UNESCO. General Conference; 30th; Records ... - unesdoc - Unesco

were assigned to the Commission. But for the complete understanding and cooperation of all its members, not to
speak of their patience, we would not have been able to do so within the time frame.
8.2 In accordance with the agenda approved by the General Conference on 26 October 1999, 20 items were
considered by the Commission. These concerned the Programme and budget, Methods of work of the
Organization, Financial questions, Staff questions and Headquarters questions. Eighteen meetings were devoted
to the discussion and adoption of recommendations concerning the 20 items and three for the consideration and
adoption of the report of the Commission. A joint meeting of the Administrative Commission and the five
programme commissions on item 3.2 will be held tomorrow, 16 November 1999, with a view to recommending
the final budget ceiling, as well as its breakdown into individual appropriation lines. That meeting will also
transmit the Appropriation Resolution to the General Conference for adoption.
8.3 As decided at the third meeting of the plenary when considering item 1.6 and in accordance with the
procedure followed during the last session of the General Conference, the Commission’s report includes only the
decisions recommended to the General Conference for adoption. Any reservations expressed by the delegates
have been mentioned in all cases. I would like to remind you that the Chairperson of the Administrative
Commission has already presented to plenary reports on item 1.3 (Report by the Director-General on
communications received from Member States invoking the provisions of Article IV.C, paragraph 8(c), of the
Constitution), item 3.2 (Adoption of the provisional budget ceiling for 2000-2001) and item 9.9 (Staff salaries,
Allowances and benefits), so I will not report on these items today. Madam President, the plenary has before it
documents 30 C/66 and 30 C/66 Add. and Corr. which contain the Administrative Commission’s report.
8.4 I will now turn to the report. The first item is item 1.3, Report by the Director-General on
communications received from Member States invoking the provisions of Article IV.C, paragraph 8(c), of the
Constitution. You will recall, Madam President, that the recommendations approved by the Commission have
been presented to the plenary, which adopted them, at its fifteenth meeting on 5 November 1999.
8.5 The next item is item 3.1, Methods of preparing the budget, budget estimates for 2000-2001 and
budgeting techniques. Under this item, the Commission noted that the budgeting techniques and methods
approved by the General Conference at its 29th session had been applied in the preparation of the budget
estimates for 2000-2001. The representative of the Director-General assured the Commission that the Director-
General’s budget proposals - both under zero nominal growth and zero real growth - had been established in
conformity with these budgeting techniques. At the end of the debate, the Commission recommended that the
General Conference adopt the draft resolution contained in paragraph 4 of document 30 C/66, as amended in
document 30 C/66 Add. and Corr.
8.6 I now turn to item 3.2, Adoption of the provisional budget ceiling for 2000-2001. Madam President, I
would like to inform you that the draft resolution recommended by the Commission was adopted by the plenary
at its 13th meeting on 3 November 1999.
8.7 I now move to item 3.3, Consideration and adoption of the Draft Programme and Budget for 2000-2001.
The Commission decided to examine Parts I, IV, V, VI and VII of the budget and of the Appendices to document
30 C/5, in the light of decision 4.1 taken by the Executive Board at its 157th session, which is reproduced in
document 30 C/6 Part II. Accordingly, the Commission decided that, at this juncture, the figures indicated under
Scenario A of document 30 C/5 for Parts I and IV to VII of the budget and in the Appendices should be adopted
by the General Conference, subject to any decisions to be taken by the joint meeting of the Programme and
Administrative Commissions. The Commission also noted that detailed examination of the Approved Programme
and Budget, as modified, would be carried out by the Executive Board at its 159th session.
8.8 With regard to the Participation Programme, the Commission decided to base its discussion on the draft
resolution contained in document 30 C/5, paragraph 11007, document 30 C/54 and Add. and 30 C/DR.42 and
Corr. In replying to a question on the statutes of intergovernmental organizations in relation to the Participation
Programme, the Legal Adviser explained that there was no specific mention of the Participation Programme in
the IGOs’ mandate and that it was up to the General Conference to decide who may benefit from the Participation
Programme. Therefore, the Commission decided that only Member States and INGOs could have access to the
Participation Programme. National NGOs would be included among the requests submitted by Member States. It
was decided to exclude intergovernmental organizations from the Participation Programme. At the end of the
debate, the Commission recommended that the General Conference adopt the draft resolution contained in
paragraphs 6 and 7 of document 30 C/66, as amended in document 30 C/66 Add. and Corr.
8.9 I now turn to item 5.1, Conditions under which the right to vote may be granted on an exceptional basis
to the Member States referred to in Article IV.C, paragraph 8(c), of the Constitution. The Commission welcomed
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