Member States critical of delay in promised payments from United States, in Fifth Committee; Under-Secretary-General provides information on human resources reforms -- Part 2 of 2.

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M2 PRESSWIRE-30 March 2001-UN: Member States critical of delay in promised payments from United States, in Fifth Committee; Under-Secretary-General provides information on human resources reforms -- Part 2 of 2 (C)1994-2001 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

RDATE:29032001

The year 2000 was not, however, without its encouraging aspects, he continued. The number of Member States which had fully paid their assessments by the end of the year had risen from 126 in 1999 to 141 in 2000. The downside of the good news, however, was that the level of unpaid contributions by Member States remained enormously high. The arrearage was concentrated among a few Member States, most of them major contributors. The level of arrears had perpetuated unacceptable delays in payment to peacekeeping troop contributors, undermining the core function of the Organization. That was an affront to those States, many of them from the developing world, who paid their dues to the United Nations as assessed, on time and without conditions.

Legally incurred dues to the United Nations were a binding obligation upon Member States.

The great bulk of arrears were attributable to a single Member State, he added. He welcomed efforts that the United States had made to pay down its substantial arrears and he hoped that the remaining arrears issues, including contested arrears, would be resolved to the satisfaction of all parties concerned. The States for which he spoke supported an equitable, transparent scale of assessments based on capacity to pay. The United States rate reductions were unpalatable to many delegations, as they contravened those principles.

Nevertheless, a consensus had emerged around new scales of assessments, with the best interests of the Organization at heart. It was of some disappointment that despite the resolutions on the scales three months ago, the Organization continued to await the payment of the next tranche of United States arrears. He hoped that the United States would soon honour the commitments made last fall.

Parallel to the arrears problems was the issue of timely payment, he said. The number of Member States paying their regular budget assessment in full by the end of February had decreased from 64 in 2000 to 54 this year. 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. Article 19 of the Charter remained the sole sanction against those Member States which did not pay their legally binding dues. He supported implementation of the General Assembly's decision to calculate arrears on the basis of what was actually assessed and payable for the preceding full two years. He remained optimistic about the ongoing development of the United Nations and envisioned an organization based on a much sounder financial footing. Such an organization would be in a stronger position to address challenges such as poverty, humanitarian crises and HIV/AIDS.

MASOOD KHALID...

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