A/73/PV.97 General Assembly

The General Assembly will now consider the reports of the Fifth Committee on agenda items 134, 136, 138, 150 to 155, 157 to 161, 162 (a) and (b), 163 to 166 and 135. I request the Rapporteur of the Fifth Committee, Mr. Hicham Oussihamou of Morocco, to introduce in one intervention the reports of the Fifth Committee before the Assembly. Mr. Oussihamou (Morocco), Rapporteur of the Fifth Committee: I have the honour to present to the General Assembly the reports of the Fifth Committee containing recommendations on the issues considered during the second part of the resumed seventy- third session. The Fifth Committee met between 6 May and 3 July, holding nine plenary meetings and numerous rounds of informal and informal informal consultations, some of them running late into the night and into the early hours of the morning and on weekends. In accordance with resolution 49/233 A, of 23 December 1994, the second part of the resumed session of the Fifth Committee was devoted primarily to the consideration of the administrative and budgetary aspect of United Nations peacekeeping operations and associated issues. The Committee considered the financing of 16 peacekeeping operations and the report of the Board of Auditors on peacekeeping operations, as well as other items related to administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing of peacekeeping operations. In addition, the Committee considered the reports on improving the financial situation of the United Nations and on estimates in respect of special political missions, good offices and other political initiatives authorized by the General Assembly and the Security Council. Let me now present the reports of the Fifth Committee containing recommendations on issues that require action by the General Assembly. Under agenda item 134, entitled “Financial reports and audited financial statements, and reports of the Board of Auditors”, the report of the Fifth Committee is contained in document A/73/671/Add.1. A recorded vote was requested on the inclusion of an oral amendment to the draft resolution. The Committee voted to reject the inclusion of the oral amendment. In paragraph 13 of the report, the committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of the draft resolution as a whole, which was adopted in the Committee by a recorded vote. On agenda item 136, entitled “Programme budget for the biennium 2018-2019”, in paragraph six of its report A/73/686/Add.2, the Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of a draft resolution entitled “Estimates in respect of special political missions, good offices and other political initiatives authorized by the General Assembly and/or the Security Council”, concerning the United Nations Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement, which was adopted by the Committee without a vote. Under agenda item 138, entitled “Improving the financial situation of the United Nations”, in paragraph 6 of its report contained in document A/73/923, the Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of the draft resolution, which was adopted by the Committee without a vote. Under agenda item 150, “Administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing of the United Nations peacekeeping operations”, in paragraph 13 of its report contained in document A/73/936, the Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of the following three draft resolutions: draft resolution I, entitled “Support account for peacekeeping operations”; draft resolution II, entitled “Financing of the Regional Service Centre in Entebbe, Uganda”; and draft resolution III, entitled “Financing of the United Nations Logistics Base at Brindisi, Italy”, which were adopted by the Committee without a vote. In paragraph 14 of the same report, the Committee also recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of a draft decision whereby all resolutions relating to the peacekeeping budget and special political missions adopted today would be effective as from 1 July, which was adopted by the Committee without a vote. With regard to the draft resolutions on the financing of peacekeeping operations, I should like to inform the General Assembly that the following draft resolutions were adopted by the Committee without a vote. The reports of the Fifth Committee are presented under the following agenda items: agenda item 151, as contained in document A/73/925; agenda item 152, as contained in document A/73/933; agenda item 153, as contained in document A/73/921; agenda item 154 as contained in document A/73/930; agenda item 155, as contained in document A/73/929; agenda item number 157, as contained in document A/73/922; agenda item 158, as contained in document A/73/932; agenda item 159, as contained in document A/73/934; agenda item 160, as contained in document A/73/935; agenda item 161, as contained document A/73/928; agenda item 163, as contained in document A/73/924; agenda item 164, as contained in document A/73/927; agenda item 165, as contained in document A/73/674/Add.1; and finally agenda item 166, as contained in document A/73/926. Regarding agenda item 162 (a), “Financing of the United Nations peacekeeping forces in the Middle East: United Nations Disengagement Observer Force”, the report of the Fifth Committee is contained in document A/73/931. A recorded vote was requested on the inclusion of an oral amendment to the draft resolution. The Committee voted to reject the inclusion of the amendment to the relevant paragraph of that report. In paragraph 10, the Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of the draft resolution, as a whole, which was adopted in the Committee without a vote. Regarding agenda item 162 (b), “Financing of the United Nations peacekeeping forces in the Middle East: United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon”, the report of the Fifth Committee is contained in document A/73/920. The Committee considered the draft resolution as orally amended and decided to retain the fourth preambular paragraph and existing operative paragraphs 4, 5 and 13 by a single recorded vote. In paragraph 12 of the report, the Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of the draft resolution as orally amended, as a whole, which was adopted in the Committee without a vote. Under agenda item 135, “Review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations”, in paragraph 5 of its report contained in document A/73/687/Add.2, the Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of a draft decision on questions deferred for future consideration, which was adopted by the Committee without a vote. Before I conclude, allow me to thank delegations for their cooperation in the conduct of negotiations. I would also like to thank the Chair of the Fifth Committee, Ambassador Gillian Bird, for the way in which she guided us through our difficult work. I would also like to thank my fellow colleagues in the Bureau: Mr. Fabio Esteban Pedraza Torres of Colombia, Mr. Andre Lipand of Estonia, Mr. Haseeb Gohar of Pakistan, Mr. Luiz Feldman of Brazil and, of course, Mrs. Jillian Rees of Australia. Working with them on a daily basis was a truly gratifying experience for me. Finally, allow me to sincerely thank my family members for understanding my work in the Fifth Committee and my Ambassador Omar Hilale for his continued support.

I thank the Rapporteur of the Fifth Committee. Before proceeding further, I would like to emphasize to representatives that as the Fifth Committee concluded its work this morning, the reports are available in English only. It is my understanding that they will be issued in all languages as soon as possible. I thank members for their understanding. 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. Therefore, if there is no proposal under rule 66 of the rules of procedure, I shall take it that the General Assembly decides not to discuss the reports of the Fifth Committee that are before the Assembly today.

Statements will therefore be limited to explanations of vote. 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 further remind delegations that, also in accordance with General Assembly decision 34/401, explanations of vote are limited to 10 minutes and should be made by delegations from their seats. 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, unless notified otherwise in advance. That means that, where recorded votes were taken, we will do the same. I also hope that we may proceed to adopt without a vote those recommendations that were adopted without a vote in the Fifth Committee.

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 12 of its report. I now give the floor to the observer of the Observer State of Palestine, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, on a point of order.

I would simply like to request that delegations vote in favour of the draft resolution before us.

The Assembly will now take a decision on the draft resolution, entitled “Financial reports and audited financial statements, and reports of the Board of Auditors”.

The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 134.

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report. We will now take a decision on the draft resolution, entitled “Estimates in respect of special political missions, good offices and other political initiatives authorized by the General Assembly and/or the Security Council”. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 136.

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report. The representative of the Russian Federation has asked to speak in explanation of position before adoption.

With regret, we underscore that there was no appropriate dialogue or due consideration of the constructive proposals put forward by Russia on how we can truly improve the financial situation of the United Nations and resolve existing problems. Genuine support for the Secretary-General means paying contributions on time and in full. Russia pays its contributions on time and in full to the regular budget and the budgets of peacekeeping missions. Regrettably, today’s draft resolution entails the resolution of the problem to those that pay on time and in full, although the problem is created by those in arrears. That is not a real solution and could create an even worse financial situation in the future. It will treat not the disease but merely its symptoms and will exacerbate the disease. We are not blocking the consensus but we declare that we cannot be part of it. Our delegation cannot bear the responsibility for violating the foundations of budgetary discipline or for subsidizing others in arrears. We are forced to take the aforementioned into account when establishing a time frame for paying future contributions to the budgets of peacekeeping missions.

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

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 138.

The Assembly has before it three draft resolutions recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 13 of its report and one draft decision recommended by the Committee in paragraph 14 of the same report. We shall now take a decision on draft resolutions I, II and III and the draft decision, one by one. The Assembly will first take a decision on draft resolution I, entitled “Support account for peacekeeping operations”. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

The Assembly will now take a decision on draft resolution II, entitled “Financing of the Regional Service Centre in Entebbe, Uganda”. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

We shall now turn to draft resolution III, entitled “Financing of the United Nations Logistics Base at Brindisi, Italy”. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise?

We shall now turn to the draft decision entitled “Effective date of resolutions relating to the peacekeeping budget and special political missions”. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 150.

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report. The Assembly will now take a decision on the draft resolution. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise?

The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 151.

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report. The Assembly will now take a decision on the draft resolution. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise?

The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 152.

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report. The Assembly will now take a decision on the draft resolution. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise?

The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 153.

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report. The Assembly will now take a decision on the draft resolution. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 154.

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report. The Assembly will now take a decision on the draft resolution. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise?

The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 155.

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report. We will now take a decision on the draft resolution. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 157.

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report. We will now take a decision on the draft resolution. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 158.

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report.. The Assembly will now take a decision on the draft resolution. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise?

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 159.

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report. We will now take a decision on the draft resolution. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 160.

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report. We will now take a decision on the draft resolution. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 161.

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 10 of its report. I give the floor to the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to introduce an oral amendment to the draft resolution.

The Syrian delegation rejects the systematic behaviour of some States to diminish the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which is above all a military mandate, in accordance with Security Council resolution 350 (1974), and not a political one. We wish to confirm that this matter does not pertain to a post, but to our country’s principled position on a peacekeeping mission that is present on its territory. The concerns of the host State must therefore be taken into consideration when proposing any posts. The matter does not simply pertain to Syria, but rather is related to the fundamentals of peacekeeping missions since their inception. My delegation finds itself obliged to submit an oral amendment to add the following paragraph to the draft resolution: “Takes note of paragraph 18 of the report of the Advisory Committee and decides to abolish two international temporary positions in the Office of the Force Commander and Head of Mission for one Special Adviser (P-5) and one Mission Liaison Officer (P-4) created under general temporary assistance, which have been vacant since June 2015.” Finally, my delegation urges all Member States to vote in favour of the draft oral amendment, taking into consideration that voting in favour of the paragraph would support the purposes and principles the Charter of the United Nations, especially respect for national sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of States. Furthermore, it will uphold the basic principles of the work of peacekeeping operations, and it does constitute support for a specific State.

The representative of the Syrian Arab Republic has introduced an oral amendment to the draft resolution recommended in the report of the Fifth Committee. In accordance with rule 90 of the rules of procedure, the Assembly will first take a decision on the draft oral amendment introduced by the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic. A recorded vote has been requested.

We will now take a decision on the draft resolution recommended in the report of the Fifth Committee. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

I give the floor to the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic, who wishes to speak in explanation of position on the resolution just adopted.

My delegation joined the consensus on the adoption of resolution 73/321, on the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). At the same time, we would like to reaffirm that the responsibility for financing UNDOF must be borne by Israel, the occupying Power, which caused the establishment of the mission. Our position is consistent with the basic principles set out in resolution 1874 (S-IV), of 27 June 1963.

The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item (a) of agenda item 162. (b) United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Report of the Fifth Committee (A/73/920)

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 12 of its report. We will now take a decision on the draft resolution entitled “Financing of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon”. I give the floor to the representative of Israel to introduce an oral amendment to the draft resolution.

Israel’s long-standing position on this draft resolution is known and remains unchanged. The fourth preambular paragraph and existing paragraphs 4, 5 and 13 serve solely to advance a political agenda in what should be a substantial discussion on the financial requirements of the United Nations peacekeeping budgets. We therefore call for the removal of those paragraphs from the draft resolution and urge other Member States to vote in favour of removing this ineffectual language that threatens to politicize our important work.

I now give the floor to the observer of the Observer State of Palestine.

I wish to call on all delegations to vote against the Israeli amendment to the draft resolution.

The representative of Israel has submitted an oral amendment to the draft resolution recommended in the report of the Fifth Committee. In accordance with rule 90 of the rules of procedure, the Assembly will first take a decision on the oral amendment submitted by the representative of Israel. A recorded vote has been requested.

We will now take a decision on the draft resolution recommended in the report of the Fifth Committee as a whole, as orally revised. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same? The draft resolution, as orally revised, was adopted (resolution 73/322).

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item (b) of agenda item 162.

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report. The Assembly will now take a decision on the draft resolution. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise?

The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 163.

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report. We shall now take a decision on the draft resolution. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 164.

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report. We shall now take a decision on the draft resolution. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 165.

The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report. We shall now take a decision on the draft resolution. The Fifth Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 166.

The Assembly has before it a draft decision recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 5 of its report. We will now take action on the draft decision entitled “Questions deferred for future consideration”. The Fifth Committee adopted draft decision without a vote. May I take it the Assembly wishes to do the same?

The General Assembly has thus concluded its consideration of agenda item 135. On behalf of the General Assembly, I would like to thank Her Excellency Ms. Gillian Bird, Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations and Chair of the Fifth Committee, the members of the Bureau and delegations for a job well done. The General Assembly has thus concluded its consideration of all the reports of the Fifth Committee before it.