Financing UN Peacekeeping Operations 2014-2015 While decisions about establishing, maintaining or expanding a peacekeeping operation are taken by the Security Council, the financing of UN Peacekeeping operations is the collective responsibility of all UN Member States. Every Member State is legally obligated to pay their respective share towards peacekeeping. This is in accordance with the provisions of Article 17 of the Charter of the United Nations. The General Assembly apportions peacekeeping expenses based on a special scale of assessments under a complex formula that Member States themselves have established. This formula takes into account, among other things, the relative economic wealth of Member States, with the five permanent members of the Security Council required to pay a larger share because of their special responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. The General Assembly reaffirmed these and other general principles underlying the financing of peacekeeping operations in resolution A/RES/55/235 (23 December 2000). How much does peacekeeping cost? The approved budget for UN Peacekeeping operations for the fiscal year 1 July 2013-30 June 2014 is about $7.83 billion [A/C.5/68/21]. By way of comparison, this is less than half of one per cent of world military expenditures (estimated at $1,747 billion in 2013). The top 10 providers of assessed contributions to United Nations Peacekeeping operations in 2013 [A/67/224/Add.1] are: 1. United States (28.38%) 2. Japan (10.83%) 3. France (7.22%) 4. Germany (7.14%) 5. United Kingdom (6.68%) 6. China (6.64%) 7. Italy (4.45%) 8. Russian Federation (3.15%) 9. Canada (2.98%) 10. Spain (2.97%) Many countries have also voluntarily made additional resources available to support UN Peacekeeping efforts on a non-reimbursable basis in the form of transportation, supplies, personnel and financial contributions above and beyond their assessed share of peacekeeping costs. Although the payment of peacekeeping assessments is mandatory, as of 31 May 2014, Member States owed approximately $1.20 billion in current and back peacekeeping dues. Approved resources for peacekeeping operations in selected General Assembly documents. How are resources budgeted? Budgets of peacekeeping operations are based on the missions’ mandate from the Security Council. As such, they are strategic documents aligning resources to achieve the overall objectives of the operation. Each peacekeeping operation has its own budget and account which includes operational costs such as transport and logistics and staff costs such as salaries. The peacekeeping budget cycle runs from 1 July to 30 June. This cycle is rarely aligned with the Security Council mandate; however budgets are prepared for 12 months based on of the most current mandate of the operation. The Secretary-General submits budget proposal to the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ). The ACABQ reviews the proposal and makes recommendations to the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee for its review and approval. Ultimately, the budget is endorsed by the General Assembly as a whole. At the end of the financial cycle, each peacekeeping operation prepares and submits a performance report which shows the actual use of resources. This report is also considered and approved by the General Assembly. More on the process of establishing peacekeeping operation budget. How are peacekeepers compensated? The UN has no military forces of its own, and Member States provide, on a voluntary basis, the military and police personnel required for each peacekeeping operation. Peacekeeping soldiers are paid by their own Governments according to their own national rank and salary scale. Countries volunteering uniformed personnel to peacekeeping operations are reimbursed by the UN at a standard rate, approved by the General Assembly, of a little over US$1,028 per soldier per month. Police and other civilian personnel are paid from the peacekeeping budgets established for each operation. The UN also reimburses Member States for providing equipment, personnel and support services to military or police contingents. N.B. Till today Wed. 2nd July 2014, the negotiations between developed and developing countries are still going on at UHHQ visa-vis the budget of 1st July 2014-30th June 2015. The latter want to raise to $ Billion 9, the 1st say they dont have the extra money. UN peacekeeping operations are to be extended to South Sudan, Mali, and Central African Republic during the mentioned period.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Jul 2014 17:16:35 +0000
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