UNITED NATIONS, Dec 2: UN chief Kofi Annan on Friday rejected a US proposal for a temporary UN budget, pending resolution of the stalemate over a planned reform of management practices in the world body.
“There has been suggestion by some governments, or a government, that we should not be given the two-year budget but maybe a temporary three-month or so budget,” the secretary general told UN staff. “This doesn’t work for the United Nations.”
Last month, US ambassador to the UN John Bolton suggested that the UN body adopt an interim budget only for three or four months pending a resolution of a stalemate over management reforms, which Washington strongly backs.
But Mr Annan said on Friday not adopting a budget for 2006-2007 would lead to ‘a financial crunch’.
“The business of the UN is not reform, the business of the UN is carrying on the mandates that the General Assembly, ECOSOC (the Economic and Social Council) and Security Council have given us, so that business must continue,” he noted.
“We should not take any initiative that will not only risk the reform but also the ongoing activities and that’s one of the reasons I decided to stay here... I decided my presence was needed here,” he added.
Responding to Annan, Bolton told reporters Friday: “There has never been a suggestion that we would not approve a budget.”—AFP
