CONCLUSION OF THE FIRST RESUMED SESSION OF THE

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000360

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC KUNR PREL UNGA UNGA
SUBJECT: CONCLUSION OF THE FIRST RESUMED SESSION OF THE
FIFTH COMMITTEE

REF: USUN NEW YORK 00089

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY


1. (U) SUMMARY: The first resumed session of the 63rd
General Assembly for the Fifth Committee (March 2-27)
concluded late evening on March 27th. The Fifth Committee
took action on a number of proposals and approved an
additional $17.97 million to the 2008-2009 regular budget
which brings the revised 2008-2009 regular budget to $4.88
billion, a 17% increase from the initial 2008-2009 budget of
$4.17 billion adopted in December 2007. The Fifth Committee
also approved additional resources for certain peacekeeping
missions and deferred consideration or action on a number of
items. Particular successes include averting an effort by
Syria to politicize the mandate of the Special Envoy for the
implementation of UNSCR 1559; approval of assessed funding
for a logistical package to support the African Union Mission
in Somalia (AMISOM) as called for under UNSCR 1863;
absorption of associated costs related to the Capital Master
Plan; approval of regulations for implementing the new human
resources contractual regimes and the reaffirmation of the
commitment to strengthen accountability. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) Special Political Missions: The Fifth Committee
approved an additional $17.97 million in 2009 funding for the
UN Representative for the International Advisory and
Monitoring Board (IAMB),the UN International Independent
Investigation Committee (UNIIIC),and the UN Mission in
Nepal. The Fifth Committee deferred action on the Secretary
General's (SG) request for additional resources for the UN
Political Office in Somalia (UNPOS) due to the fact that
additional resources are expected to be requested in the
second resumed session for UNPOS. The additional resources
are related to requirements for UNPOS stemming from UNSCR
1863 to support the African Union Mission in Somalia
(AMISOM). Regarding the request by the General Assembly (GA)
last fall to the SG to revise the narrative and logical
framework of the budget of the Special Envoy for the
implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559, the Fifth
Committee avoided any further action and another vote on this
politically sensitive issue. This success was in large part
due to Ambassordial engagement and other coordination efforts
with the Lebanese delegation. USUN worked with the
Secretariat to ensure the revision of the narrative and
logical framework was technical and non-political. Lebanon
also assured USUN that they would not seek any further action
on this issue during the session even though Syria would
likely do so. With Lebanon not insisting on further action,
Syria was isolated and the GA just took note of the revisions
by the SG.


3. (U) Peacekeeping Missions: The Fifth Committee approved
additional resources for the UN Mission in Sudan ($56.2
million) and the UN Mission in the Central African Republic
and Chad ($139.7 million). The Fifth Committee also approved
the donation of assets from the now closed UN Mission in
Ethiopia and Eritrea to Ethiopia and AMISOM. In addition,
the Fifth Committee approved assessed funding ($77.8 million)
for a logistical support package to support AMISOM.


4. (U) Capital Master Plan (CMP): The SG requested $30.3
million in additional resources for associated costs related
to the CMP. The Fifth Committee approved the additional
resources, but decided they be absorbed within the existing
CMP budget. In addition, the Fifth Committee requested the
SG to continue his sustainability initiatives throughout the
implementation of the CMP and for the Procurement Division to
provide opportunities for participation in the CMP to
businesses from developing countries and countries with
economies in transition.


5. (U) Other Action: The Fifth Committee adopted the
amendments to the staff regulations following the
establishment of a new human resource contractual regime to
enhance the UN's ability to recruit and retain staff in the
field. The Fifth Committee also adopted a resolution
reaffirming its commitment to strengthening accountability in
the Secretariat and achievement of results as well as
implementation of results based management. It did not
endorse the proposed accountability framework as presented by
the SG. In this regard, the Fifth Committee requested the SG
to present a more comprehensive report in the first resumed
session of the 64th UNGA. The Fifth Committee also noted
concern with the lack of reliable disaster recovery and
business continuity services for the UN Headquarters (UNHQ)
as well as the continued deficiencies in the planning and
management of a secondary data center. The Fifth Committee
requested the SG to absorb within the budget of the CMP,
resources required to pursue the most reliable and cost
effective risk mitigation measures during the migration of
the primary data center to the north lawn of the UNHQ. The
Fifth Committee also approved additional resources required

for this effort to be financed from the peacekeeping support
account to be approved for 2009-2010. Other resolutions
passed by the Fifth Committee included: business continuity
management; standards of accommodation for air travel; United
Nations Postal Administration; and the Joint Inspection Unit.


6. (U) Deferred Items: The Fifth Committee decided to defer
a few items to the second resumed session of the 63rd UNGA
such as conditions of service for the members of
International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) and the
Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and
Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) as well as scale of assessments
for the regular budget. Consideration of a subvention from
the regular budget for the UN Institute for Training and
Research (UNITAR) was also deferred even though there was an
informal agreement to approve a loan for UNITAR. Following
the informal agreement, a member of the G-77 called UNITAR
seeking their views on the loan agreement to which UNITAR
replied that they would rather not have anything if all they
would receive was a loan. This caused the G-77 to reverse its
previous informal agreement and seek deferral of the item.
Western States strongly protested the disregard of Fifth
Committee practices, but in the end agreed to a compromise
for the item to be deferred until the first resumed session
of the 64th UNGA. Regarding conditions of service, the G-77
sought approval of a proposal for the vice-Chairman of the
ACABQ to receive compensation equal to that of the vice-chair
of the ICSC even though this issue was not being considered
or requested by the SG. Western States uniformly opposed the
proposal and the item was deferred. Regarding scale of
assessments, the G-77 opposed proposals by the EU and the
CANZ to engage in a substantive discussion of various models
and possible guidance to the Committee on Contributions (COC)
and as a result it was decided to defer any further
consideration of this issue to the 64th UNGA. USUN took the
position that the USG welcomed full information and analysis
from the COC as long as any requests to the COC from the
Fifth Committee included all requests for information by
Member States and that the requests would be solely for
technical information and not seek policy guidance from the
COC.


7. (U) Miscellaneous: A debate occurred between various
delegations and regional groups in the Fifth Committee on
whether the issue of safety and security should be taken up
in this first resumed session or be deferred since the
comprehensive framework for safety and security and any
corresponding requirements had not been submitted yet. The SG
had requested funding for additional positions despite the
lack of submission of the comprehensive report. The U.S. and
other Western states supported considering the issue briefly
this session in order to ensure there were no urgent
requirements, but even this limited approach was opposed by
the G-77. As a compromise, the issue will be considered
briefly in the second resumed session and then deferred to
the 64th UNGA. Another report that was issued this session,
but not considered because of G-77 opposition was a Special
Report of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee (IAAC) on
the high-level of vacancies within the Office of Internal
Oversight Services (OIOS) including all three Director-level
positions. The report also pointed out the differences
between the SG and the head of OIOS over the appointment of
the Director of Investigations. While the U.S. and other
Western States agreed that there was no need to schedule
informal consultations on the report, they supported a
briefing by the Chair of the IAAC on this matter as a
courtesy to the IAAC. The G-77 rejected even this limited
approach. As a compromise, the report will be considered in
the second resumed session.
Rice