unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (10/25/89)
especially in assisting developing countries. He stressed the
need for flexibility in post reduction, and said measures should
be taken to guarantee representation of developing countries at
high-level posts.
The proposed budget exceeded the budget outline by $1.3 million.
Mr. Amirkhizi advised that the budget outline be viewed with
flexibility and
not be regarded as a limit, since that might undermine the
mandated activities of the Organization. He agreed with the
Administrative and Budgetary Committee that the
Secretary-General should review extrabudgetary programmes for
the next biennium, in light of the fact that extrabudgetary
resources for 1990-1991 ($2.5 billion) exceeded those of the
regular budget.
V.A. VISLYKH (Soviet Union) said he was generally pleased with
the course of administrative reform, especially as it concerned
the reorganization of the executive apparatus of the United
Nations. As for progress in restructuring of the
intergovernmental machinery and the economic and social sectors,
he had serious concerns.
The situation in conference servicing had hardly changed for the
better, he went on. The Committee on Conferences had failed to
follow through on its new terms of reference. It might be
necessary to study further the set of rules governing the
holding of conferences and meetings, and whether strict
observance of the Headquarters rule was always justified with
respect to some United Nations bodies. Justifications for
excluding bodies such as the International Law Commission and
the Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) should also
be analysed.
NASIM AHMED (Pakistan) said the budget outline should be seen
only as an estimate or guideline, and not as a sacrosanct amount
to be adhered to at all costs; he was concerned, rather, with
the difference in perception about the discrepancy between the
amounts of the outline and the budget proposals.
The reform process should not have a negative impact on
programme delivery, he continued. Implementation of the reform
process had been fraught with contradictions since the
beginning, not least of which was the tendency to attach a
higher priority to a particular resolution or part thereof than
to the Charter itself.
NATHAN IRUMBA (Uganda) said the proposed negative growth rate of
the Organization's resources was clearly contradictory to its
ever-increasing role in managing the interdependent issues
facing the international community. The contingency fund should
be given an opportunity to function while being closely
monitored and evaluated by Member States; on the other hand, a
reserve fund to cover expenditures arising from currency
fluctuations and inflation should not be met from the resources
appropriated for mandated programmes and activities.
Uganda was disappointed, he went on, with the disproportionate
level of extrabudgetary resources allocated to certain priority
areas, and with reforms in the economic and social fields. He
wished the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination (CPC) had
had the time to address substantive aspects of the question of
priority-setting.
He stated that a matter of concern were the reforms in the
Department of Public Information, including its structure;
geographical imbalance; representation in staff, particularly at
senior levels; and allocation of resources within its units. He
asked whether the approved posts in the Department's unit on
apartheid had been filled.
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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