Progress Towards an Accountability System in the United Nations Secretariat

A/RES/68/264No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 132Review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations, published in 2014.

What other versions does this mandate have?

10 versions · 2012–2023

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/77/280

2023A/RES/77/280Progress towards an accountability system in the United Nations SecretariatLatestCompare with previous version
2020A/RES/74/271Progress towards an accountability system in the United Nations SecretariatCompare with previous version
2019A/RES/73/289Progress towards an accountability system in the United Nations SecretariatCompare with previous version
2018A/RES/72/303Progress towards an accountability system in the United Nations SecretariatCompare with previous version
2017A/RES/71/283Progress towards an accountability system in the United Nations SecretariatCompare 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?

4 topics

Accountability Managers Performance Appraisal Results-Based Management

What does this mandate say?

30 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the third progress report of the Secretary-General on the accountability system in the United Nations Secretariat;Error: Reference source not found

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;

Emphasizes the importance of promoting a culture of accountability, results-based management, enterprise risk management and internal control at all levels in the Secretariat through the continued leadership and commitment of senior managers, and reiterates its request that the Secretary-General take appropriate measures to that end, including the training of relevant staff;

Reiterates the provisions of paragraphs 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17 and 19 of section I of its resolution 66/257;

Stresses the role and responsibility of the Management Committee in promoting and advancing the accountability system as a whole;

Encourages the Secretary-General to continue strengthening and improving the accountability framework by taking advantage of the benefits related to the deployment of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards and Umoja, and requests him to report thereon in the context of the next progress report on accountability;

Reaffirms that results-based management and performance reporting are essential pillars of a comprehensive accountability framework;

Reiterates 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;

Also reiterates the provisions of paragraph 29 of section I of its resolution 66/257 and paragraph 6 (b) of its resolution 67/253;

Welcomes the efforts made by the Secretary-General to implement the results-based management framework at the United Nations in a phased manner, and requests him to implement the recommendations of the results-based-management working group, taking into account the lessons learned and challenges related to the implementation, as referred to in the report of the Secretary-General;

Recalls the recommendations contained in paragraph 16 of the report of the Advisory Committee, as approved by the General Assembly in its resolution 64/259, and reiterates its request to the Secretary-General in this regard;

Also recalls paragraph 11 of its resolution 64/259, and reiterates its request that the Secretary-General identify appropriate methods and tools to portray the efficiency with which the Secretariat undertakes its work;

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to promote a culture of self-evaluation throughout the Organization, to continue to mainstream the use of relevant monitoring and evaluation tools in programme planning and implementation, to continue to provide staff with adequate training, as appropriate, and to include in his report on the implementation of the present resolution information on measures taken in this regard;

Recalls paragraph 7 of its resolution 67/253, notes the progress made by the Secretary-General towards the implementation of enterprise risk management, and urges him to complete the current Secretariat-wide risk assessment as a matter of priority;

Requests the Secretary-General to include the outcome of the Secretariat-wide risk assessment in the next progress report on accountability, including information on the development of risk registers, response plans and a comprehensive risk treatment plan;

Reiterates that compacts and end-of-year assessments are unique accountability tools for senior managers and contribute to transparency in the Organization;

Requests the Secretary-General to consider the inclusion in the senior managers’ compacts of a new standard managerial indicator related to the issuance of official documentation to intergovernmental bodies and General Assembly committees and to report thereon in the context of the next progress report on accountability;

Reiterates its requests to the Secretary-General to take further concrete measures to ensure that the compacts system becomes a meaningful and powerful instrument of accountability, to take actions to address systemic issues that prevent managers from meeting their targets and to report to the General Assembly on the progress achieved in this regard in the context of the next progress report on accountability;

Recalls paragraph 20 of its resolution 66/257 and paragraph 21 of the report of the Advisory Committee,Error: Reference source not found and notes with concern that the current appraisal system lacks credibility;

Also recalls paragraphs 5 and 7 of section I of its resolution 68/252 of 27 December 2013, and looks forward to considering the comprehensive performance management proposal of the Secretary-General under the agenda item on human resources management at the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly;

Further recalls paragraph 15 of the report of the Advisory Committee, encourages the Secretary-General to ensure the full implementation of the zero-tolerance policy of the Organization regarding any kind of sexual exploitation or abuse, and looks forward to its consideration of this matter in the context of the next report on cross-cutting issues related to peacekeeping operations;

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

Welcomes the ongoing efforts and recent initiatives undertaken by the Secretariat to strengthen ethics in the Organization, and urges the timely implementation of the proposed action plan;

Emphasizes the importance of enhancing the processes and responses of the Organization to ensure that it encourages the reporting of serious misconduct, protects whistle-blowers from retaliation and intervenes to prevent retaliation from occurring;

Looks forward to the results and outcomes of the comprehensive review of the regulatory framework for the updating of the Secretary-General’s bulletin on protection against retaliation for reporting misconduct and for cooperating with duly authorized audits or investigations;

Recognizes the importance of criminal accountability of United Nations officials and experts on mission, and reaffirms the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly, which provide the basis for the guidance of the Secretary-General in this regard;

Requests the Secretary-General to take appropriate measures to hold all staff, in particular senior managers, accountable for mismanagement and wrongful or improper decisions and to report cases handled by the Secretary-General and the types of disciplinary measures that have been imposed;

Stresses the need also to address poor decision-making in an effective manner, in particular to reduce such instances by sharing lessons learned and best practices;

Emphasizes that the timely submission of documents is an important aspect of the Secretariat’s accountability to Member States;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at the first part of its resumed sixty-ninth session on the implementation of the present resolution, and decides to keep under review the frequency of future progress reports.

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