Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07USUNNEWYORK1014
2007-11-14 20:01:00
UNCLASSIFIED
USUN New York
Cable title:
ACTION REQUEST: REVISED PROPOSED LETTER FROM KEY
how-toVZCZCXYZ0011 PP RUEHWEB DE RUCNDT #1014 3182001 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 142001Z NOV 07 FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3085 INFO RUEHXX/GENEVA IO MISSIONS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001014
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
PLEASE PASS TO TED FARIS, IO MPR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC UNGA
SUBJECT: ACTION REQUEST: REVISED PROPOSED LETTER FROM KEY
GENEVA GROUP MEMBERS TO THE SECRETARY-GENERAL ON BUDGET
REF: USUN 00905
UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001014
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
PLEASE PASS TO TED FARIS, IO MPR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC UNGA
SUBJECT: ACTION REQUEST: REVISED PROPOSED LETTER FROM KEY
GENEVA GROUP MEMBERS TO THE SECRETARY-GENERAL ON BUDGET
REF: USUN 00905
1. On November 5, 2007, an IO team met with their British
counterparts to discuss a variety of issues to be dealt with
during the 62nd UNGA, including the proposed letter (reftel)
from key Geneva Group members to the Secretary-General. The
participants agreed to send that letter at the Permanent
Representative level and to communicate budget and reform
concerns separately -- the budget letter immediately and the
reform letter before the first resumed session of the Fifth
Committee. USUN found that the November 5 text incorporating
edits of the IO and UK counterparts deleted the most
meaningful aspects relating to the budget, apparently with
the idea of attracting the widest possible support of the
Geneva Group. UKUN agreed with USUN concerns, confirming
that the objective was to have a substantive letter that
could attract the support of the larger donors e.g. Japan,
Germany, France, and any others who might wish to sign. USUN
and UKUN agreed to recommend to capital that the deleted
provisions of the original letter regarding the budget be
restored and to approach the larger donors to support the
letter.
2. Action Request: At the expert level, the UK and U.S.
Missions to the UN have agreed on the draft letter below,
which essentially reverts the November 5 text to the budget
sections in reftel. USUN seeks Department approval of this
text (which has also been sent to London for approval).
3. The revised draft letter reads as follows:
Dear Secretary-General,
By the end of the year, Member States will have to determine
the appropriate level of Regular Budget resources needed to
support the activities of the United Nations for the 2008-09
biennium.
The proposal on the table is currently at a level of $4.2
billion. But preliminary estimates suggest that the budget
could reach $4.8 billion, which would represent an increase
of 15 percent above the current budget for 2006/2007, and 25
percent on the initial budget for that biennium.
We recognize the need to ensure that UN programmes on which
people around the world depend are adequately resourced.
However, we, the undersigned Member States are increasingly
concerned about the escalating costs of the Organization.
In light of this, we ask that during these budget
discussions, you encourage your staff to provide every
assistance to Member States, for example:
- giving clear explanations for proposals for additional
resources, including new posts;
- showing flexibility where-ever possible for redeployment
across the Organization;
- showing themselves open to better administrative and
financial practices in the Secretariat.
We also request that in the future when you submit proposals
that would increase the budget, you at the same time propose
measures to offset in whole or in part such increases. Such
measures might include proposals to eliminate related,
obsolete or redundant mandates, or to consolidate mandates in
the same area. Other measures might include proposals to
absorb certain costs associated with the proposal within
existing resources, as our Governments are often required to
do to enhance the efficiency of the concerned entities.
More generally, in view of the inevitable pressures to
increase the budget, our governments wish to underscore the
importance for the Organization of having an objective
assessment of key outputs and activities. We urge you to
assert your authority in this area to provide Member States
with such objective assessments in order to assist them in
determining which outputs and activities are considered
obsolete, of marginal, usefulness, or ineffective.
It is important that both the Secretariat and all Member
States appreciate that the resources available to support the
United Nations are not unlimited, even from the most
economically advantaged Member States. There is therefore a
collective responsibility to ensure that the decisions taken
in respect of the budget are fiscally responsible and
sustainable and reflect efforts to accommodate differing
priority interest of the Member States. We will engage
constructively in the negotiations to achieve this end.
Khalilzad
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
PLEASE PASS TO TED FARIS, IO MPR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC UNGA
SUBJECT: ACTION REQUEST: REVISED PROPOSED LETTER FROM KEY
GENEVA GROUP MEMBERS TO THE SECRETARY-GENERAL ON BUDGET
REF: USUN 00905
1. On November 5, 2007, an IO team met with their British
counterparts to discuss a variety of issues to be dealt with
during the 62nd UNGA, including the proposed letter (reftel)
from key Geneva Group members to the Secretary-General. The
participants agreed to send that letter at the Permanent
Representative level and to communicate budget and reform
concerns separately -- the budget letter immediately and the
reform letter before the first resumed session of the Fifth
Committee. USUN found that the November 5 text incorporating
edits of the IO and UK counterparts deleted the most
meaningful aspects relating to the budget, apparently with
the idea of attracting the widest possible support of the
Geneva Group. UKUN agreed with USUN concerns, confirming
that the objective was to have a substantive letter that
could attract the support of the larger donors e.g. Japan,
Germany, France, and any others who might wish to sign. USUN
and UKUN agreed to recommend to capital that the deleted
provisions of the original letter regarding the budget be
restored and to approach the larger donors to support the
letter.
2. Action Request: At the expert level, the UK and U.S.
Missions to the UN have agreed on the draft letter below,
which essentially reverts the November 5 text to the budget
sections in reftel. USUN seeks Department approval of this
text (which has also been sent to London for approval).
3. The revised draft letter reads as follows:
Dear Secretary-General,
By the end of the year, Member States will have to determine
the appropriate level of Regular Budget resources needed to
support the activities of the United Nations for the 2008-09
biennium.
The proposal on the table is currently at a level of $4.2
billion. But preliminary estimates suggest that the budget
could reach $4.8 billion, which would represent an increase
of 15 percent above the current budget for 2006/2007, and 25
percent on the initial budget for that biennium.
We recognize the need to ensure that UN programmes on which
people around the world depend are adequately resourced.
However, we, the undersigned Member States are increasingly
concerned about the escalating costs of the Organization.
In light of this, we ask that during these budget
discussions, you encourage your staff to provide every
assistance to Member States, for example:
- giving clear explanations for proposals for additional
resources, including new posts;
- showing flexibility where-ever possible for redeployment
across the Organization;
- showing themselves open to better administrative and
financial practices in the Secretariat.
We also request that in the future when you submit proposals
that would increase the budget, you at the same time propose
measures to offset in whole or in part such increases. Such
measures might include proposals to eliminate related,
obsolete or redundant mandates, or to consolidate mandates in
the same area. Other measures might include proposals to
absorb certain costs associated with the proposal within
existing resources, as our Governments are often required to
do to enhance the efficiency of the concerned entities.
More generally, in view of the inevitable pressures to
increase the budget, our governments wish to underscore the
importance for the Organization of having an objective
assessment of key outputs and activities. We urge you to
assert your authority in this area to provide Member States
with such objective assessments in order to assist them in
determining which outputs and activities are considered
obsolete, of marginal, usefulness, or ineffective.
It is important that both the Secretariat and all Member
States appreciate that the resources available to support the
United Nations are not unlimited, even from the most
economically advantaged Member States. There is therefore a
collective responsibility to ensure that the decisions taken
in respect of the budget are fiscally responsible and
sustainable and reflect efforts to accommodate differing
priority interest of the Member States. We will engage
constructively in the negotiations to achieve this end.
Khalilzad