UN: PROPOSED LETTER FROM KEY GENEVA GROUP MEMBERS

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000905

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC UN UNGA UNGA
SUBJECT: UN: PROPOSED LETTER FROM KEY GENEVA GROUP MEMBERS
TO THE SECRETARY-GENERAL ON BUDGET/REFORMS



1. Following the conclusion of the Geneva Group CLM on
October 2, 2007, Stephen Pattison (Director, International
Security, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, United Kingdom)
and Ambassador Mark Wallace consulted, in their capacity as
co-chairs as to what deliverable could be produced from the
day's meeting. They agreed to draft a letter to the
Secretary-General that would be signed by key Geneva Group

SIPDIS
members (e.g. US, Japan, Germany, UK, France, etc.) at the
Director's level urging his cooperation in restraining the
growth of the budget and achieving reforms. Alternatively,
consideration should be given to having the Foreign Ministers
or Permanent Representatives of the key Geneva Group members,
who would be more familiar to the SYG, sign the letter.
Please find below the text, as agreed by the U.S. and UK
Missions to the UN at the expert level. The UK Mission expert
has advised that London, without seeing the draft, had
indicated an initial preference to focus on the budget. The
US and UK Missions experts agree that it would be useful to
consider making more forward leaning proposals on how to deal
with the 2008/2009 budget.


2. ACTION REQUEST: Once the UK and US Directors agree on
draft letter, they should seek to obtain agreement from other
key Geneva Group Directors. Mission is available to assist as
the Department deems appropriate.


3. Dear Mr. Secretary-General:
The undersigned UN directors from Member States of the United
Nations want to emphasize their appreciation to you for your
commitment to an effective and efficient UN. In this
respect, we welcome your commitment not only to efficient
resource and program management but also to the
implementation of the administrative and management reforms
already adopted by the General Assembly and to the
continuation of the reform process.

During the 62nd General Assembly, Member States are called
upon to adopt a 2008/2009 biennium budget of $4.395 billion.
This is the largest ever budget proposed, and does not
include recosting or the significant costs of a number of
reform-related activities which are scheduled for
consideration during this session. Preliminary estimates
indicate that upon inclusion of these additional elements the
budget could easily reach $4.8 billion - an increase of 15
percent above the final budget for 2006/2007 and of 25
percent on the initial budget agreed for that biennium.

Our collective task in the weeks and months ahead will be to
determine the appropriate level of resources needed to
support the activities of this Organization. We share your
commitment to ensure that programs on which people around the
world depend are adequately financed. However, we are
increasingly concerned about the escalating costs of the
Organization. The undersigned Member States pay xxx% of the
regular budget. We all have a responsibility to ensure that
the decisions taken by the Organization in regard to the
budget are fiscally responsible and take into account the
reality that the resources available are not unlimited.

In the light of this, we ask that during these budget
discussions, you encourage your staff to provide every
assistance to Member States, including:

- giving clear explanations for proposals for additional
resources, including new posts;
- showing flexibility wherever possible for redeployment
across the Organization particularly where high vacancy rates
exist in an office requesting more posts;
- 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 leadership in this area to ensure that Member
States are provided with such objective assessments in order
to assist them in determining which outputs and activities
are considered obsolete, of marginal usefulness, or
ineffective. (Alternatively, we may wish simply to urge the
SYG "to provide" such objective assessments, to avoid any
unintended suggestion that he is not demonstrating



leadership.)

We also continue to believe that administrative and
management reforms are vital to achieving the objectives of
the Organization, especially during times when Member States
are asked to increase their contributions to the
Organization. During the last two years, following the World
Outcome Summit, we have collectively made progress in
reforming the Organization in significant ways, but much
remains to de done to ensure that these reforms are fully
implemented and that the reform process continues,
especially in the areas of transparency, accountability and
oversight.

For example, in September 2005, world leaders determined to
ensure the highest ethical standards of conduct within the
Organization by establishing a new Ethics Office to develop
and administer a system wide ethics policy, including
protection of whistle blowers. Yet, as you have provided in
your recent report on the Ethics Office, the question of the
scope of that jurisdiction is to be revisited by the General
Assembly. We welcome and appreciate your commitment to
obtaining the necessary confirmation from the General
Assembly of the system wide jurisdiction of this new Office,
and will work with you to achieve that objective. In another
important area of ethics and transparency, you have led the
way by making public your Financial Disclosure Form and
encouraged your senior officials to follow your lead. Yet,
your officials have declined to follow you, frustrating
another important reform. Mr. Secretary-General, we urge you
to assert your leadership to ensure that your senior
officials follow your lead or to seek necessary action
towards that end in the General Assembly. (As with previous
para, we may wish simply to urge the SYG take action to
ensure that senior officials follow the SYG's lead.)

There have also been important reforms in the area of
oversight, most notably with respect to OIOS and the creation
of the IAAC. Yet, there remain for action by the General
Assembly a number of important reforms. For example, the
General Assembly has before it a crucial reform relating to
the operational independence of the OIOS. As you are aware,
the funding structure for OIOS limits its ability to
determine where resources will be deployed, which restricts
the ability of OIOS to accomplish its mandate within the
Organization, including its Funds and Programs. Our
governments welcome your support on this issue, including
your proposal for consolidating most of OIOS's funding
resources into a single "gross" budget. We urge you to assert
your leadership to assist in obtaining early action on this
matter. (As with previous 2 paras, we may wish simply to urge
the SYG to assist in obtaining early action on the matter.)

There are, of course, other reforms before the General
Assembly that would have a direct impact on efficient
resource and program management including, inter alia,
procurement, risk management and internal controls, results
based management and an accountability framework.

Mr. Secretary-General, we share your commitment to this
Organization. In order to better achieve the objectives and
goals of the Organization, we urge you to assert your
leadership to assist Member States in controlling the
escalating budget of the Organization and ensuring that the
resources provided by Member States are efficiently and
effectively utilized.

Sincerely,
WOLFF