26th Meeting of the Standing Committee -- DOC. SC26-10

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26th Meeting of the Ramsar Standing Committee -- Agenda papers

26^th Meeting of the Ramsar Standing Committee
Gland, Switzerland, 3 - 7 December 2001

Agenda item 14.2

DOC. SC26-10

Review of 2001 core and projects income and expenditure

Action requested: The Standing Committee is requested to receive the report of the Subgroup on Finance concerning:
I. the core budget income and expenditure for the current fiscal year; and
II. implementation of projects managed by the Bureau.

I. Core budget income and expenditure for 2001

1. Attached are the charts showing core budget income and expenditure at 31 August 2001 and a forecast to 31 December 2001.

2. The forecast income and expenditure to 31 December 2001 shows a balanced budget at the end of the year.

3. Concerning expenditure, the main deviation from the approved budget is in Section 1, Staff Costs, due to:

a) an increase in the costs of employment benefits, such as school allowances; and

b) salary changes in relation to: i) payment of cost of living increase for 1999 and 2000 (it had not been paid in 2000 in relation to 1999); ii) adjustments to bring some staff salaries in line with the market value in the Gland/Geneva area; and iii) recognition of exceptional performance reflected in the staff evaluations corresponding to the year 2000.

II. Status of projects managed by the Convention Bureau

4. The attached chart presents a summary report of the financial transactions during the period 1 January – 31 August 2001 related to 28 small projects managed by the Bureau. These are activities for which earmarked contributions have been received. Some of them are on-going activities, such as the Ramsar Advisory Missions and the Small Grants Fund mechanisms; most are one-off activities, such as the publication of a book or the organization of a meeting.

5. The chart provides in the first column a brief explanation of the type of activity. Ramsar Bureau staff will be happy to provide detailed reports on the actions undertaken in the past, or being carried out, under each of the projects. The financial books are also available to provide details about income and expenditure.

Excel financial worksheets showing forecast of core income for 2001 and expenditures at 31 August 2001, with forecast to 31 December 2001

Excel worksheet showing the current status of projects managed by the Ramsar Bureau

For further information about the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, please contact the Ramsar Convention Bureau, Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, e-mail ramsar@ramsar.org). Posted 16 October 2001, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.