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 �A;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