Peacekeeping: UNGA 5th Committee agrees on budgets; Italy, goal is more efficiency in today’s complex challenges

NEW YORK, JULY 4 – Under the leadership of the Australian delegation, the 5th committee of the General Assembly concluded negotiations on budgets of all the peacekeeping operations.

After two months of negotiations and many sleepless nights, Italy contributed to the final resolutions with the goal to make peacekeeping “more effective, fit for purpose and able to respond to today’s complex challenges”, the Italian delegation said on Twitter. In 2018 Italy contributed 3.74 % to the total budget. The Fifth Committee agreed on further cuts to the budgets, taking action to improve the UN’s financial situation in a moment of unprecedented cash crisis (The situation is so bad that the Secretary-General looked into selling his residence in Sutton Place to provide liquidity).

Member states agreed on 65 million dollars in cuts on top of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) proposed 54 million dollars reduction to the UN chief’s initial budget request of  about 6.6 billions fr peacekeeping. Before the agreement Bloomberg reported that the US, China, and Russia had agreed to a reduction of approximately 80 millions.

According to the Center for Civilian in Conflict, the cuts may affect  peacekeeping missions deployed in complex conflicts like the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, and South Sudan in even more precarious positions. (@OnuItalia)