Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations

Statement by Counsellor Mr. PARK Chull-joo
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea

Fifth Committee of the 65th General Assembly
Item 131: Improving the financial situation of UN 

19 May 2011
New York

Thank you, Mr. Chairman,

1. At the outset, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Ms. Angela Kane, Under-Secretary-General for Management, and Mr. Jun Yamazaki, Controller and Assistant-Secretary-General, for their presentation on improving the financial situation of the UN last week and today.

Mr. Chairman,

2. While noting with appreciation the fact that the financial situation at the end of 2010 has improved compared to the previous year, my delegation wished to make a brief statement on this agenda item, especially on the PKO budget.

3. My delegation would like to stress that maintenance of international peace and security is one of the most important mandates of the UN. It is a responsibility and duty of Member States to provide the Secretary-General with adequate resources in order for him to be able to fulfill this noble mandate.

In this regard, my Government has been striving to pay our assessed contributions for peacekeeping operations on time, in full and without conditions, in spite of fiscal constraints caused by global economic 
difficulties.

Mr. Chairman,

4. In the past decade, we have seen continuous and substantial increase in the UN budget for peacekeeping operations. The PKO budget proposal for the period of 2011/2012 is still at the level of $7.6 billion, and my delegation believes that this budget level is a large burden for all Member States. In this regard, I would like to emphasize that it is our most urgent priority to increase efficiency gains and management improvements, as well as to prevent the recurring tendency of over-budgeting in the peacekeeping operation. My delegation would like to pay close attention to examining the 2011/2012 PKO budget proposals in this respect.

Mr. Chairman,

5. In conclusion, I assure you of my Government’s commitment to do its best to fulfill our financial obligations on time, in full and without conditions. Despite our fiscal constraints, we will continue to endeavor, not only to ensure payment of our outstanding assessed contributions for the peacekeeping operations as soon as possible, but also to secure more resources to pay our assessed contributions on time.
 
I thank you, Mr. Chairman.