Administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing of the United Nations peace-keeping operations

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 43/230 of 21 December 1988 on the financing of the United Nations Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group and its decision 43/455 of 21 December 1988 on the administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing of the United Nations peace-keeping operations,

Recalling also its resolution 44/49 of 8 December 1989 on the comprehensive review of the whole question of peace-keeping operations in all their aspects,

Recognizing the mutual relevance of the work of the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations and the work done by the Fifth Committee in connection with matters relating to peace-keeping operations,

Having considered with appreciation the reports of the Secretary-General on the administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing of the United Nations peace-keeping operations, the review of the background and development of reimbursement to Member States contributing troops to peace-keeping operations and voluntary contributions of supplies and services, 3/ and the related report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,

Bearing in mind the views expressed by Member States on those reports at the forty-fourth session,

Recognizing that each peace-keeping operation has special characteristics, which thus calls for flexibility in addressing the administrative requirements of each operation,

Recognizing also that all necessary action should be taken to ensure that peace-keeping operations are administered with a maximum of efficiency and economy,

Bearing in mind the significant increase in United Nations peace-keeping activities and the resulting increased demands on the human, material and financial resources of the Organization and of Member States,

Noting that, as a result of the recent expansion in peace-keeping activities, an absorptive capacity in respect of trained and experienced United Nations staff members with the technical skills required in peace-keeping operations is no longer available,

Taking into account the observations of the Advisory Committee on the need for greater co-ordination among the various Secretariat units involved in preparing and managing peace-keeping operations,

Mindful of the fact that it is essential to provide peace-keeping operations with the necessary financial resources, especially those essential for the start-up of such operations, to enable them to fulfil their mandates in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the Security Council,

Aware of the extremely difficult financial situation of the existing peace-keeping operations and of the heavy burden on troop-contributing States,

Emphasizing the need to ensure a secure and sound financial basis for peace-keeping operations,

1.         Urges all Member States to make every possible effort to ensure payment of their assessed contributions to peace-keeping operations in full and on time, in accordance with their obligations under the Charter of the United Nations;

2.         Takes note of the observations and proposals made by the Secretary-General on economies of scale, start-up problems and the establishment of a reserve stock of equipment and supply items, and endorses the relevant recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions;

3.         Also takes note of the observations and proposals of the Secretary-General on the criteria and procedures by which Governments may offer the services of civilian personnel for peace-keeping operations, concurs with the recommendations of the Advisory Committee, in particular that standard administrative procedures to govern the provision of such personnel should be established, consistent with existing rules and practices and taking into consideration the practical and legal concerns and the experience gained in the newly established peace-keeping operations, and requests the Secretary-General to submit those standard administrative procedures to the Advisory Committee at its spring session in 1990;

4.         Invites States willing to participate in peace-keeping operations to submit to the Secretary-General, with his assistance, detailed inventories of specialized civilian individuals or units, including numbers of personnel and equipment, that they would be prepared to provide for those tasks and services identified by the Secretary-General in his report and in the manner outlined therein, consistent with General Assembly resolution 44/49, paragraphs 2 and 3;

5.         Takes note of the observations and proposals of the Secretary-General on the technical guidelines relating to the treatment and valuation of voluntary contributions in the form of supplies and services, and endorses the observations of the Advisory Committee;

6.         Also takes note of the proposals of the Advisory Committee on the need for greater co-ordination among the various Secretariat units involved in preparing and managing peace-keeping operations and, in this respect, welcomes the intention of the Secretary-General to establish a planning and monitoring group on the basis described in his report;

7.         Further takes note of the proposals of the Secretary-General to establish an account for programme support of peace-making and peace-keeping operations, and endorses the views of the Advisory Committee in that respect;

8.         Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the General Assembly at its forty-fifth session on the measures taken in accordance with the observations and recommendations of the Advisory Committee contained in its reports and to provide further information covering, inter alia:

(a)        Economies of scale;

(b)        Start-up problems;

(c)        The establishment of a reserve stock of equipment and supply items;

(d)        The use of civilian personnel in peace-keeping operations;

(e)        Problems related to overload posts and the proposed establishment of a support account for peace-keeping operations;

9.         Also requests the Secretary-General to keep under review the format of his reports on the financing of United Nations peace-keeping operations and the amount of information that should be included therein, in order to assist Member States in the scrutiny and evaluation of those reports;

10.       Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its forty-fifth session the item entitled "Administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing of the United Nations peace-keeping operations".

B

The General Assembly,

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on the composition of the existing groups of Member States for the apportionment of the costs of peace-keeping operations financed through assessed contributions,

Recalling its resolution 3101 (XXVIII) of 11 December 1973 and its subsequent resolutions relating to the composition of the existing groups, the latest of which is resolution 43/232 of 1 March 1989 on the financing of the United Nations Transition Assistance Group,

Recalling also paragraph 3 of resolution 44/44 of 7 December 1989 on the financing of the United Nations Observer Group in Central America, in which it, inter alia, refers to the decision to be taken, at its forty-fourth session, on the composition of groups "a", "b", "c" and "d" of Member States,

Welcoming the proposal made by the Government of Spain to reclassify Spain from group "c" to group "b",

Having considered the requests of Poland for reclassification from group "b" to group "c" and of the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, the Gambia, Myanmar, Sierra Leone and Togo for reclassification from group "c" to group "d",

Having identified grounds for anomalies on the basis of the information contained in the report of the Secretary-General, particularly concerning the least developed countries,

Decides, as an ad hoc arrangement:

(a)        To accept the proposal made by the Government of Spain and to place Spain among the Member States referred to in paragraph 3 (b) of resolution 43/232 and, in accordance with that proposal, to apportion its share of the costs of peace-keeping operations financed through assessed contributions on the basis of the proportion determined by the scale of assessments in the following manner: 50 per cent in 1990, 80 per cent in 1991 and 100 per cent in 1992 and subsequent years;

(b)        To place Poland among the Member States referred to in paragraph 3 (c) of resolution 43/232;

(c)        To place the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, the Gambia, Mauritania, Myanmar, Sierra Leone and Togo among the Member States referred to in paragraph 3 (d) of resolution 43/232.

C

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 42/224 of 21 December 1987,

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on the review of the rates of reimbursement to the Governments of troop-contributing States, submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 42/224, as well as the related report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,

Noting with concern the delay by some Member States in submitting the data requested by the Secretary-General, thus preventing him from making a substantive recommendation on the revision of the current rates of reimbursement,

1.         Urges all those troop-contributing States which the Secretary-General requested to provide data and which have not yet done so to provide complete data as soon as possible and at the latest by 1 February 1990;

2.         Notes with concern that, in consequence of the shortfall of financial contributions, troop-contributing States are not being reimbursed to the full extent of the established rates for some operations, thus bearing considerably larger portions of the costs for their troops serving in the United Nations peace-keeping forces than those indicated by the Secretary-General in his report;

3.         Requests the Secretary-General, to the extent possible, to make the payment of arrears due to current and former troop-contributing States;

4.         Also requests the Secretary-General to complete the review of the rates of reimbursement on receipt of the outstanding information and to submit, through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, his report for the consideration of the General Assembly at its forty-fifth session;

5.         Further requests the Secretary-General to include in each of his reports on the financing of the United Nations peace-keeping operations relevant information on the status of reimbursement to the troop-contributing States.