česky  english 

Advanced search
Article notification Print Decrease font size Increase font size

Fifth Committee of the 55th General Assembly

(This article expired 01.01.2021.)

  Mehr zu diesen Themen finden Sie unter: http://www.czech-tourist.de - Tschechische Zentrale für Tourismus http://www.mfcr.cz - Finanzministerium der

  • Statement by H.E. Mr. Vladimir Galuska, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the United Nations on the Agenda Item 117: Programme Budget for the Biennium 2000-2001 - Report of the Panel on UN Peace Operations
    New York, November 27, 2000

  • Statement by H.E. Mr. Vladimir Galuska, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the United Nations, on the Agenda Item 122: Scale of Assessments for the Apportionment of the Expenses of the United Nations
    New York, October 4, 2000

  • Statement by H.E. Mr. Vladimir Galuska, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the United Nations, on the Agenda Item 169: Scale of Assessments for the Apportionment of the Expenses of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations
    New York, October 3, 2000


Statement of H.E. Mr. Vladimir Galuska, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the United Nations on the Agenda Item 117: Programme Budget for the Biennium 2000-2001 - Report of the Panel on UN Peace Operations

Mr. Chairman,

I would like to join the previous speakers and to thank the Secretary-General for the comprehensive presentation of the agenda before us.

My delegation fully associated itself with the statement of the European Union presented earlier. Allow me to stress very shortly that the Czech Republic also deems the commitment of the Heads of States and Governments expressed in the Millennium Declaration regarding the implementation of the proposals contained in the " Report of the Panel on UN Peace Operations" very important for the future work of this Organization. We consider the Brahimi Report to be a serious effort to outline a meaningful reform of the UN peacekeeping role.

As it was pointed out many times by other Member States during our debates of the reform of the PKO financing, the time for comprehensive reform and restructuring of the whole system of peacekeeping has come. We agree that the detailed full-scale consideration of the far-reaching recommendations of the Brahimi Panel requires sufficient time. We support the work of all relevant organs which currently discuss the numerous recommendations from their specific point of view. But that should not be an excuse for foot-dragging. The work of the 5th Committee is of utmost importance and it should be given priority by all delegations. We should all help you Mr. Chairman and the Bureau of the Committee to achieve concrete results as soon as possible.

I did not say much, Mr. Chairman, and certainly nothing new, but speaking on behalf of both money and troop contributing country, I wanted to put on record our unequivocal support for the speedy implementation of the changes proposed by the Brahimi Panel.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.


Statement by H.E. Mr. Vladimir Galuska, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the United Nations, on the Agenda Item 122: Scale of Assessments for the Apportionment of the Expenses of the United Nations

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

I would like to join the previous speakers and thank the Chairman of the Committee on Contributions Mr. Ugo Sessi as well as the members of his Committee for their outstanding work. We have carefully studied the Committee's recommendations contained in document A/55/11. We noted that the Committee thoroughly analyzed all elements of the 12 scale proposals for the period 2001-2003, based on various sets of criteria. But due to time constraints the Committee was not able to propose additional, comprehensive option.

Mr. Chairman,

My delegation fully associated itself with the statement of the European Union presented by Ambassador Levitte on Monday, during the first part of this debate. Therefore I will not restate our common positions on the various elements of the scale methodology. Let me point out just few aspects.

As declared in the Charter (article 2), this Organization was based on the principle of sovereign equality of all its members. And in order to ensure to all of them the rights and benefits resulting from membership, all members should fulfil in good faith the obligations assumed in accordance with the Charter. We understand that the main legal obligation of a Member State is the payment of its assessed contributions to the regular budget, on time and in full.

Equitable scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of this Organization is the cornerstone of its financial health and its preparedness to adequately perform and fulfil the adopted programmes. Therefore we support the basic principles for the reform of the scale methodology, i.e. real capacity to pay derived as closely as possible from the current economic situation, as well as simple and transparent methods for definition of the scale, without excessive distortions.

We welcome the willingness of the Member States declared on Monday as well as today to actively participate in the discussions about the elements of the new methodology. It is important to finish those discussions until December 2000. Let me express my hope that an acceptable compromise will be found and the new scale will be adopted by Member States by consensus.

Thank you.


Statement by H.E. Mr. Vladimir Galuska, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the United Nations, on the Agenda Item 169: Scale of Assessments for the Apportionment of the Expenses of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

Since this is the first time my delegation takes the floor this session, I would like to use this opportunity to congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, on your election to this responsible position. I am sure that your vast knowledge and experience are a guarantee of the success of this year's deliberations of the 5th Committee. My congratulations go also to the other members of the bureau of the 5th Committee as well.

At the outset I would like to remind you, that the Czech Republic was among the first co-sponsors of the request for inclusion of this item in the agenda of this 55th session. As was pointed out several times today by other Member States - and we agree with that - the time for comprehensive process of reform and restructuring of the peacekeeping scale has come, time to bring the scale up to date.

My delegation fully associated itself with the statement of the European Union presented earlier today. We support the main principles which should form a sound financial base of the future scale for peacekeeping operations: ability to pay, including the special responsibility of the Permanent Members of the Security Council, and reform of the current out-dated group scheme. We also support few other progressive proposals, which will help us establish a new peacekeeping scale.

The peacekeeping is undoubtedly one of the crucial functions of the Organization. The Brahimi Report's proposals are a serious step toward the meaningful reform of UN peacekeeping. We support those specific and realistic recommendations for a reform in UN peacekeeping operations with the hope that they will be implemented. Among them, the strengthened planning capacity, streamlined logical structure, the ability to move resources into the field in real time and more flexible financing, are certainly the most important.

Only a few weeks ago, the Heads of States and Governments, who attended the Millennium Summit, recognized the importance of the UN in this field. They followed the vision outlined by the Secretary-General K. Annan in his "Millennium Report" and adopted the "Millennium Declaration". We must follow their strong commitment to work together toward a better and more efficient UN. Through the last 50 years, the vast majority of UN peacekeeping operations have made a substantial contribution toward building peace and stability in troubled regions. And through the years the need to finance it consistently and to establish objective economic thresholds popped up. The time has come to ensure that UN members' contributions correlate with capacity to pay and that they meet with the member's responsibilities under the Charter.

In addition to the noble goals adopted in the "Millennium Declaration" we also noted the commitment by the five permanent members of the Security Council from September 7 toward stronger, more effective and more efficient UN peacekeeping in the 21st century. All permanent members of the Security Council supported a revision of the financial structure of the peacekeeping operations. This seems to be a very good ground for discussions in our Committee.

While we commend those countries, which announced their preparedness to assume additional financial responsibility by moving voluntarily forward under the peacekeeping scale, we are of the opinion that this is not a solution of the problem. The existing anomalies must be removed and a fair new methodology with an equitable share of peacekeeping expenses for all should be established. Required funds must be apportioned more closely in accordance with the scale of assessment adopted for the regular budget. We are in favour of the mechanism for updating the methodology based on assignment of the States into groups, as well as shifting countries upward or downward, based on economic factors and not only on their voluntary commitments.

We consider the present methodology for financing the peacekeeping unfair and inequitable. Many times we have expressed our support to, and aligned ourselves with the EU proposals for the comprehensive reform of the peacekeeping operations scale and methodology. The discussions will intensify soon. We hope that the results will be achieved by consensus at the end of this year. Having the UN peacekeeping budget much higher than in previous years we cannot let the current situation continue much longer. Here I would like to support the proposal submitted just few minutes ago by Ambassador Wensley on behalf of CANT, specifically her urging the delegations that have concrete proposals to introduce them formally so that they may be studied as soon as possible by all.

In conclusion, I would like to ask the members of this Committee to heed the message of the Millennium Declaration and to consider carefully the various proposed elements of the new scale for peacekeeping operations. The positive approach from all of us will allow UN to fulfil its duties in the new millennium.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.