Triennial Policy Review of Operational Activities for Development of the United Nations System

A/RES/53/192View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 95 Operational activities for development, published in 1999.

What other versions does this mandate have?

3 versions · 1996–2002

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/56/201

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2002	A/RES/56/201	Triennial policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system	5,835	23%Compare
1999	A/RES/53/192	Triennial policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system	3,590	21%Compare
1996	A/RES/50/120	Triennial policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations System	3,349	–

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

2 reports · 2001–2004

Year	Symbol	Title		Mandate resolution
2004	A/59/387	Triennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations System conclusions and recommendations : report of the Secretary-General		A/RES/56/201
2001	A/56/320	Triennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system report of the Secretary-General		A/RES/53/192

What subjects does this mandate have?

15 subjects

Capacity Building Country Programmes Development Assistance Economic Cooperation Among Developing Countries Evaluation Funds Gender Equality Humanitarian Assistance National Execution of Projects Operational Activities Programme Evaluation Regional Programmes Resident Coordinators Specialized Agencies Technical Cooperation Among Developing Countries

What’s in this document?

67 operative paragraphs

Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General on the triennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system;²

²A/53/226 and Add.1–4.

Reaffirms its resolutions 47/199, 50/120 and the parts relevant to operational activities for development of its resolution 52/12 B, and stresses the need to implement fully, based on lessons learned, all the elements of these resolutions in a coherent and timely manner, keeping in mind their interlinkages;

Emphasizes that recipient Governments have the primary responsibility for coordinating, on the basis of national strategies and priorities, all types of external assistance, including that provided by multilateral organizations, in order to integrate effectively such assistance into their development process;

Notes the efforts made in order to rationalize and to improve the function and impact of United Nations funds and programmes;

I.A. Reform of United Nations operational activities

Stresses the need for all organizations of the United Nations development system to focus their efforts at the field level on priority areas, in accordance with the priorities identified by recipient countries and the mandates, mission statements and relevant decisions of their governing bodies, in order to avoid duplication and to enhance the complementarity and impact of their work;

Also stresses that, in the context of the reform of the United Nations Secretariat and the restructuring and revitalization of the intergovernmental process, the mandates of the separate sectoral and specialized entities, funds, programmes and specialized agencies should be respected and enhanced, taking into account their complementarities;

B. Funding for United Nations operational activities

Notes with regret that, although significant progress has already been achieved on the governance and functioning of the United Nations development funds and programmes, there has not been, as part of that overall change process, any increase in core resources for operational activities for development on a predictable, continuous and assured basis;

Expresses serious concern at the persistent insufficiency of resources for the operational development activities of the United Nations, in particular the decline in contributions to core resources;

Reaffirms the need for priority allocation of scarce grant resources to programmes and projects in low-income countries, particularly the least developed countries;

Strongly reaffirms that the impact of the operational activities of the United Nations system must be enhanced by, inter alia, a substantial increase in their funding on a predictable, continuous and assured basis, commensurate with the increasing needs of developing countries, as well as through the full implementation of resolutions 47/199, 48/162, 50/120 and the parts relevant to operational activities for development of resolution 52/12 B;

Stresses the need for continuous overall improvement in the effectiveness, efficiency and impact of the United Nations system in delivering its development assistance, and welcomes steps that have been taken towards that end;

Notes with appreciation the sustained contributions of many donors and recipient countries to operational activities for development in a spirit of partnership;

Urges developed countries, in particular those countries whose overall performance is not commensurate with their capacity, taking into account established official development assistance targets, including targets established at the Second United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries and their current levels of contribution, to increase substantially their official development assistance, including contributions to the operational activities of the United Nations system;

Stresses that other countries that are in a position to do so should strive to augment their assistance in the framework of development cooperation;

Notes the importance of non-core resources, including cost-sharing, trust funds and non-traditional sources of financing, as a mechanism to enhance the capacity and to supplement the means of operational activities for development;

Notes the discussions on funding strategies in the executive boards of the United Nations funds and programmes, including, inter alia, the decisions adopted recently by the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Population Fund³ as part of ongoing efforts by Member States to reverse the declining trend in core resources and to put funding for United Nations development activities on a predictable, continuous and assured basis, commensurate with the needs of the developing countries, and in this context urges the expeditious and productive outcome of these and other discussions of the executive boards, and invites the Economic and Social Council to consider, on an annual basis, the overall financial picture of the funds and programmes;

³See DP/1999/2.

C. United Nations Development Assistance Framework

Emphasizes that the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, which is currently in a pilot phase,⁴ should promote a country-driven, collaborative and coherent response by the United Nations system to achieve greater impact at the country level, fully consistent with and in support of national priorities as expressed in the country strategy notes or relevant national development plans, as appropriate;

⁴See A/53/226, paras. 72-77, and A/53/226/Add.1, paras. 88-98.

Stresses the importance of ensuring full government participation in the formulation of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework and its full ownership through the agreement of the recipient Governments concerned to the finalized Framework, bearing in mind that the responsibility for coordination of all assistance and developmental activities rests with the national Government;

Also stresses the need to ensure the full and active participation of the funds and programmes and specialized agencies of the United Nations system in the preparation of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework;

Notes the importance of closer consultation, in the formulation of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, among national Governments, relevant United Nations development agencies, including specialized agencies, and other relevant development partners;

Also notes that the country strategy note remains a voluntary initiative and that where it does not exist, other similar frameworks reflecting national priorities should be used as the basis for the preparation of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, to ensure that the Framework fully responds to national development priorities and needs;

Further notes the role that the United Nations Development Assistance Framework should play to facilitate, inter alia, the contribution of the United Nations to the coordinated follow-up to the major United Nations conferences at the field level and the importance of the common country assessment for the effective formulation of the Framework;

D. Resident coordinator system

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to make the resident coordinator system more participatory in its functioning at the field level by, inter alia, making greater use of thematic groups and adopting a more consultative approach within the United Nations system;

Notes the improvements in the functioning of the resident coordinator system, and encourages further progress in close consultation with national Governments;

Encourages further efforts, including through the United Nations Development Group, to further improve the resident coordinator system, and welcomes the efforts to continue to broaden the base of recruitment of resident coordinators, increasing the number of women resident coordinators and improving its selection criteria and procedures, including through the use of competency assessment and training and by ensuring that the resident coordinators take fully into account the mandates of all organizations of the resident coordinator system;

Reaffirms that resident coordinators, in full consultation with national Governments, should facilitate a coherent and coordinated United Nations follow-up to major international conferences at the field level;

Requests the United Nations system, including the funds and programmes, specialized agencies and the Secretariat, to provide support to the resident coordinator system;

E. United Nations Development Group

Urges the United Nations Development Group to work in a fully transparent and accountable manner towards a more coherent United Nations performance in the development field, while respecting the specific mandates and identity of its members;

II.A. Planning, programming and implementation

Stresses that the needs and priorities of recipient countries require flexibility and decentralization of operational activities to the country level, as well as the continued application of those measures, to enhance further programme responsiveness and impact;

Decides that, with the agreement of the host country, the United Nations development system should assist national Governments in creating an enabling environment in which the links between national Governments, the United Nations development system, civil society, national non-governmental organizations and the private sector that are involved in the development process are strengthened, with a view to seeking new and innovative solutions to development problems in accordance with national policies and priorities;

Calls for the further simplification, harmonization and rationalization of procedures for operational activities of the United Nations development system at the field level, where possible, and developing common databases, in consultation with national Governments;

Urges the funds and programmes to put in place specific measures and timetables to advance the simplification and harmonization of procedures and to report on these to their respective governing bodies;

Also calls for the United Nations development system to promote greater consistency in the presentation of budgets at the headquarters level and, at the field level, the sharing of administrative systems and services;

Emphasizes the need to implement the outcome of the major United Nations conferences through fulfilling the commitments and targets agreed upon at those conferences, and in this context stresses the importance of accelerating efforts for the coordinated follow-up to major United Nations conferences, and in this context welcomes Economic and Social Council decision 1998/290 of 31 July 1998, in which the Council decided to start, on a step-by-step basis, an intergovernmental process on relevant indicators to monitor the implementation of conference outcomes at all levels, and in this context also welcomes the decision to hold an informal Council meeting on this issue in 1999;

Encourages greater cooperation between the World Bank, regional development banks and all funds and programmes, with a view to increased complementarity and better division of labour as well as enhanced coherence in their sectoral activities, building on the existing arrangements and fully in accordance with the priorities of the recipient Government;

Notes the current initiatives in pursuing common premises and the need to take fully into account cost-benefit studies as called for by relevant resolutions, and encourages further implementation of such initiatives, where appropriate, while ensuring that there will be no additional burden imposed on host countries;

B. Capacity-building

Reaffirms that capacity-building and its sustainability should be explicitly articulated as a goal of technical assistance provided by the operational activities of the United Nations system at the country level, with the aim of strengthening national capacities in the fields of, inter alia, policy and programme formulation, development management, planning, implementation, coordination, monitoring and review;

C. Humanitarian assistance

Expresses concern at the growing number of natural disasters and environmental emergencies that often strike countries that lack the resources to cope with them adequately;

Recognizes that the phases of relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and development are generally not consecutive but often overlap and occur simultaneously, and notes the urgent need to develop, through a strategic framework, when appropriate, a comprehensive approach to countries in crisis, and that the development of such a comprehensive approach must involve national authorities as well as the United Nations system, donors and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, and that national authorities must take a leading role in all aspects of the recovery plan, and also notes in this context the need for an early application of developmental tools in humanitarian emergencies, and takes note with appreciation of the recommendations included in the report of the Secretary-General in this regard;1

Stresses that contributions to humanitarian assistance should not be provided at the expense of development assistance and that sufficient resources for humanitarian assistance should be made available by the international community;

D. Regional dimension

Stresses the growing need for incorporating the regional and subregional dimension in United Nations operational activities for development, and encourages the resident coordinators, in close consultation with Governments, to secure greater involvement of the regional commissions, taking into account their agreed mandates and work programmes, in the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, as appropriate;

E. Cross-cutting themes

South-South cooperation/technical and economic

cooperation among developing countries

Requests the United Nations system to take appropriate measures to improve the effective incorporation of technical cooperation among developing countries into their programmes and projects and to intensify efforts towards mainstreaming the modality of technical cooperation among developing countries, including through support to the activities of the Special Unit for Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries, and encourages other relevant international institutions to undertake similar measures;

Stresses that South-South cooperation, including technical and economic cooperation among developing countries, offers viable opportunities for the development of developing countries, and in this context requests the executive boards of the funds and programmes to review, with a view to considering an increase, the allocation of resources for activities involving technical cooperation among developing countries;

Notes with satisfaction the broad-based support for technical cooperation among developing countries expressed by Member States at the twentieth anniversary commemoration of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries;⁵

⁵Report of the United Nations Conference on Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries, Buenos Aires, 30 August–12 September 1978 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.78.II.A.11 and corrigendum), chap. I.

Takes note with appreciation of the recommendations on strengthening the integration of economic and technical cooperation among developing countries contained in the report of the Secretary-General;⁶

⁶A/53/226/Add.1, paras. 35-54.

Gender

Requests the Secretary-General and the United Nations development system to take all measures to ensure gender balance when making appointments, including at the senior level and in the field, in accordance with relevant General Assembly resolutions;

Stresses the need for gender mainstreaming in operational activities of the United Nations system in all fields, in particular in support of poverty eradication;

National execution

Decides that the United Nations system should use, to the fullest extent possible and practicable, available national expertise and indigenous technologies in the implementation of operational activities;

Calls upon all funds and programmes to consider ways to increase, within existing rules and regulations, the procurement of goods and services from developing countries, both as a mechanism to promote South-South cooperation and for enhancing national execution;

Calls for further work on the development of common guidelines at the field level for the recruitment, training and remuneration of national project personnel, including national consultants, in the formulation and implementation of development projects and programmes supported by the United Nations development system, in order to enhance the coherence of the system;

Requests the organizations and bodies of the United Nations system to continue to work on promoting, improving and expanding national execution, including through the simplification and strengthening of relevant procedures, so as to contribute to the advancement of national ownership and to enhance the absorptive capacity in developing countries, in particular in the least developed countries in Africa;

III.Monitoring and evaluation

Recognizes that the monitoring and evaluation process of operational activities, including joint evaluations, should be impartial and independent, under the overall leadership of the Government;

Takes note of the report on pilot evaluation conducted on the impact of operational activities and the need to continue these evaluations with the full and effective involvement of the recipient Government concerned in the process of such evaluation;

Emphasizes the importance of disseminating the experience of effective and efficient cooperation within the United Nations development system;

Underlines the importance of promoting, under the leadership of Governments, greater collaboration on issues relating to evaluation among recipient Governments, the United Nations development system, in particular the members of the United Nations Development Group, and relevant development partners at the country level;

Recognizes, in that context, the need to strengthen capacities of the recipient countries to perform both effective programme, project and financial monitoring and impact evaluations of operational activities funded by the United Nations;

Requests that the United Nations system strengthen its efforts, in consultation with recipient countries, to ensure that the lessons learned from both monitoring and evaluation exercises are systematically applied to programming processes at the operational level and that evaluation criteria are built into all projects and programmes at their design stage;

IV.Follow-up

Reaffirms that the governing bodies of the funds, programmes and specialized agencies of the United Nations system should take appropriate action for the full implementation of the present resolution, and requests the executive heads of those funds, programmes and specialized agencies to submit a yearly progress report to their governing bodies on measures taken and envisaged for the implementation of the present resolution, as well as appropriate recommendations;

Invites the executive boards of the United Nations funds and programmes to ensure that the heads of those funds and programmes include in their annual reports to the Economic and Social Council, prepared in accordance with Council resolution 1994/33 of 28 July 1994, a thorough analysis of problems encountered and lessons learned, with emphasis on issues arising from the implementation of the Secretary-General’s reform programme, the triennial policy review and the follow-up to international conferences, so as to allow the Council to fulfil its coordinating role;

Requests the Secretary-General, after consultation with the funds, programmes and specialized agencies of the United Nations system, to present a progress report to the Economic and Social Council, at its substantive session of 1999, on an appropriate management process, containing clear guidelines, targets, benchmarks and time-frames for the full implementation of the present resolution;

Invites the Economic and Social Council, during the operational activities segment of its substantive sessions of 1999 and 2000, to examine the operational activities of the United Nations system in order to evaluate the implementation of the present resolution with a view to ensuring its full implementation;

Also invites the Economic and Social Council, at its substantive session of 1999, to consider, inter alia, the issues of poverty eradication and capacity-building and, at its substantive session of 2000, to consider, inter alia, harmonization and simplification, including of programming, and resources, on the basis of progress reports by the Secretary-General, including appropriate recommendations;

Decides, as an integral part of the next triennial policy review of operational activities, in consultation with Member States, to conduct an evaluation of the impact of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework in the field of operational activities, and requests the Secretary-General to report, through the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 2001, on the results of such an evaluation, including lessons learned and recommendations made, for consideration by the General Assembly at its fifty-sixth session, and also requests the Secretary-General to report annually to the Economic and Social Council on the United Nations Development Assistance Framework;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its fifty-sixth session, through the Economic and Social Council, a comprehensive analysis of the implementation of the present resolution in the context of the triennial policy review, and to make appropriate recommendations.