GA/AB/3387

FIFTH COMMITTEE CALLS FOR TIMELY CONSIDERATION OF JOINT INSPECTION UNIT RECOMMENDATIONS

Taking note of the 1999 report of the Joint Inspection Unit and recognizing the critical role of legislative bodies, secretariats, the Joint Inspection Unit itself in the success of the follow-up system to that Unit�s recommendations, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this afternoon recommended the Assembly emphasized the importance of timely consideration of Joint Inspection Unit reports by all participating organizations.

The Committee took that action by approving, without a vote, a draft resolution submitted by the Vice-Chairman of the Committee on the report of the that Unit.

By the terms of the text, the General Assembly would request the Secretary-General to present the report of the Administrative Committee on Coordination on budget proposals made by the Inspection Unit, and invite that Unit to continue to develop interaction and intensify relations with other oversight bodies of the United Nations and participating organizations to achieve better coordination and share best practices.

[The Joint Inspection Unit is an external oversight body, which makes recommendations on improving management and coordination within the United Nations system. The system of follow-up on the Unit�s recommendations was recently approved by the General Assembly as an important tool to increase the effectiveness of the oversight machinery.]

Acting on the programme budget implications of General Assembly resolution 54/283, by the terms of which the Assembly would convene a three-day special session to address the problem of HIV/AIDS, the Committee decided to inform the Assembly that the implementation of that draft resolution could require some $1.63 million over and above the resources in the programme budget for the biennium 2000-2001.

The Fifth Committee took that action by approving a draft decision submitted by its Rapporteur following informal consultations.

Also this afternoon, the Committee began consideration of the pattern of conferences. The report of the Committee on Conferences was introduced by the Chairman of that body, Valeria Maria Gonzalez Posse, and the reports of the

Fifth Committee - 1a - Press Release GA/AB/3387 6th Meeting (PM) 2 October 2000

Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions were introduced by the Chairman of the Advisory Committee, Conrad S.M. Mselle.

Commenting on the pattern of conferences, Jin Yongjian, Under-Secretary- General for General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services, said that a look at the draft calendar of conferences and meetings for 2001 showed that, with three special sessions of the Assembly already planned, the Department�s workload would not decline in the next year. In the last year, the Department had stepped up its efforts at coordination, turning it into an all-encompassing process.

He went on to say that the Department had done everything within its power to accelerate processing of documents and to ensure that documents were issued on time for deliberations. However, no matter how much the Department worked, it was always overtaken by events. Its staff were the Department�s most valuable asset, yet they were too often physically and psychologically stressed. While not suggesting that conferences and meetings run like clockwork, he expressed hope that users would practise advance planning, exercise restraint in requesting services, and become more cost-conscious.

On the same topic, the representative of the United States said that responsibility for efficacy and member satisfaction within the United Nations system lay first with the membership of the Assembly and only secondly with Conference Services. She said that the membership made unrealistic demands like 24-hour a day, year-round interpretation services. The membership was responsible for waste, not the Secretariat.

Concluding its consideration of the programme budget implications of a draft resolution on the holding of a Conferences Committee session in Nairobi, the Fifth Committee decided to inform the General Assembly that the subject matter had been �overtaken by events�, so a decision was no longer needed.

The representatives of France (on behalf of the European Union and associated States), Nigeria (on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China) and Bangladesh also addressed the Committee this afternoon. Speaking in explanation of position were the representatives of the United States, Syria and Cuba.

The Fifth Committee will continue its work at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 3 October, when it is scheduled to begin its consideration of the scale of assessments for United Nations peacekeeping operations.

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Committee Work Programme

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met this afternoon to begin consideration of its agenda items on the pattern of United Nations conferences and on information technology. It was also expected to take up the programme budget implications of draft resolution A/C.5/54/L.83, by the terms of which the General Assembly would authorize the Committee on Conferences to hold its 2000 substantive session at the United Nations Office at Nairobi.

Pattern of Conferences

Under this item, the Committee had before it this year's report of the Committee on Conferences (document A/55/32), which contains conclusions and recommendations on the many subjects the Conferences Committee considered during its most recent session, including distribution of documentation, translation- related matters and information technology.

The Committee on Conferences recommends the General Assembly adopt a draft calendar of conferences and meetings for 2001 which is annexed to the document. Every effort should be made to avoid simultaneous peak periods at various duty stations, the report notes, and not to schedule meetings of intergovernmental bodies too closely to each other.

On the use of conference-servicing resources and facilities, the Committee on Conferences expressed its concern that in 1999 only 59 per cent of the bodies in its sample used 80 per cent or more of their available conference-servicing resources. The overall utilization factor for 1999 exceeded the benchmark of 80 per cent. The use factor for Vienna was 88 per cent, the same as last year, and the decrease of 3 percentage points for Geneva, to 84 per cent, was offset by a 2 percentage point gain in New York to 79 per cent. However, the benchmark utilization factor of 80 per cent was intended as a goal to be achieved by each duty station separately.

On the provision of interpretation services to meetings of regional and other major groupings of Member States, the Committee notes that while the percentage of meetings held by regional groupings had risen steadily, a higher percentage of requests for interpretation could be satisfied as a result of a more flexible approach to scheduling and better advance planning on the part of intergovernmental organizations.

Noting the creation of a permanent interpretation service at Nairobi, the Committee on Conferences also welcomed efforts by the United Nations Office there to attract more meetings to its facilities. On conference servicing, the Committee noted that videoconferencing was becoming integral, and urged the Secretary-General to implement a system of incentives to attract language staff to duty stations with high vacancy rates.

Also according to the report, introduction of remote interpretation was not intended to replace traditional interpretation systems without the explicit approval of the General Assembly. The Committee on Conferences recommended that remote interpretation not be confined to specific duty stations, but that each duty station be considered both as recipient and provider, and that the Secretariat explore every opportunity for its introduction.

On the use of information technology, the report says that it is essential to ensure full multilingual development, maintenance and enrichment of the Organization�s Web sites. Content-providing offices should maintain their Web sites as part of their regular programme of activity, and make budgetary provisions accordingly.

Also before the Committee was a report of the Secretary-General on the provision of interpretation services to meetings of regional and other major groups of Member States (document A/55/182). That reports states that meetings held by regional and other major groupings are provided with interpretation services on an "as available" basis; that is, from existing resources arising from the cancellation of calendar meetings. Certain measures can be taken to improve the likelihood of services being made available, and there has been an increase in the percentage of meetings provided with interpretation over the three-year period under review (1997 to 2000). The rise in requests for conference facilities outside normal hours continued, and these included requests for interpretation services.

In his report on the improved use of conference facilities at the United Nations Office at Nairobi (document A/55/259), the Secretary-General says that the 15-year-old facilities, which serve the governing bodies of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), had assumed a new role with the establishment of the United Nations Office at Nairobi in 1996. That role was further reconfirmed by the creation of a permanent interpretation service.

The Committee also had before it a note by the Secretariat on the distribution of documentation (document A/AC.172/2000/6), containing several draft proposals to improve the timely issuance of pre-session documentation. These proposals should serve as a subject of further consideration and as a basis for future recommendations.

By the terms of draft proposal one, a planning meeting should be held three months prior to the opening of the Assembly session between the body�s secretariat, the substantive department and representatives of the Department of General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services, to review documentation forecasts. By another proposal, substantive departments should prepare forecasts of the volume of documentation under preparation and be required to adhere to their original forecast. Such forecasts should be presented to the Department of General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services and to the servicing secretariats, in conjunction with the planning meeting.

In order to minimize the negative impact of late submissions, the Secretariat also proposes that they could be processed by rescheduling the processing of other documents submitted by the same department. It is also proposed that intergovernmental organs should review their reporting cycles and that quarterly or biannual reports may be requested instead of annual ones. According to other proposals, departments may be required to submit reports for processing in accordance with the 10-week rule, even if all the relevant information is not available. If necessary, additional information may be subsequently submitted in addenda to the parent document. Servicing secretariats and bureaux of intergovernmental bodies may wish to decide, in cases of recurrent late submissions, to adjust the proposed programme of work and delay or postpone consideration of items or documents.

According to the Secretary-General�s report on remote interpretation (document A/55/134), the use of remote interpretation should not constitute an alternative to the current institutionalized system of interpretation, nor should it affect the quality of interpretation or lead to any further reduction in language posts. The equal treatment of the six official languages must also continue. The cost implications of remote interpretation would depend on the use of high quality communications. Any possible financial advantage would probably be connected with savings in travel and subsistence allowance costs. The medium-term plan for the period 2002-2005 views remote interpretation as a complement, rather than as an alternative, to on-site services.

The report also explains that in 1999 an experiment involving servicing of an intergovernmental Nairobi meeting from Geneva was planned for early 2000. The team conducting the experiment concluded that remote interpretation from Geneva for a Nairobi meeting would be possible if adequate telecommunications infrastructure lines was available. The total cost of the necessary telecommunications upgrades and equipment was estimated at about $290,000. After delays in shipping of equipment needed to conduct a connectivity test, by March it was concluded that making substantial financial commitments and embarking on further technical and staffing preparations were not prudent.

In a related development, in December 1999 the Assembly decided that a full-fledged interpretation service should be established at Nairobi by January 2001. That decision changed the basic consideration for the cancelled experiment. Another experiment for remote interpretation would be considered at a time when a full team of interpreters became available at Nairobi.

In a related report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) (document A/55/430), the ACABQ expresses regret that the remote interpretation experiment did not take place and urges the Secretariat to clarify the technical issues involved as quickly as possible. Regarding improved use of conference facilities at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, the report states that a number of possibilities were under consideration for using the interpretation facilities when they were not required for meetings in Nairobi. They include using the team at other United Nations regional offices; using interpreters for translation; and remote interpretation from Nairobi, once the technology was in place.

The Advisory Committee was informed that the creation of the permanent interpretation service at Nairobi was well under way and that it would be in place by January 2001. A breakdown of the costs associated with the establishment of the team of interpreters as compared with interpretation costs in 1999 was requested and should be provided to the Fifth Committee.

On the topic of services to meetings of regional and other major groupings of Member States, the ACABQ was informed that, although the Secretariat does not specifically budget for those groupings, budgetary estimates are based on previous experience which included data relating to meetings of regional and other major groupings. Thus, the resource requirements for provision of interpretation services to such meetings are taken into account in the budget estimates. In the opinion of the Advisory Committee, the issue of general temporary assistance should be addressed in the context of the preparation of the programme budget for the biennium 2002-2003.

A report of the Secretary-General on the use of the United Nations conference centres at Bangkok and Addis Ababa (document A/55/410) states that greater use of those centres has been constrained by a number of factors. These have included uncertainty about the appropriate use of facilities, particularly as venues for private sector and commercial events; very limited opportunities for re-routing meetings; inadequate staffing for the management of the centres; lack of funds for marketing and promotion; and regional instability. Recently, however, both the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) have taken steps to staff and manage the centres more adequately and to provide resources for marketing operations. Promotion activities include the use of Web sites, brochures and videos. Utilization statistics for the past 18 months show steady improvement.

Information Technologies

Also before the Committee was a report of the Secretary-General on information technologies (document A/54/849). In December 1999, the General Assembly asked the Secretary-General to take measures on the equal treatment of the six official languages in the development and enhancement of the United Nations Web sites, on the formalization of the structure of the Information Technology Section of the Department of Public Information, and on the improvement and updating of document access and retrieval from the United Nations Web sites and from the optical disk system at all duty stations.

To service Web sites, three professional posts in the Department of Public Information relating to Arabic, Chinese and Russian Web sites were converted from general temporary assistance to regular budget posts. This was the first official allocation of resources to Web site activity in the Department. Once the recruitment process for those posts has been completed, there will be one professional-level Web site coordinator for the management and coordination of the Web site in each of the official languages. Although this does not resolve the issue of language parity, it is the first step towards achieving that objective. Parity in the official languages on the Web will also require a review of the concept of working languages in the Secretariat. Once primary materials are created in all languages, it would be relatively less expensive to make them available on the Web.

The Secretary-General further states that the Procurement Division's Web site achieved increased visibility when it created links to the relevant areas of the main United Nations Web site. As a result of lags in the development of software for some languages by the computer industry, users of the optical disk system encountered difficulties when trying to open and cut-and-paste documents in various languages. That problem has now been eliminated. The optical disk system is also being re-engineered to operate on more current technology. It is expected that a new system will be implemented by the end of 2000 to provide concurrent access to a much higher number of users.

Programme Budget Implications of Draft Resolution A/C.5/54/L.83

According to the Fifth Committee report on this draft resolution (document A/54/690/Add.2), by the terms of the draft entitled �Pattern of conferences� (A/C.5/54/L.83), the General Assembly would authorize the Committee on Conferences to hold its 2000 substantive session at the United Nations Office at Nairobi and to pay for the travel of one representative of each State member of the Committee from New York to Nairobi to attend the session. Encouraging members of the Committee, where feasible, to be represented at the session by their officials already in Nairobi, the Assembly would also request members of the Committee from economically developed countries to finance their own travel to Nairobi.

Consideration of the draft by the Assembly was postponed, pending the receipt of a statement of the programme budget implications and the related report of the ACABQ.

According to the Secretary-General�s statement of the programme budget implications of the draft (document A/C.5/54/64), operative paragraph 2 of the draft resolution would constitute an exception to the system of travel and subsistence allowance to members of organs or subsidiary bodies of the United Nations contained in General Assembly resolution 1798 (XVII).

The travel and subsistence allowance costs arising in respect of members of the Committee on Conferences are estimated at some $146,000. Furthermore, travel costs of $30,900 for the Committee�s secretariat and officials of the Department of General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services (four staff) and $85,000 for 11 interpreters and one report writer would also arise.

The costs relating to travel of staff in the amount of $115,900 in total could be met from the provisions approved in the programme budget for the biennium 2000-2001, the statement notes. The costs associated with travel of the members of the Committee on Conferences ($146,000) would represent additional requirements not provided for in the programme budget for 2000-2001. Consequently, should the General Assembly adopt draft resolution A/C.5/54/L.83, additional requirements up to $146,000 would arise under section 2, General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services, of the programme budget for 2000-2001, subject to the guidelines for the use and operation of the contingency fund.

Introduction of Reports

VALERIA GONZALEZ POSSE, Chairperson of the Committee on Conferences, introduced that Committee�s reports.

CONRAD S.M. MSELLE, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), then introduced the ACABQ�s related report on pattern of conferences, and its report on the programme budget implications of the draft resolution on the Committee on Conferences 2000 substantive session.

JIN YONGJIAN, Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services, said that less than three years had elapsed since the formal establishment of that Department. Over the past year, the Department had successfully serviced an unprecedented number of major events, including the special sessions of the General Assembly on Women and on Social Development and, most importantly, the Millennium Summit. The fact that various duty stations and different units of the Department had worked together so seamlessly was compelling proof of the synergy that had taken shape.

On the report of the Committees on Conferences, a look at the draft revised calendar of conferences and meetings for 2001 showed that, with three special sessions of the Assembly already planned, the Department�s workload would not decline in the next year. The question was, could the Department cope and how. In the last year, the Department had stepped up its efforts at coordination, turning it into an ongoing, all-encompassing process. In July, he had convened a coordination meeting at Headquarters, where for the first time conference services managers from all Secretariat duty stations came together to discuss and devise a Secretariat-wide approach to the whole range of issues facing the Department. Enhanced and expanded coordination was of great significance, especially at a time when the Department was asked to do more and better without increasing expenditures.

Increasing the use of conference-servicing resources and facilities at the United Nations Office in Nairobi had been an important matter for both the Fifth Committee and the Department, he said. Various possibilities had been explored, yet things had not always worked out. Even in the age of instant communications, it seemed that a physical presence was still very much desired. A permanent interpretation service was being set up in Nairobi. Vacancy announcements had been circulated for that purpose. By the end of the year, he expected a number of -� if not all -� interpreters to be in place. A separate Conference Services Division would also be established there.

On the timely issuance of documentation, the Department had done everything within its power to accelerate documentation processing and to ensure that documents were issued on time for deliberations, in spite of late submissions. As a result of various measures, for the Assembly�s fifty-fifth session, it was anticipated that there would be a total of some 15,000 papers of pre-session documentation and, at the end of August, approximately half of the expected pre-session documentation for the Assembly had been submitted for processing and over 3,000 pages, or 20 per cent of the expected output had been issued.

He said that since the beginning of the year, the Department had put a number of measures in place in anticipation of the increasing workloads. However, no matter how much the Department worked, it was always overtaken by events. Consultations went on for weeks past their scheduled closing dates, and late night meetings became morning meetings. Its staff were the Department�s most valuable asset, yet they were too often physically and psychologically stressed. He was not suggesting that conferences and meetings run like clockwork, but he hoped that users would help by practising advance planning, exercising restraint in requesting services, and being more efficient and cost-conscious. Quality had become the Department�s highest priority. This entailed quality control, on-the-job training, recruitment of more qualified temporary assistance and technological advances. The Department was in the process of learning lessons from recent experience with major events, so as to provide better services in the future.

Statements

SARAH AUSSEIL (France), speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States, approved the recommendations and comments contained in the Conferences Committee�s report. Reiterating the importance the Union attached to conference services, she reaffirmed its attachment to equal treatment for the six official languages of the Organization. She also supported equal treatment for the various seats of the United Nations, so as to enable constant quality in conference services. Good cooperation had been established between the United Nations Office in Nairobi and the Department of General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services, and within the various departments of the Nairobi Office. She hoped to see increased use of the conference facilities in Nairobi and welcomed the opportunities opened up by the requests received from a number of intergovernmental bodies and private sector entities.

With regard to the coordination of conference services, she welcomed the Secretariat�s active dialogue with Member States, secretariats of intergovernmental bodies and with United Nations offices in Geneva, Nairobi and Vienna. The Union awaited with interest a revised version of administrative instruction on the guidelines governing the preparation of agreements with the governments of host countries. Highlighting the importance of achieving higher utilization factors for all bodies and sites, the European Union supported efforts to prevent the busy periods from coinciding in different places of work. It welcomed efforts to develop advance planning of conferences and meetings, and strongly encouraged the Secretariat to continue in that vein. Careful planning of meetings of regional groups helped the Secretariat respond better to the working requirements of those groups. It was a matter of prioritizing to ensure servicing of meetings of the bodies of the United Nations.

The European Union attached major importance to the recruitment and careers of the language staff, she said. It urged the Secretary-General to implement the managed assignment and incentive systems. It keenly awaited the Secretary-General�s reports on recruitment problems and possible solutions, as well as on the incentive system intended to attract language staff to places of work with high vacancy rates. With regard to remote interpretation, she reiterated the Union�s interest in continuing activities in that sector and the importance it attached to the cost analysis of the proposed systems.

Turning to new technologies, she noted the hidden costs of the technological projects mentioned in the report of the Committee on Conferences, and said she would welcome any further information the Secretariat could supply. The European Union called upon the Secretariat to develop a global strategy on that subject for all conference centres. She also welcomed the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee on Conferences concerning United Nations Web sites.

HASSAN MOHAMMED HASSAN (Nigeria), speaking on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, stressed the importance of continued provision of adequate conference facilities to regional group meetings, including interpretation in all six official languages. He also welcomed the quick implementation of Assembly resolution 54/248 B concerning the provision of full interpretation services to the United Nations Office in Nairobi, and said that the Group of 77 would continue to follow developments on that issue with keen interest. In conclusion, he congratulated the Secretary-General for the measures taken to make the decision of the General Assembly a reality.

M. RIAZ HAMIDULLAH (Bangladesh) said that he agreed with most of the observations and recommendations contained in the report of the Committee on Conferences. On the use of conference facilities, while Bangladesh was satisfied with the improved situation at the Nairobi Office, it wanted to know what progress had been made in placing the needed human resources there. On the report on remote interpretation, he supported steps for greater productivity, but asked that those moves be cautious and realistic. Given that facilities had been put in place in Nairobi very recently, experimentation might not be prudent in the near future.

Regarding the mobility of language staff, continued high vacancy rates in conference services was a concern, he said. He asked for more information about the progress of the managed system of assignments. On the provision of interpretation and conference facilities to regional groups, Bangladesh wanted to put on record the continuing need for providing facilities to regional groups. Bangladesh was supportive of the way information technologies were being used across the Organization.

BERYL BENTLEY-ANDERSON (United States) said that responsibility for efficiency and member satisfaction within the United Nations system lay first with the membership of the Assembly, and secondly -- and to a lesser extent -- with the Secretariat and its Conference Services. That fact must be accepted. Performance standards would allow the Committee to decide if the changes made were the desired ones. Performance standards would help the Committee understand who the clients truly were. On the issue of innovation, Member States had refused technological innovation when it would have improved services for all Member States. To deny them improved services because others outside the United Nations system were not ready for the technology could not be the determining factors in the Committee�s deliberations. General Assembly services should be for the Member States. Technology was meant to benefit them. To imply that only the North benefited from technological innovation was a conceit that should no longer be tolerated.

Technology was not the only way to innovate, she said. Expressing a need to a focused and activist Secretariat could result in changes in format or procedures that greatly enhanced Members satisfaction. The use of performance standards could also increase dialogue between the Secretariat and the membership. Ultimately, however, if the Committee were honest, it would admit that the Secretariat could never meet the demands of the membership it served.

Regarding unrealistic demands, Member States demanded 24-hour a day, 365 days a year interpretation services be made available, she said. The question was, where did it stop. The answer was, where the membership said it must stop. It was not the Secretariat�s burden to take that decision. Unrealistic demands were being made of conference services.

The membership was responsible for waste, not the Secretariat, she said. Member States challenged the Secretariat to make an ever-increasing number of documents available to the public in the six official languages on any Web site, both in hard copy and electronic format. The question of whether that really was the best use of limited resources must be asked. All conference services could be increased if there were more money, but there were few delegations itching to spend more of their money for conference services. Unfortunately, there was no mechanism available at present to redistribute scarce resources and Member States were scared to move money to where it was needed, even though the Department had created a model with which to do that. The performance standards used by the Department of General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services should serve as a model throughout the United Nations system on the correct way to prioritize and measure activities.

Action on Programme Budget for Biennium 2000-2001

Following an oral introduction at the beginning of the meeting of the report of the ACABQ on the programme budget implications of draft resolution A/C.5/54/L.83 by the Chairman of that body, the Fifth Committee then decided that, based on the report of the Secretary-General and the observations and recommendations of the ACABQ, it would inform the General Assembly that, as the statement of budget implications had been �overtaken by events�, a decision on the matter was not needed at this stage.

The Committee Rapporteur, EDUARDO RAMOS, then introduced draft decision A/C.5/55/L.4, by the terms of which the Assembly would convene a three- day special session of the General Assembly to address the problem of HIV/AIDS. The Committee decided to inform the General Assembly that, subject to the provisions for the operation and use of the contingency fund, implementation of this resolution could require some $1.63 million over and above the resources in the programme budget for the biennium 2000-2001 as follows: $790,000 under section 1 (overall policy-making, direction and coordination); $585,200 under section 26 (public information); and $253,700 under section 27 (management and central support services).

The Committee then approved that draft decision without a vote.

Speaking in explanation of position, the representative of the United States said he was pleased that action had been taken on the text. His country was one of the co-sponsors of the draft and continued to strongly support the special session on HIV/AIDS. As the session was being planned, some of the details of the statement of budget implications had been a little unclear and needed further development. He hoped that once the modalities were formulated, the plans for the session would also be more precisely stated. He also had concerns about the proposed budget for the Department of Public Information. Rather than using resources for promotion, emphasis should be placed on

long-term efforts to de-stigmatize HIV/AIDS and combat its spread. Information on HIV/AIDS prevention should be disseminated, as well as accounts of positive experiences in that respect. He wished the special session of the Assembly every success.

Action on Review of Efficiency of Administrative and Financial Functioning of United Nations.

HAE-YUN PARK, Vice-Chairman of the Committee, introduced draft resolution A/C.5/55/L.5, by the terms of which the General Assembly would take note of the 1999 report of the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU), stressing the importance of timely consideration of its reports by all participating organizations. Looking forward to the report concerning progress made in the implementation of the follow-up system on the Unit�s recommendations, the Assembly would also recognize the critical role of legislative bodies, secretariats and the JIU in the success of that system.

Also by that text, the Assembly would request the Secretary-General to present the report of the Administrative Committee on Coordination on the budget proposals made by the Unit. It would invite the JIU to continue to develop interaction with other United Nations oversight bodies and to intensify relations with the oversight bodies of other participating organizations to achieve better coordination and share best practices.

The Committee then approved the draft without a vote.

Speaking in explanation of position, the representative of Syria extended thanks to the Vice-Chairman of the Committee for his strenuous efforts to reach a consensus on the text. He joined the consensus in light of the understanding that paragraph 6 of the decision would enable the General Assembly to review the first copy of the proposed budget programme submitted by the JIU to the Secretariat.

Also speaking in explanation of position, the representative of Cuba expressed gratitude to the Vice-Chairman of the Committee for coordinating work on the draft. Her delegation joined the consensus and thought it was very appropriate for the General Assembly to have reiterated its decision to ensure budgetary independence of the JIU as an external oversight body. In the consideration of the forthcoming budget of the JIU the Assembly would have all the relevant information needed to take a decision.

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