text: Budget Committee Takes Up Financing Request of $85.7 Million for UN
  Sudan Mission, to Fund Assistance Provided for January Referendums in Southern
  19 November 2010General AssemblyGA/AB/3971
  to Fund Assistance Provided for January Referendums in Southern Sudan Also Takes Up Additional Financing Needs of Subcommittee on Torture Prevention
  Barely seven weeks away from crucial referendums in Southern Sudan that will determine whether the country will split into two nations, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today considered the Secretary-General�s request for $85.7 million for the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS), as it provides assistance in creating a safe, free and secure voting process.
  The United Nations has already begun to deploy more than 500 temporary workers to the African nation in preparation for the 9 January 2011 referendums in 10states of southern Sudan and the oil-rich Abyei region. �The amount would be added onto the $938 million already appropriated for the Mission during its 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011 financing period. �The Mission�s 2010-2011 budget did not include a provision for the referendums, as Secretariat officials could not accurately determine the costs when the budget was crafted. �The requested $85. million appropriation includes $4.3 million for the Secretary-General�s Panel on the Referenda in the Sudan. �Independent from the Mission, the Panel will serve as a monitoring body to build trust in the polling process and acceptance of its outcomes. �It was established for a six-month period, starting in September 2010, and involved 41 temporary positions.
  Introducing the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), Vice Chairman Collen Kelapile noted that a major component of the request was $27.7 million for air operations and he urged the Assembly to back the Secretary-General�s plan. �Assistant-Secretary General and Controller Jun Yamazaki outlined the financing arrangements for the Mission and the referendums, as he introduced the Secretary-General�s report. �He said the $85.7 million was about 9.1 per cent of the Mission�s approved 2010/11 budget, an amount the Mission did not have the capacity to absorb.
  The Mission�s mandate was established by the Security Council in its resolution 1590 (2005), partly to support the Comprehensive Peace Agreement sealed between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People�s Liberation Movement/Army in January 2005. �In April of this year, the Council extended the Mission�s mandate until 30 April 2011 to support the agreement�s implementation.
  The representative of Sudan said that while the referendums might appear as a technical process to many people, it was much more than that for Sudan. �It would determine the fate and future of a people and a country, and whether it would remain united. �The outcome could produce a major change on the world map, including seating arrangements at the United Nations. �He urged the international community and the United Nations to continue its role and meet its declared commitments.
  Ethiopia�s representative said this final implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was crucial for Sudan�s future stability and security. �He supported the three-member panel to monitor the self-determination referendums for Southern Sudan and the Abyei Area and said success in the Sudan would be very significant for all of Africa. ��By the same token, failure may entail serous catastrophe for the continent. �No doubt, the Sudanese decision, and the manner in which they are carried out, will also reverberate across Africa,� he added.
  In other business, the Committee considered the Secretary-General�s request for additional funds to support the activities of an expanded Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. �With the ratification by the fiftieth State Party to the Protocol to the Convention against Torture, which established the Subcommittee, the membership expanded from 10 to 25 and was slated to hold its first session with expanded membership in February 2011.
  Introducing the Secretary-General�s report on the issue, Sharon Van Buerle, Director of the Programme Planning and Budget Division, said the estimated additional financing needs to support the expanded Subcommittee�s work were $2.2 million for 2011 and $5.6 million for the 2012-2013 budget period. �Mr. Kelapile introduced the Advisory Committee�s report on the issue and noted its reservations.
  The representative of C�te d�Ivoire, speaking on behalf of the African Group, also spoke on the financing of UNMIS.
  The Fifth Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. Wednesday, 1 December, to resume discussion of the first performance report of the Programme budget: �biennium 2010-2011.
  The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) had two reports before it regarding the financing for peacekeeping missions, including a note by the Secretary-General, Financing arrangements for the United Nations Mission in the Sudan for the period from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011 (document A/65/509). �The note, issued on 14 October 2009, asks the Assembly to appropriate $85.7 million to support the referendums scheduled to be held in the Sudan in January 2011. �This amount would be in addition to the $938 million already appropriated for the 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011 period under the provisions of Assembly resolution 64/283.
  With resolution 1919 (2010), the Security Council extended the mandate of United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) until April 2011 and emphasized its lead role in international efforts to provide assistance, as requested, to support the self-determination referendums in Southern Sudan and the oil-rich Abyei area. �The referendums and safe, fair and free voting is critical to the country�s future stability and security, the report states. �The Council established the Mission�s mandate in March 2005, in part to support the Comprehensive Peace Agreement sealed between the Government of Sudan and Sudan People�s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in January 2005.
  The Secretary-General�s report states that the provision of technical, logistical and security advisory