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