Special political missions
Estimates in respect of special political missions (SPMs) are included in the programme budget as part of section 3 (Political Affairs). For budgetary reasons, SPMs are grouped into three "thematic clusters" of missions:
- Cluster I: Special and personal envoys, advisers and representatives of the Secretary-General
- Cluster II: Sanctions monitoring teams, groups and panels, and other entities and mechanisms
- Cluster III: Regional offices, offices in support of political processes and other missions
Large missions that would ordinarily be grouped into cluster III, including the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), are often presented separately given the size of their budgets.
Summary table
| Year | Chapeau | Cluster I | Cluster II | Cluster III | Other | General Assembly resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | A/73/352 | A/73/352/Add.1 | A/73/352/Add.2 and Corr.1 | A/73/352/Add.3 | A/73/352/Add.4 (UNAMA) and A/73/352/Add.5 (UNAMI) | |
| 2018 | A/72/351 | A/72/351/Add.1 | A/72/351/Add.2 | A/72/351/Add.3 | A/72/351/Add.4 (UNAMA), A/72/351/Add.5 (UNAMI), A/72/351/Add.6 (POE on Mali), A/72/351/Add.7 (Colombia), A/72/351/Add.8 (UNSMIL); A/72/351/Add.9 (UNAMA), A/72/351/Add.10 (UNAMI) |
72/262 (Adds.1-8) 72/262C (Adds.9-10) |
| 2017 | A/71/365 | A/71/365/Add.1 | A/71/365/Add.2 | A/71/365/Add.3 | A/71/365/Add.4 (UNAMA), A/71/365/Add.5 (UNAMI), A/71/365/Add.6 (OSA Burundi), A/71/365/Add.7 and Corr.1 (Colombia); A/71/365/Add.8 and Corr.1 (OPCW-UN JIM), A/71/365/Add.9 (POE DPRK) |
71/272 (Adds.1-7) 71/272B (Adds.8-9) |
Intergovernmental process
The General Assembly, through the Fifth Committee, takes action on estimates in respect of special political missions in the context of its resolutions on special subjects related to the programme budget. SPM budgets are normally considered during the main session (October through December) of the Fifth Committee, and any revised estimates that may arise are generally considered during the second part of the resumed session (May).
Other considerations
Note that the cluster system is a budgetary typology for SPMs. SPMs can be field- or Headquarters-based, and they can be mandated by the General Assembly or Security Council (or established by the Secretary-General following an exchange of letters with the Security Council), but these considerations are not directly linked to the assignment of SPMs into a particular cluster.
Although they share similarities to certain SPMs, the following entities are not part of the SPM subsection of the programme budget and have their own subsections:
- Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO)
- United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU)