UNESCO. General Conference; 36th; 36 C/5: volume 1: Draft ...

Introduction by the Director-General
I
have the honour to present hereby to Member States the Draft Programme and Budget for 2012-2013
(36 C/5) with a budget envelope of US $685.7 million representing a zero real growth (ZRG) over
the 35 C/5. This is the first Programme and Budget document which I have prepared as Director-
General of UNESCO. It is aligned with the broader strategic and global priorities and objectives set out
in the Approved Medium-Term Strategy for 2008-2013 (34 C/4), including the two global priorities
Africa and gender equality. In drawing up the Draft 36 C/5 I have closely followed Executive Board
decision 185 EX/Decision 17, which sets out the programming principles and a comprehensive
framework for the programme priorities and other components of the Draft 36 C/5.
As an important part of this process, I have striven to provide for the most effective and rational use
of financial resources, and to make real savings on administrative costs. Overall, the programme and
budget seeks to maximize the impact of the Organization at the global, regional and national levels,
concentrating on the most relevant activities.
While building the Draft 36 C/5 on a zero real growth basis, as I had proposed to the Board at its
185th session, I nevertheless applied a diversified and modulated approach. My principal objective has
been to propose a strengthening of the activity budget of all Programme Sectors over and above the
full recosting, thus reflecting real reinforcement above the zero-real growth approach, while keeping
administrative areas well below zero real growth. As a result, you will see real growth in the all-important
Major Programmes of the Draft 36 C/5 and improvements in the ratio between programme and
support services and, internally, improvements in the ratio between programme and administration. In
so doing, I have followed the request of the General Conference to explore possibilities for reallocating
resources from other Parts of the Programme and Budget to strengthen Part II.A.
When you discuss the budget ceiling of the 36 C/5, I would appeal to you to take this structural shift
into account – as it is a rare occasion, indeed, that the programmatic activities of the Organization
receive additional resources, as so often requested by the Executive Board and the General Conference.
Without zero real growth this will simply not be possible. Moreover, I was able to keep the administrative
parts of the 36 C/5 at a lower level, also as a result of efficiency gains due to restructuring measures and
merging of functions. I am determined to pursue continuous efficiency gains in all support functions.
In my view, this Draft 36 C/5 will establish a solid base for the Organization to deliver on its broad
range of mandates – and in response to your expectations. It will enable us to vie for, and indeed
assume, the lead role in a number of areas where you have mandated that we bring to bear our skills
and competencies more assertively and with more concrete results leading to greater impact. The Draft
36 C/5 sets out in clear terms where the new emphasis and direction will be.
UNESCO is increasingly at the forefront of multilateral action. The Draft 36 C/5 is geared to the
achievement of the internationally agreed development goals (IADGs), including the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), while also preparing the ground for our action beyond 2015, the date for
the attainment of those goals. To this end, the document takes into account the Outcome document of
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