February 2024 - Next Steps on the Financing of African Peace Support Operations: Unpacking

Similarly, the authority to incur commitments and make payments on the appropriations voted by the General Assembly is vested in the secretary-general.11 Delegation of authority from the secretary-general to the head of a mission is the basis of the framework for authority, command, and control in UN peace operations.12 However, the system of delegation of authority within the UN does not allow fo. [...] The first option is to utilize the subvention option from the 2017 report of the secretary-general.14 Under this option, the secretary-general would not prepare a budget for a PSO for consideration by the General Assembly but would instead inform the General Assembly of the amount of the PSO budget to be financed through assessed contributions. [...] Once the General Assembly appropriates an amount for the subvention, the secretary-general would transfer this amount to the AU Commission, after which it would be the AU Commission Chairperson—not the UN secretary-general—who would be responsible for the management and utilization of the funds, thus affording the AU direct and effective command and control over the PSO. [...] The costs of UN support are significant compared to those included in AU-led PSO budgets.23 If the cost of a support package delivered by a UN entity is considered to be part of the costs of an AU-led PSO for the purposes of implementing paragraph 6, it is likely that over 75% of the total cost of the PSO will already be included in the budget of the UN entity, especially if the support 22 The UN. [...] Although members of the AU Peace and Security Council would have preferred that the entirety of the costs of AU PSOs be financed through UN assessed contributions, the primary responsibility of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security has never represented an obligation of the UN to finance the activities undertaken by regional organizations or ad hoc coalitions.