Fifth Committee

STATEMENT BY MR LOY HUI CHIEN, FIRST SECRETARY, PERMANENT MISSION OF SINGAPORE TO THE UNITED NATIONS, ON AGENDA ITEM 132: PROPOSED PROGRAMME BUDGET FOR THE BIENNIUM 2010-2011, FIFTH COMMITTEE, FRIDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2009

Thank you, Mr Chairman. My delegation thanks the Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr Ban Ki-moon, for his statement yesterday on the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2010-2011. We also thank Ms Susan McLurg, Chairperson, Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, for introducing the report of the ACABQ. Before I begin, let me say that my delegation fully supports the statement by the distinguished representative of Sudan on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

Mr Chairman,

2 At this critical juncture in world affairs and amidst the present financial and economic crisis, it is incumbent on Member States to reinforce the central role of the UN in tackling today's global challenges. Critics of the UN like to call the Organisation inefficient, and some even go so far as to predict its growing irrelevance and possible demise. But despite all of its shortcomings, the UN is still the world's best guarantee for peace and security, development and human rights. No group of nations could play the same role or assume that it could do so. Hence, to ensure that the Organisation remains capable of translating its priorities and goals into reality, it is essential for mandated activities to receive adequate and sustainable funding. In this regard, my delegation believes that Member States should take a long-term perspective on the budget and bear in mind the broader vision of reform for an efficient and effective Organisation capable of serving the collective needs of its Members. To that end, I would like to make three points.

3 First, my delegation believes that Member States, as stakeholders of the UN, must not fall into the trap of being "penny wise, pound foolish". While we have every right to demand the efficient use of resources and to stretch every dollar given to the Organisation, we should not confuse this entitlement with parsimony. Clearly, with the growing complexity and intensity of UN activities, efforts to excessively constrain budget growth seem neither sustainable nor desirable. The Secretary-General has put forward a budget amounting to nearly US$4.9 billion in 2008-2009 terms, representing a growth of 0.5 percent compared to the previous biennium. Taken in perspective, even if the subsequent add-ons are included, the budget assigns less than a dollar to each of the world's inhabitants, and is a very small sum compared to the governmental budgets of the leading developed countries. Member States should therefore depart from incremental budgeting and scrutinise budget requests on their own merits. At the same time, the Secretary-General should do his utmost to ensure the integrity of the budget process and demonstrate that the Organisation is capable of sound budgeting that is comprehensive and predictable. As the saying goes, it takes two hands to clap, and a strong covenant between the Secretary-General and the Member States is vital for a strong and effective Organisation.

4 Second, while noting the recent comment by the Secretary-General that the "world is over-armed and peace is under-funded", my delegation believes that the development pillar of the UN is extremely important, and should not be relegated to a lower priority vis-à-vis the other better-known pillars of human rights, peace and security. Development has helped to harness the potential of many countries and propelled their people from the depths of poverty to more decent standards of living. Singapore ourselves have benefited from development assistance during our early years. While much has been achieved, my delegation notes that such efforts have largely been financed through extra-budgetary resources. More can and should be done with respect to the programme budget. For example, we are still far short of the US$200 million goal for the Development Account. As the only Organisation that represents all the inhabitants of the world, more priority should be given to assist the poorest and most vulnerable amongst us, including to the special needs of African countries and the unique challenges faced by the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, and small island developing states.

5 This brings me to my third point. While funding for development-related activities remains woefully inadequate, my delegation notes that the budgets of Special Political Missions (SPMs) have grown tremendously over the past decade and now make up an estimated US$1 billion, or one-fifth, of the proposed budget. While few would quibble with the need for such missions to contain threats to world peace and security, we are concerned that the disproportionate growth in provisions for SPMs has led to large distortions in the size of the budget. This has engendered the false impression that the Regular Budget is somehow spiralling out of control, when most of the growth actually comes from SPMs mandated by the Security Council. For the sake of transparency and to facilitate meaningful discussions in the Committee, we would urge that SPMs be considered as a separate exercise during our deliberations on the proposed programme budget.

Mr Chairman,

6 To conclude, my delegation is fully aware that the upcoming discussions on the budget will not be easy. That said, I am sure that none of us here want to be remembered for creating a UN with an insatiable thirst for financing. At the same time, neither would we want to be remembered for failing the Organisation and the millions who depend on it by starving it of resources to fulfil its mandates. Let us therefore engage in frank and serious discussions to find practical and realistic solutions. By exerting ourselves in concrete and honest efforts to find common ground, we will be paving the way for a strong biennium of work, and giving hope to the poor and the vulnerable.

I thank you, Mr Chairman.