Procurement Reform

A/RES/51/231No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 112Review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations, published in 1997.

What other versions does this mandate have?

7 versions · 1997–2008

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/62/269

2008A/RES/62/269Procurement reformLatestCompare with previous version
2007A/RES/61/246Procurement reformCompare with previous version
2005A/RES/59/288Procurement reformCompare with previous version
2003A/RES/57/279Procurement reformCompare with previous version
2001A/RES/55/247Procurement reformCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

11 topics

Administration Auditing Contracts Contractual Services Cost Effectiveness Evaluation Financial Management Manuals Purchasing Tendering Training Programmes

What does this mandate say?

38 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the reports of the Secretary-General on procurement reform1 and the reported actions already taken or in progress to implement the reform measures;

Regrets that more progress has not been made, in particular, in improving the procedures and the cost-effectiveness of the procurement process and in broadening the representativeness of the supplier base;

Welcomes the review by the Board of Auditors of the implementation of the recommendations previously made by the General Assembly in its resolution 49/216 C on measures to improve the procurement process;

Takes note of the observations and recommendations contained in the reports of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,2 and endorses in particular the recommendation that procurement reform should be given the highest priority in the United Nations and its funds and programmes;

Requests the Secretary-General to expedite efforts to develop a single format for the provision of data and a common reporting system for procurement undertaken in the field and at Headquarters under the responsibility of the Secretary-General, in order to produce a complete set of statistics to be included in future reports on procurement to the General Assembly;

Expresses concern that over the last two years eight procurement-related arbitration claims have been instituted against the United Nations, totalling more than 90 million United States dollars, and requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its fifty-second session a comprehensive report on procurement-related arbitration cases, taking into account the obligations of the United Nations under the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law;

Requests the Secretary-General to include in future reports on procurement also information on arbitration cases and the related costs;

Decides to revert to the question of the structure of the Procurement and Transportation Division of the Secretariat and the request of the Secretary-General that the Division be headed by a Director at the D-2 level during its consideration of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 1998-1999;

Requests the Secretary-General to fill the vacant posts relating to procurement as soon as possible;

Notes that there are officers on loan in the Procurement and Transportation Division, and decides to revert to this question during its consideration of the report of the Secretary-General on gratis personnel;

Notes also that a proposal is under consideration to introduce in the United Nations procurement system an incentive regarding equally qualified vendors from Member States;

Welcomes the efforts made to improve coordination within the United Nations procurement system, and encourages the further strengthening of such coordination;

Requests the Secretary-General to take further steps to improve the availability and timeliness, including through electronic access, of information relating to current and forthcoming procurement opportunities;

Welcomes the electronic announcement of United Nations contract awards through Procurement Update, issued by the Inter-Agency Procurement Services Office on the Internet, and encourages the Secretary-General to make further use of this medium;

Requests the Secretary-General to report through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions to the General Assembly at its fifty-second session on the establishment of a standard procedure for the preparation of performance evaluation reports on vendors, in particular those with major contracts;

Expresses its concern about the insufficient use of expertise in procurement planning in eight peacekeeping missions, including the United Nations Protection Force and the United Nations Operation in Somalia, which led to payments for aircraft services not utilized, assessed at 2.4 million dollars in the United Nations Angola Verification Mission and 0.4 million dollars in the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia;

Regrets that, owing to deficiencies in procurement planning and failure to indicate specifications clearly, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees suffered a financial loss of about 3 million dollars;

Requests the Secretary-General to entrust the Office of Internal Oversight Services with the investigation of the situation mentioned in paragraphs 16 and 17 above and to report thereon through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions to the General Assembly at its fifty-second session;

Endorses the concern of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions about the use of suppliers recommended by requisitioners, notes that this practice undermines the principle of segregation of responsibilities between requisitioning and procurement entities, and requests the Secretary-General to discontinue the practice;

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that in no case will a consultant who has been engaged to prepare specifications and to assist in technical evaluation be allowed to recommend vendors for invitations to bid;

Also requests the Secretary-General to redouble his efforts to streamline all aspects of the decision-making process in procurement at Headquarters;

Notes that the local committees on contracts have the authority to consider cases ranging from 50,000 dollars to 200,000 dollars, while the Headquarters Committee on Contracts will consider cases in amounts above 200,000 dollars;

Takes note of the information supplied in paragraphs 93 and 94 of the report of the Board of Auditors, indicating that 48 per cent of suppliers were from one Member State;

Invites Member States to encourage their national suppliers to be registered in the supplier roster;

Requests the Secretary-General to expedite the steps being taken to establish a supplier roster on as wide a geographical basis as possible and to submit a report thereon, including a revised list of suppliers, through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions to the General Assembly at its fifty-second session;

Emphasizes that concerted efforts should be made to identify potential vendors in the developing countries and countries with economies in transition and to increase the representation from those countries in the bidding for and award of contracts, so as to develop a supplier base that is more representative of the membership of the Organization;

Takes note of paragraph 13 of the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,10 and decides to revert to this question during its consideration of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 1998-1999;

Requests the Secretary-General to take immediate action to ensure compliance with the established procedures for procurement, based on international competitive bidding and the widest possible geographical base of procurement;

Appreciates the efforts being made to address the problem of ex post facto cases, in particular for those offices away from Headquarters, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the approval of contracts on an ex post facto basis is kept to the minimum, with full justification for each such case;

Requests the Secretary-General to review the possibility of consolidating the procurement functions at Headquarters and to report thereon to the General Assembly as soon as possible and no later than September 1997;

Also requests the Secretary-General to develop an intensified training programme for all procurement personnel of the Secretariat and all its offices, including field offices of peacekeeping operations, to develop the capacity to dispatch in a timely manner qualified and trained procurement personnel to new or expanded missions and to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-second session on measures taken to enhance the training programme;

Further requests the Secretary-General to establish annual consolidated procurement plans as a part of procurement reform;

Requests the Secretary-General to complete the preparation of a new procurement manual as soon as possible and to provide the necessary training for procurement personnel;

Requests the Board of Auditors to monitor and report on the completion of the new procurement manual in its next report and to monitor closely the implementation of its recommendation that the Procurement and Transportation Division should establish detailed guidelines on methods of invitation to bid covering all aspects of procurement, including open tendering;

Also requests the Board of Auditors to report in the next audit report on peacekeeping operations, in January 1998, on the status of the implementation by the Secretary-General of its recommendations concerning the administration of letters of assist;

Welcomes the reports of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, notes that the Secretary-General concurs with the recommendations of the Office, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure their full implementation;

Notes with concern the observations of the Office of Internal Oversight Services in paragraphs 37 to 42 of its report,4 and requests the Secretary-General to report on the precise action taken in this regard to the General Assembly at its fifty-second session;

Endorses the recommendations contained in the report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services on the audit of Headquarters catering operations,6 and requests the Secretary-General to take action to achieve consistency in policy and practice with regard to catering operations at Headquarters and at Geneva.

Paragraph content is machine-extracted from UN documents. For authoritative content, please refer to the official UN document.

No headings found in this document.

Who created this mandate?

What other versions does this mandate have?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What does this mandate say?

Table of contents