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Member States Critical of Delay in Promised Payments from the US - UN Finance - Global Policy Forum Member States Critical of Delay
in Promised Payments from the USUN Press Release
29 March 2001As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) continued its consideration of the financial situation of the United Nations this morning, many speakers expressed concern over the continued difficulties experienced by the Organization, agreeing that its financial crisis was the result of the non-payment of the arrears by the largest contributor -- the United States. Other causes of concern included an expected increase in the peacekeeping budget and the level of debt the Organization owed for contributions of troops and equipment to Member States.
Speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, the representative of Iran said that while negotiations last December on the new scale of assessments had been difficult, the Group had made significant sacrifices to ensure the financial health of the Organization. The Group regretted that the expected payment in return from the United States had still not been received. It urged that country to heed its responsibility and demonstrate -- through concrete action -- its commitment to make the necessary payment on time, in full and without conditions.
Speaking on behalf of the Rio Group, the representative of Chile said he believed that the recent compromise on the scales of assessments meant an additional financial burden for the developing countries. The urgency with which viable agreements had been reached in December had not been reciprocated by concrete actions by the United States, and the Rio Group noted with concern its failure to implement the agreements reached.
The representative of the United States said that his country recognized its duty to do everything it could, as fast as it could, to help alleviate the current difficulties. It was moving quickly to pass the necessary legislation. The political will for a prompt payment had been reflected in the unanimous Senate vote in favor of the payment of arrears, and the action had now passed to the House of Representatives. The Secretary of State had signed the necessary waiver to eliminate the need for any further reduction in the regular budget ceiling, which had been previously specified as one of the requirements for further arrears payments. The United States would continue to work its Congress to ensure that those payments were made as quickly as possible.
Noting the United States’ confirmation that it would make a prompt payment of $582 million in arrears, the representative of the Republic of Korea said that once received that amount must be used to pay the debt owed to Member States, as the Under-Secretary-General for Management, Joseph E. Connor, had said it would be last week. At the end of last year, that debt stood at $917 million and payment was long overdue.
The representative of New Zealand (also speaking on behalf of Australia and Canada) said that parallel to the problem of arrears was the issue of timely payment. The delay in payments by some Member States injected an element of uncertainty into United Nations financial planning -- an already difficult exercise. Member States should pay on time. Failing that, there should be accelerated payments by Member States who paid late in the year, and full payments by year-end.
Read the whole Un Press Release here: GA/AB/3436
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