By Haruna Gimba
The General Assembly has approved the budget of the United Nations during plenary where the member states voted on the financial plan.
The General Assembly is the body dealing with UN’s administrative and budgetary matters, known as Fifth Committee.
Health Reporters gathered that 168 cast their ballots in favour of the budget, Israel and United States voted against with no abstentions.
After more than four decades of biennium budgets in approving resources, 2021 marks the second time that the organization is allocating funds in a one-year-fiscal cycle.
Back in October, the UN chief had proposed a programme budget of $2.99 billion, a net reduction of 2.8 percent over 2020.
Secretary-General António Guterres had told the Fifth Committee that despite the pandemic and liquidity crunch, new processes and structures have proven instrumental in enabling the UN to remain open and function effectively.
“We are running this organization from thousands of dining tables and home offices. We worked together to build consensus, exercise prudence and flexibility, at a critical time in history,” General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir told the final plenary of the year.
He reflected on some of the 75 plenary meetings that were convened in the Assembly Hall, including the General Debate, Biodiversity Summit, 31st Special Session in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and high-level meetings on the 25th Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women.
Mr. Bozkir observed that the Assembly’s performance throughout this difficult year was a testament to the high caliber of diplomacy practiced in the Hall, which also encompassed efforts to ensure a more gender-inclusive chamber.
“In 2020, the General Assembly continued to lead on the world stage and fully function, in order to implement its mandates, to meet the needs of the people we serve,” he said.
