United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Executive Board

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1 ex United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Executive Board Hundred and fifty-fifth Session 155 EX/30 PARIS, 17 August 1998 Original: French Item 7.6 of the provisional agenda REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL, IN CO-OPERATION WITH THE HEADQUARTERS COMMITTEE, ON THE RENTAL OF OFFICES IN BUILDING V SUMMARY In accordance with 29 C/Resolution 82(II), the Director-General hereby submits a report to the Executive Board on the rental of offices in Building V. Decision required: paragraph In accordance with 29 C/Resolution 82, paragraph 5, in which the General Conference requests the Director-General, in co-operation with the Headquarters Committee, to update and apply existing criteria and to make arrangements to meet, to the extent possible, Member States requests concerning the rental of offices in Building V, the Secretariat has taken a number of measures, in co-operation with the Headquarters Committee, to allow a greater number of Permanent Delegations to be housed in Building V (Miollis). 2. In the same resolution, the General Conference strongly urges the Member States concerned to discharge their obligations by paying their rent and related expenses at the appropriate time, and requests the Director-General, in co-operation with the Headquarters Committee, to submit to the Executive Board at its 155th session a report on this matter, together with the various possible solutions to the problem of recovering arrears. 3. The present document reports on the measures taken or envisaged with respect to the above two matters, it being understood that the review of the rental system applied to the Permanent Delegations of Member States will be studied separately, in co-operation with the Headquarters Committee. It is planned to present the results of this study in the form of a

2 155 EX/30 - page 2 proposal to the Executive Board at its 156th session, which would allow a revised system to come into effect as of 1 January Since 1989, the Miollis building has been primarily reserved for the Permanent Delegations of Member States, which at present occupy a total surface area of 6,349 m 2 (including the Delegates Circle and meeting room). Non-governmental organizations provided with offices at UNESCO Headquarters are also housed in this building, and occupy a total surface area of 1,127 m 2 (including the NGO Secretariat-Liaison Committee). Five intergovernmental organizations occupy a total surface area of 364 m 2, while a number of offices allocated for specific purposes, for example the mediators, the UNESCO Staff Savings and Loans Service (USLS), etc., occupy a total surface area of 427 m Annex I contains an updated list of all the Permanent Delegations currently occupying offices in the Miollis building (as at July 1998). Since the latest allocation in April 1998 (to the Comoros, Saint Lucia and Albania), 103 delegations have offices in the Miollis building. 6. As the list in Annex I shows, the surface area occupied by each delegation varies considerably. Fifteen delegations occupy a surface area of more than 100 m 2 each, while other delegations, particularly the newcomers, have in most cases one or two offices each (one office unit = 14 m 2 ). 7. It should be noted that at the present time there are 13 delegations on the waiting list, of which five still have no office at Headquarters and eight have requested additional offices. 8. During the biennium, the Headquarters Committee considered whether the existing rental system should be modified to cater better for the needs of Member States. A proposal was submitted to the Director-General on 12 February 1997 to lower costs for the smallest delegations by offering the first office to each delegation free of charge and raising the rent proportionally for all additional offices. The Director-General subsequently asked the Headquarters Committee to study the reform of the rental system as applied to the Miollis building in greater depth. This matter will be taken up by the Headquarters Committee during the second half of The Secretariat will submit to the Committee the various options for the reform of the rental system, including proposals for a more equitable distribution of the offices assigned to the Permanent Delegations. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) 9. NGOs currently occupy a total surface area of 1,127 m 2, which represents 13.8 per cent of the Miollis building. Arrangements have existed for a considerable time to enable UNESCO s major official non-governmental organization partners to benefit, under certain conditions, from the use of office space in Headquarters buildings. 10. The Directives concerning UNESCO s relations with non-governmental organizations, adopted by the General Conference at its 28th session (28 C/Resolution 13.42) specify that: as far as is possible, office accommodation may be provided on the most favourable terms for those organizations [maintaining formal associate relations] with which it is particularly necessary for the Secretariat to keep in constant touch for the implementation of UNESCO s programme (Section I, para. 8.3(b)(iii)). Furthermore, Section III, paragraph 1.3.1, specifies that the premises and secretariat facilities necessary for the meetings of the [International] Conference [of NGOs] and for the work of the Standing Committee shall, as far as possible, be provided free of charge by the Director-General. These provisions are the same as under the previous Directives (1961) relating to the allocation of offices to NGOs in former category A.

3 155 EX/30 - page 3 The contribution represented by the provision, free of charge, of premises currently occupied by 14 NGOs can be estimated at FF 1,598,086/year (including 63 m 2 for the NGO Secretariat), which corresponds to the rental value of the offices calculated on the basis of the same scale as for the Permanent Delegations. Document 28 C/COM.I/INF.2, submitted to the General Conference at its 28th session, contains information on the differences between the old and the new Directives. 11. As regards finance, the Financial and material arrangements for co-operation with nongovernmental organizations adopted by the Executive Board at its 149th session and amended at its 154th session (decision 7.3, para. 7) pursuant to Section IV, paragraph 4.1, of the Directives concerning UNESCO s relations with NGOs stipulate (Section B, para. 3.1): The Director-General may, in accordance with Section I, paragraph 8.3(b)(iii) of the Directives, place office accommodation at the disposal of eligible NGOs ( ). It should be noted that the most favourable terms referred to in the Directives have always taken the form of free office accommodation, including charges. The NGOs concerned are, however, responsible for all costs relating to communications, mail, etc. The possibility of charging rent to such NGOs is not foreseen, since it would be tantamount to transferring the corresponding amount from the regular programme funds contributed by UNESCO to the NGOs concerned for the implementation of activities under the Framework Agreements or other contracts concluded with them to the Headquarters Utilization Fund, with no net gain to the Organization s overall budget. 12. The current state of occupancy reflects the facilities granted to a limited number of NGOs under the former 1961 Directives. Some of the organizations concerned (highlighted in Annex III to this document) no longer have the type of relations required under the new Directives to continue to benefit from these arrangements. The Director-General is currently consulting the organizations concerned, as well as the NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee, in order to find an alternative solution to the current allocation of offices. Furthermore, an effort is being made to encourage the NGOs concerned to find alternative solutions for archive space, as is being asked of all Secretariat services. On the other hand, it is possible that one or two NGOs entitled to office space, but not currently occupying any, might make such a request in the near future. On balance, however, it is expected that a small number of office units will be vacated in the course of the coming months. This matter was raised at the meeting of the Committee on International Non-Governmental Organizations of the Executive Board at its 154th session. In liaison with the Headquarters Committee, the Director-General will, after being apprised of the various concrete solutions that could be envisaged and following his consultations with the organizations concerned, take his decisions, including precise details of any office-sharing formula that might be adopted. Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) 13. There are also a number of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) with which UNESCO co-operates and has concluded formal agreements, which have offices at Headquarters (see Annex II), for which they pay rent at the same rates as the Permanent Delegations. Any change in these arrangements would need to be carried out in consultation with these organizations. It should be noted in connection with the offices currently occupied by the Paris Office of the International Labour Organization (ILO) on the fourth floor of the Miollis building that one office has already been vacated and that the Secretariat has initiated discussions with ILO to arrange for its departure before the end of 1998 to other premises that will be sought in collaboration with the French authorities. This will result in the remaining 15 offices being vacated. Office accommodation is granted free of charge to the United

4 155 EX/30 - page 4 Nations University (UNU) as part of an intra-united Nations exchange system, under which UNESCO is provided inter alia with free office accommodation at the United Nations for its Liaison Office in New York. Recovery of arrears of rent 14. For some time now the recovery of arrears of rent from some Permanent Delegations has been a serious problem. While most delegations regularly discharge their obligations, the fact remains that for some years now a small number of delegations have accumulated quite considerable debts and that efforts by the Secretariat to recover them have been largely unsuccessful. The problem has become more acute over the last two years, when the Headquarters Utilization Fund has been called upon to finance certain exceptional measures at a time when the actual recovery of rental charges for Building V, which make up the main source of income of the Fund, was unsatisfactory. 15. As at 30 April 1998, the arrears in the payment of rent by Permanent Delegations (including debts for other services) totalled FF 4,864,072 (approximately US $800,000). Of this amount, a little over FF 2 million was owed by delegations that were less than six months behind in their payments, which is a tolerable delay. The other debts, totalling FF 2,812,311, relate to 33 delegations, although almost all of this amount, i.e. FF 2,540,540, is owed by 12 Permanent Delegations, the other 21 delegations owing much more modest sums. It is the recovery of the arrears owed by these 12 delegations which has been the main problem for some years and to which a solution needs to be found. The matter was examined by the Headquarters Committee, which requested the Director-General to apply the rules in force more strictly. The 12 delegations in question occupy a total of 329 m 2 in Building V, which is equivalent to 23½standard offices. Of these 12 delegations, five occupy only the minimum surface area of one office (14 m 2 ). One delegation occupies six standard offices. 16. Attempts have already been made to reach agreements with these delegations on the payment of their arrears, but so far with very little success. The Secretariat sent these delegations a further reminder in August 1998, pointing out that it had become urgent to settle these longstanding debts and that the matter would be brought before the Executive Board at its 155th session, in accordance with 29 C/Resolution 82 of the General Conference. They were requested to settle their debts as soon as possible, and by 16 October 1998 at the latest, and were informed that, in the absence of a settlement or at least the establishment of a payment plan drawn up in consultation with the Secretariat, Clause 2.2 of the contract might be applied to them, namely: This contract shall be terminated ipso facto, without previous notice, if the lessee does not pay the charges, as defined in Clause 4.1 and Clause 4.2 below, within a period of six months from the times of payment indicated in Clause 5 of this contract, and the premises may then be allocated by the Director-General of UNESCO to other Permanent Delegations to UNESCO. To date this clause has not been applied. 17. In order to extricate the Headquarters Utilization Fund from its present situation, arising from the substantial amounts it is owed, the Executive Board is requested to rule on the measures to be taken vis-à-vis delegations that have not regularized their situation satisfactorily by the opening date of the 155th session of the Board. 18. In the light of the foregoing, the Executive Board may wish to examine the following draft decision with a view to adopting it:

5 155 EX/30 - page 5 The Executive Board, 1. Having examined document 155 EX/30, 2. Recalling 29 C/Resolution 82 (Section II, paras. 5 and 6) in which the General Conference requests the Director-General, in co-operation with the Headquarters Committee, to make arrangements to meet, to the extent possible, Member States requests concerning the rental of offices in Building V and strongly urges the Member States concerned to discharge their obligations by paying their rent and related expenses at the appropriate time, 3. Appreciates the measures taken by the Director-General to ensure an equitable redistribution of the offices in Building V among the Member States and all the official partners of the Organization; 4. Regrets that the position in regard to the settlement of arrears in the payment of rent has not improved; 5. Expresses its concern at the burden imposed by delays in the payment of arrears on the resources of the Headquarters Utilization Fund, which is already under strong pressure; 6. Endorses the approach proposed by the Director-General in document 155 EX/30 with regard to the recovery of arrears; 7. Once again invites the Member States concerned to discharge their obligations by proposing a payment plan for the settlement of their arrears; 8. Requests the Director-General, in conjunction with the Headquarters Committee, to continue: (a) (b) his consultations with all the parties concerned by the occupancy of offices in Building V; the efforts that he is making with the Member States concerned to recover the arrears, and to report to it, at its 156th session, on the progress achieved in these matters.

6 155 EX/30 Annex I ANNEX I PERMANENT DELEGATIONS Charges: 1, FF Renov.: FF Base: 1, FF per m 2 per annum Country Area (m 2 ) Annual rent (FF) Office(s) Albania 14 19, Algeria , , 1.14, 1.15, 1.16, 1.17, 1.18 Angola 56 79, , 1.28, 1.29, 1.30 Argentina , , 7.03, 7.04, 7.05, 7.06, 7.07, 7.08, 7.09, 7.10 Austria , , 7.13, 7.14, 7.24, 7.25, 7.26, 7.29 Bahrain 35 49, , 2.12 Bangladesh 14 19, Belarus 21 29,778 S1.08, S1.09 Belize 14 19, Benin , , 4.02, 4.03, 4.04, 4.05, 4.06 Bolivia 35 49, , 2.06, 2.07 Brazil ,632 R.06, R.06bis, R.07, R.08, R.09, R.10, R.11, R.12, R.13, R.14, R.15, R.16, R.17, R.18, R.19 Bulgaria 49 69, , 5.44, 5.45, 5.46 Burkina Faso 28 39, , 7.32 Cameroon 35 49, , 2.02, 2.03 Canada , , 8.28, 8.29, 8.30, 8.31, 8.32, 8.33 Cape Verde 14 19, Central African Republic 35 49,630 S2.39, S2.40 Chad 21 29,778 S2.24bis, S2.25

7 155 EX/30 Annex I - page 2 Country Area (m 2 ) Annual rent (FF) Office(s) Chile , , 1.02, 1.03, 1.04, 1.05, 1.06, 1.07 China , , 7.19, 7.20, 7.21, 7.22, 7.23 Colombia , , 4.28, 4.29, 4.30, 4.31, 4.32, 4.33 Comoros 21 29,778 S2.32bis, S2.33 Congo 14 19, Costa Rica 42 59,556 S2.26, S2.27, S2.28 Côte d Ivoire , , 5.37, 5.38, 5.39, 5.48, 5.49 Croatia 14 19, Cuba 49 69, , 6.34, 6.35, 6.36 Cyprus 14 19, Czech Republic 35 49, , 8.48, 8.49 Democratic People s Republic of Korea Democratic Republic of the Congo 35 49,630 S2.35, S , , 6.44, 6.45, 6.46 Denmark 42 59, , 3.03, 3.04 Dominican Republic 49 69,482 S1.55, S1.56, S1.57 Ecuador 63 89, , 5.23, 5.24, 5.25, 5.26 Egypt , , 5.14, 5.15, 5.16, 5.17, 5.18 El Salvador 28 39, , 4.23 Ethiopia 28 39, , 7.28 Finland 42 59, , 3.06, 3.07 France , , 8.15, 8.16, 8.17, 8.18, 8.19, 8.20, 8.21, 8.22, 8.23, 8.24 Gabon 63 89, , 8.08, 8.09, 8.10, 8.11 Georgia 14 19, Germany 28 39,704 S1.17, S1.18, S1.19

8 155 EX/30 Annex I - page 3 Country Area (m 2 ) Annual rent (FF) Office(s) Greece , , 2.31, 2.32, 2.33, 2.34, 2.35, 2.36, 2.37, 2.38, 2.39 Holy See 35 49, , 5.20 Honduras 28 39,704 S2.14, S2.15 Hungary 49 69, , 8.43, 8.44, 8.45 India , , 1.36, 1.37, 1.38, 1.39, 1.40, 1.41, 1.42 Indonesia , , 1.20, 1.21, 1.22, 1.23, 1.24, 1.25, 1.26 Iran, Islamic Republic of , , 5.05, 5.06, 5.07, 5.08, 5.09, 5.10, 5.11, 5.12 Iraq 56 79, , 6.40, 6.41, 6.42 Italy , , 3.13, 3.14, 3.15, 3.16, 3.17, 3.18, 3.19, 3.20, 3.21, 3.22, 3.23, 3.24, 3.25, 3.26 Japan , , 8.02, 8.34, 8.35, 8.36, 8.37, 8.38, 8.39, 8.40, 8.41, 8.42 Jordan 21 29, , 6.49 Kazakhstan 14 19, Kuwait 56 79,408 S1.11, S1.12, S1.13, S1.14 Lebanon , , 6.04, 6.05, 6.06, 6.07, 6.08 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , , 5.31, 5.32, 5.33, 5.34, 5.35 Lithuania 28 39, , 1.11 Malaysia 70 99, , 7.39, 7.40, 7.41, 7.42 Mauritania 35 49,630 S2.69, S2.70 Mexico , , 7.42bis, 7.43, 7.44, 7.45, 7.46, 7.47, 7.48, 7.49 Monaco 14 19, Morocco 49 69, , 3.09, 3.10, 311

9 155 EX/30 Annex I - page 4 Country Area (m 2 ) Annual rent (FF) Office(s) Nepal 21 29, , 6.02 Niger Free 19, , Nigeria ,964 S1.62, S1.63, S1.64, S1.65, S1.66, S1.67, S1.68 Norway 21 29, Oman , , 2.16, 2.17, 2.18, 2.19, 2.20, 2.21 Pakistan 63 89, , 2.41, 2.42, 2.47 Panama 35 49, , 5.02, 5.03 Paraguay 7 9,926 S2.42 Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine 49 69, , 2.44, 2.45, 2.46 Peru 42 59, , 3.41, 3.42 Philippines 28 39, , 3.46 Poland 28 39, , 1.49 Portugal , , 2.14, 2.22, 2.23, 2.24, 2.25, 2.26, 2.27, 2.49 Qatar 56 79, , 4.16, 4.17, 4.18 Republic of Korea , , 3.28, 3.29, 3.30, 3.31, 3.32, 3.33, 3.34, 3.35, 3.36, 3.37, 3.38, 3.39, 3.47, 3.48, 3.49 Romania 42 59,556 S1.15, S1.16 Russian Federation 63 89,334 S1.21, S1.22, S1.23, S1.24 Saint Lucia 21 29,778 S2.34 Saudi Arabia , , 6.28, 6.29, 6.30, 6.31, 6.32 Senegal Free 69, , , 6.11, 6.26 Sierra Leone 14 19,

10 155 EX/30 Annex I - page 5 Country Area (m 2 ) Annual rent (FF) Office(s) Slovakia 21 29, Spain , , 6.13, 6.14, 6.15, 6.16, 6.17, 6.18, 6.19, 6.20, 6.21, 6.22, 6.23, 6.24 Sri Lanka 42 59, , 2.09, 2.10 Sudan 21 29, Sweden 56 79, , 7.16, 7.17, 7.18 Switzerland 70 99, , 4.11, 4.12, 4.13, 4.14 Syrian Arab Republic 35 49, , 8.13 Togo 14 Free 8.03 Tunisia , , 1.09, 1.43, 1.44, 1.45, 1.46, 1.47 Turkey ,890 S1.59, S1.60, S1.61, S1.69, S1.70, S1.71, S1.72 Ukraine 35 49,630 S1.09, S1.10, S1.20 United Arab Emirates 63 89,334 S1.51, S1.52, S1.53, S1.54 United Kingdom 42 59, , 4.20, 4.21 Uruguay 56 79, , 7.35, 7.36, 7.37 Venezuela ,742 S2.13, S2.16, S2.17, S2.18, S2.19, S2.20, S2.21, S2.22 Yemen 49 69, , 5.28, 5.29 Yugoslavia 49 69, , 5.41, 5.42 Zimbabwe 21 29, Delegates Circle 140 Free R.48, R.49, R.50, R.51, R.52 Delegates room 28 Free 8.25, 8.26 Total Delegations Free Paid for 6, ,111 9,002, ,484 8,665,398

11 155 EX/30 Annex II ANNEX II INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS Charges: 1, FF Renov.: FF Base: 1, FF per m 2 per annum IGO Area (m 2 ) Annual rent (FF) Office(s) ALECSO 42 59,556 S1.45, S1.46, S1.47 CARICOM 28 Free 4.09, 4.10 ILO , , 4.36, 4.37, 4.38, 4.39, 4.40, 4.41, 4.42, 4.43, 4.44, 4.45, 4.46, 4.47, 4.48, 4.49 Latin Union 21 29, , 2.29 UNU 63 Free 1.31, 1.32, 1.33, 1.34 Total IGOs Free Paid for , , ,114

12 Non-governmental organizations Type of relations ANNEX III Area in m 2 (Miollis) Location International Association of Art (IAA) OPE 56 S1.03, S1.04, S1.04bis, S1.05 International Association of Universities (IAU), including the Joint Documentation Centre International Council for Film, Television and Audiovisual Communication (IFTC) ASC 203 S2.41, S2.43 to S2.52, S2.54, S2.55 Number of offices PRV (Building VII ) (3) Regular or permanent occupancy (number of persons) International Dance Council (CIDD) PRV 14 S International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE) International Music Council + Musicians International Mutual Aid Fund (IMC + MIMAF) ASC 14 S ASC 70 S2.57, S2.58, S2.59, S2.60, S2.68 Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS) CNS 28 S1.06, S International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies (ICPHS + DIOGENE) ASC 98 S1.40, S1.41, S1.42, S1.43, S International Social Science Council (ISSC) ASC 84 S2.61 to S /6 International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) ASC (Building VII ) (1) World Federation of UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations (WFUCA) International Council for Engineering and Technology (ICET)/UITA + WFEO International Council of Museums (ICOM) (including the Joint Documentation Centre) ASC 42 R.22, R ASC 98 S2.53, S1.25 to S1.30 (7B1.11, 7B1.12) 7 (9) 5 ASC 210 R.24, R.30 to R International Scientific Council for Island Development (INSULA) OPE 21 S International Theatre Institute (ITI) ASC 49 S1.01, S Co-ordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service (CCIVS) CNS 77 S1.36, S1.37, S1.38, S NGO Secretariat - Liaison Committee 63 S Grand total 1, Key: ASC = formal associate relations OPE = operational relations CNS = formal consultative relations PRV = provisional operational relations

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