STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS BY MR MARK SEAH, DEPUTY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF SINGAPORE TO THE UNITED NATIONS, ON ORGANISATION OF WORK, AT THE FIRST PART OF THE RESUMED 77TH SESSION OF THE FIFTH COMMITTEE OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY, NEW YORK, 6 MARCH 2023

Mr Chair,

1              I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the organisation of work of the Fifth Committee at the first part of its resumed 77^th session. ASEAN aligns itself with the statement delivered by Cuba on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

2              As the Fifth Committee embarks on a month-long discussion on issues related to human resources management this session, ASEAN reiterates that human resource policies of the Organisation should evolve in tandem with the Secretary-General’s ongoing reforms for the UN, and support our common agenda on the future of multilateralism. The Organisation and its success are defined by its people. Human resource policies should therefore support, rather than hinder, the evolving work and goals of the Organisation.

3              Of particular importance to ASEAN will be discussions on the composition of the Organisation’s staff, which should accurately reflect the Organisation’s multinational character. We need to address un-representation and under-representation of developing countries, and pay greater attention to equitable geographical representation. Furthermore, training of staff at UN headquarters, regional offices, and missions, will be crucial to ensure that the Organisation’s workforce is future-ready to meet the increasing workload of the UN and address new and more complex global challenges. All these would go towards enhancing diversity of views in the UN and improving delivery of mandates, which are sorely needed to address the various global challenges today, and in the years to come.

4              Let us not forget that in order for the Organisation to recruit, maintain good staffing levels, and train, we need a robust financial and liquidity situation of the UN. It is therefore important for Member States that have the capacity to pay their assessed contributions to do so in full, on time, and without conditions. We look forward to the briefing by the Controller on the management of the liquidity situation of the UN later this week.

5              ASEAN notes that the issue of investing in peacebuilding will again be considered this session. ASEAN recognises that peace and development are two sides of the same coin, the importance of peacebuilding in preventing the outbreak, escalation, recurrence or continuation of conflict, and the need for peacebuilding efforts to have adequate, predictable and sustained financing. We also note the adoption of General Assembly resolution 76/305 on Financing for Peacebuilding which recognises greater needs for financing for peacekeeping, and that the provision of assessed contributions to financing for peacebuilding would represent a shared commitment of member states to peacebuilding and sustaining peace.

6              In the case of peacebuilding activities, we note that much of the current demand on the Peacebuilding Fund stems from the withdrawal of UN peacekeeping operations and special political missions, as the Secretary-General himself noted in his report on “Investing in Prevention and Peacebuilding” (A/76/732). Furthermore, the report notes that between 2017 and 2020, the Fund invested between 19 and 35 per cent of its portfolio in peacekeeping settings, and 20 per cent in special political mission settings.

7              Given the strong links between peacebuilding and peace operations for which mandates come from the Security Council, we believe that any assessed contributions for the Peacebuilding Fund should be primarily assessed through the peacekeeping operations scale. It is not tenable for contributions to the Peacebuilding Fund to be assessed entirely through the regular budget scale of assessment. Recognising that financing for peacebuilding remains a critical challenge, ASEAN will work constructively towards the conclusion of this agenda item, which should be done by consensus, taking into account the views of all parties. In this regard, ASEAN wishes to put on record its position that any assessed contributions for the Peacebuilding Fund should be based primarily on the peacekeeping scale of assessment, because issues relating to the maintenance of international peace and security should be funded according to the peacekeeping scale.

8              Each year, the Fifth Committee faces a heavy and complex agenda. The first resumed session is no different, as member states have only a month to agree on important human resources management issues, among others. Regrettably, the Fifth Committee was unable to reach satisfactory conclusions on key human resources policy issues over the past sessions. There is much work to be done if we are to ensure that the Fifth Committee is able to find consensus on a human resources resolution this session. To this end, ASEAN will continue to work constructively with all delegations towards the successful conclusion of this session.    

9              Thank you.

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