UNITED STATES. Indian diplomat Vidisha Maitra has been elected to the United Nations (UN) Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) on Friday. Maitra was strongly supported by the UN member states.
The ACABQ Committee in the United Nations
The Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) is a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly(GA). It consists of 16 members appointed by the Assembly in their capacity. The major function of the Advisory Committee is to examine and report on the budget submitted by the Secretary-General to the GA. Along with that, ACABQ also reports to the GA on the auditors’ reports on the accounts of the UN.
The first secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Maitra holds the official designation of the Deputy Secretary (DS) of the Policy Planning and Research (PP&R) Division.
While referring to Pakistan’s reputation of harboring home-grown terrorists, Maitra said, “Least of all those who have built an industry of terrorism from the ideology of hate,”. Maitra further added that Indian citizens do not need anyone to voice their opinions.”
India’s role in ACABQ
The victory comes as India gets ready to sit in the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member for a two-year term beginning January 2021.
In an open statement, Permanent Representative of India to the UN, TS Tirumuti said, “I am pleased to announce that India’s candidate, Vidisha Maitra has been elected today to UN committee of ACABQ.” I want to extend my gratitude to all member states who have supported us in this crucial election and reposed faith in our candidate.”
Tirumurti asserted that India’s membership of ACABQ was particularly relevant now as the UN budget has come under increasing pressure.
While talking about this in the UN, Tirumuti said, “India has a stellar record of bringing professional auditing experience to the UN and contributing outstanding professionals to UN bodies. Moreover, with India’s rising obligations in both assist as well as voluntary contributions to the UN, we take the responsibility of administrative and budgetary management of the UN’s functioning very seriously.”
He also added that he was confident that Maitra will bring an independent, and gender-balanced perspective to the functioning of ACABQ.
