General Assembly Session 53 meeting 97

The Acting President

This afternoon it is my sad duty to pay tribute to the memory of the late Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic, His Excellency Mr. Jumabek Ibraimov, who passed away on 4 April 1999.

On behalf of the General Assembly, I request the representative of Kyrgyzstan to convey our condolences to the Government and the people of Kyrgyzstan and to the bereaved family of His Excellency Mr. Jumabek Ibraimov.

I invite representatives to stand and observe a minute of silence in tribute to the memory of His Excellency Mr. Jumabek Ibraimov.

The Acting President

The General Assembly will now consider the reports of the Fifth Committee on agenda items 112, 112 and 119, 113, 114, 117, 118, 119, 141, 143 (a) and 145.

I request the rapporteur of the Fifth Committee, Mr. Tammam Sulaiman of the Syrian Arab Republic, to introduce the reports of the Fifth Committee in one intervention.

Mr. Sulaiman (Syria)

I have the honour today to present to the General Assembly the reports of the Fifth Committee on the agenda items dealt with during the first part of the resumed fifty-third session of the General Assembly, which was held at Headquarters from 8 to 31 March 1999.

Under agenda item 112, entitled "Review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations", the Committee considered the question of procurement reform in the United Nations. In this connection, the report of the Committee is contained in document A/53/521/Add.2. In paragraph 11 of that report, the Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of a draft resolution entitled "Procurement-related arbitration". In paragraph 12 of the same report, the Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of two draft decisions concerning management irregularities causing financial losses to the Organization and procurement reform, respectively. The draft resolution and the two draft decisions were adopted by the Committee without a vote.

Under agenda item 113, entitled, "Programme budget for the biennium 1998-1999", the Committee considered the question of the Development Account and the financing of the Integrated Management Information System project. In this regard, the report of the Fifth Committee is contained in document A/53/485/Add.2. In paragraph 13 of that report, the Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of a draft resolution concerning the Integrated Management Information System project and a draft resolution on the Development Account. In paragraph 14 of that report, the Committee recommends to the Assembly the adoption of a draft decision dealing with the question of the implementation of pilot projects on budgetary practices and procedures. Both draft resolutions and the draft decision were adopted by the Committee without a vote.

Under agenda item 114, entitled "Programme planning", the report of the Committee is contained in document A/53/743/Add.1. In paragraph 6 of that report, the Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of a draft decision to transmit the note by the Secretariat on the programme performance of the United Nations for the biennium 1996-1997 to the Committee for Programme and Coordination for consideration at its thirty-ninth session. The oral decision was adopted by the Committee without a vote.

Under agenda item 117, entitled "Pattern of conferences", the Committee considered three reports of the Secretary-General, namely, on the provision of interpretation services to meetings of the regional and other major groupings of Member States, on improved utilization of conference facilities at the United Nations Office in Nairobi and on the impact of economy measures on the delivery of mandated conference services. In this connection, the report of the Committee is contained in document A/53/744/Add.1. In paragraph 6 of that report, the Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of a draft decision to take note of the first two reports of the Secretary-General and to transmit the third one to the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions for consideration in the context of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2000-2001. This oral draft decision was adopted by the Committee without a vote.

Under agenda item 118, entitled "Scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of the United Nations", the Committee considered the report of the Committee on Contributions on its special session, regarding the request for exemption to Article 19. In this connection, the report of the Fifth Committee is contained in document A/53/464/Add.4. In paragraph 6 of that report, the Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of an oral draft decision proposed by the Chairman of the Fifth Committee, which was adopted by the Committee without a vote.

The report on the Fifth Committee's consideration of agenda item 119, entitled "Human resources management", is contained in document A/53/748/Add.1. In paragraph 7 of that report, the Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of a draft resolution that was adopted by the Committee without a vote, as orally revised.

Regarding the question of gratis personnel, which was also considered under agenda item 112, the report of the Committee is contained in document A/53/533/Add.1. In paragraph 9 of that report, the Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of a draft resolution that was adopted by the Committee without a vote, as orally revised.

With regard to agenda item 141, entitled "Financing of the United Nations Support Mission in Haiti, the United Nations Transition Mission in Haiti and the United Nations Civilian Police Mission in Haiti", the report of the Committee is contained in document A/53/873. In paragraph 6 of that report, the Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of a draft resolution that was adopted by the Committee without a vote.

Concerning agenda item 143 (a), entitled "Administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing of the United Nations peacekeeping operations: financing of the United Nations peacekeeping operations", in particular the question of death and disability benefits, the report of the Committee is contained in document A/53/522/Add.2. In paragraph 5 of that report, the Committee recommends to the General Assembly a draft decision to take note of the report of the Secretary-General on that question. The oral draft decision proposed by the Chairman of the Committee was adopted in the Committee by consensus.

Concerning agenda item 145, entitled "Review of the implementation of General Assembly resolution 48/218 B", the report of the Committee is contained in document A/53/891, and in paragraph 4 of that report the Committee recommends to the General Assembly that it resume consideration of this agenda item at the second part of its resumed fifty-third session. This oral draft decision was adopted by the Committee by consensus.

Finally, allow me to thank members of the Secretariat for their valuable contribution to the work of the Committee, especially during the very late night meetings; and to address special thanks to the Secretariat team of the Fifth Committee, and especially to Mr. Joseph Acakpo-Satchivi, for their unflagging dedication to the success of the work of the Committee.

The Acting President

The positions of delegations regarding the recommendations of the Fifth Committee have been made clear in the Committee and are reflected in the relevant official records.

May I remind members that, under paragraph 7 of decision 34/401, the General Assembly agreed that

"When the same draft resolution is considered in a Main Committee and in plenary meeting, a delegation should, as far as possible, explain its vote only once, i.e., either in the Committee or in plenary meeting unless that delegation's vote in plenary meeting is different from its vote in the Committee."

May I remind delegations that, also in accordance with General Assembly decision 34/401, explanations of vote are limited to 10 minutes.

Before we begin to take action on the recommendations contained in the reports of the Fifth Committee, I should like to advise representatives that we are going to proceed to take decisions in the same manner as was done in the Fifth Committee.

The Acting President

The Assembly will now take a decision on the draft resolution recommended in paragraph 11 of its report (A/53/521/Add.2) and on the two draft decisions recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 12 of the same report.

I call on the representative of the United States of America, who wishes to make a statement in explanation of position.

Mr. Bond (United States)

First of all, the United States regrets the deferral of procurement reform to the May session of the Fifth Committee -- a session, moreover, that should be devoted exclusively to consideration of peacekeeping issues.

Procurement is a management function in which efficiency and effectiveness can be measured in terms of dollars and in terms of implementation of programme objectives.

The Secretariat has made significant progress on procurement reform. The General Assembly should have given it due credit, for example, for increasing the percentage of procurements that were competitively bid; for dramatically improving the quality of Headquarters staff; and for relying less on assistance from Governments in peacekeeping procurement.

But more remains to be done. The Committee should highlight this for the Secretariat's attention. For example, the competitive bidding process needs further strengthening to ensure that vendors are given a reasonable time for submission of bids. Procurement staff in the field must be brought up to the same level of professionalism as Headquarters staff through training and rotational assignments. A system for measuring procurement performance should be established, for example, to measure timeliness in processing procurements.

The pending arbitration cases provide a stark example of the cost of the United Nations being unequipped to handle the large-scale urgent procurement required during the period of rapidly expanding peacekeeping operations. Adoption of this draft resolution will be a sign that the General Assembly wants assurances that systems are in place that will prevent or reduce reoccurrences of contract disputes of this nature.

Therefore, my delegation hopes that there will be expeditious action in May to adopt a comprehensive resolution on procurement reform.

The Acting President

We turn first to the draft resolution entitled "Procurement-related arbitration", which the Fifth Committee adopted without a vote.

May I take it that the General Assembly wishes to do likewise?

The Acting President

We turn next to the two draft decisions.

The Fifth Committee adopted draft decision I, entitled "Management irregularities causing financial losses to the Organization", without a vote.

May I take it that the General Assembly wishes to do likewise?

The Acting President

The Fifth Committee adopted draft decision II, entitled "Procurement reform", without a vote.

May I take it that the General Assembly wishes to do the same?

The Acting President

We have concluded this stage of our consideration of agenda item 112.

The Acting President

The Assembly will now take a decision on the draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 9 of its report (A/53/533/Add.1).

The Fifth Committee adopted the draft resolution, entitled "Gratis personnel provided by Governments", without a vote.

May I take it that the General Assembly wishes to do likewise?

The Acting President

We have concluded this stage of our consideration of agenda item 112 and 119.

The Acting President

The Assembly will now take a decision on the two draft resolutions recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 13 of its report (A/53/485/Add.2) and one draft decision recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 14 of the same report.

We turn first to draft resolution I, entitled "Integrated Management Information System". The Fifth Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote.

May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

The Acting President

The Fifth Committee adopted draft resolution II, entitled "Development Account", without a vote.

May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise?

The Acting President

We next turn to the draft decision entitled "Impact of the implementation of pilot projects on budgetary practices and procedures". The Fifth Committee adopted the draft decision without a vote.

May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

The Acting President

We have concluded this stage of our consideration of agenda item 113.

The Acting President

The Assembly will now take a decision on the draft decision recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report.

The Fifth Committee adopted the draft decision without a vote. May I take it that the General Assembly wishes to do the same?

The Acting President

We have thus concluded this stage of our consideration of agenda item 114.

The Acting President

The Assembly will now take a decision on the draft decision recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report.

The Fifth Committee adopted the draft decision without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

The Acting President

We have thus concluded this stage of our consideration of agenda item 117.

The Acting President

The representative of Honduras has asked for the floor. Bearing in mind rule 66 of the rules of procedure, and in the absence of an objection, I give him the floor.