Statement by Mr. Jun Yamada
Second Secretary, Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations
Agenda item 146: Financing of UNMIS

The First Resumed Part of the Sixty-third Session
of the United Nations General Assembly
24 March 2009

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

At the outset, I would like to thank Mr. Jun Yamazaki, the Controller, and Ms. Susan McLurg, Chairperson of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, for introducing their respective reports. I would like to present my delegation's views on the Secretary-General's note on the financing arrangements for the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) (A/63/756) and the report of ACABQ on this note (A/63/777).

Mr. Chairman,

My delegation wishes to emphasize the importance of the established cycle of peacekeeping operation budgets. Peacekeeping operation budgets are submitted by the Secretary-General to the General Assembly on an annual basis prior to the established financial period beginning 1 July. The final budgets are then reported by the Secretary-General to the General Assembly 12 months after the end of the financial period, in the context of the annual performance reports. Within this established cycle, peacekeeping budgets can be maintained with clarity and predictability.

In this connection, my delegation wishes to express its reservations regarding the request by the Secretary-General to make additional appropriations for UNMIS during the current financial period. In our view, this request represents a deviation from the aforementioned established budget cycle. We therefore would like to seek further elaboration on the explanations provided in the note of the Secretary-General and the report of ACABQ, so that we may gain an understanding as to why the Secretariat decided to submit a financing request in such an irregular fashion.

We recognize that the note of the Secretary-General, as well as the report of ACABQ, cites a number of unpredictable events on the ground which triggered the additional expenditures during the current financial period. During the informal consultations, my delegation wishes to have further explanation on each of the events described in the reports. We would also like to receive further information on the most current cash balance of the Mission.

Mr. Chairman,

In closing, let me add that we will be pleased if the views expressed in this statement have provided some guidance for the forthcoming discussions.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Related Information (United Nations)
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