VZCZCXYZ0003
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #1097/01 3341929
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301929Z NOV 07
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 3225

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001097 
 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AORC PREL UNGA
SUBJECT: UNGA/C-5: D/SYG MIGIRO ADDRESSES FIFTH COMMITTEE 
ORGANIZATIONAL SESSION 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary. The Committee on Administration and Budget of 
the United Nations General Assembly (Fifth Committee) met for 
its organizational session on October 5. Deputy 
Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro addressed the Committee. 
 
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She conveyed Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's priorities for 
completion of Performance Compacts, strengthening internal 
management bodies, and proposed improvements in various 
reform areas. Interventions from delegations, including the 
U.S., followed. The Committee approved the program of work 
for this session. Under Secretary-General for Management 
Alicia Barcena conducted a briefing on the reform and 
management of the UN. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Deputy Secretary-General Migiro addressed the 5th 
committee at its opening meeting for the 62nd UNGA on October 
¶5. The U.S. Delegation welcomed her presentation, as we have 
encouraged the D/SYG to be more engaged in management reform 
issues in the past. During her remarks, D/SYG Migiro 
expressed the Secretary General's firm commitment to an 
administration "focused on results - efficient, directed, 
pragmatic, and accountable...representing excellence, 
integrity and pride in serving the global good." She 
acknowledged the Member States' call for strengthened 
accountability in the UN, and discussed the Secretary 
General's efforts in management of complex peacekeeping 
operations, firming up the UN's conflict prevention capacity. 
D/SYG Migiro also discussed the process of dialogue 
associated with completion of Performance Compacts with 
Secretariat senior managers. She expressed SYG Ban's and her 
 
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commitment to strengthening internal management bodies such 
as the Management Performance Board and the Management 
Committee as a means of reinforcing the accountability 
framework. 
 
¶3. (U) D/SYG Migiro enumerated several items for which SYG 
Ban is calling for urgent action. The first is the proposed 
programme budget for 2008-2009 and a number of add-ons to 
fund reform schemes. She also told the Committee about 
several forthcoming reports outlining efforts to improve 
internal controls, accountability, and procurement reform. 
She asked Member States to take action on reforms relating to 
the management of UN human resources and global 
resource-management technology. 
 
¶4. (U) Various delegations intervened, including Portugal, on 
behalf of the European Union, Pakistan, on behalf of the 
Group of 77 and China, the Dominican Republic on behalf of 
the Rio Group, Tanzania on behalf of the African Group, the 
United States, Honduras, Bangladesh, and Canada. The EU and 
G-77/China expressed concern about the delayed issuance of 
reports. The EU stated the main task of the Committee is the 
2008-2009 budget, along with other priorities of funding 
peacekeeping missions and broader issues of management 
reform. The G-77 called for transparency in budget 
deliberations, opposing small-group configuration and 
imposition of any conditionality in the budget negotiations. 
The Rio Group emphasized their priorities of adequately 
funding the development accounts and equitable contributions 
by Member States under the Scale of Assessments. 
 
¶5. (U) Ambassador Mark Wallace intervened on behalf of the 
U.S. Delegation, laying out U.S. priorities to aim for zero 
growth in the budget and a real and effective mandate review. 
In the area of management reform, the U.S. Delegation called 
for a system-wide code of ethics, the operational 
independence of the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, 
and adherence to a formal internal control framework and 
reform of the procurement process based on the Secretariat's 
forthcoming reports.  In the human resources management 
arena, the U.S. Delegation urged overhaul of the existing 
system for administering justice for UN personnel and 
mechanisms for recruiting and retaining competent personnel - 
regularizing contracts, conditions of service, training, and 
staff mobility.  The U.S. Delegation also emphasized the 
importance for the UN to realistically assess outputs and 
activities. The full U.S. statement is included below in 
paragraph 8. 
 
¶6. (U) Following interventions from Committee Members, the 
Committee approved the program of work (A/C.5/62/1, 
A/C.5/60/L.1) by consensus. 
 
¶7. (U) Under-Secretary General for Management Alicia Barcena 
also briefed the Fifth Committee on management reform issues. 
Of note were budgetary add-ons, details on the new 
Administration of Justice system (AOJ), and proposed 
acceleration of the Capital Master Plan (CMP).  Budget 
add-ons include $23.5 million in funding for a decentralized 
system for the AOJ to meet the current decentralized nature 
of work of the UN. The three pillars of the AOJ entail an 
enhanced Ombudsman function and mediation, a new management 
evaluation capacity, and a two-tier system of formal 
independent judicial review. Budget add-on is also requested 
 
 
for initial funding of $25 million for Enterprise Resource 
Planning (ERP) to implement an integrated global information 
system. Following an audit on the delays and potential cost 
overruns of the CMP, the revised strategy is a compressed 
schedule that moves all Secretariat staff to a swing space at 
the same time, bringing implementation timelines down from 
seven years to five, and keep costs within the $1.88 billion 
approved budget. 
 
¶8. (U) U.S. Statement - 
 
Mr. Chairman, the United States joins other members in 
conveying our congratulations and warm welcome to you are our 
new incoming Fifth Committee chairman. We also congratulate 
and welcome the other new members of the Bureau for the 62nd 
Session. 
 
We are about to embark on a Fifth Committee session that will 
take this Committee through challenging discussions and at 
times tough decisions concerning the work of the United 
Nations for the next two years. Our collective task in the 
weeks and months ahead will be to determine the appropriate 
level of resources needed to support the activities performed 
by this Organization for the benefit of people around the 
world. We must ensure that the programs on which millions 
depend are adequately financed. At the same time, given the 
substantial increase proposed for the biennium 2008-2009 
budget, we must ensure that our decisions are fiscally 
responsible and that the resources provided by Member States 
are used in an effective and efficient manner for the good of 
those who benefit from UN programs. Even putting aside for a 
moment the resources that likely will be required to 
implement major reforms that we already have or will be 
adopting, this proposed biennium budget totals well over $4 
billion. It is imperative that we manage the UN's resources 
wisely. Good management is in everyone's best interest, 
obviously. Poor management serves no one. Member States 
should reasonably expect the Organization to use the 
resources we provide as efficiently as possible in carrying 
out mandates. 
 
As a sign of good management, we should aim for zero growth 
in the budget at all times, and especially in times of 
limited resources. We must realistically seek to control 
growth in the budget while ensuring there are sufficient 
funds to meet the mandates authorized by Member States. In 
the last 100 years no institution has survived effectively 
without introspectively seeking to prioritize expenditures 
and reprogramming budgets to cut back on certain redundant or 
less robust programs and redirecting resources to new 
challenges and priorities. In fact the future of this 
institution depends on such sound management and governance. 
 
The United States continues to believe that the value of this 
Organization and the work that it performs depend on our 
ongoing efforts to make the UN a more efficient, effective, 
transparent and accountable institution. During the past two 
years, we have collectively achieved some progress. But we 
must accomplish more. 
 
As we consider the significant financial requirements needed 
to sustain the work of this Organization, we also should be 
discussing the modification or elimination of current 
mandates that are duplicative, redundant, or no longer 
relevant. That process, called for by world leaders during 
the September 2005 Summit, has not happened and there is not 
a viable current path for real mandate review. The purpose of 
that review was to strengthen the program of work of the 
Organization and to ensure that the resources provided by 
Member States are allocated efficiently and effectively to 
maximize their benefit. While we continue to believe that 
mandate review is important, we should not proceed unless we 
have identified a process that can achieve real and tangible 
results. Merely continuing consultations among Member States 
on mandate review during the 62nd Session without a viable 
framework for producing a significant impact on the work of 
the Organization as anticipated by world leaders is not the 
answer. 
 
In September 2005, world leaders sought to ensure ethical 
conduct, more extensive financial disclosure for United 
Nations officials, and enhanced protection for those who 
reveal wrongdoing within the Organization. We urge 
Secretary-General Ban to ensure that these and other reforms 
 
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outlined in the World Summit Outcome Document are fully 
implemented, especially finalizing a system-wide code of 
ethics and applying the authority of the Ethics Office and 
the policies it oversees throughout the Organization, 
including the Funds and Programs. In addition, we strongly 
urge all senior UN officials to follow the examples of the 
Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General by making 
 
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public their financial disclosure statements. In fact, the 
credibility of those organizations is at stake - they must 
 
 
adopt these same high standards of institutional and personal 
ethics, transparency and accountability. 
 
In the are of oversight, we now have an Independent Audit 
Advisory Committee, whose members will be selected in early 
November. That Committee will advise the General Assembly on 
the scope, results and effectiveness of existing internal 
oversight mechanisms and offer recommendations on how such 
oversight functions can be strengthened. We must guarantee 
the operational independence of the UN Office of Internal 
Oversight Services (OIOS) so that OIOS has sufficient 
resources to perform its core functions - audit, monitoring 
and evaluation, inspection, and investigations - free from 
any real or perceived influence by the very bodies or 
officials it is intended to oversee. 
 
We also believe that it is essential that the UN adopt and 
adhere to a formal internal control framework to strengthen 
accountability and transparency and to ensure that financial 
accountability framework and achieve results-bsed management. 
In this regard, we strongly encourage the Secretariat to 
expedite completion of the relevant reports on these issues 
so that this Committee can take a number of long-overdue 
decisions concerning how best to manage risk in the 
Organization. 
 
We cannot maximize the use of available resources in the 
absence of further improvements in UN procurement. In 
resolution 61/264, the General Assembly concluded, 
"procurement reform is an ongoing process and should focus, 
inter alia, on ensuring the efficiency, transparency and 
cost-effectiveness of United Nations procurement as well as 
strengthened internal controls." We note that Member States 
took important first steps by providing additional resources 
for staff training and calling for an Independent Bid Protest 
System. These were welcome developments. However, further 
changes are needed to ensure the rapid delivery of critical 
services and supplies in a cost-effective manner. The 
Secretary-General's forthcoming reports should help to guide 
 
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our collective efforts to improve the management and 
organizational structure of UN procurement, and to clarify 
the relationship between headquarters and peacekeeping 
procurement. 
 
Much still remains to be accomplished if we are to fulfill 
the vision of world leaders by making this Organization more 
efficient, accountable and transparent. Another area that 
demands our close attention is putting into place a complete 
overhaul of the existing system for administering justice for 
UN personnel. We made substantial progress on this matter 
during the 61st General Assembly session. However, many 
difficult details remain outstanding. Given that resolving 
the details is a very large and complicated undertaking that 
will have implications for the Organization and its staff for 
decades to come, we must proceed cautiously and judiciously. 
 
We also cannot neglect improvements still required in human 
resources management. Important decisions must be made to 
regularize contracts and conditions of service, as well as 
training and staff mobility. Otherwise, this Organization 
will continue to face difficulties recruiting and retaining 
competent and well-qualified personnel who are capable of 
sustaining the UN's work. 
 
Finally, I again underscore the ongoing importance for the 
Organization of having a realistic assessment of key outputs 
and activities. This analysis should be aimed at determining 
which outputs and activities are considered obsolete, of 
marginal usefulness, or ineffective. It remains imperative 
that the Organization's limited resources be used efficiently 
and effectively and that they be targeted on high-priority 
programs that produce results. 
 
We have an ambitious agenda ahead of us. We look forward to 
working constructively with you, Mr. Chairman, with other 
members of the Bureau, with the Secretariat, and most 
importantly, with our fellow Committee members, to reach 
consensus on a 2008-2009 biennium budget and to improve the 
overall functioning and effectiveness of the Organization. 
Khalilzad