UNMIL budget over $100 million higher than government budget

On August 15 UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sent the seventeenth progress report on UNMIL to the UN Security Council. Below are some of the noteworthy points the report made. Some language is copied directly from the report.

• The UN General Assembly appropriated $603.8 million for the maintenance of UNMIL from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009. This is over $100 million higher than the government’s entire budget for the next fiscal year.
• Higher food prices in Liberia so far have not sparked public demonstrations as they in other countries in the region.
• This is the first time in Liberia’s history that the president’s party does not hold a majority of seats in the legislature. Since the previous progress report, the relationship between the arms of government has improved.
• Based on results of the recent census, the legislature and National Elections Commission have begun consultations to redraw the electoral constituencies.
• Liberia’s GDP increased 9.4% in 2007, reaching $473.9 million, with a per capita income of $195. The economic growth has, to a large extent, been driven by the higher prices of natural resources and the expansion of the service sector.
• At the Poverty Reduction Forum it was recognized that international partners needed to better align with the priorities of the government’s strategy.
• UNMIL continues to provide security to the Special Court for Sierra Leone. UNMIL is making plans to provide its Mongolian military guard force assigned to the Special Court.

The UNMIL Commander honoring Mongolian UNMIL troops stationed at the Special Court for Sierra Leone in Freetown. Picture by Christopher Herwig, from here.

• In the absence of a proper mining cadastral system, there is an increasing possibility of conflict between local artisinal miners and mining concession holders.
• Gold-mining areas are distributing throughout Liberia, and numerous mining camps are located in remote and inaccessible areas. In the absence of other employment alternatives, mining camps attract young males, often ex-combatans, at times maintaining their former command structure.
• The continuing uncertainty in Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea presents a potential threat to stability in Liberia. The slow pace of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process, as well as potential difficulties surrounding the elections scheduled for November in Cote d’Ivoire, are being closely monitored in Liberia.
• Recruitment of women for the Liberia National Police has been difficult. There is only one woman among the officers currently in training, although 16 have applied as candidates for the next batch.
• Of the 176 points of entry into the country identified by the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization, only 36 are considered official.
• A significant challenge to progress in the rule of law is the absence of a coherent strategic plan agreed to by all stakeholders to strengthen the sector.
• The enactment of the Rape Amendment Act in 2006 is still not having a strong impact in stemming high rates of sexual violence. It remains common for State agencies to facilitate negotiated settlements that provide avenues for the agents to gain private financial benefits. Out-of-court settlements also remain common. (The report implies that even out-of-court settlements without state invovlement are bad. Last year I visited an excellent local group in northern Sierra Leone that coordinates a network of paralegals that help develop fair out-of-court settlements, often involving, for example, monitored regular payments to the mother of a child that was born as the result of a rape. When there is no functioning judicial system, I think this is much better than nothing.)
• The joint security assessment teams confirmed that in the majority of the counties there has been no significant change in the security threat level since the last assessment. In a few counties, the security situation has deteriorated. It was only in the north-western counties that the security situation was assessed as relatively benign.
• The Secretary General recommends that from October 2008 to September 2009 UNMIL should reduce its strength by 1,460 military personnel. This is a larger number than anticipated. The current plan would still have 8,100 UNMIL troops in Liberia by December 2010.
• UNMIL is obligated to reinforce the UN Operation in Cote d’Ivoire if necessary.
• The end of the report has a chart showing which countries have contributed military observers, staff observers, troops, and civilian police to UNMIL. The chart included this fun fact: Zimbabwe has contributed 2 military observers and 29 civilian police.