Below is a statment provided by the Permanent Mission of Eritrea to the United Nations about the election of Mr. Tesfa Alem Seyoum to the United Nation’s Advisory Comittee on Aministrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ)
Eritrea won comfortably a seat at the ACABQ of the United Naitons on Friday, 9 November 2012. After receiving the majority of vote among African candidates, the Eritrean dipolmat, Mr. Tesfa Alem Seyoum, Deputy Permanent Representative of the State of Eritrea to the United Nations (UN), has been elected to take one ot the two ACABQ seats representing Africa for a three-year tem, starting 1 January 2013.
Mr. Seyoum had earlier received the endorsements of the Eastern Africa Sub-Region and the African Group of Ambassadors in New York and finally of the African Union Council of Ministers in Addis Ababa in July 2012.
During the elections held in the Fifth Committee of the UN General Assembly on 9 November 2012 the tight race among five African candidates (Benin, Botswana, Eritrea, Kenya, and Senegal) for the two African seats on a 16-member Advisory Committee went for two rounds of voting by secret ballot.
In the first round, the Eritrean cadidate, Mr. Tesfa Alem Seyoum, came out first obtaining 90 votes, and in the second round he managed to increase his lead to 107 votes out of 182 countries present and voting.
Mr. Babou Sene of Senegal won the other African seat on the committee with 99 votes in the second round. Candidates required a simple majority of the present and voting to be elected.
ACABQ, a subsidary body of the UN Gerneral Assembly, is a powerful UN comittee, which plays a crucial role in helping the Fight Committee to examine the organization’s budget and numerous management initiatives put forth by the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Mr. Seyoum, an accountant by training, is a highly regarded professional and a career diplomat with over 40 years of distinguished service, both public and diplomatic arenas, including as Accounts and Budget Analyst for Africa with an internaitonal organization from Nairobi.
He has served his country as Executive Director of the Eritrean Relief Committee from New York in the earlier years of his career. After the independence of Eritrea, Mr. Seyoum was assinged in different ranks including as First Secretary, Counselor and Deputy Permanent Representative of Eritrea to the UN for the las 19 years.
The experince and knowledge he has acquired on administration and budget matters will be a great asset to the work of the ACABQ in the making of our United Naitons more responsive , efficient and effective for the common good. **
