(As delivered)

Statement by H.E. Mr. Toshiro Ozawa
Ambassador of Japan to the United Nations

On Strengthened and Unified Security Management System for the United Nations (Agenda Item 108)

Fifth Committee
Fifty-ninth Session of the United Nations General Assembly
3 November 2004
New York

Thank you, Mr. Chairman,

My delegation would like to express our appreciation to the distinguished Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for introducing his report on strengthened and unified security management system for the United Nations. My delegation also thanks Mr. Kuznetsov, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, and Mr. Nair, Under-Secretary-General for OIOS, for introducing their relevant reports.

Mr. Chairman,

The Government of Japan attaches great importance to the safety and security of United Nations personnel. For this reason, we have promoted relevant General Assembly resolutions and provided voluntary contributions to the Trust Fund for the Security of United Nations Personnel.

As the work of the United Nations evolved over these years, we find that more UN staff are mandated to carry out potentially hazardous missions. This is the reality that we must face up to. Since their mandates are important mandates that need to be pursued, we must, at the same time, provide measures to mitigate the risk that they may face.

In such circumstances, the Government of Japan welcomes the proposal by the Secretary-General to strengthen and unify the UN security management system. On this very important proposal by the Secretary-General, the Government of Japan finds the views and recommendations contained in the report of the ACABQ to be quite appropriate. We do expect and hope that a consensus among Member States will emerge on the basis of the ACABQ report.

Mr. Chairman,

Allow me to comment on some of the issues to which my delegation attaches importance.

Firstly, when one talks about UN actors in the field, there are indeed many types including peacekeeping operations, funds and programmes engaged in humanitarian assistance and economic development activities, and specialized agencies undertaking various activities in their areas of expertise. Any new security management system for the UN should cover these actors in the field as well as their Headquarters. As is pointed out in the report of the ACABQ, the new UN security system needs to be truly integrated.

Secondly, on the proposal of the Secretary-General to establish a new Directorate of Security at the UN Headquarters, the proposed Directorate should have a streamlined central capacity at Headquarters. We think that the focus of increased staffing should be in the field. The functions of the proposed Directorate are; devising common policy and standards, threat and risk analysis, monitoring and compliance, and training. These functions can be pursued with a streamlined capacity. From this point of view, my delegation supports the ACABQ recommendation against establishing separate units in the proposed Directorate to handle human resources management, programme planning and budget, procurement, and information technology services.

If we look at the organization of Foreign Ministries around the world, we find that normally, the office responsible for safety and security is placed directly under the under-secretary responsible for administration. This is not the case with the proposal before us. An explanation may be given that the United Nations is not an ordinary national organization. However, it could well be that giving the same rank for the officer responsible for security and for the officer responsible for administration is a reflection of an organizational weakness within the UN. Having said this, my delegation respects the recommendation of the ACABQ to support the establishment of a USG post for the head of the proposed Directorate. As is also suggested in the ACABQ report, we do not see the necessity to maintain an ASG post, because the head of the proposed Directorate is at such a high level. My delegation will continue to pay close attention to the issue of redressing the top-heavy structure of the United Nations Secretariat.

Mr. Chairman,

The Secretary-General proposes to phase out the current cost-sharing arrangements for the United Nations, its agencies and funds and programmes. As the ACABQ points out, however, it is very important that all parties share a common ownership in the system with the right to participate in its decision-making. We believe that the cost-sharing principle is accompanied by the principle of shared responsibilities. These principles should be maintained.

Finally, with regard to the proposed global access control system, the project would entail budgeting in future biennium, and we recognize that the total cost can become quite large. Yet, my delegation is supportive of introducing this initiative. We request the Secretariat to submit to the General Assembly detailed plans and relevant information on the related costs. We support the recommendation of the ACABQ to approve commitment authority up to $11.2 million, without appropriating this amount now.

Mr. Chairman,

We look forward to reviewing the implementation report to be submitted to the General Assembly at its sixtieth session.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Related Information (Japan and the United Nations)

Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations Official Web Site