November 2015: For the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), 2015 is its “lunar year,” in the words of Japan, coming every six years, in which the Committee discusses both the scale of assessments, as well as the biennium regular budget. The Committee is also discussing the financing of peacekeeping operations.
On the scale of assessments, Member States discussed changing the current methodology for the regular budget scale of assessments, to facilitate more equitable burden-sharing among countries, in line with current economic realities, as some developed countries have urged. Developing countries, meanwhile, called to retain the current methodology, noting it is the result of sensitive political negotiations and reflects historic responsibility.
The EU stressed the need to improve the methodology to reflect a more equitable and balanced distribution of financial responsibilities among Member States, according to their capacity to pay. The Republic of Korea said there is still room to make the current scale methodology more equitable, sustainable and simple. He added that the gap between the scale of assessment assigned to a Member State and its share in world gross national income (GNI) — after being adjusted for factors such as low per capita income, high debt burden and a maximum assessment rate or ceiling — should be within a reasonable range. Noting that his country has been the second largest contributor to the UN for the last three decades, paying more than 20% of the UN’s total budget, Japan explained that his country accepted such a high rate because it felt that the assessments reflected the economic realities of the time. He underlined that Member States should understand that the changes in the scale of assessments proposed in the report of the Contributions Committee reflect the current economic realities of each country.
The Group of the 77 and China (G-77/ China), supported by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), and Iraq, rejected any attempt to increase the contributions of developing countries by modifying the current methodology for the regular budget scale of assessments. The G-77/ China stressed that “such moves would only generate unproductive discussions without consensual outcomes,” and that the methodology’s core elements, such as base period, gross national income (GNI), conversion rates, low per capita income adjustment, gradient, floor, ceiling for least developed countries (LDCs) and debt stock adjustment, “are not negotiable.” China said a shift in methodology would result in a significant increase in China’s assessed contributions, and China is a developing country despite its size. He opposed any practice that treats China differently than any other developing countries.
On the regular budget, Member States discussed whether re-costing should be used to ensure that the UN receives additional funding for new mandates – as called for by developing countries – or if strategic planning and re-prioritizing of existing funds are a preferred alternative to re-costing – as developed countries highlighted.
The Republic of Korea noted that the proposed 2016-2017 budget of US$5.57 billion exceeds the budget outline level the Committee had agreed in December 2014, by US$10 million. Supported by the US, he emphasized the importance of budgeting that prioritizes mandates and carrying out activities, rather than incremental budgeting. The US stressed that the only viable UN is an affordable one. She opposed an automatic presumption of budget increases to go along with new mandates, citing the need to reflect budgetary shifts as old mandates run their course and transition into new ones. Japan stressed that although he supports the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and reviews of the UN’s peacekeeping and peacebuilding architecture, among other new initiatives, efforts should be made to absorb such “add-ons.”
On the 2030 Agenda, G-77/ China called on Member States to provide the UN with the adequate resources needed to perform its role as the key enabler of the new development agenda, and said the Group has “serious doubts” that the current budget provides the UN with the needed means. She noted that the UN is facing a “governance crisis,” whereby legislative bodies approve mandates and set priorities, and voluntary contributions are used to “bend the priorities towards specific mandates.” She observed two classes of mandates, the “privileged” ones that benefit from the constant flow of resources from assessed contributions and voluntary assistance by donor countries, and the “neglected” ones, which are underfunded and “scrambling for a few crumbs from the regular budget.”
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) said the UNGA should approve resources commensurate with mandates, and opposed arbitrary cuts for the sake of efficiency. He stressed that the proposed budget, which was prepared prior to the conclusion of important processes, such as the financing of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) and the forthcoming climate change agreement, did not reflect any additional requirements arising from those decisions. Cuba underlined that a stable and predictable financial basis is necessary for the UN to fulfill its mandates, including those contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
On the budget for peacekeeping operations, G-77/ China, ASEAN, CARICOM and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf stressed that no developing country that is not a permanent member of the Security Council should be categorized above Level C, and that developing countries are not in a position to give up the current level of discounts. ASEAN expressed concern about the automatic graduation of developing countries to Level B, and called for the reassignment of all developing countries in Level B to Level C. The EU said discounts should be based on each Member State’s individual capacity to pay, in accordance with objective and comparable criteria.
The Fifth Committee began its work on 8 October 2015, in New York, US, and is scheduled to conclude on 11 December 2015. [UN Press Release, 8 October] [UN Press Release, 12 October] [Press Releases on Fifth Committee’s Work] [IISD RS Story on UN Secretary-General’s Budget Proposal]