Scale of Assessments for the Apportionment of the Expenses of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations

A/RES/67/239View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 145 Scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of the United Nations peacekeeping operations, published in 2013.

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 subjects

Financing National Income Peacekeeping Operations South Sudan Statistical Methodology

What’s in this document?

27 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General1 and of the updated composition of levels of contribution for peacekeeping operations for the period from 2013 to 2015 contained therein;³

³Ibid., annex II.

Reaffirms the following general principles underlying the financing of United Nations peacekeeping operations:

The financing of such operations is the collective responsibility of all States Members of the United Nations and, accordingly, the costs of peacekeeping operations are expenses of the Organization to be borne by Member States in accordance with Article 17, paragraph 2, of the Charter of the United Nations;

In order to meet the expenditures caused by such operations, a different procedure is required from that applied to meet expenditures under the regular budget of the United Nations;

Whereas the economically more developed countries are in a position to make relatively larger contributions to peacekeeping operations, the economically less developed countries have a relatively limited capacity to contribute towards peacekeeping operations involving heavy expenditures;

The special responsibilities of the permanent members of the Security Council for the maintenance of peace and security should be borne in mind in connection with their contributions to the financing of peace and security operations;

Where circumstances warrant, the General Assembly should give special consideration to the situation of any Member States which are victims of, and those which are otherwise involved in, the events or actions leading to a peacekeeping operation;

Also reaffirms that assessment rates for the financing of peacekeeping operations should be based on the scale of assessments for the regular budget of the United Nations, with an appropriate and transparent system of adjustments based on the levels of Member States, consistent with the principles outlined above;

Further reaffirms that the permanent members of the Security Council should form a separate level and that, consistent with their special responsibilities for the maintenance of peace and security, they should be assessed at a higher rate than for the regular budget;

Reaffirms that all discounts resulting from adjustments to the regular budget assessment rates of Member States in levels C through J shall be borne on a pro rata basis by the permanent members of the Security Council;

Also reaffirms that the least developed countries should be placed in a separate level and receive the highest rate of discount available under the scale;

Further reaffirms that the statistical data used for setting the rates of assessment for peacekeeping should be the same as the data used in preparing the regular budget scale of assessments, subject to the provisions of the present resolution;

Reaffirms the decision to create levels of discount to facilitate automatic, predictable movement between categories on the basis of the per capita gross national income of Member States;

Decides that South Sudan should be assigned to level I for 2011 and 2012;

Notes that, pursuant to its resolution 47/217 of 23 December 1992, the assessment of South Sudan for the Peacekeeping Reserve Fund will be calculated by the application of its first rate of assessment for peacekeeping operations to the authorized level of the Fund;

Decides that, as from 1 January 2013, the rates of assessment for peacekeeping should be based on the ten levels of contribution and parameters set forth in the table below:

Level | Criterion | Threshold in United States dollars (2013–2015) | Discount (percentage) | A | Permanent members of the Security Council | Not applicable | Premium | B | All Member States, except those covered below and level A | Not applicable | 0 | C | As listed in the annex to General Assembly resolution 55/235 | Not applicable | 7.5 | D | Member States with per capita gross national income less than 2 times the average for all Member States (except level A, C and J contributors) | Under 16,676 | 20 | E | Member States with per capita gross national income less than 1.8 times the average for all Member States (except level A, C and J contributors) | Under 15,009 | 40 | F | Member States with per capita gross national income less than 1.6 times the average for all Member States (except level A, C and J contributors) | Under 13,341 | 60 | G | Member States with per capita gross national income less than 1.4 times the average for all Member States (except level A, C and J contributors) | Under 11,674 | 70 | H | Member States with per capita gross national income less than 1.2 times the average for all Member States (except level A, C and J contributors) | Under 10,006 | 80 (or 70 on a voluntary basis)a | I | Member States with per capita gross national income less than the average for all Member States (except level A, C and J contributors) | Under 8,338 | 80 | J | Least developed countries (except level A and C contributors) | Not applicable | 90

a Member States in level H* have a discount of 70 per cent.

Encourages States Members of the United Nations at all levels to move up voluntarily in their level of contribution;

Welcomes with appreciation the commitment of certain Member States to undertake voluntarily to contribute to peacekeeping operations at a rate higher than required by their per capita income;

Recalls its decision that, at any time during the scale period, a Member State may make a voluntary commitment to contribute at a rate higher than its current rate by informing the General Assembly through the Secretary-General, and the Assembly may take note of that decision;

Reaffirms that Member States will be assigned to the lowest level of contribution with the highest discount for which they are eligible, unless they indicate a decision to move to a higher level;

Also reaffirms that, for purposes of determining the eligibility of Member States for contribution in particular levels during the 2013–2015 scale period, the average per capita gross national income of all Member States will be 8,338 United States dollars and the per capita gross national income of Member States will be the average of 2005 to 2010 figures;

Further reaffirms that transition periods of two years will apply to countries moving up by two levels, and that transition periods of three years will apply to countries moving up by three or more levels without prejudice to paragraph 15 above;

Reaffirms that transitions as specified above will occur in equal increments over the transition period as designated above;

Endorses the updated composition of levels to be applied in adjusting regular budget scale rates to establish Member States’ rates of assessment for peacekeeping operations for the period from 2013 to 2015;⁴

⁴A/67/224/Add.1, annex.

Requests the Secretary-General to continue updating the composition of the levels described above on a triennial basis, in conjunction with the regular budget scale of assessment reviews, in accordance with the criteria established above, and to report thereon to the General Assembly;

Recognizes the need to reform the current methodology for apportioning the expenses of peacekeeping operations;

Decides to review the structure of the levels of the scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of United Nations peacekeeping operations, during its seventieth session.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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