Written Answers. - United Nations Funding.
Noel Treacy
Question:
46
Mr. N. Treacy
asked the
Tánaiste
and Minister for Foreign Affairs Ireland's position regarding the future of the United Nations; the amount of money currently owed to the United Nations; the countries owing this money; the amount of money owed to Ireland for United Nations activities; the country owing this money; and if he will make a statement on the current situation in the United Nations regarding its medium and long-term future.
[14999/95]
The Fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations this year is an appropriate opportunity for the international community to reflect on the UN's record of achievement to date, and also on how we, as member states, can best assist the organisation in developing and adapting to meet the new and daunting challenges of our time. Ireland's long commitment to the work of the UN and our participation in peacekeeping over nearly forty years give us a particular interest in ensuring that the organisation consolidates its many successes and is placed on a firm foundation for the future. In light of the discussion in the current session, the Fifty-first Session of the UN General Assembly, which will take place during Ireland's EU Presidency next year, will allow Ireland and its European Union partners the opportunity to continue to encourage early and comprehensive agreement on a future programme of renewal for the organisation.
The efforts of the UN in promoting international peace and security are to a great extent dependent on the effectiveness of the Security Council, and an important current issue is the question of Security Council reform. Ireland plays a significant role in the General Assembly Working Group on the reform of the Council, and we are also co-ordinating closely on the issue with a number of like-minded smaller member states. In my address to the Fiftieth Session of the General Assembly on 27 September last I argued that the Council "needs to be enlarged in order to increase its effectiveness and its ability to act, both clearly and unambiguously, as the expression of the common will of Member States." Ireland supports a balanced enlargement of the Council which would include a modest expansion in its membership. Such an enlargement should improve the Council's representative character, transparency and effectiveness. Within this same framework, we are also working to ensure a greater degree of representation for developing countries, and to retain the opportunity for smaller member states to serve on the Council from time to time.
One of the greatest challenges facing the United Nations has been the marked increase in intra-State conflict and ethnic tensions in recent years and the increased demands which this has placed on the organisation. At the same time great progress has been made in some formerly intractable conflicts around the world, including Cambodia, Angola, Namibia and E1 Salvador. This has led in turn to an enormous increase in UN peacekeeping and related activity since the late 1980s. Because of this, the demands on UN resources have increased dramatically. It was against this background that, when I addressed the UN General Assembly last month, I emphasised that the management and conduct of peacekeeping operations must be improved, and I stessed the need for clear mandates and clear lines of command and control. The Secretary-General had addressed these issues very eloquently in the "Agenda for Peace" and its recent Supplement.
The UN's activity in the peacekeeping field is complemented by its crucial role in promoting peace through development. Ireland will continue to support the early elaboration of an action-oriented Agenda for Development which could guide the international community's efforts in this area into the next century. Lack of development is one of the root causes of conflict. Similarly, the Government places a high priority on the UN sustaining its role in the protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms and in furthering international co-operation in disarmament and arms control.
All of the UN's work, however, is seriously jeopardised by the financial crisis which threatens to bring the UN system to a halt. The repeated failure of many member states to pay their assessed contributions in full and on time is undoubtedly the primary cause of this. I stressed in my address to the General Assembly last month that "if all member states were to declare here their intentions to pay assessed contributions in full, on time and without conditions, both for peacekeeping and the regular budget, this single commitment would do more than any other to strengthen the UN's capacity to act effectively."
The extent of the crisis is illustrated by the fact that as of 30 September, the UN was owed approximately US$3.3 billion in outstanding contributions by member states, $0.8 billion of this total in respect of the regular budget and $2.5 billion for peacekeeping. The five largest debtors were as follows:
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United States
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$1.434 billion
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Russian Federation
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$591 million
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Ukraine
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$238 million
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Japan
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$198 million
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South Africa
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$119 million
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An additional indicator of the scale of the problem is that as of the end of last month, Ireland was one of only 67 member states out of a total of 185 to have paid their regular budget assessment for 1995 in full.
As of 13 October, Ireland was owed £11.859 million by the UN in arrears in respect of our participation in peace-keeping operations. No one member state is responsible for the accumulation of these arrears, which arise as follows:
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UNIFIL (Lebanon)
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£10.699 million
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UNFICYP (Cyprus)
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£1.091 million
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Misc. Transport Costs
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£0.069 million
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The arrears are due to a general shortfall in the relevant UN accounts caused by the chronic failure of many member states to pay their dues, and, in particular, their peacekeeping assessments. I raised the question of arrears in my meeting with the UN Secretary-General in New York on 27 September, and my Department is pursuing this issue vigorously with the UN.
