Financing the future; Fifth Committee: Administrative and Budgetary.

• Position: GA 57 Session

The Fifth (Administrative and Budgetary) Committee considers any action of the General Assembly that necessitates a budget, and is the "bank" authorizing other Main Committees to draw their cheques. Sometimes, resolutions call for expenses unforeseen in the regular budget, known as the "Programme Budget Implications" or PBIs. They are mandated by the Main Committees and can range from research on fresh water to disarmament, to digging up landmines, to aiding the girl child.

In the Assembly's fifty-seventh session, PBls amounted to some S3.5 million, and to spare money for these, a contingency fund was established last year--some $18.9 million was placed in it. However, most was spent in the past year and $1.52 million remained at the beginning of the session.

"It was a key issue for us", Thure Christiansen of Denmark, who also spoke for the European Union, told the UN Chronicle. "The initial estimates for covering all the needs of PBIs was $3.5 million but only $1.5 million was available. In a good dialogue with the Secretariat and other Member States, we gave $1.49 million out of the fund." These extrabudgetary expenses, among others, included $44,700 in connection with the Economic and Social Council's 2002 resolutions and decisions; $250,000 for future operations of the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women and $455,800 for the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (Third Committee resolutions); $286,500 for strengthening the terrorism prevention branch of the Secretariat; and $203,200 for ensuring effective secretarial support for the follow-up to the International Conference on Financing for Development (of the Second Committee).

"'The PBIs were subject to a very tough consideration", Eva Silot of Cuba told the Chronicle. "There were attempts to prioritize among PBIs, which is contradictory with the fact that when you adopt a resolution in other Committees, you should also provide the correspondent money.

The delegate of Japan, Shinichi Yamanaka, told the Chronicle that it was "important to adjust the UN budget to the new agenda that has emerged through the Millennium Declaration and recent major international conferences". He added: "In order for the UN to address this new challenge, and mindful of the overall level of the budget, it is necessary not only to abolish obsolete activities but also to terminate lower-priority activities." In response to a question regarding Japan's UN contribution, Mr...