UNGA/C-5: PATTERN OF CONFERENCES DISCUSSIONS FOCUS

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001169

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC KUNR UNGA
SUBJECT: UNGA/C-5: PATTERN OF CONFERENCES DISCUSSIONS FOCUS
ON ACABQ AND UNON


1. (U) Summary: Member States in the Fifth Committee have
been engaging in informal consultations on agenda item 121:
"pattern of conferences." The G77 and China, Japan, and
USDel have all put forth language that would amend the draft
resolution as presented by the Committee on Conferences (CoC)
to the Fifth Committee. The G77 and China are primarily
focused on the alleged "misuse" of UN premises by a Member
State, audio recordings of Fifth Committee informal
consultations, and conference servicing at the UN Offices at
Nairobi (UNON) and the Economic Commission on Africa (ECA);
the G77 is urging for more regular budget resources.
Moreover, the Advisory Committee on Administrative and
Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) has requested for an increase in
meeting times. Approval of the request will inevitably
result in a program budget implication. These issues will
come up during informal-informal consultations on Thursday,
December 11, 2008 in the Fifth Committee. End Summary.


2. (U) Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary
Questions (ACABQ): During this session, the Chairman of the
ACABQ, American Susan McLurg has submitted a letter
requesting for an additional four weeks of meeting time for
the Advisory Committee. Ms. McLurg argued that these four
weeks were necessary since next year is a budget year and the
ACABQ will also be receiving the budgets for the UN Funds and
Programs.


3. (U) The G77 and China put forth language that would
increase the ACABQ meetings from 38 weeks to 42 weeks. Mr.
Vladimir Belov of the Program Planning and Budget Division
answered Member States' questions regarding this request.
Mr. Belov estimates that the G77's request would cost
approximately $500,000 for 2009. He also noted that the
language as it currently reads would permanently increase the
amount of meetings for the ACABQ, meaning that there would be
additional costs during subsequent bienniums.


4. (U) UNON and ECA: The G77 and China have proposed
paragraphs addressing posts and conference servicing for the
UNON and the ECA. Botswana, on behalf of the G77 and China,
inquired about the extensive use of extrabudgetary language
posts at Nairobi when other UN offices in Geneva, Vienna, and
New York primarily pay their staff out of the regular budget.
Botswana would like to see the extrabudgetary posts in
Nairobi funded under the regular budget. However, USDel
notes that language staffers in Nairobi not only service the
UN office, but also UN-Habitat and UNEP.


5. (SBU) Use of UN premises: Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran all
expressed concerns about the "inappropriate use of UN
premises by one Member State." These Member States claim
that an NGO held two panel discussions where discussions led
to the "maligning another Member State." For the Committee's
reference, the Secretariat provided the administrative
instruction for the use of UN premises for meetings,
conferences, special events and exhibits (ST/AI/416).


6. (SBU) During USUN internal discussions, USUN Public
Affairs confirmed that the not-for-profit United Against a
Nuclear Iran (UANI) held two panel discussions on UN
premises, with the most recent entitled "Nonproliferation
Panel Discussion." The content of the event surrounds a
timely topic on the First Committee agenda. Considering the
opportunity to heighten awareness of nonproliferation, the
U.S. Mission supported this exceptional case. The U.S.
Mission, in line with its policy, merely seconded the room
reservations for the new organization. Seconding the request
of an NGO to host the event, as has been past practice, was
sufficient in fulfilling the Secretariat's room/panel
discussion sponsorship requirements. It should be emphasized
that the U.S. Mission was not a sponsor of the events.
Moreover, UANI did the advertising through their own internal
lists. There was no advertisement in the UN Journal.


7. (SBU) The U.S. Mission and UANI are in compliance with
the Secretariat's policy as outlined in ST/AI/416. This was
confirmed by the Secretariat and U/SYG Shaaban and reiterated
by Ms. Vivian Lewis from the Department of General Assembly
Conference Management. USDel will uphold this position
during negotiations.


8. (U) Audio recordings: The G77 and China proposed
language requesting the Secretariat to record audio tapes of
informal consultations. The G77 claims that these paragraphs
stem from the contradictory oral answers provided by the
Secretariat during informal consultations regarding the
construction of UNON premises. The G77 hopes that these
recordings would spur the Secretariat to be more accurate and
consistent with their statements. USDel, however, defended
the no-recording policy in informals, arguing that such
recordings would inhibit the Secretariat and cause others to
treat informal consultations like formal consultations. The
Secretariat also stated that unlike other committees, the


Fifth Committee primarily conducts its work in informal
consultations. Producing and maintaining tapes of all
informal discussions could also be costly.
Khalilzad