UN - FIFTH COMMITTEE BEGINS CONSIDERATION OF BAN'S

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000246

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC PREL UNGA
SUBJECT: UN - FIFTH COMMITTEE BEGINS CONSIDERATION OF BAN'S
PROPOSAL TO STRENGTHEN DPA

REF: A. USUN 000226

B. USUN 000133

C. USUN 000168

D. 07 USUN 1069

E. 07 USUN 1013

F. 07 STATE 146279


1. Summary: The Fifth Committee of the General Assembly, on
March 17th, began its consideration of Secretary-General
Ban's proposal to strengthen the Department of Political
Affairs (DPA) (A/62/521 and Corr.1). U-SYG Barcena of the
Department of Management introduced the report (see paragraph
3 below). Lynn Pascoe, the U-SYG for Political Affairs, in a
detailed statement, emphasized the necessity of early
adoption of the proposal (paragraph 4). The Chairperson of
the ACABQ, Susan McLurg, introduced the report of the
Advisory Committee (A/62/7/Add.32) (paragraph 5). 28
delegations delivered statements offering varying degrees of
support for the proposal with virtually all raising concerns
they intend to address during the committee's informal
consultations beginning March 18th. Most delegations agreed
that it was necessary to fully address all concerns before
taking a decision on the proposal. Some delegations
suggested a linkage to the DESA (Development Pillar) proposal
and that the consideration of this proposal may take
considerable time (paragraphs 6 - 14).


2. Summary continued: US Del (paragraph 15),while
expressing strong support for DPA's mandate and recognizing
the need to strengthen the Department, emphasized that the
proposal raised a number of concerns that needed to be fully
addressed before action could be taken. USDel also
underlined that the proposal must be considered in the
context of the budget and the $1 billion in anticipated
add-ons to the initial budget passed in December. The
statements made available in full text, including by U-SYG
Barcena, U-SYG Pascoe, ACABQ Chairperson McLurg, the EU,
G-77, Rio Group, CANZ, African Group, ROK and Japan have been
sent to IO/MPR via email. End Summary.

SECRETARIAT

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3. DM U-SYG Barcena: Referred to a statement made by the
SYG on October 25th of last year in the context of the
proposed 2008-2009 budget in which he outlined the importance
of the link between peace and security, human rights and
development - the three main arms of the work of the UN, and
his intention to keep engaging with Member States on the
reform and strengthening of DPA, DESA and other departments.
Barcena said that with "our worldwide peacekeeping operations
having been organized" it is now time to turn to conflict
prevention and peace-building.


4. DPA U-SYG Pascoe: Emphasized that the UN needs to become
more effective not only at stabilizing conflict situations
and dealing with the humanitarian side-effects, but at
preventing and resolving them through political means.
Explained that Ban's proposals call for a more effective use
of tools such as preventive diplomacy, mediation and the good
offices of the SYG in the service of Member States and
regional organizations. Highlighted the fact that while
DPA's political and electoral experts recently made critical
contributions to averting a larger tragedy in Kenya, their
involvement resulted in greatly diminished attention to other
critical situations. Argued that the constraints facing DPA
are well-documented in reports and evaluations and reviewed
the major components of the proposal which would increase
DPA's staff by 101 posts, up from the current base of 223,
and cost $21 million in the current biennium. ($34 million
in future bienniums with full incumbency of staff.)

ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON ADMINISTRATIVE AND BUDGETARY QUESTIONS


5. ACABQ Chairperson McLurg: Explained that while the
Advisory Committee recognized that there are organizational
and resource restraints in certain areas of DPA and
recommended acceptance of some additional capacity (resulting
in a reduction of $8.1 million from the 2008-2009 estimate of
$21 million and a reduction of 41 of the 101 proposed posts).
At the same time, the ACABQ reiterated the concerns it had
identified with the proposal including the need for a clear
division of labor and coordination between DPA and DPKO as
well as other Secretariat departments, specialized agencies,
funds and programs, regional commissions and other relevant
UN actors.

MEMBER STATES


6. Peace and security/development linkage: The G-77
emphasized that conflict prevention efforts will never be
successful unless they go hand in hand with parallel efforts
addressing the root causes of conflicts in particular by
achieving sustainable development through sustained economic


growth and the eradication of poverty. The G-77 also urged
the ACABQ to issue its report on the SYG's development pillar
as a matter of priority since a stronger UN needs a stronger
development pillar because "there can be no peace without
development."


7. Regular budget context: As noted above, USDel emphasized
that the proposal must be considered in the context of the
2008-2008 budget and potential add-ons to the budget passed
in December of over $1 billion. The EU also expressed
concern about the piecemeal approach to the budget while
recognizing that there are organizational and resource
constraints in DPA that limit its capacity. The EU looked
forward to discussing the proposal on its merits. Norway
said that possible efficiencies or savings must be explored
in any exercise to "strengthen a department." CANZ said all
opportunities for "reallocation" must be exhausted and that
extra resources requested should stand up to a critical
analysis. Japan said that the SYG's piecemeal approach
seriously undermines Ban's accountability to Member States,
that the SYG's plan of reform should have been presented as a
whole in the form of the biennial budget, and that new
requirements should have been carefully selected with a sharp
focus on high priorities, through redeploying resources "from
activities no longer in use." The ROK said that the
Secretariat must ensure cost-effectiveness and

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cost-efficiency in its process of restructuring and that it
should take into account and factor in the concerns of Member
States on budgetary issues.


8. DPA regional divisions: The African Group welcomed the
SYG's proposal and expressed concern that the ACABQ
recommended against many of the posts requested for Africa.
The Rio Group objected to the subdivisions proposed in the
Americas Division while the G-77 concurred with the view of
the ACABQ that some Divisions do not warrant the proposed
multiplicity of units. Japan noted the lack of communication
and coordination between the regional divisions in DPA and
DPKO.


9. DPA/DFS division of labor / system-wide coordination:
Norway and Japan said that the roles of DFS and DPA in
support of SPMs need to be clarified. CANZ called for better
coordination across the UN system in addressing potential
conflict situations.


10. Regional offices: The G-77, Philippines and Vietnam
asserted that such offices could only be established with the
agreement of all concerned countries in the region. The Rio
Group was not convinced that a regional office should be
established in Latin America. Japan said that other field
presences including peacekeeping operations and funds and
programs should be taken into account when new field offices
are being considered.


11. Inclusion of "political elements" in the proposal: The
Rio Group objected to inclusion in the proposal of
"inappropriate references and judgments" about the Latin
America and Caribbean region. Nicaragua, in a hard-hitting
statement, echoed these concerns, objecting to the inclusion
of such "tendentious" political elements and
counter-productive and historically false "barbarisms."
Nicaragua also lamented the fact that the Secretariat did not
issue a corrigendum to the report as promised. (Note: the
G-77 and NAM, in a letter dated March 7, 2008 to U-SYG Pascoe
(A/C.5/62/24) (REFTEL A),objected to these "political
elements", (including language pertaining to the new Central
America/Mexico Section of the Americas Division referring to
the fact that the subregion is still assailed by
"destabilizing factors, such as transnational organized
crime, drug trafficking and gang violence." In its letter,
the G-77 also raised a number of other concerns regarding the
proposal. The Secretariat, responded to the letter
(A/C.5/62/25) but did not issue a corrigendum.) Algeria said
that the Fifth Committee should not be used for political
purposes.


12. Electoral assistance: Several delegations, including
Argentina, CANZ, Norway, Panama and Brazil, supported
strengthening the Electoral Assistance Division.


13. Equitable geographical representation: The G-77 said
that the current geographical imbalance in DPA must be
ameliorated, asserting that citizens of the concerned regions
are the most knowledgeable of the specificities and the needs
of their regions.


13. DPA's mandate: The G-77 emphasized that DPA has no
mandate other than those provided by relevant resolutions and
decisions of the UN and welcomed the assurances in U-SYG
Pascoe's letter (A/C.5/62/25) that the SYG's proposals do not
entail any expansion of the functions already assigned to
DPA.




14. Republic of Korea: Asserted that preventing tensions
and disputes from escalating into conflicts in a much better
way to secure international peace and security than
post-conflict measures, that it is high time to give conflict
prevention its deserved place, and that the ROK is fully
supportive of Ban's proposal since it is appropriate,
relevant and timely.

UNITED STATES


15. U.S. Statement:

We would like to thank Under-Secretary-General Alicia Barcena
of the Department of Management and Under-Secretary-General
Lynn Pascoe for their introduction of the report of the
Secretary-General on Strengthening the Department of

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Political Affairs (A/62/521),as well as the Chairperson of
the ACABQ, Ms. Susan McLurg, for her introduction of the
related report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative
and Budgetary Questions (A/62/7/Add.32).

Mr. Chairman,

DPA plays an important role in seeking to prevent and resolve
conflicts before they escalate and require peacekeeping
operations. We join other Member States in commending the
efforts of the Under-Secretary-General and his team in
pursuing these vital objectives of the Organization. The
United States strongly supports DPA's mandate and recognizes
the critical need to strengthen the Department.

Notwithstanding our strong support, the proposal raises a
number of questions and concerns that must be fully addressed
before action can be taken. As noted in the ACABQ's report,
the Secretariat has failed to address a number of concerns,
including those raised in several reports of the Office of
Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).
Principal among these, is an understanding of the functions
and activities of DPA and how they relate to other UN
entities carrying out related functions. In this regard, as
both OIOS and ACABQ have noted, there is a lack of a clear
division of labor between DPA, DPKO, DFS and other UN
entities, including the Peacebuilding Support Office. My
delegation understands that other delegations also have
identified concerns. Of course, the questions and concerns
of all Member States must be fully addressed before this
committee can conclude its review of the proposal.

Mr. Chairman,

Finally, we believe that this proposal, like other proposals,
must be considered in the context of the budget. My
delegation continues to believe that the piecemeal, ad hoc
approach of the current budget is inconsistent with sound
budgeting practices. Moreover, the Secretariat has
identified more than $1 billion in potential "add-ons" to the
initial budget passed this last December that are to be
addressed during this session and the remainder of the
biennium. Approval of these add-ons would result in the
biggest ever increase in the UN budget - some 25% - and the
largest ever UN budget. In this context, we had hoped that
the Secretary-General, in presenting proposals such as this,
that require additional new resources, would identify
offsetting savings and efficiencies. As we consider how to
address the Secretary-General's proposal on strengthening
DPA, we need to take into account both the many
outstanding questions surrounding the proposal as well as the
serious concerns raised in regard to the budget.

Mr. Chairman, we look forward to working constructively with
our colleagues on this important matter.
KHALILZAD