UNITED NATIONS, Dec 24: A last minute compromise between the member states averted a financial crisis at the United Nations as the UN General Assembly approved a $3.8 billion, two-year budget late on Friday night.
The deal was struck following two days and nights of crisis meetings when the Group of 77 representing 132 developing nations and China, agreed to a proposal put forward by the United States, Japan, the European Union and their allies.
United States Ambassador John Bolton claimed victory, as Stafford Neil of Jamaica the head of G-77, said he had accepted the settlement only on the grounds that it was “an exceptional measure not to be repeated or used in the future”.
He said there was much in the deal that his group did not like but that in the end, no one wanted to block budget approval.
Britain’s UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, whose country holds the European Union’s presidency, said he would not claim victory for its 25 members but for the United Nations.
The plan, approved by consensus by the General Assembly, sets a $950 million spending cap on the first half of 2006 and ties additional spending requests to the fulfilment of management changes.
“This evening the United States obtained something it had been striving for the last three months, which is a clear linkage between management reform and the budget process of the United Nations,” said US Ambassador John R. Bolton,
The budget process was particularly critical because of the emphasis that the large donor nations and the secretariat put on making management more accountable in the wake of the oil-for-food scandal, which had exposed weaknesses in how the United Nations is run.
The G-77 group of developing nations feared that the changes would dilute the authority of the 191-nation General Assembly, where they each have a vote.
However, some UN reforms have been approved already and deal on many is conspired to be imminent.
On Tuesday, a new UN Peace-building Commission was established to help countries emerging from conflict to manage the difficult transition to stability and development. Mr Anan also signed a directive to protect whistleblowers.
However, the General Assembly has put off talks on a new Human Rights Council to replace the discredited Human Rights Commission until Jan 11, and no action is expected until late February on key management reforms.
They include reviewing and eliminating old UN programs, initiatives to make managers more accountable, greater flexibility for the secretary-general to run the organisation, and a new human resources policy.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan hailed the budget agreement saying that “the budget agreed upon today will enable the organization to continue its work uninterrupted while member states pursue the reform proposals adopted during the 2005 World Summit.
