unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (10/25/89)
the United Nations' ability to carry out its activities and
programmes adequately.
How could one miss the paradox implied by the continuing decrease
in the budget proposed for the United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development (UNCTAD), when the interrelated problems
of trade, debt, foreign currency and finance were increasingly
serious? he asked. The insignificant growth in the budget of
the regional commissions, and particularly the Economic
Commission for Africa (ECA), would not allow the necessary
impetus to be given to development in developing countries and
to the priority accorded to the economic situation in Africa.
Algeria supported strengthening human resources allotted for the
activities of the United Nations information centres and
attached great importance to the activities of the Department of
Public Information (DPI) relating to Palestine, Namibia and the
struggle against apartheid, he said.
JOSE A. ARROSPIDE (Peru) said the reform of the United Nations
should be understood as a process for making the Organization
more efficient. A 15 per cent reduction in staff had not been
achieved as recommended, but the Secretary-General had made
great effort. He asked for a report on the progress made in
guaranteeing that no post would be exclusive to one country or
group.
He said payment of contributions required equal effort by each
country and it would be wrong to think that if a country paid
more it would have more rights or duties.
He said it was unfortunate that, at a time when the
international community had high hopes for the United Nations,
the Organization was adopting a budget that in real terms had a
negative growth of 0.4 per cent. He hoped that trend would be
reversed or it would be difficult in the future to fulfil the
goals of the United Nations Charter.
EDUARDO LOPEZ (Venezuela) said a certain amount of discrepancy
between the proposed budget and the preliminary outline was
acceptable, since the difference was one of only .06 per cent.
The incorporation of new technologies as part of the reform
process was not in itself a panacea. The Secretariat should
provide more detailed information on the subject, particularly
on how the requirements for new technologies were determined and
on the studies carried out, including cost-benefit analyses and
the results expected.
Venezuela was also concerned about the possible negative effects
of the post reductions on programmes, he went on, asking for
information on cases in which such a negative impact had
occurred or was expected to occur as a result
of the post reductions, and the corrective measures being taken
or planned. It would also be useful to have a comparative table,
section-by-section, of the proposed 1990-1991 budget and the
revised estimates for 1988-1989.
M. KLETT (German Democratic Republic) said his country welcomed
the restructuring of activities in the administrative, financial
and political sectors, more clear-cut task-setting, staff cuts,
provisions for conference services, positive changes in the
budgeting process, the establishment of a contingency fund and
the reorganization of the economic and social sectors.
The programming and budgetary process should be further improved,
he stated. He supported the recommendations of CPC regarding
staff reductions. Continuous updating of all programme
activities was essential for enhancing the Organization's
effectiveness.
The proposed programme budget contained a number of
insufficiencies, he continued. The budget outline should be
exceeded only under special circumstances. Approximately 20 per
cent of the output under the regular budget was produced without
a direct mandate. His country favoured the changes submitted by
the ACABQ, and regretted that the budget proposal had not found
a solution to the problem of priority-setting, which was
essential to the new budgetary procedure.
KWAKU D. DANKWA (Ghana) said the budget outline could not be
considered a ceiling for the programme budget until the
methodology for its determination was improved. He
congratulated the Secretary-General for "remarkable efficiency"
in presenting a programme budget that was $1.3 million in excess
of the budget outline. The contingency fund should be examined
and care should be taken to ensure that mandated programmes for
the biennium 1990-1991 not be "starved into premature
termination or deferment".
The role of priority-setting in programme planning could not be
overstated, he went on. He recommended that it be rooted in the
effect of an activity on the realization of the objectives of
the Organization. He advised caution regarding further staff
reductions until the Assembly had reviewed the effect of the
reforms on the efficiency of the Organization.
SAMUEL OUTLULE (Botswana) said, regarding the fact that the
budget proposal exceeded the outline, an unexplored route would
always have problems of its own. All those obstacles were not
insurmountable if the journey was undertaken by people
well-equipped for the task; and as the budgetary procedures were
refined and experience gained, that excess might not recur.
Botswana hoped that the abolition of posts would not seriously
hamper the work of regional commissions and important
departments such as DPI, he continued. His country was deeply
concerned that there was no mechanism for recording and
controlling such a large pool of extrabudgetary resources, and
in that regard supported the recommendations of the ACABQ.
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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