the 62nd session without action, and we believe it should be removed from the agenda. The current resolution does not further the progress of its stated goals or develop new ways to achieve them. Instead, it adds another layer of debate that takes up considerable time and expense, and intends to add yet another report that would duplicate the work of hundreds of other reports on development, peace, stability and economic cooperation. "We regret that after considerable discussion of this item, we could not arrive at a mutually agreed consensus on the purpose of this resolution." ¶7. (U) Mission is requested to inform Department contact Laura de Otalvaro (deotalvaroLH@state.gov; 202-736-7787) immediately if circumstances surrounding consideration of this resolution change. RICE