Chinese envoy urges UN Secretariat to strengthen comprehensive peacekeeping budgetary performance

UNITED NATIONS, May 1 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday called on the UN Secretariat to strengthen the comprehensive peacekeeping budgetary performance.

"The Secretariat should continue to strengthen the comprehensive budgetary performance and improve internal control, so as to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of peacekeeping operations," Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told the second part of the resumed session of the Fifth Committee of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly.

"As the largest single budget of this organization, the budget for peacekeeping operations runs into billions of dollars. China always supports the Fifth Committee's efforts to review the budget under the science-based and prudent principle, and to provide necessary resources for peacekeeping operations to fulfill their mandates," he said.

"We note the relatively large increase in the peacekeeping budget proposed by the secretary-general for the 2023/2024 fiscal year, which may raise financial burdens for member states, many of which have concerns over," said the envoy.

"It is a shared view that the peacekeeping budget should be reviewed carefully and comprehensively. China supports the Board of Auditors in fully playing its role as an external audit body to provide valuable recommendations on improving budgetary management. We support the UN to reimburse troop/police contributing countries in a timely manner," he added.

On China's contributions, Dai said that ever since the first time China dispatched its formed military unit of Blue Helmets to UN peacekeeping operations, "we have sent more than 50,000 peacekeepers to peacekeeping operations over the past 30 years, and have set up an 8,000-strong peacekeeping standby force. China takes practical actions to actively fulfill the obligations and shoulder the responsibilities to maintain international peace and security."

The ambassador further noted that peacekeeping missions "should use resources effectively to implement core mandates," adding that at present, peacekeepers are facing increasing challenges and threats to their safety and security with instabilities rising in different regions.

Dai noted that as the largest troop contributor among the five permanent members of the Security Council, and the second largest financial contributor for UN peacekeeping operations, "China expresses its serious concern in this regard."

"We hope that the UN will strictly implement the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly, allocate adequate resources, and accurately assess and effectively remove all risks threatening the life of peacekeepers, so as to achieve further progress of the peacekeepers security agenda," he said.

"The agenda item of Investing in Prevention and Peacebuilding has been deferred three times since the discussion began last year," he said. "China attaches great importance to peacebuilding and we have been actively engaged in and proposed a constructive solution that complies with the current UN budgetary and financial regulations and rules."

"We are of the view that the regulations and traditions in UN management areas should be fully respected. The historical responsibility of developed countries as major donors to peacebuilding financing cannot and should not be changed," he said.

"When using assessed contributions for peacebuilding, it is imperative to respect the supervisory rights of member states accordingly. This is a shared concern of many member states including China, and should be treated with due regard and addressed prudently," said the ambassador.