VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #0656/01 1881819
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071819Z JUL 09
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 6860

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000656 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AORC PREL UNGA
SUBJECT: UN: FIFTH COMMITTEE CLOSING STATEMENTS REFLECT 
CONTENTIOUS NEGOTIATIONS OVER PKO BUDGET 
 
¶1. BEGIN SUMMARY:  Concluding several weeks of intense 
negotiations in New York, the Fifth Committee (Administrative 
and Budgetary) recommended to the General Assembly a record 
setting $7.8 billion peacekeeping budget for the coming year. 
In closing remarks, representatives from the G-77 as a group 
were critical of Western Members treating peacekeeping 
missions as a package and applying across-the-board cuts 
asserting that this approach neglected needs of individual 
missions. Brazil, one of the principle negotiators for the 
G-77, when so far as to assert that this approach "brought 
the functioning of missions to the verge of collapse." The US 
delegate would have preferred to go beyond reductions 
recommended by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and 
Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) but stated the decisions reached 
reflected a responsible balance, one in which all Member 
 
States could take considerable satisfaction. The Japanese 
delegation reminded the committee of the record setting 
peacekeeping budget amidst the global and economic financial 
crises and addressed organizational issues facing the Fifth 
Committee. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. G-77:  Sudan, speaking on behalf of the G-77, said the 
group attached great importance to peacekeeping operations 
and was keen on providing missions with required resources. 
He asserted that the trend towards across-the-board cut-offs 
or general reductions did not take into consideration the 
needs of each mission.  He stated discussion of peacekeeping 
as a package might save some resources, but it would 
definitely not serve the objective of peacekeeping; the 
experience should not be repeated. 
 
¶3. BRAZIL: The representative of Brazil expressed concern 
over the negotiation process of the Fifth Committee this year 
asserting that this way of business, in particular the trend 
to treat missions as a package, brought the functioning of 
missions to the verge of collapse. He highlighted the 
inconsistency in adopting ambitious mandates on one hand but 
denying resources to carry them out on the other. He claimed 
that the populations affected and the Organization itself 
would suffer the consequences of that irrational behavior. He 
asserted that one could not lose sight of the fact that those 
most affected by the crisis were in war torn countries.  Not 
providing the needed resources exposed missions to additional 
risks, and might be harmful to the very populations the 
Organization was set to protect. He said the argument that 
the financial crisis affected the situation was not 
convincing. In that light, he also stated member states 
should not decrease peacekeeping funding when national 
defense budgets are still so high. 
 
¶4. AFRICAN GROUP:  The representative from Angola, speaking 
on behalf of the African Group, regretted the linking of 
peacekeeping budgets. Of particular concern had been the 
attempts to affect across-the board cuts without taking into 
account the specific challenges and mandates of each mission. 
Recalling that the Committee concluded its work 20 days 
behind schedule, he claimed that linking peacekeeping budgets 
only served to delay the process and conclusion of work. 
 
¶5. BANGLADESH: The representative of Bangladesh said he was 
disappointed at the delay in the adoption of peacekeeping 
budgets and at the manner in which negotiations had taken 
place. His delegation had consistently underlined the 
critical importance of providing adequate resources to 
peacekeeping operations. Unfortunately, however, arbitrary 
cuts across the board had been sought, irrespective of the 
needs of individual missions that operated in hostile 
environments.  He noted the numerous informal informal 
consultations that had been held on weekends and late nights 
and hoped to avoid similar situations in the future. Finally, 
he called for all Member States to pay their dues in full and 
on time. 
 
¶6. NICARAGUA: The delegation from Nicaragua said that the 
growing number of mandates was in contradiction to the 
growing will of some Member States to indiscriminately reduce 
the cost of PKO's that they themselves had established in 
another body. Nicaragua also said the way of working was far 
from being able to bring about an effective conclusion of the 
session and led towards a crisis that the Organization could 
not afford to repeat. 
 
¶7. UNITED STATES: The US delegate indicated USG would have 
preferred to go beyond reductions recommended by ACABQ, but 
the decisions reached reflected a responsible balance, one in 
which all Member States could take considerable satisfaction. 
He welcomed action to strengthen the investigation functions 
of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). He fully 
supported the Secretary General's "Hubs and Spokes" approach, 
and although the Committee did not support the proposal in 
full, he welcomed the establishment of a "Pilot Project" 
center for investigations in Nairobi, Vienna and New York. 
Full statement can be found at 
 
 
www.usunnewyork.usmission.gov/press releases/20090513 100 
 
¶8. EU: Speaking on behalf of the EU, the representative from 
the Czech Republic regretted that some important issues had 
been deferred to the next Assembly session, namely 
cross-cutting issues which were a relevant part of 
peacekeeping management, safety and security and closed 
PKO's. The delegate also stated the Committee would have been 
more productive and could have concluded earlier if all the 
important documents had been provided on time and in all six 
official languages. 
 
¶9. JAPAN: The Japanese delegation reminded the committee of 
the record $7.8 billion peace keeping budget even in a time 
of economic challenge. He emphasized the importance of 
strengthening oversight, management and financial control. 
Addressing Fifth Committee organizational issues, he noted 
that seven new items were hastily introduced in the last week 
of the May session, with four having ACABQ reports 
distributed only one day in advance. He urged for stricter 
adherence to the six week document issuance policies (GA Res. 
47/202). He also recommended that the 2nd resumed session be 
rescheduled for the latter half of May and through the end of 
June and to limit the first resumed session to two weeks in 
March. The Japanese delegate also noted the inability in the 
past two years to pass resolutions on cross-cutting issues 
and the lengthy negotiations of the Support Account. He 
proposed that items should not be discussed in the same year 
and that the committee should consider discussing each item 
individually on alternating years. 
 
RICE