CP/RES. 882 (1478/05)

REQUEST FOR FUNDS TO FINANCE EXTRABUDGETARY EXPENSES RELATED TO THE CHANGE OF SECRETARY GENERAL AND ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL

 (Adopted at its session held on April 27, 2005)

THE PERMANENT COUNCIL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES,

CONSIDERING:

That, through AG/RES. 1974 (XXXIII-O/03), the General Assembly authorized the Permanent Council to approve an amount not to exceed US$2.5 million from the Reserve Subfund to finance extrabudgetary expenses associated with the change of administration, including the transition at the end of the Secretary General’s term and the installation of a new Secretary General in 2004;

That on May 5, 2004, the Permanent Council approved the use of US$2.5 million in supplementary appropriations from the Reserve Subfund to finance extrabudgetary expenses associated with the change of administration;

That the Secretariat presented a preliminary report to the Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs on March 21, 2005, which indicates that of the budgetary authorization of US$2.5 million, $1.8 million was spent and that there remains an uncommitted balance in the amount of US$711 thousand, which will be returned to the Reserve Subfund;

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT:

That on May 2, 2005 the election of a new Secretary General will be held at OAS headquarters and that a new Assistant Secretary General will be elected at the next regular session of the General Assembly to be held on June 5-7, 2005;

That the Secretariat needs to have budgetary authorization to finance the extrabudgetary expenses to be incurred in connection with the change of the two officials;

That the difficult financial situation of the Secretariat demands austerity across all budgetary line items; and

That in the program-budget approved for 2005, the General Secretariat has no authorization to defray the costs of the advance team and other expenditures related to the assumption in Office of a new Secretary General-Elect and a new the Assistant Secretary General,

RESOLVES:

1. To approve a supplementary appropriation from the Reserve Subfund to finance additional budgetary expenses related to the projected change of administration, in an amount not to exceed US$1,720,267, in accordance with the budget presented by the General Secretariat, attached to this resolution.

2. To request the General Assembly to waive the requirement of Article 72 of the General Standards to replace in the Reserve Subfund such amounts appropriated by the Permanent Council pursuant to this resolution.

3. To authorize the General Secretariat to obligate such supplementary appropriations until June 30, 2006 and to return any unused appropriations to the Reserve Subfund.

4. To request the General Secretariat to take all measures necessary to remain within or below the approved budget.

5. To request the General Secretariat to submit quarterly progress reports to the Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs on the use of the supplemental appropriation.

APPENDIX  I

Estimated Extrabudgetary Expenses Associated with

the Change of Secretary General and Assistant Secretary General

APPENDIX II

Official Residence

Necessary Non-recurring Structural Repairs and Replacements

The funds authorized in 2005 for the official Secretary General’s residence are used to pay for utilities (electricity, water, telephone, etc.), a maintenance contract (landscaping), routine repairs, and supplies. The funds authorized to the official residence have been decreasing over the years (see Table 1 below)

In FY 2004, the official residence incurred the following expenses:

The reduced budget authorization, as well as increasing costs, leaves very little room to perform necessary non-recurring structural repairs, and replacements in the official residence and its annex. The landscaping maintenance contract alone for 2005 is $10,355.05, equivalent to almost 30% of the budget authorization for this year.

Thus, in order to perform the necessary repairs and replacement indicated below, a one-time supplemental authorization of $52,000 is required: