CP/RES. 893 (1514/05)

REALLOCATION OF THE EXTRA-BUDGETARY APPROPRIATION APPROVED UNDER CP/RES. 882 (1478/05)
TO DEFRAY PART OF THE FY2005 UNFORESEEN EXPENSES

 (Adopted at its session held on September 30, 2005)

THE PERMANENT COUNCIL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES,

HAVING SEEN document CP/CAAP-2764/05 “Options to Address the 2005 Budget Shortfalls;”

CONSIDERING:

That obligations for the 2005 fiscal year exceed the approved Program Budget by $4,613.600, consisting of: $312,500 in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; $1,252,800 in the Building and Maintenance account; $1,016,200 in the Terminations and Repatriations account; and $2,032,100 in over-extended fellowship commitments;

That in order to finance statutory obligations to the General Secretariat’s staff and remain within the approved budget ceiling, reallocations were made under the 2005 Program Budget;

That, accordingly, the funds appropriated under the 2005 Program-Budget to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission are insufficient to permit it to carry out its statutorily required activities; the funds assigned by that Budget to Building and Maintenance are substantially below the amount required to finance urgently needed capital improvements for the Organization’s buildings and to pay for the rising cost of basic utilities, cleaning, and other essential services, and the lack of resources assigned to the Termination and Repatriation account will cause the General Secretariat to default on its legal obligations;

NOTING:

That on August 23, 2005, the Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs (CAAP) approved the transfer of $624,000 from the Capital Building Fund to reduce the obligations attributable to urgently needed capital improvements for the Organization’s Buildings;

That the $2,000 contributed by the Government of Bahamas to the Fund for Building Improvement, Management Services and Other Urgent Needs, which was created under resolution AG/RES 2157 (XXXV– O/05), has been applied to reduce unforeseen expenses;

That the General Secretariat has allocated $535,800 and $407,800 for a total of $943,600 from savings in unused personnel appropriations to offset unforeseen expenses;

That pursuant to the CAAP’s recommendation, the Permanent Executive Committee of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CEPCIDI) is considering an appropriation of $2,032,100 to cover temporarily the cost of the over-extended fellowship commitments;

That these combined actions reduce the balances necessary to pay the unforeseen expenses from $4,613,600 to $1,011,900 for which the General Secretariat requires budgetary authority under this resolution;

That by CP/RES. 882 (1478/05), the Permanent Council approved an extra-budgetary appropriation of up to $1,720,267 from the Reserve Subfund to finance additional budgetary expenses related to the change of Secretary General and Assistant Secretary General, and that due to economies realized in executing that change, approximately $1,011,900 of that appropriation will not be needed for that purpose;

That although CP/RES. 882 (1478/05) instructed the General Secretariat to return the unused balance of the $1,720,267 appropriation to the Reserve Subfund, the Permanent Council, pursuant to its authority under Articles 72(b) and 101of the General Standards, may reallocate that unused balance to fund the urgent needs of the Organization; and

That the General Assembly has previously waived the provision under Article 72(b) of the General Standards that requires the restoration to the Reserve Subfund of supplementary appropriations approved by the Permanent Council and financed by that Subfund,

RESOLVES:

1. To reassign the unused balance of the supplementary appropriation approved under resolution CP/RES. 882 (1478/05), and not needed for expenses related to the change of Secretary General and Assistant Secretary General, to defray part of the FY2005 unforeseen expenses for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Terminations and Repatriations, and Building and Maintenance.

2. To request the General Assembly at its next regular session to waive the requirement under Article 72(b) of the General Standards which would otherwise require restoration to the Reserve Subfund of the supplementary appropriation expended under resolution CP/RES. 882 (1478/05) and this resolution.

3. To affirm that this resolution does not, in any way, increase the budgetary ceiling approved under resolution AG/RES.2059 (XXXV-O/04) and resolution CP/RES.882 (1478/05).

4. To request the General Secretariat to submit a report to the CAAP on the use of the funds expended pursuant to this resolution by the end of FY2005.