United Nations, July 1 (PTI): The United Nations General Assembly handed down a victory to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon when it decided by consensus to split the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), a move over which several developing nations had shown strong reservations when the proposal was put forward.

Simultaneously, it also approved a record USD 5.25 billion budget for 13 active peacekeeping operations.

After months of wrangling, the 192-member Assembly agreed to create a new Department of Field Support to look after management and logistic under the supervision of an Under-Secretary-General.

The Peacekeeping Department will now concentrate on operations and will also be headed by an Under-Secretary-General.

Under the new structure, the head of peacekeeping will direct the head of field support and that is causing concern among some members and the Assembly asked Ban to explicitly define the role of duties of head of the newly created department.

But it was not unbridled victory of Ban who had argued that splitting DPKO is necessary for efficient functioning of the operations which now employ record 100,000 peacekeepers around the world and their number could go up by another 20,000 if the Darfur mission materialises.

The Assembly approved budget of $ 230.5 million for one year from July one this year for the newly created department and its continuation would depend on evaluation of its efficacy, efficiency and relevance.

Most diplomats agreed that it is unlikely to be scrapped at the end of year.

"That's the way UN functions," a senior diplomat said. Ban had asked for 400 new positions but the Assembly, on the recommendation of its budgetary committee, sanctioned only 284 new temporary posts.

However, a major setback for Ban was rejection by the Assembly of his proposal which would give control over procurement for peacekeeping to peacekeeping operations and decided to keep it under with the Management Department.

The Group of 77 and China, comprising 132 members, had feared that Ban's proposal would reduce their control of the procurement which is a lucrative business for States.

The secretary-general "didn't get everything he has asked for, but substantially it is a very positive resolution," said United Nations chief spokesperson Michele Montas said after the resolution was adopted yesterday.

The worry of the troop contributing countries-- major contributors are developing nations-- is that the bifurcation could lead to lack of coordination which, in turn, could adversely impact on the peacekeepers and their operations.

But Ban sees it as an important part of the reforms process and asserts that it would increase the overall efficiency at a time when the world body is being asked to take on more and more responsibility of peacekeeping.

It would provide a major augmentation of resources to carry out complex tasks, he argues.