Support Account for Peacekeeping Operations

A/RES/63/287View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 132 Administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing of the United Nations peacekeeping operations, published in 2009.

What else is in this group?

38 documents · 1994–2026

Newer documents in this group exist (latest: 2026).

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2026	A/RES/80/240 B	Support account for peacekeeping operations	—	–
2025	A/RES/80/240	Support account for peacekeeping operations	107	–
2025	A/RES/79/298	Support account for peacekeeping operations	1,447	–
2024	A/RES/78/293	Support account for peacekeeping operations	1,354	–
2023	A/RES/77/304	Support account for peacekeeping operations	1,302	–

This group bundles related documents that are not individually ordered.

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report · 2010

Year	Symbol	Title		Mandate resolution
2010	A/65/624	Strengthening the capacity of the United Nations to manage and sustain peacekeeping operations report of the Secretary-General		A/RES/63/287

What’s in this document?

62 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the reports of the Secretary-General on the financing of the support account for peacekeeping operationsError: Reference source not found and on strengthening the capacity of the United Nations to manage and sustain peacekeeping operations,Error: Reference source not found the reports of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee on the proposed budget for the Office of Internal Oversight Services under the support account for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010Error: Reference source not found and on vacant posts in the OfficeError: Reference source not found and the report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services on the audit of the Secretariat’s structure for managing and sustaining peacekeeping operations;Error: Reference source not found

Reaffirms its role in carrying out a thorough analysis and approval of human and financial resources and policies with a view to ensuring the full, effective and efficient implementation of all mandated programmes and activities and the implementation of policies in this regard;

Also reaffirms that the Fifth Committee is the appropriate Main Committee of the General Assembly entrusted with responsibility for administrative and budgetary matters;

Further reaffirms rule 153 of its rules of procedure;

Reaffirms that the support account funds shall be used for the sole purpose of financing human resources and non-human resource requirements for backstopping and supporting peacekeeping operations at Headquarters, and that any changes in this limitation require the prior approval of the General Assembly;

Also reaffirms the need for adequate funding for the backstopping of peacekeeping operations, as well as the need for full justification for that funding in support account budget submissions;

Further reaffirms the need for effective and efficient administration and financial management of peacekeeping operations, and urges the Secretary-General to continue to identify measures to increase the productivity and efficiency of the support account;

Reiterates that the delegation of authority on the part of the Secretary-General should be in order to facilitate the better management of the Organization, but stresses that the overall responsibility for management of the Organization rests with the Secretary-General as the Chief Administrative Officer;

Affirms the need for the Secretary-General to ensure that the delegation of authority to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the Department of Field Support and field missions is in strict compliance with relevant resolutions and decisions, as well as relevant rules and procedures of the General Assembly on this matter;

Stresses that heads of departments report to and are accountable to the Secretary-General;

Requests the Secretary-General, when submitting his budget proposals, to include details of the full annual cost of posts for the subsequent budget;

Also requests the Secretary-General to ensure the full implementation of the relevant provisions of General Assembly resolutions 59/296 of 22 June 2005, 60/266 of 30 June 2006 and 61/276 of 29 June 2007 and other relevant resolutions;

Notes that the overall benefits of the restructuring of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Field Support, remain yet to be fully assessed, and, in this regard, requests the Secretary-General to continue to make every effort to strengthen the capacity of the Organization to manage and sustain peacekeeping operations in the face of their surge in volume and complexity;

Reiterates that the Secretary-General should address systemic issues that hamper good management of the Organization, including by improving work processes and procedures, and, in that context, stresses that structural change is no substitute for managerial improvement;

Stresses the need for the Secretary-General to ensure a strategic and coherent vision when undertaking reform initiatives, and, in this context, emphasizes that any new proposal for reform should fully take into account ongoing and past management reforms;

Emphasizes the importance of preserving the unity of command in missions at all levels, as well as a coherence in policy and strategy and clear command structures in the field and up to and including Headquarters;

Also emphasizes the importance of interaction and coordination with troop-contributing countries;

Further emphasizes the need to ensure the safety and security of United Nations personnel;

Takes note of the report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services,Error: Reference source not found and urges the Secretary-General to ensure the full implementation of the recommendations therein;

Also takes note of the observations and recommendations contained in the report of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee on vacant posts in the Office of Internal Oversight Services,Error: Reference source not found and requests the Secretary-General to fill the vacancies in the Office, in accordance with the existing relevant provisions governing recruitment in the United Nations and the provisions of the present resolution;

Requests the Secretary-General to entrust the Office of Internal Oversight Services to implement the recommendations of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee contained in paragraphs 22 to 29 and 33 to 35 of its report;3

Stresses, in this regard, the importance for the Office of Internal Oversight Services, in its reports on investigations of fraud and corruption in the Organization, to define and make a clear differentiation between the actual value of financial loss to the Organization, if any, and other findings that may not have direct financial implication and the total number and value of contracts investigated, in order to convey an accurate perception of the value of financial loss;

Reiterates the importance of strengthened accountability in the Organization and of ensuring greater accountability of the Secretary-General to Member States, inter alia, for the effective and efficient implementation of legislative mandates and the use of human and financial resources;

Reiterates its regret at the delay in the response of the Secretary-General to its outstanding requests in its resolutions 59/288 of 13 April 2005, 61/246 of 22 December 2006, 61/276 of 29 June 2007 and 62/269 of 20 June 2008, and urges him, as a matter of priority, to submit a report on procurement governance and other issues, as requested in resolutions 61/246, 61/276 and 62/269, with full justification of the reasons for the delay;

Endorses the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,Error: Reference source not found subject to the provisions of the present resolution;

Notes the observation of the Board of Auditors that there is no defined formula to show the relationship between the level and complexity of peacekeeping operations and the level of the support account,⁸ and, in this regard, emphasizes the need to develop a sound approach for determining the proposed support account staffing requirements, so that Member States can make fully informed decisions on resources;

⁸See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-third Session, Supplement No. 5 (A/63/5), vol. II, chap. II, para. 62.

Requests the Secretary-General to review the level of the support account on a regular basis, taking into consideration the number, size and complexity of peacekeeping operations;

Takes note of paragraph 45 of the report of the Advisory Committee,Error: Reference source not found and requests the Secretary-General, taking into account the relevant legislative mandates, to include, in his rejustification of the totality of support account staffing requirements, inter alia, information on and an analysis of the following:

The lead agency, entity, department and/or offices for major strands of activity and the scope of their respective responsibilities;

Comprehensive assessment of the evolution of the support account;

Related human resources funded from the regular budget and other sources of funding, including in other departments of the United Nations Secretariat, resources in field missions and, where relevant, the specialized agencies and funds and programmes;

Impact of the requested resources on the improvement to the administrative and financial management of peacekeeping operations;

All functions covered by the proposed resources other than that of backstopping peacekeeping operations;

The impact of information and communications technology initiatives, including related business process improvements, on the enhancement of productivity and on the level of resources requested;

The outcome of business process improvements;

Lessons learned from recent experience of operating the support account, including on the conversion of general temporary assistance positions;

Recalls section I, paragraph 6, of resolution 55/238, paragraph 11 of resolution 56/241, paragraph 19 of resolution 61/279, and paragraph 22 of resolution 62/250, and requests the Secretary-General to make further concrete efforts to ensure proper representation of troop-contributing countries in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Field Support, taking into account their contribution to United Nations peacekeeping;

Reiterates section III, paragraph 10, of resolution 63/250, and invites the Secretary-General, when appointing officials at the D-1 and D-2 levels in the Departments of the Secretariat that provide backstopping and/or policy guidance to field missions, to fully consider the relevant field experience of the candidates, as one of the highly desirable appointment criteria;

Recalls its resolution 63/280 of 8 May 2009 and decides to establish the Security Sector Reform Unit in the Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions;

Also recalls paragraph 17 of resolution 60/268, and reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to entrust to the Office of Internal Oversight Services the task of refining the methodology for allocating resident auditors, taking also into account the risks and complexity of the operation of individual peacekeeping operations, and to report thereon to the General Assembly;

Stresses that the due process rights afforded to staff under investigation have to withstand review by the system of the administration of justice, including in the context of the establishment of the new system;

Notes with serious concern the decision to advertise vacancies for positions not approved by the General Assembly, and stresses the need for vacancy announcements to be made in accordance with existing relevant provisions governing recruitment in the United Nations and that any changes involving administrative and financial implications shall be subject to the review and approval of the Assembly in accordance with established procedures;

Decides to maintain, for the financial period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010, the funding mechanism for the support account used in the current period, from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009, as approved in paragraph 3 of its resolution 50/221 B of 7 June 1996;

Takes note of paragraph 175 of the report of the Advisory Committee;Error: Reference source not found

Decides not to introduce the proposed structure based on the hub approach at this stage, and decides to designate, as a pilot project, centres of investigation in Nairobi, Vienna and New York from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2012;

Recognizes the value of resident investigators, and decides to maintain resident investigations staff presence in some peacekeeping operations, pending its consideration of the comprehensive report referred to in paragraph 40 below;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit a preliminary report on the status of implementation of the pilot project at the second part of its resumed sixty-fifth session;

Also requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly for consideration, in the context of the 2012/13 support account budget, after full consultations with all relevant stakeholders, integrating in particular the comments and observations of field missions, a comprehensive report on the pilot project, with a view to deciding on a restructuring of the Investigations Division of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, including:

A complete qualitative analysis of the implementation of the three-year pilot project, including the lessons learned;

A clear and transparent presentation of the existing structure and the pilot project structure and their respective coverage of field missions;

A comprehensive cost-benefit analysis, including of the effectiveness and efficiency of the structure of the pilot project based on accurate assumptions, including an analysis of the long-term trend of investigations in field missions;

Fully justified rationale for all deployments of investigations staff and resources and the ability of the Office of Internal Oversight Services to respond to changing caseload requirements;

Complete and updated information on the current staffing, vacancy rate and caseload;

Requests the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions to request the Board of Auditors to conduct an audit of the implementation of the pilot project for the period of 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2012, without prejudice to the role of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee, and to report thereon separately to the General Assembly at the second part of its resumed sixty-sixth session;

Financial performance report for the period from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the financial performance of the support account for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008;⁹

⁹A/63/698 and Add.1.

Budget estimates for the financial period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010

Approves the support account requirements in the amount of 294,030,900 United States dollars for the financial period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010, including 1,182 continuing posts, and 63 new temporary posts contained in annex I to the present resolution, and 83 continuing and 60 new general temporary assistance positions contained in annex II, as well as their related post and non-post requirements;

Financing of the budget estimates

Decides that the requirements for the support account for peacekeeping operations for the financial period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010 shall be financed as follows:

The unencumbered balance and other income in the total amount of 15,056,300 dollars in respect of the financial period ended 30 June 2008, to be applied to the resources required for the financial period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010;

The amount of 7,322,600 dollars representing the excess of the authorized level of the Peacekeeping Reserve Fund in respect of the financial period ended 30 June 2008, to be applied to the resources required for the financial period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010;

The amount of 62,800 dollars representing the excess of the appropriation for the support account requirements in respect of the financial period ended 30 June 2007, to be applied to the resources required for the financial period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010;

The balance of 271,589,200 dollars to be prorated among the budgets of the active peacekeeping operations for the financial period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010;

The estimated staff assessment income of 28,273,500 dollars, comprising the amount of 27,486,900 dollars for the financial period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010 and the increase of 786,600 dollars in respect of the financial period ended 30 June 2008, to be set off against the balance referred to in subparagraph (d) above, to be prorated among the budgets of the individual active peacekeeping operations.

Support account posts to be established for the period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010

Organizational unit | Number of posts | Post level | Department of Peacekeeping Operations | Office of Operations | GTA conversion | 1 | 1 P-5 | Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions | New | 20 | 1 D-1, 1 P-5, 10 P-4, 6 P-3, 2 GS (OL) | GTA conversion | 1 | P-3 | Subtotal | 22 | Department of Field Support | Office of the Under Secretary-General | New | 1 | 1 GS (PL) | Field Budget and Finance Division | New | 2 | 2 P-4 | Field Personnel Division | GTA conversion | 2 | 2 P-3 | Logistics Support Division | New | 7 | 3 P-4, 3 P-3, 1 GS (PL) | Reclassification | 1 P-3 to P-4 | GTA conversion | 1 | 1 GS (OL) | Subtotal | 13 | Department of Management | Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts | New | 2 | 1 P-4, 1 GS (OL) | GTA conversion | 4 | 1 P-4, 3 P-3 | Reclassification | 1 P-3 to P-4; 1 P-4 to P-5 | Office of Human Resources Management | New | 11 | 1 P-4, 5 P-3, 1 P-2, 1 GS (PL), 3 GS (OL) | GTA conversion | 3 | 2 P-4, 1 GS (OL) | Office of Central Support Services | New | 3 | 1 P-4, 2 P-3 | Subtotal | 23 | Office of Internal Oversight Services | Inspection and Evaluation Division | New | 1 | 1 P-4 | Internal Audit Division | New | 1 | 1 P-5 | Subtotal | 2 | Office of Legal Affairs | New | 2 | 1 P-5, 1 P-4 | Subtotal | 2 | Office of the United Nations Ombudsman | New | 1 | 1 P-5 | Subtotal | 1 | Total | 63 | 1D-1, 5 P-5, 23 P-4, 22 P-3, 1 P-2, 3 GS (PL), 8 GS (OL)

Abbreviations: GS (OL), General Service (Other Level); GS (PL), General Service (Principal Level); GTA (General Temporary Assistance).

Support account general temporary assistance positions to be established for the period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010

Organizational unit | Number of positions | Position level | Department of Peacekeeping Operations | Office of Operations | Continuation | 2 | 1 P-4, 1 GS (OL) | Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions | New | 1 | 1 P-3 | Policy, Evaluation and Training Division | Continuation | 8 | 1 P-5, 3 P-4, 3 P-3, 1 GS (OL) | Subtotal | 11 | Department of Field Support | Field Personnel Division | Continuation | 6 | 4 P-3, 2 GS (OL) | New | 13 | 11 P-3, 2 GS (OL) | Field Budget and Finance Division | Continuation | 1 | 1 P-4 | Logistics Support Division | Continuation | 2 | 2 P-3 | New | 1 | 1 P-3 | Subtotal | 23 | Department of Management | Office of the Under-Secretary-General | New | 2 | 1 P-4, 1 GS (OL) | Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts | Continuation | 14 | 5 P-4, 4 P-3, 1 P-2, 4 GS (OL) | Office of Human Resources Management* | New | 22 | 4 P-4, 4 P-3, 2 P-2, 12 GS (OL) | Office of Central Support Services | Continuation | 3 | 3 GS (OL) | New | 4 | 3 P-3, 1 P-2 | Subtotal | 45 | Office of Internal Oversight Services | Investigations Division | Continuation | 2 | New York: 1 P-3, 1 GS (OL) | New | 7 | New York: 1 P-5, 3 P-4, 1 P-3, 2 GS (OL) | Continuation | 14 | Vienna: 1 D-1, 1 P-5, 2 P-4, 7 P-3, 2 GS (OL), 1 GS (PL) | New | 6 | Nairobi: 1 D-1, 1 P-5, 1 P-4, 1 P-3, 2 GS (OL) | Continuation | 10 | Nairobi: 3 P-4, 5 P-3, 2 GS (OL) | Continuation | 12 | MONUC: 1 P-4, 1 P-3, 1 NGS UNMIL: 1 P-4, 2 P-3, 1 NGS UNMIS: 1 P-4, 2 P-3 MINUSTAH: 1 P-4 UNOCI: 1 P-4 | Subtotal | 51 | Office of Legal Affairs | New | 1 | 1 P-4 | Subtotal | 1 | Ethics Office | Continuation | 2 | 1 P-3, 1 GS (OL) | Subtotal | 2 | Office of Information and Communications Technology | Continuation | 7 | 5 P-3, 2 GS (OL) | New | 3 | 1 P-5, 2 P-3 | Subtotal | 10 | Total | 143

*Note: General temporary assistance positions equivalent to 2,018,900 dollars (before the application of the approved vacancy rates).

Abbreviations: GS (OL), General Service (Other Level); GS (PL), General Service (Principal Level); NGS (National General Service); MONUC (United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo); UNMIL (United Nations Mission in Liberia); UNMIS (United Nations Mission in the Sudan); MINUSTAH (United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti); UNOCI (United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire).