ZCZC
BCN-01
UN-SYRIA-MYANMAR-DIPLOMACY-BUDGET
UN ups 2020 budget, includes funds for war crimes probes
UNITED NATIONS, United States, Dec 28, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The United Nations
General Assembly on Friday adopted a $3.07 billion operating budget which for
the first time includes funding for the investigation of war crimes in Syria
and Myanmar.
The budget represents a slight increase from 2019’s figure of $2.9 billion.
The increase is due to additional missions assigned to the UN Secretariat,
inflation and exchange rate adjustments, according to diplomats.
These include the observer mission in Yemen, a political mission
established in Haiti, the investigation of crimes committed in Syria since
the outbreak of civil war in 2011, and in Myanmar after the 2017 crackdown on
the Rohingya Muslim minority.
For the first time, the budgets for the Syria and Myanmar investigations —
which were previously financed by voluntary contributions — will in 2020 be
transferred to the UN secretariat’s budget and will receive compulsory
contributions from the 193 member states. Russia proposed multiple amendments
during negotiations in the Committee on Budgetary Questions meeting and in
the General Assembly plenary session.
At each vote, Russia, Syria, Myanmar and their supporters, including North
Korea, Iran, Nicaragua and Venezuela, were outvoted. They all stated that
they dissociated themselves from references to investigative mechanisms in
the adopted resolutions.
Russia said it would examine its future obligatory payments in light of the
vote outcome and predicted an increase in the arrears that currently plague
the UN’s treasury due to countries not paying enough.
Moscow argued Friday the investigative mechanism was illegitimate, while
Damascus stressed that it had no mandate from the Security Council.
The UN’s operating budget is separate from the annual budget for
peacekeeping operations of some $6 billion that is adopted in June.
BSS/AFP/SSS/0917 hrs