Towards an Accountability System in the United Nations Secretariat

A/RES/64/259View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 130Review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations, published in 2009.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

10 topics

Accountability Administrative Reform Definition Internal Oversight Management Information Systems Managers Performance Appraisal Recruitment Results-Based Management Risk Management

What does this mandate say?

33 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;1

Endorses the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,2 subject to the provisions of the present resolution;

Reaffirms its role with regard to the structure of the Secretariat, and stresses that proposals to amend the overall departmental structure, as well as the format of the programme budget and the biennial programme plan, are subject to its review and prior approval;

Requests the Joint Inspection Unit to submit to the General Assembly, for consideration at the main part of its sixty-seventh session, a comparative analysis report on various accountability frameworks in the United Nations system;

Reaffirms its commitment to strengthening accountability in the United Nations Secretariat and the accountability of the Secretary-General to Member States and the achievement of results, and urges the Secretary-General to further strengthen consultation with the oversight bodies with a view to ensuring accountability in the Secretariat;

Stresses the importance of promoting a culture of accountability, results-based management, enterprise risk management and internal controls at all levels in the Secretariat through the continued leadership and commitment of senior managers, and requests the Secretary-General to take appropriate measures to this end, including, inter alia, the training of relevant staff;

Also stresses, as one of the essential components of accountability, the importance of compliance with the Charter of the United Nations, its resolutions and the regulations and rules;

A.Definition of accountability and roles and responsibilities

Decides that accountability shall be defined as follows:

Accountability is the obligation of the Secretariat and its staff members to be answerable for all decisions made and actions taken by them, and to be responsible for honouring their commitments, without qualification or exception.

Accountability includes achieving objectives and high-quality results in a timely and cost-effective manner, in fully implementing and delivering on all mandates to the Secretariat approved by the United Nations intergovernmental bodies and other subsidiary organs established by them in compliance with all resolutions, regulations, rules and ethical standards; truthful, objective, accurate and timely reporting on performance results; responsible stewardship of funds and resources; all aspects of performance, including a clearly defined system of rewards and sanctions; and with due recognition to the important role of the oversight bodies and in full compliance with accepted recommendations.

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to draw on lessons learned, experience and expertise from the United Nations programmes and funds and other United Nations entities when developing the accountability system of the United Nations Secretariat;

B.Performance reporting

Recalls paragraph 9 (b) of its resolution 63/276 and section II.B of the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,2 and requests the Secretary-General, in future budget performance reports, to make efforts to provide a greater degree of analysis of data on the utilization of resources and to include subsequent trends over past budget periods in order to make the performance reports a more useful accountability and monitoring tool for Member States;

Also recalls paragraph 25 of the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,2 and requests the Secretary-General to identify appropriate methods and tools to portray the efficiency with which the Secretariat undertakes its work;

C.Implementation of the recommendations of oversight bodies

Emphasizes the importance of the full and timely implementation of the recommendations of oversight bodies, and stresses, in this regard, the role of the Management Committee for monitoring and ensuring that accepted recommendations are followed up and implemented in a timely manner, and the need for transparency in the work of the Committee;

D.Personal and institutional accountability

Emphasizes the importance of establishing and fully implementing real, effective and efficient mechanisms that foster institutional and personal accountability at all levels;

Recalls section I, paragraph 4, of its resolution 63/250 of 24 December 2008, and requests the Secretary-General to analyse the impact of his proposed human resources management reform measures on personal accountability;

Requests the Secretary-General to propose concrete and comprehensive measures to strengthen personal accountability at all levels within the Secretariat, based on the definition of accountability as outlined in paragraph 8 above; and its link with institutional accountability towards Member States on results achieved and resources used;

Also requests the Secretary-General to further improve the managers’ evaluation system, and to clearly identify the critical linkages between institutional and personal accountability through the senior managers’ compacts, and the performance appraisal system of all staff below the level of Assistant Secretary-General, and to establish proper accountability mechanisms for under-performance at all levels;

Further requests the Secretary-General to further develop and take appropriate measures to hold staff accountable for mismanagement and wrongful or improper decisions and to strengthen efforts to increase recovery actions by those convicted of fraud in the Organization;

Notes the measures taken by the Secretary-General to improve assessment of each senior manager’s performance, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the weaknesses identified by the Management Performance Board are fully and appropriately addressed;

E.Selection and appointment of senior managers

Recalls the conclusion of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions in paragraph 28 of its report,2 and in this regard requests the Joint Inspection Unit to submit a report on possible measures to further enhance transparency in the selection and appointment process of senior managers at the main part of its sixty-sixth session, to be considered in conjunction with the report on the implementation of the present resolution referred to in paragraph 33 below;

F.Reform of the performance appraisal system

Notes with concern the delay in the implementation of Inspira and its impact on the ability of the Secretary-General to provide a comprehensive reform effort regarding performance management, emphasizes the need for its timely implementation, and further stresses that the value added by such systems is dependent on its effective utilization by staff to achieve the intended results;

G.Delegation of authority

Recalls paragraph 36 of the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,2 and requests the Secretary-General to urgently address the continued deficiencies in the current delegation of authority system through the promulgation of well-defined roles and responsibilities of individuals at all levels to whom authority is delegated, the systemic reporting mechanisms on monitoring and exercise of delegated authority and actions to be taken in cases of mismanagement or abuse of authority;

H.Implementation of the results-based management framework

Reaffirms paragraphs 7 to 9 of its resolution 55/231;

Requests the Secretary-General to take appropriate measures to accelerate the implementation of results-based management, taking into account paragraph 43 of the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions;2

Stresses that results-based management will require the Organization to create a sustained focus on results, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to take concrete measures to achieve a cultural change throughout the Organization;

Notes that the effective implementation of results-based management requires the sustained and focused engagement by senior management, and in this regard encourages the Secretary-General to assign the responsibility for the successful implementation of results-based management methodology throughout the Secretariat to a relevant member of his senior management team, and to communicate this assigned responsibility to all stakeholders as a matter of priority;

Stresses the need to focus on attaining results within approved mandates, which is ultimately the responsibility of the Secretary-General;

Reaffirms its commitment to improving the effectiveness of the operational capacity of the Secretariat by the use of results-based management;

I.Results-based management information system

Requests the Secretary-General to include in his report referred to in paragraph 33 below the results of his consultations to be undertaken with other entities that have implemented the enterprise resource planning systems to derive lessons learned regarding the contribution made by such systems to strengthening accountability, and concrete measures to strengthen managerial commitment in this regard for the better utilization of the system;

Also requests the Secretary-General to include in his report referred to in paragraph 33 below concrete measures taken to ensure managerial commitment to utilize the full potential of the enterprise resource planning project in all aspects of the performance of the Organization, including strengthening individual and institutional accountability;

J.Enterprise risk management and internal control framework

Emphasizes that the risk management should be dynamic, that it is the inherent responsibility of staff at all levels in the Secretariat, and that each department is accountable for the risk assessment in the delivery of its respective mandate;

Regrets the absence of an effective and integrated internal control framework, which is a serious gap in the existing accountability system, and requests the Secretary-General to work on enhancing the current capabilities in the Secretariat responsible for risk assessment and mitigation and internal control, on the basis of the recommendations in paragraphs 49 and 50 of the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions2 and annex II to the report of the Secretary-General;1

K.How the current and proposed accountability mechanisms in the Secretariat would have addressed the flaws in the management of the United Nations oil-for-food programme

Requests the Secretary-General, building on lessons learned as outlined in section K of his report,1 to include in his report referred to in paragraph 33 below concrete measures to prevent potential conflict of interest in the current process governing procurement, and measures aimed at improving recovery actions;

Reporting

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at the main part of its sixty-sixth session on the implementation of the present resolution.

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