STATEMENT BY THE DELEGATION OF INDONESIA ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA ON SUPPORT ACCOUNT FOR PEACE-KEEPING OPERATIONS IN THE FIFTH COMMITTEE OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

19 May 1998

Madame Chairperson,

1. I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China on the Secretary-General’s report A/52/837 on Support Account for peacekeeping operations.

2. The Group of 77 and China would like to thank the Controller of the United Nations and the Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions for introducing their respective reports on the Support Account for peacekeeping operations.

Madame Chairperson,

3. The Group of 77 and China deeply regrets the delay in the submission of the Secretary-General’s report despite the General Assembly decision in paragraph 3 of its resolution 51/239 adopted on June 17, 1997 that the report should have been submitted no later than 31 March 1998. The Secretariat must fully comply with the resolutions and decisions of the General Assembly and ensure that such delays do not occur in future. We would also like to have an explanation as to why the report is issued with such a considerable delay.

4. We appreciate the Secretary-General’s efforts in preparing the Support Account proposal in accordance with paragraphs 5 and 6 of the General Assembly resolution 51/239. It is the responsibility of all Member States to provide the resources needed to maintain the capacity of DPKO to perform the functions approved by the General Assembly. We have noted that the report under consideration attempts to reflect the total requirements of human and financial resources from all sources of funding. However, as the ACABQ has noted it is evident that "the report should have been more focussed and analytical", and "the assertions in the report have not been supported with sufficiently convincing analysis".

Madame Chairperson,

5. The Group of 77 and China reaffirms its position on the need for adequate funding for the back-stopping of peacekeeping operations. In this context, we strongly emphasize the need for immediate conversion of positions occupied by gratis personnel to fully funded temporary posts. This is in the spirit of paragraph 11 of resolution 51/239.

6. The Group of 77 and China notes the inadequacy of the justifications and lack of functional analysis of back-stopping requirements. However, taking into account the need to expeditiously phase out gratis personnel as well as the current status of peacekeeping operations, we request the Secretary-General to present as a matter of priority a detailed information containing the job description, functions and workload of the posts proposed for conversion to the General Assembly to enable it to take a decision during this resumed session on the total level of human and financial resources needed for the conversion of those positions into temporary support account posts.

7. The Group firmly believes that the Secretariat of the Organization should comprise personnel in accordance with the provisions of Article 97, 100 and 101 of the United Nations Charter, and relevant resolutions of the General Assembly. In this context the Group reiterates its position that the programmes of work and mandates approved by Member States must be financed in the manner determined by the General Assembly and the budget of the Organization should be prepared on a full cost basis, reflecting all positions. These principles have been upheld by the General Assembly in its several resolutions.

8. The Group of 77 and China regrets to note the high vacancy rate in the DPKO. This contravenes paragraph 23 of resolution 51/239 in which the General Assembly reaffirmed its relevant resolutions requesting the Secretary-General to fill the vacant support account posts as soon as possible. On the other hand, the Secretariat continued the use of gratis personnel against the vacancies for which UN staff should have been recruited. We would like the Secretariat to explain the reasons for keeping a high vacancy rate and non-compliance with the General Assembly resolutions.

Madame Chairperson,

9. The Group of 77 and China notes with concern that the Secretariat continued to assign to gratis personnel the functions referred to in paragraph 16, 17 and 22 of the Advisory Committees’ report A/51/906, in particular processing of various types of claims, like reimbursement for contingent-owned equipment, third party claims, and death and disability claims. The General Assembly had requested a report in paragraph 26 of its resolution 51/239 on assigning of such functions to personnel occupying approved posts. The Group regrets that the report has not been submitted and gratis personnel continued to work in such sensitive and important areas in 1997-1998.

10. The Group of 77 and China has noted the contents of paragraph 25 of the Secretary-General’s report A/52/837 on the division of responsibilities between the Department of Political Affairs and the DPKO. However, it is of the view that hardly any rationale has been given for the conclusion that the division of labour between the two departments is clear." The Secretariat should submit a detailed analysis, with clear division of responsibility between the two departments, to facilitate a well considered decision on this matter.

11. We have noted that eight new posts and two new posts have been proposed for the Rapidly Deployable Missions Headquarters (RDMHQ) and OIOS respectively. The Group of 77 and China is of the view that RDMHQ was to be financed through a Trust Fund. Therefore, the RDMHQ should be financed through Trust Fund as it was originally envisaged. As regards two posts for OIOS, the Group of 77 and China is of the view that it was the only department which was not affected by about 10 per cent cut in human and financial resources in the regular budget for 1998-1999. Besides, in view of the decline in peacekeeping operations there is no justification for creation of two new posts for the OIOS.

12. Finally, the Group of 77 and China supports the proposal of the ACABQ for the establishment of four new posts for the Asset Management System.

Thank you.