The enthralment of a new year has never been so vivid for the United Nations as for 2021 with the whole world hoping for a changed timeline of perspectives in every facet of livelihood. The many financial and economic hindrances that saw the face of 2020 with the commencement of the global Covid-19 pandemic and a sudden fall in the market would have possibly stood in the way of a risk-taking approval of an annual budget for the United Nations. But this did not hinder a possibility of a new budget structure as the United Nations Member States, on Thursday, approved $3.231 billion to fund the global Organization’s regular budget for 2021.
Back in October, the UN chief had proposed a programme budget of $2.99 billion – a net reduction of 2.8 per cent over 2020. However, the Secretary-General of the UN, António Guterres had told the Fifth Committee that despite the pandemic and liquidity crunch, “our new processes and structures have proven instrumental in enabling us to remain open and function effectively…we are running this Organization from thousands of dining tables and home offices”, and right was he. As adherence to this do we come to see a budget that might possibly bring to function, a new structure for a new post-pandemic world. The General Assembly body dealing with UN administrative and budgetary matters (Fifth Committee) discussed and approved the budget on the afternoon of 31st December, 2020, before the plenary voted in favour of the financial plan.
What the president has to say-
Mr. Bozkir, the President of the General Assembly, observed that the Assembly’s performance throughout this grim year was a testament to the high calibre of diplomacy practiced in the Hall. “In 2020, the General Assembly continued to lead on the world stage and fully function, in order to implement its mandates…to meet the needs of the people we serve”, he said. He reflected on some of the 75 plenary meetings that were convened in the Assembly Hall, including the General Debate, Biodiversity Summit, 31st Special Session in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and high-level meetings on the 25th Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women.
A New Lookout –
The UN General Assembly, on December 27, 2019, had adopted a regular budget of 3.07 billion dollars for the world body to cover the year 2020. Howsoever, none knew the fiscal fall down that nation states would face by the end of 2020. Could we say it was a result of these complexities that the world body tackled an initial failure to adopt the budget and plan for 2021. The President said that if member states failed to reach an agreement, the consequences on the work of the United Nations would be “dire”, given that this year, the consensus is more urgent than ever. The world has yet to fully address the health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated socio-economic consequences. Along with t, the General Assembly continues to be majorly responsible to meet the world’s expectations and support multilateralism and pandemic recovery, in a manner that accelerates the implementation of the 2030 Agenda during this Decade of Action.
Discussing resolutions for the New Year, the Assembly President urged the Member States to harness multilateralism to end the COVID-19 pandemic and “address the needs of those furthest behind first”. We see how important that might turn to be given how specific nations, especially the ones majorly affected by the pandemic, had an economic fall-out and continue to struggle neck-to-neck for a basic stability approach.
“Our work here in the General Assembly requires us to recognize the great responsibility placed upon us by the people we serve”, the President stated and called it “our solemn duty” to engage in constructive dialogue to pursue the UN’s noble goals of universal peace, human rights and sustainable development.
What the budget includes
Approving $3.21 Billion Budget, General Assembly Adopts 25 Resolutions, Decisions from its Main Committees, Concluding Main Part of Seventy-Fifth Session. Concluding the main part of its seventy-fifth session, the General Assembly approved $3.21 billion for 2021 and adopted 22 resolutions and 3 decisions recommended by its Main Committees. Adopting a range of drafts recommended by its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), the Assembly approved resources for 2021, the Organization’s second annual budget in nearly 50 years, by a recorded vote of 168 in favour to 2 against (Israel, United States) and no abstentions. The 2021 budget was greater than the $2.99 billion budget proposal unveiled by Secretary-General António Guterres in mid-October. “Up slightly from last year’s $3.07 billion appropriation, the 2021 budget keeps the Organization’s doors open and its staff working amid a global pandemic and ongoing funding challenges”, claimed the United Nations.
The Assembly also adopted a wide-ranging, 26‑part text on special subjects related to the 2021 programme budget. It earmarked $728.21 million for the 40 continuing special political missions authorized by the Assembly and/or Security Council. The massive document also allocated more than $25 million for Umoja, the Organization’s enterprise resource planning project, and set deadlines and funding for renovations to keep historic United Nations structures in Geneva and Addis Ababa open and operating safely while making the Organization’s regional commission in Bangkok a safer, more efficient working space for more than 600 employees.
In other business, the Assembly, acting on the recommendation of its Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), adopted the draft resolution “A global call for concrete action for the elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and the comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action”. Taking up another Third Committee text, it adopted the draft resolution “Situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar”.
The Assembly’s 56-page omnibus draft resolution “Oceans and the law of the sea”, among other things, reaffirmed the unified character of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the vital importance of preserving its integrity. Delegates also took up several draft resolutions and draft decisions submitted by its First Committee (Disarmament and International Security). The Assembly further adopted a draft resolution on “Developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security”. By its terms, the Assembly decided to convene a new open-ended working group on security of and in the use of information and communications technologies 2021-2025
Acting without a vote, the Assembly adopted two draft decisions that sketched out timeframes for two bodies: the Open-Ended Working Group on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security and the Group of Governmental Experts on Advancing Responsible State Behaviour in Cyberspace in the Context of International Security. Adopting the draft decision “Problems arising from the accumulation of conventional ammunition stockpiles in surplus” without a vote, the Assembly took note of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the ability of the related Group of Governmental Experts to meet in 2020 and requested the Secretary-General to convene it in 2021 so as to complete its work.
Finally, and without a vote, the Assembly adopted the draft resolution “Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia — residual functions”. By its terms, the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to continue his consultations with the Government of Cambodia to finalize a proposed framework for completing the work of the Extraordinary Chambers, established in 1997 to try senior members of the Khmer Rouge for crimes against humanity and other offences.
2 to 167: Why Israel and the US reject UN budget over alleged bias against Jerusalem
President Donald Trump’s outgoing administration on Thursday fired a late salvo against the United Nations by voting against its budget, citing disagreements on Israel and Iran, but it found virtually no international support. Only Israel voted with the United States, with 167 nations in favour, as the General Assembly closed the year by approving the $3.231 billion UN budget for 2021.
Kelly Craft, the US ambassador to the United Nations, voiced objections that the budget would fund a 20th anniversary event for the 2001 UN conference on racism in Durban, South Africa, where the United States walked out in solidarity with Israel over what it said was a fixation by Muslim-majority countries against the Jewish state. The United States, the biggest funder of the UN, “called for this vote to make clear that we stand by our principles, stand up for what is right and never accept consensus for consensus’s sake,” Craft said on the General Assembly floor.
The Trump administration said it was triggering UN sanctions due to alleged Iranian violations of a nuclear deal negotiated by former president Barack Obama. Craft, however, said that the US vote would not change its UN contribution, including 25 percent of peacekeeping expenditures and some $9 billion a year in UN-channelled humanitarian relief.
Conclusion –
Volkan Bozkir (Turkey), President of the General Assembly, in his closing remarks, said that much work remains in advancing the key priorities of the seventy-fifth session, including multilateralism, the humanitarian agenda, empowering people in the most vulnerable situations, and gender equality. “I believe in the power of humanity to create a better future for all,” he said, calling on Member States to commit to the United Nations Charter and underscoring their “solemn duty” to engage in constructive dialogue. The Secretary-General has expressed major concerns about the changing notions of the coming times and thus stating that the world “cannot have the future we want without the United Nations we need”, he called on all Member States to fulfil their responsibilities and obligations and adhere to a better accomplishment of the budget put forth for an approaching world of policies.
References–
UN News/ 31 December 2020- UN Affairs- https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/12/1081222
UN Meeting Coverage and Press Releases- 31 December, 2020, Seventy-fifth session- https://www.un.org/press/en/2020/ga12307.doc.htm
The Hindu/ January 01, 2021, ‘In late Trump salvo, U.S rejects UN budget over Israel, Iran’– https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/in-late-trump-salvo-us-rejects-un-budget-over-israel-iran/article33467044.ece
‘The Times of Israel’/ January 01, 2021- https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-us-alone-in-rejecting-un-budget-over-alleged-bias-against-jerusalem/
