Statement by Ambassador Joseph H. Melrose, Acting Representative for Management and Reform, on the Programme Budget Implications of the Commemoration of the Tenth Anniversary of the Durban Conference, in the Fifth Committee, General Assembly

Ambassador Joseph H. Melrose, Jr.
Senior  Advisor to the United Nations 

New York, NY

December 24, 2010

AS DELIVERED

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, my delegation is voting against Section C of this item. As my delegation has stated previously, we continue to have serious concerns about the activity to be funded by this program budget implication (PBI). These were fully articulated in the Third Committee and I will not repeat them here.

In addition, my delegation believes that these costs could have been absorbed without causing the Organization difficulty in fulfilling its other responsibilities and mandates. We regret that we were forced to vote on budgetary issues before the Fifth Committee and that consensus could not be reached on absorbing the costs of this PBI.

Thank you.

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