Summary: EU Presidency Statement - United Nations: Cross-Cutting/Overview of Administrative and Budgetary Aspects of Financing UN Peacekeeping Operations (9 May 2007: New York)
Statement on behalf of the European Union, by Mr. Udo Fenchel, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Germany, on Item 132: Administrative and Budgetary Aspects of Financing UN Peacekeeping Opera-tions (Cross-Cutting/Overview) at the 5th Committee, United Nations General Assembly, New York
Thank you, Mr. Chairman,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabili-sation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and Moldova align themselves with this decla-ration.
Today we have heard introduced to this Committee a large number of reports under the broad heading of the Administrative and Budgetary Aspects of the Financing of the United Na-tions Peacekeeping Operations. The fact that the tentative programme of work already contains six time slots for informal consultations on the so-called cross-cutting issues underlines the im-portance of this comprehensive dossier.
Of course, the significance of the cross-cutting issues does not solely lie in the amount of meeting time allotted to it. Let us briefly explore the more obvious reasons.
The cross-cutting dossier goes to the heart of what this Committee is about. It demon-strates that, in addition to the detailed scrutiny of individual mission budgets, itself a critical task, we are also able to see the bigger picture. Since the mid-nineties it has therefore become a useful tradition not to just tick off operations one by one. Instead, we widened the scope in a more horizontal perspective with the aim of identifying issues that relate to more than one mis-sion. During our
discussions we have in the past years identified areas that relate to all mis-sions, like budget presentation and processes, management structures, recruitment and train-ing, conduct and discipline, and co-operation with other missions in the same region, to name just a few.
We have been dealing with these issues in an overall approach, which led to a more concise, cost-efficient and responsible management culture in United Nations peacekeeping. If we take into account that, for instance, in the current budget cycle air transportation and fuel management with more than 900 million USD account for approximately one half of operational peacekeeping expenditures, one can assess the enormous synergy potential of such a com-prehensive approach. Initiatives, such as the
introduction of an operation-wide fuel manage-ment policy or a better utilisation of air assets, would not only mean more efficient peacekeep-ing operations. Such steps might also help reduce fraud and other misconduct. Air transport and fuel management are just two big ticket examples for the potential benefits of dealing with peacekeeping operations in a comprehensive manner. We are pleased therefore that this cross-cutting approach is here to stay.
In dealing with the peacekeeping operations we are confronted with an ever growing amount of reports and papers. The necessity of a timely submission of documents, including reports of the ACABQ, for an effective and efficient work of this committee has repeatedly been mentioned. Furthermore, reports and reporting requirements should be streamlined. The cross-cutting dossier remains an important instrument in this regard. It facilitates and speeds up the work of our Committee in the field of
United Nations peacekeeping operations.
Mr. Chairman,
The European Union looks forward to a thorough analysis of the cross-cutting issues be-fore us, a constructive discussion with all delegations, and, hopefully, the swift agreement of a resolution on this crucial agenda item.
I thank you, Mr. Chairman.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisa-tion and Association Process.
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