UNITED NATIONS (AFP)--The U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday approved a nearly 17% hike in the world body's current 2008-2009 budget to $4.87 billion.
After overnight deliberations, it endorsed recommendations from its budgetary panel for the increase to $4.87 billion from $4.17 billion, including $449 million for funding the joint U.N.-African Union mission in Sudan's war-wracked Darfur for the first six months of 2009.
The increased allocation for UNAMID is based on a revised deployment plan and projected expenditures totaling roughly $1.5 billion for the period July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009.
Last week, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said only 60% of what is mandated to be a 26,000-strong UNAMID will be deployed by the end of this year and 85% by next March to try to end more than five years of deadly civil strife in the Sudanese western region.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Ban hailed the approval of the additional budgetary resources and administrative measures by the General Assembly.
He noted that the decision "enhances the United Nations' ability to better respond to the needs of the organization."
The assembly set the $4.87 billion budget figure as a guideline in preparing the 2010-2011 budget which will be discussed during the next General Assembly session, starting in September 2009.
The U.N. budget is funded with contributions from the organization's 192 member states based on their respective ability to pay, taking into account factors such as national income, population and level of debt.
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Publié le 24 Décembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones