UN approves $5.61bn 2016-2017 biennial budget

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly has approved the revised UN budget for the 2016-2017 biennium to $5.61 billion from the initial $5.57 billion estimates presented by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
A UN report said the universal body that comprised all the 193 UN Members States also approved $639.53 million to keep the 33 UN special political missions running smoothly.
The report said concluding the main part of its 71st session, the UN General Assembly on Friday night adopted 15 texts – 14 resolutions and one decision – recommended by its Fifth Committee, which is responsible for administration and budgetary matters.
In another text, the General Assembly called for $1.57 million gross ($1.46 million net) before re-costing to continue improving UN’s administration of justice system.
The call had been deemed necessary after an independent review in 2015 concluded that in spite of increasing transparency, only about half of the workforce had access to the system and many were unaware of it.
The Assembly also adopted a wide-ranging human resources resolution aimed at finishing major reforms begun half dozen years ago.
It also tasked the Secretary-General to investigate the reasons for delays at each stage of the staff selection and recruitment as well as made some changes to recruitment processes on a provisional basis as a pilot phase.
Also, the General Assembly adopted 11 resolutions from its plenary and First Committee (dealing with disarmament and international security matters) tackling a wide range of issues, including nuclear disarmament, oceans and international law.
The President of the General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft, said he was very satisfied that the negotiations on the budget and other administrative items were concluded in such good spirit.
“With the adoption of the UN budget and the conclusion of the work of the Fifth Committee, we come to the end of what has been a remarkable year for multilateralism,” Lykketoft said.