VZCZCXYZ0085
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #0246/01 0781746
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181746Z MAR 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 3934

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000246 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AORC PREL UNGA
SUBJECT: UN - FIFTH COMMITTEE BEGINS CONSIDERATION OF BAN'S 
PROPOSAL TO STRENGTHEN DPA 
 
REF: A. USUN 000226 
     ¶B. USUN 000133 
     ¶C. USUN 000168 
     ¶D. 07 USUN 1069 
     ¶E. 07 USUN 1013 
     ¶F. 07 STATE 146279 
 
¶1.  Summary:  The Fifth Committee of the General Assembly, on 
March 17th, began its consideration of Secretary-General 
Ban's proposal to strengthen the Department of Political 
Affairs (DPA) (A/62/521 and Corr.1).  U-SYG Barcena of the 
Department of Management introduced the report (see paragraph 
3 below).  Lynn Pascoe, the U-SYG for Political Affairs, in a 
detailed statement, emphasized the necessity of early 
adoption of the proposal (paragraph 4).  The Chairperson of 
the ACABQ, Susan McLurg, introduced the report of the 
Advisory Committee (A/62/7/Add.32) (paragraph 5).  28 
delegations delivered statements offering varying degrees of 
support for the proposal with virtually all raising concerns 
they intend to address during the committee's informal 
consultations beginning March 18th.  Most delegations agreed 
that it was necessary to fully address all concerns before 
taking a decision on the proposal.  Some delegations 
suggested a linkage to the DESA (Development Pillar) proposal 
and that the consideration of this proposal may take 
considerable time (paragraphs 6 - 14). 
 
¶2.  Summary continued:  US Del (paragraph 15), while 
expressing strong support for DPA's mandate and recognizing 
the need to strengthen the Department, emphasized that the 
proposal raised a number of concerns that needed to be fully 
addressed before action could be taken.  USDel also 
underlined that the proposal must be considered in the 
context of the budget and the $1 billion in anticipated 
add-ons to the initial budget passed in December.  The 
statements made available in full text, including by U-SYG 
Barcena, U-SYG Pascoe, ACABQ Chairperson McLurg, the EU, 
G-77, Rio Group, CANZ, African Group, ROK and Japan have been 
sent to IO/MPR via email.  End Summary. 
 
SECRETARIAT 
 
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¶3.  DM U-SYG Barcena:  Referred to a statement made by the 
SYG on October 25th of last year in the context of the 
proposed 2008-2009 budget in which he outlined the importance 
of the link between peace and security, human rights and 
development - the three main arms of the work of the UN, and 
his intention to keep engaging with Member States on the 
reform and strengthening of DPA, DESA and other departments. 
Barcena said that with "our worldwide peacekeeping operations 
having been organized" it is now time to turn to conflict 
prevention and peace-building. 
 
¶4.  DPA U-SYG Pascoe:  Emphasized that the UN needs to become 
more effective not only at stabilizing conflict situations 
and dealing with the humanitarian side-effects, but at 
preventing and resolving them through political means. 
Explained that Ban's proposals call for a more effective use 
of tools such as preventive diplomacy, mediation and the good 
offices of the SYG in the service of Member States and 
regional organizations.  Highlighted the fact that while 
DPA's political and electoral experts recently made critical 
contributions to averting a larger tragedy in Kenya, their 
involvement resulted in greatly diminished attention to other 
critical situations.  Argued that the constraints facing DPA 
are well-documented in reports and evaluations and reviewed 
the major components of the proposal which would increase 
DPA's staff by 101 posts, up from the current base of 223, 
and cost $21 million in the current biennium.  ($34 million 
in future bienniums with full incumbency of staff.) 
 
ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON ADMINISTRATIVE AND BUDGETARY QUESTIONS 
 
¶5.  ACABQ Chairperson McLurg:  Explained that while the 
Advisory Committee recognized that there are organizational 
and resource restraints in certain areas of DPA and 
recommended acceptance of some additional capacity (resulting 
in a reduction of $8.1 million from the 2008-2009 estimate of 
$21 million and a reduction of 41 of the 101 proposed posts). 
 At the same time, the ACABQ reiterated the concerns it had 
identified with the proposal including the need for a clear 
division of labor and coordination between DPA and DPKO as 
well as other Secretariat departments, specialized agencies, 
funds and programs, regional commissions and other relevant 
UN actors. 
 
MEMBER STATES 
 
¶6.  Peace and security/development linkage:  The G-77 
emphasized that conflict prevention efforts will never be 
successful unless they go hand in hand with parallel efforts 
addressing the root causes of conflicts in particular by 
achieving sustainable development through sustained economic 
 
 
growth and the eradication of poverty.  The G-77 also urged 
the ACABQ to issue its report on the SYG's development pillar 
as a matter of priority since a stronger UN needs a stronger 
development pillar because "there can be no peace without 
development." 
 
¶7.  Regular budget context:  As noted above, USDel emphasized 
that the proposal must be considered in the context of the 
2008-2008 budget and potential add-ons to the budget passed 
in December of over $1 billion.  The EU also expressed 
concern about the piecemeal approach to the budget while 
recognizing that there are organizational and resource 
constraints in DPA that limit its capacity. The EU looked 
forward to discussing the proposal on its merits.  Norway 
said that possible efficiencies or savings must be explored 
in any exercise to "strengthen a department."  CANZ said all 
opportunities for "reallocation" must be exhausted and that 
extra resources requested should stand up to a critical 
analysis.  Japan said that the SYG's piecemeal approach 
seriously undermines Ban's accountability to Member States, 
that the SYG's plan of reform should have been presented as a 
whole in the form of the biennial budget, and that new 
requirements should have been carefully selected with a sharp 
focus on high priorities, through redeploying resources "from 
activities no longer in use."  The ROK said that the 
Secretariat must ensure cost-effectiveness and 
 
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cost-efficiency in its process of restructuring and that it 
should take into account and factor in the concerns of Member 
States on budgetary issues. 
 
¶8.  DPA regional divisions:  The African Group welcomed the 
SYG's proposal and expressed concern that the ACABQ 
recommended against many of the posts requested for Africa. 
The Rio Group objected to the subdivisions proposed in the 
Americas Division while the G-77 concurred with the view of 
the ACABQ that some Divisions do not warrant the proposed 
multiplicity of units.  Japan noted the lack of communication 
and coordination between the regional divisions in DPA and 
DPKO. 
 
¶9.  DPA/DFS division of labor / system-wide coordination: 
Norway and Japan said that the roles of DFS and DPA in 
support of SPMs need to be clarified.  CANZ called for better 
coordination across the UN system in addressing potential 
conflict situations. 
 
¶10.  Regional offices:  The G-77, Philippines and Vietnam 
asserted that such offices could only be established with the 
agreement of all concerned countries in the region.  The Rio 
Group was not convinced that a regional office should be 
established in Latin America.  Japan said that other field 
presences including peacekeeping operations and funds and 
programs should be taken into account when new field offices 
are being considered. 
 
¶11.  Inclusion of "political elements" in the proposal:  The 
Rio Group objected to inclusion in the proposal of 
"inappropriate references and judgments" about the Latin 
America and Caribbean region.  Nicaragua, in a hard-hitting 
statement, echoed these concerns, objecting to the inclusion 
of such "tendentious" political elements and 
counter-productive and historically false "barbarisms." 
Nicaragua also lamented the fact that the Secretariat did not 
issue a corrigendum to the report as promised.  (Note: the 
G-77 and NAM, in a letter dated March 7, 2008 to U-SYG Pascoe 
(A/C.5/62/24) (REFTEL A), objected to these "political 
elements", (including language pertaining to the new Central 
America/Mexico Section of the Americas Division referring to 
the fact that the subregion is still assailed by 
"destabilizing factors, such as transnational organized 
crime, drug trafficking and gang violence."  In its letter, 
the G-77 also raised a number of other concerns regarding the 
proposal.  The Secretariat, responded to the letter 
(A/C.5/62/25) but did not issue a corrigendum.)  Algeria said 
that the Fifth Committee should not be used for political 
purposes. 
 
¶12.  Electoral assistance:  Several delegations, including 
Argentina, CANZ, Norway, Panama and Brazil, supported 
strengthening the Electoral Assistance Division. 
 
¶13.  Equitable geographical representation:  The G-77 said 
that the current geographical imbalance in DPA must be 
ameliorated, asserting that citizens of the concerned regions 
are the most knowledgeable of the specificities and the needs 
of their regions. 
 
¶13.  DPA's mandate:  The G-77 emphasized that DPA has no 
mandate other than those provided by relevant resolutions and 
decisions of the UN and welcomed the assurances in U-SYG 
Pascoe's letter (A/C.5/62/25) that the SYG's proposals do not 
entail any expansion of the functions already assigned to 
DPA. 
 
 
 
¶14.  Republic of Korea:  Asserted that preventing tensions 
and disputes from escalating into conflicts in a much better 
way to secure international peace and security than 
post-conflict measures, that it is high time to give conflict 
prevention its deserved place, and that the ROK is fully 
supportive of Ban's proposal since it is appropriate, 
relevant and timely. 
 
UNITED STATES 
 
¶15.  U.S. Statement: 
 
We would like to thank Under-Secretary-General Alicia Barcena 
of the Department of Management and Under-Secretary-General 
Lynn Pascoe for their introduction of the report of the 
Secretary-General on Strengthening the Department of 
 
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Political Affairs (A/62/521), as well as the Chairperson of 
the ACABQ, Ms. Susan McLurg, for her introduction of the 
related report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative 
and Budgetary Questions (A/62/7/Add.32). 
 
Mr. Chairman, 
 
DPA plays an important role in seeking to prevent and resolve 
conflicts before they escalate and require peacekeeping 
operations.  We join other Member States in commending the 
efforts of the Under-Secretary-General and his team in 
pursuing these vital objectives of the Organization.  The 
United States strongly supports DPA's mandate and recognizes 
the critical need to strengthen the Department. 
 
Notwithstanding our strong support, the proposal raises a 
number of questions and concerns that must be fully addressed 
before action can be taken.  As noted in the ACABQ's report, 
the Secretariat has failed to address a number of concerns, 
including those raised in several reports of the Office of 
Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). 
Principal among these, is an understanding of the functions 
and activities of DPA and how they relate to other UN 
entities carrying out related functions.  In this regard, as 
both OIOS and ACABQ have noted, there is a lack of a clear 
division of labor between DPA, DPKO, DFS and other UN 
entities, including the Peacebuilding Support Office.  My 
delegation understands that other delegations also have 
identified concerns.  Of course, the questions and concerns 
of all Member States must be fully addressed before this 
committee can conclude its review of the proposal. 
 
Mr. Chairman, 
 
Finally, we believe that this proposal, like other proposals, 
must be considered in the context of the budget.  My 
delegation continues to believe that the piecemeal, ad hoc 
approach of the current budget is inconsistent with sound 
budgeting practices.  Moreover, the Secretariat has 
identified more than $1 billion in potential "add-ons" to the 
initial budget passed this last December that are to be 
addressed during this session and the remainder of the 
biennium.  Approval of these add-ons would result in the 
biggest ever increase in the UN budget - some 25% - and the 
largest ever UN budget.  In this context, we had hoped that 
the Secretary-General, in presenting proposals such as this, 
that require additional new resources, would identify 
offsetting savings and efficiencies.  As we consider how to 
address the Secretary-General's proposal on strengthening 
DPA, we need to take into account both the many 
outstanding questions surrounding the proposal as well as the 
serious concerns raised in regard to the budget. 
 
Mr. Chairman, we look forward to working constructively with 
our colleagues on this important matter. 
KHALILZAD