The General Assembly’s Fifth Committee is the Administrative and Budgetary Committee of the UN. It comprises representatives of all 192 UN Member States.
The Fifth Committee is responsible for scrutinising and approving the UN Regular Budget which finances the core functions of the UN, as well as the budgets for the War Crimes Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, the Peacekeeping Budgets which cover all UN peacekeeping-related activity, and the budget for the 'Capital Master Plan', the $1.9 billion project to refurbish the UN Secretariat building.
The Fifth Committee reviews and approves the UN’s two-yearly programme of objectives and activities, known as the Strategic Framework, and supervises the management of the UN Secretariat, including human resources issues and oversight functions. Where necessary, the Fifth Committee amends regulations and practices.
The Fifth Committee also makes decisions on the Scale of Assessments, the system which sets out what percentage share of the UN’s budgets are charged to each Member State. The present system is based on a complex formula which takes into account the population of the country and its Gross National Income (GNI). The share of the budget that each Member State is charged is known as its assessed contribution. The formulae for determining both the Regular Budget and Peacekeeping scales will be negotiated this autumn.
Unlike the other five Main Committees of the General Assembly, decisions in the Fifth Committee are not usually subject to voting. In 1986, the General Assembly agreed that all financial decisions in the Fifth Committee would be adopted by the broadest possible consensus. The Fifth Committee is advised and guided by recommendations from a committee of 16 independent experts elected by the General Assembly known as the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ).
As the 4th largest financial contributor to the UN (paying 6.642% of the Regular Budget and 7.8% of Peacekeeping), the UK takes its responsibilities towards the UN very seriously.
Background to finance and budgets
The UK is a firm supporter of initiatives to modernise management in the UN through the introduction of efficient and cost-effective practices. In addition to taking a leading role through the European Union in the Fifth Committee, working to promote reform and sound management, the UK follows closely the work of the specialised subordinate committees which report to the Fifth Committee: the Committee on Contributions, the Committee on Conferences and the Committee for Programme and Coordination (Fifth Committee Organogram pdf).
The 27 countries of the European Union are together responsible for paying 38.9% of the UN’s Regular Budget and 41.3% of the UN Peacekeeping Budget.
Regular budget
The UN’s Regular Budget is set every two calendar years. It funds UN core activities, including staffing costs, in eight headquarter locations. These headquarters are in New York (USA), Geneva (Switzerland), Vienna (Austria), and Nairobi (Kenya), as well as the HQs of the Regional Economic Commissions for Africa (in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), for Europe (also in Geneva), for Western Asia (in Beirut, Lebanon), for Asia and the Pacific (in Bangkok, Thailand) and for Latin America (in Santiago, Chile). UN activities financed by the Regular Budget include holding conferences, economic development activity, UN public information work and human rights promotion. The UN Regular Budget also pays for special UN missions in countries such as Afghanistan, Sudan and Iraq.
The Regular Budget for 2008-2009 was $4.865 billion. This autumn the Fifth Committee will debate a budget proposal for 2010-1011.
Peacekeeping budget
The UN’s Peacekeeping Budget is set each year from July to June and currently pays for 14 UN peacekeeping operations as well as support for the AU mission in Somalia and the running of the UN logistics base in Italy. The peacekeeping budget for the year 1 July 2009-31 June 2010 was approved in June 2009 at $7.7billion.
The UK pays just over 7.8% of the peacekeeping budget – a larger share than it contributes to the UN Regular Budget because of the UK’s special status as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council. The five Permanent Members of the Security Council (UK, US, France, Russia, China) pay a premium on top of their regular assessments.
International War Crimes Tribunals
The budgets for the two International War Crimes Tribunals – for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR) - are set every two years. The budgets approved in December 2007 for 2008-2009 were $316 (£159) million and $247 (£124) million respectively. New proposals will be debated this autumn.
Related committees
The Advisory Committee on Budgetary and Administrative Questions (ACABQ) was set up at the first session of the GA in 1946. It is a committee of 16 experts who examine the budgets of the UN and the administrative accounts of the Specialised Agencies and reports to the Member States, making recommendations where appropriate.
The 16 members of the Advisory Committee are elected by the General Assembly for a (renewable) term of three years. The UK was an active member of this Committee on a regular basis since it was established in 1945 but has not served since 2005.
The Committee on Contributions makes recommendations to the Fifth Committee on the scale of assessment and on requests from Member States who are in arrears with their payments to the UN to be exempted from withdrawal of their voting privileges. Its 18 members, who are selected by the General Assembly for a three-year term, meet for a four-week session each year. The UK is a member of this Committee for the period 2009-2011, having just renewed its term.
The Committee on Conferences makes recommendations to the Fifth Committee about the calendar of UN meetings and conferences and on the most effective use of conference servicing resources. 21 Member States, representing five geographic regions and selected by their respective region, are elected each for a three-year term.
The Committee for Programme and Coordination is an intergovernmental body which helps the UN’s Economic and Social Council to co-ordinate its activities. It reviews the UN’s two-year programme plan and reviews priorities, considering the activities of the UN’s Specialised Agencies in certain areas. It also considers a number of oversight and evaluation reports. Its recommendations on the UN’s programme plan are transmitted to the Fifth Committee for approval. 34 Member States are represented on this Committee. The UK was re-elected as a member of this Committee every three years from 1972 until 2005, when we did not stand for re-election.
