UN - GA DECIDES ON FINANCING OF 26 SPMS -

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000002 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AORC PREL UNGA SUBJECT: UN - GA DECIDES ON FINANCING OF 26 SPMS - POSTPONES CONSIDERATION OF UN COMPOUND IN BAGHDAD - REJECTS SYRIA'S AMENDMENTS TO THE PROPOSED BUDGET FOR SPECIAL ENVOY LARSEN REF: A. USUN 000972 ¶B. USUN 000997 ¶C. STATE 157244 ¶D. USUN 000058 ¶E. USUN 001013 ¶F. USUN 1069 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDIQLY ¶1. (U) Summary: On December 21, 2007, the Fifth (Administrative and Budgetary) Committee of the GA completed its consideration of the proposed 2008 budgets for 26 Special Political Missions (SPMs) by approving funding in the amount of $386.6 million. Consideration of the SYG's proposal to build a UN integrated compound in Baghdad was postponed until the first part of the resumed 62nd session in March 2008. See paragraph 3 below and REFTELS A - C. The committee rejected Syria's amendments to the results-based budgeting "logical frameworks" contained in the proposed budget for Special Envoy Larsen for implementation of Security Council resolution 1559. See paragraphs 4 and 5 and REFTEL D. The committee decided to consider the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) audit of the management of SPMs by the Department of Political Affairs (DPA) in March 2008 along with the related proposal of the SYG to strengthen DPA. See paragraph 6 and REFTELS E and F. The committee also decided to upgrade the position of the Special Adviser on Prevention of Genocide to the U-SYG level and not to establish the position of the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect at the A-SYG level. See paragraph 7. Paragraph 8 reports on other provisions of the committee's decision. End Summary. ¶2. (U) The GA, in plenary session on December 21, 2007, adopted resolution 62/238 approving funding for 2008 in the amount of $386.6 million for 26 SPMs - a reduction of $200.2 in the SYG's proposed budgets (A/62/512 and Adds. 1-5). The reduction of $200.2 consists of $180.2 million proposed to fund the UN compound in Baghdad and an across-the-board reduction of $20 million covering all 26 SPMs. The following reviews the major components of the resolution. ¶3. (SBU) UN Integrated Compound in Baghdad: The proposed budget for the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) of $331.226,200 (A/62/512/Add.5) included $180,150,000 to build a UN integrated compound in Baghdad. Following US discussions with the government of Iraq (GOI),the proposed budget referred to the fact that it was the understanding of the Secretariat that the GOI would contribute towards the construction of the facility. (See REFTELS A - C for further reporting on the proposed compound.) Following its consideration of the proposal, the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ),in its report (A/62/7/Add.29),identified a number of issues that needed to be clarified before the proposal could be considered by the GA and recommended against approval of the resources pending consideration of a more detailed proposal. The Fifth Committee agreed with the ACABQ and requested the SYG to submit a new revised proposal for its consideration at the first part of its resumed 62nd session in March 2008. The committee also reaffirmed the need to ensure the safety and security of UN staff and associated humanitarian personnel. USUN expects to engage in difficult negotiations on this matter in March, unless the GOI makes a firm and substantial commitment to fund the proposed integrated compound. ¶4. (U) Special Envoy for Implementation of SC Resolution 1559 (Terje Roed-Larsen): As occurred during the December 2006 negotiations on the 2007 proposed budget for the Special Envoy (see REFTEL D) and the March 2007 negotiations on the UNIFIL budget, the Syrian delegation again objected to the Secretariat's analysis of the mandates in SC resolutions 1559 SIPDIS and 1701 as conveyed in the results-based budgeting (RBB) elements or "logical frameworks" contained in the 2008 proposed budget for the Special Envoy. Syria submitted the following two paragraphs for inclusion in the draft on financing of the 26 SPMs: "Notes that the majority of mandates establishing Special Political Missions originated from the Security Council, and decides to establish a separate account for the special political missions to be financed through assessments of Member States according to the scale of assessments for Peacekeeping Operations;" "Decides to revise the narrative and the logic frameworks of the budgets of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004) and the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL) as included in the annex of this resolution;" ¶5. (SBU) The amendment in the first paragraph above would have shifted funding of all SPMs from the regular budget (US - 22%) to the peacekeeping scale (US - 25.9624% in 2008-09). The second amendment would have significantly changed the "expected accomplishments" and "indicators of achievement" contained in the proposed budget. As previously discussed, a GA decision to actually amend RBB logical framework elements contained in a proposed budget for an SC authorized mission could be interpreted as constituting a reinterpretation of the mandate as decided by the Security Council and thus undermine the role of the Council. (See REFTEL D.) Working closely with the Lebanese delegation, USDel succeeded in having the Syrian delegation withdraw its amendments outright without an agreement on compromise language as occurred in December 2006 and March 2007. Syria subsequently called for a vote and abstained on the draft on financing the 26 SPMs, including the Special Envoy. In the Fifth Committee the vote was 92 yes, 0 no, 14 abstentions. Following the vote several delegations indicated that they had abstained because they hadn't realized that the two paragraphs submitted by Syria were withdrawn. The vote in Plenary was 127 yes, 0 no, 2 abstentions. ¶6. (U) Managing SPMs and Strengthening DPA: the Fifth Committee decided to revert to consideration of the OIOS audit of the management of SPMs by DPA (A/61/357) during its consideration of the SYG's proposal to strengthen DPA (A/62/521) (expected to be considered during the first resumed session of the 62nd GA in March 2008). (See REFTELS E and F.) ¶7. (U) Prevention of Genocide and Responsibility to Protect: The ACABQ, in paragraph 15 of its report, recommended that the GA should postpone a decision on the SYG's proposals in (A/62/512/Add.1) to upgrade the position of the Special Adviser on Prevention of Genocide to the U-SYG level and to establish the position of the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect at the A-SYG level, pending submission of further information by the SYG. In an exchange of letters between the SYG and SC President (S/2007/721-722), the SC President took note of the SYG's intention to appoint Edward Luck as Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect at the A-SYG level. Notwithstanding the ACABQ's recommendation, Canada, also on behalf of Australia and New Zealand, called for upgrading the post of the Special Adviser on Genocide to the U-SYG level and establishment of the post of Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect at the A-SYG level. While the EU and the US supported the CANZ proposals, G-77 members, including Cuba and Egypt, agreed to upgrade the Genocide post to the U-SYG level but strongly opposed establishment of the Responsibility to Protect position at the A-SYG level. ¶8. (U) In other provisions of the resolution, the GA: -- Approved financing of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). -- Approved financing of the UN Regional Center for Central Asia. -- Requested the SYG to ensure "systemic" cooperation between DPA, DPKO and DFS with respect to SPMs. -- Also requested the SYG to present future SPM budgets no later than the first week in November. Wolcott