Attachments
I. Introduction
1. The Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions has considered the report of the Secretary-General on the lessons learned exercise on the coordination activities of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) (A/70/737 and Corr.1). During its consideration of the report, on 31 March 2016, the Committee met with representatives of the Secretary-General, including the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Ebola, who provided additional information and clarification, concluding with written responses received on 10 February 2017.
2. The report of the Secretary-General was submitted in response to General Assembly resolution 69/274 B, in which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to provide, at the first part of its resumed seventieth session, detailed information in the context of his lessons learned exercise, on, inter alia: (a) the coordination activities of the Mission and the Office of the Special Envoy with the wider United Nations system, the Governments of the most affected countries and other actors; (b) the results of his in-depth review of the organizational, administrative and planning aspects, and operations on the ground; and (c) the final performance, including the liquidation and the disposal of the assets of the Mission and the Office of the Special Envoy. The Assembly also requested the Secretary-General to ensure that the disposal of all assets upon the liquidation of the Mission was in accordance with the United Nations regulations and rules.
3. In the same resolution, the General Assembly also welcomed the establishment, on 2 April 2015, of the High-level Panel on the Global Response to Health Crises, which would take into account, inter alia, the recent experience in dealing with the Ebola outbreak, and encouraged the Secretary-General to ensure that the lessons learned exercises were complementary.
4. The Advisory Committee also recalls that, at its request, the Board of Auditors included in its report on the financial statements of the United Nations for 2015 a commentary on the financial and asset management of UNMEER based on a preliminary analysis (A/71/5 (Vol. I), chap. II, paras. 58-68). The Board will provide a more detailed analysis in the context of its report on the financial statements of the United Nations for 2016 (see para. 37 below).
II. Background
5. Information on the events leading up the establishment of the Mission and on its mandate and role is provided in paragraphs 1 to 10 of the report of the Secretary-General. The Mission was established on 19 September 2014 following the adoption of General Assembly resolution 69/1, and closed on 31 July 2015, following a transition period of 5 months initiated in February 2015. The liquidation of UNMEER was completed on 31 August 2015.
6. The Advisory Committee recalls that the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Ebola was mandated to represent the United Nations system and to provide overarching strategic leadership, coordination and guidance, including through consultations with the Member States and other stakeholders, as well as to lead international efforts to mobilize and sustain the necessary political will and strategic resources.
7. UNMEER was mandated to build and maintain a regional operational platform, ensuring the rapid delivery of international assistance against the needs identified in the affected States, lead the Ebola emergency response at the operational level and provide operational strategic direction to the United Nations system, the United Nations country teams and other implementing partners on the ground. The Mission, which was headquartered in Accra, was headed by a Special Representative of the Secretary-General at the Under-Secretary-General level, with an in-country crisis response team headed by an Ebola crisis manager at the Assistant Secretary-General level in each of the three affected countries — Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.