Chapter 1: General Policy And Direction

(All amounts in US$ 000)

Major Programme 1.1: Governing Bodies

(All amounts in US$ 000)

Programme 1.1.1: Conference and Council

(All amounts in US$ 000)

49. The allocation takes into account the reduction of the Conference session from nine to seven days and assumes that there will be no night sessions. It is also assumed that all costs associated with the holding of Round Table sessions will be borne by the respective Technical Departments. Other provisions have been reduced to the bare minimum.

Programme 1.1.2: Conference Services

(All amounts in US$ 000)

50. The permanent loss in staffing in the GIC division would include two GS posts (Correspondence Assistant G-6, Clerk-Typist G-3) in the Correspondence Group and the post of Chief Interpreter (P-5). As a result, the Correspondence Group is bound to face substantial backlogs and delays and the cost of interpretation services may have to be increased, due to the need to outsource these services.

Programme 1.1.3: Protocol Services

(All amounts in US$ 000)

51. This programme is only marginally affected.

Major Programme 1.2: Policy, Direction And Planning

(All amounts in US$ 000)

52. A major change relates to the transformation of the administrative unit hitherto supporting a number of offices in ODG lato sensu (ODGX), in line with the management support arrangements presently in place for Headquarters (HQ) departments since 2000, adapted to the specific characteristics of this group of offices. Hence, a much smaller unit would remain within ODG, basically to provide budget and human resource planning support to these offices. Other administrative tasks, such as for personnel services, would be absorbed by the Management Support Service (MSS) in AFD, as the latter does for HQ departments. This will entail the assignment of budget holder responsibility directly to the various ODG offices.

53. This change would lead to savings through the abolition of four GS posts, which would assist in mitigating the impact of cuts elsewhere. It is recalled that the costs of the former ODGX (the same approach would remain for the smaller unit) were apportioned to the budgetary provisions of the various offices it assisted (entities with code ending with S9).

Programme 1.2.1: Director-General’s Office

(All amounts in US$ 000)

54. The reduction reflects the above-mentioned transformation of ODGX.

Programme 1.2.2: Programme Planning, Budgeting and Evaluation

(All amounts in US$ 000)

55. As evident from the table, the resources for evaluation have not only been “fully protected”, but a substantial increase is made over the ZRG provision in response to the high priority attached by the Governing Bodies. The remainder of the budget for PBE had to be reduced (including the abolition of two Professional posts), besides the lower amount for 122S9 stemming from the transformation of ODGX.

Programme 1.2.3: Audit and Inspection

(All amounts in US$ 000)

56. The provision for External Audit (1.2.3.2) was one of the items afforded “full” protection from the outset. Besides the lower allocation under 123S9, a cut proved necessary under sub-programme 1.2.3.1, but well below the required average reduction of 6.4%. The loss of one GS post would no doubt constrain AUD’s capacity in several areas.

Programme 1.2.4: Legal Services

(All amounts in US$ 000)

57. GS staff support in the Legal Office would have to be reduced through a combination of downgradings and straight abolition (for one G-4 post). In view of the primarily “demand-orientation” of work under this programme, the quality of services is likely to suffer. Again, entity 124S9 reflects the ODGX transformation.

Programme 1.2.5: Programme and Operational Coordination

(All amounts in US$ 000)

58. Particularly in a context of budgetary stringency, there is a continued need to monitor and further improve functional relationships of decentralized offices with HQ, as well as the horizontal working relationships among these offices. As the coordination role of OCD remains critical to ensure coherence of action by a network of decentralized offices spanning 129 countries, no major reduction is made.

Major Programme 1.3: External Coordination And Liaison

(All amounts in US$ 000)

Programme 1.3.1: External Relations and Coordination

(All amounts in US$ 000)

59. The increase under 1.3.1.3 is on account of the significantly higher costs of inter-agency security arrangements (with impact at field level). In view of the small size of the unit (SADN) in charge of 1.3.1.1, it was not feasible to impose any substantial reduction. Entity 131S9 reflects the transformed ODGX, as for all ODG offices hitherto served by this unit.

Programme 1.3.2: Liaison Offices

(All amounts in US$ 000)

60. Again, the relatively small size of the offices budgeted under this programme, the incompressible nature of their functions and their remote locations (which preclude the possible consideration of inter-office transfer options or economies of scale) have implied their being spared mandatory contributions to overall reduction targets, except for small identified savings.