STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA BY MRS. AICHA AFIFI, MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY, PERMANENT MISSION OF THE KINGDOM OF MOROCCO TO THE UNITED NATIONS, ON AGENDA ITEM 126: ADMINISTRATIVE AND BUDGETARY ASPECTS OF THE FINANCING OF THE UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS (New York, 8 May 2003)

Mr. Chairman,

1. I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China on agenda item 126: Consolidation of Peacekeeping Accounts.

2. The Group expresses its appreciation to Mr. Jean-Pierre Halbwachs, for his presentation of the various reports last Monday. We also thank Amb. Mselle, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, for also introducing the consolidated report of the ACABQ (A/57/772).

3. The Group attaches great importance to the significant role of peacekeeping operations in the maintenance of international peace and security. Peacekeeping is an important function of the United Nations and, therefore, the Group would like to emphasize the need to provide all peacekeeping activities with adequate resources.

Mr. Chairman,

4. Concerning the report of the Secretary-General A/57/746 submitted pursuant to paragraph 10 of General Assembly resolution 56/293 in which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to submit a report on the feasibility of consolidating the accounts of different peacekeeping operations, the Group notes that the afore-mentioned report did not provide Member States with a clear analysis and views on this issue. It is in that light that the Group seeks pertinent information and data with the objective of providing the Group with a clear understanding of the implications of consolidating peacekeeping accounts. This will enable the Group to have a more focused discussion on the issue and its merits as well as its disadvantages, and how to overcome them. This in turn, will reflect on the ability of the General Assembly and Member States to make well informed decisions.

5. To this end, it is our wish that the Secretariat, as well as the ACABQ, will provide the Group with the answers concerning the following questions:

A. What would be the impact of each of the three options proposed in the Secretary-General's on further improving the efficiency of peacekeeping operations?
B. What would be the effect of each of the three options proposed in the Secretary-General's report on the status of reimbursement to troop contributing countries?
C. How would voluntary contributions made by individual Member States to peacekeeping operations be dealt with if peacekeeping accounts were consolidated?
D. What would be the implications, if any, of the options proposed in the Secretary-General's report on Article 19 provisions and the envisaged role of the Committee on Contributions in this regard?
E. Could the Secretariat provide clarification on paragraph 24 (a) and (b) of the report of ACABQ (A/57/772)?
F. What are the possibilities of having bi-annual assessment or more to Member Stats to overcome any legislative or procedural problems, associated with the national financial regulations of some Member States and the de-linkage of assessment from the Security Council mandate?
G. What would be the effect of the timely funding of the operational activities of peacekeeping mission arising from each of these three proposed options?
H. Apart from alleviating the workload on the Contributions Service of the Department of Management and facilitating planning for Member States, referred to in the reports of the Secretary-General and the ACABQ, would there be any additional benefits of consolidated peacekeeping budget accounts? Would there be any cost savings for the concerned departments in the Secretariat?
I. Could the Secretariat provide us with a mock demonstration of consolidated accounts using each one of the three options identified in paragraph 23 of the ACABQ report, taking into account the current income, expenditures, assets and liabilities of each peacekeeping operation?
J. Since the approach outlined in the report of the Secretary-General is not compatible with the current financial procedures required under the financial regulations and rules of the UN, as stated in para. 4 of the Secretary-General's report (A/57/746), what amendments would the General Assembly have to approve to the financial rules and regulations if it accepts any of the three options?

Mr. Chairman,

6. The Group looks forward to receiving the answers to this list of questions during this session in order to have a detailed and constructive discussion on the issue of consolidation of peacekeeping accounts, and to allow all Member States to make well informed decisions.

7. In conclusion the Group wishes to thank the Secretariat and the ACABQ in advance for providing clear answers to these questions.

Thank you.