The Assembly, Recalling Article 15 of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization, in particular paragraphs (f) and (g) thereof concerning the functions of the Assembly in relation to the Organization's work programme, budget and financial arrangements, Recalling further resolution A.726(17) of 7 November 1991, by which it approved a revised assessment formula for apportioning the contributions of Member States to the Organization's budget; and adopted amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly concerning enforcement of the payment of contributions, Recalling also resolutions A.1060(28) and A.1061(28) of 4 December 2013, by which it approved the Strategic Plan for the Organization for the six-year period 2014 to 2019 and the High-level Action Plan of the Organization and Priorities for the 2014-2015 biennium, respectively, Noting resolution A.1042(27) of 30 November 2011, by which it approved the Organization's revised Financial Regulations which provide links to be made between the resources required and the results derived from the Organization's Strategic Plan in the preparation of the budget estimates, Noting also the provision in regulation 5.1 of the Financial Regulations concerning the use of the Working Capital Fund to finance approved appropriations pending receipt of contributions, Recognizing also that the funds in the Working Capital Fund could be insufficient to finance the approved appropriations when exceptional and unforeseen circumstances take place pending receipt of contributions, Recognizing FURTHER the provision in regulation 3.8 of the Financial Regulations concerning supplementary estimates and the past practice of the Assembly in authorizing the Council to approve any necessary recalculation of the appropriations for the second year of the biennium, Considering the need to address the funding, without thereby increasing the approved Member States' assessments, of any excess in the appropriations that may be incurred as a result of significant pay rises beyond the assumed rate of pay increases embedded in the calculation of staff costs, 1 Approves the Organization's results-based budget voted for the 2014-2015 biennium, as shown in annex 1 and subject to paragraph A.6 of this resolution, of £64,304,000, comprising an appropriation of £31,686,000 for 2014 and an appropriation of £32,618,000 for 2015; 2 Decides that the appropriation voted above shall be financed by contributions from Member States, subject to paragraph A.6 of this resolution, of £60,232,000, comprising £30,116,000 for each year of the biennium, after deduction of prospective income comprising: (a) reimbursements from the Trading Fund for the costs borne by the regular budget in respect of administrative backstopping support, estimated at £670,000 for 2014 and £684,000 for 2015; (b) income towards programme support costs from donor/trust funds (including multi-donor/trust funds) and the Technical Cooperation Fund, estimated at £750,000 in each year of the biennium; (c) distributions from the in-year surplus of the Trading Fund, estimated at £600,000 for two years, which is to be used for the reduction of Member States' contributions in 2015; (d) regular budget expenditure savings arising in 2012, out of which £318,000 is to be used for the reduction of Member States' contributions in 2015; and (e) miscellaneous income estimated at £150,000 in each year of the biennium; 3 Decidesto establish a Special Contingency Account in the General Fund (hereinafter "the Account") with the following operational modalities: (a) the initial funding of the Account shall be set at £2 million, which shall be secured from the expenditure savings generated in the regular budget in the 2012-2013 biennium; (b) when a pay rise decided by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), on the basis of the established methodology, goes beyond the assumed rates of increase embedded in the appropriation for staff costs, the Secretary-General shall first assess its impact on the regular budget appropriation for the affected years and explore any feasible austerity and efficiency measures to offset or reduce any forecast overrun in such appropriations; (c) if an overrun is deemed inevitable, notwithstanding the Secretary-General's efforts to absorb the excess, the Secretary-General shall place a supplementary budget proposal for the consideration and endorsement of the Council at its first session following the related ICSC decision. In this case, the additional funding required to make up the shortfall in the appropriations shall be financed by the reserves in the Account, not by an increase in assessments to be borne by Member States; and (d) the Secretary-General shall be authorized to incur, even before the Council's approval of the supplementary budget proposal, any unavoidable overrun in the already approved appropriations in order to implement any ICSC-mandated increases without delay, in accordance with the Organization's obligations under the United Nations common system; 4 Approves a total of 32.6 meeting weeks for the biennium, comprising 17.2 weeks for 2014 and 15.4 weeks for 2015, as shown in annex 2, and a total of 265 regular budget posts for the biennium, as shown in annex 3; 5 Authorizes the Secretary-General to draw upon funds in the Trading Fund, the Headquarters Capital Fund, the Termination Benefit Fund and the Technical Cooperation Fund to finance the approved appropriations. Advances made from these Funds to finance budgetary appropriations during a financial period shall be reported to the Council immediately and reimbursed to each respective Fund as soon as, and to the extent that, income is available for that purpose; 6 Authorizes the Council, at its relevant sessions, to review the approved results-based budget and, if it decides it is necessary, to approve any transfers between strategic results, including appropriate recalculation of the budget estimates and assessment figures, in the light of the budgetary and exchange rate situation prevailing at that time; 7 Invites the attention of the Council to the above-mentioned provisions; 8 Requests the Secretary-General to ensure their application while endeavouring to effect the maximum economies in the budget; 9 Requests the Council, should there be any appreciable changes in annual contribution receipts, to undertake a review of the Organization's financial framework and report its outcome to the Assembly.
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