Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly

A/RES/70/305View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 120Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly, published in 2015.

What other versions does this mandate have?

20 versions · 1992–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/79/327

2025A/RES/79/327Revitalization of the work of the General AssemblyLatestCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/77/335Revitalization of the work of the General AssemblyCompare with previous version
2021A/RES/75/325Revitalization of the work of the General AssemblyCompare with previous version
2020A/RES/74/303Revitalization of the work of the General AssemblyCompare with previous version
2019A/RES/73/341Revitalization of the work of the General AssemblyCompare with previous version

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

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

A dot marks an entity citing this document in its “Mandates and background” narrative rather than only its Legislative mandates list. Many do both.

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

2 topics

Appointment of Officials Organizational Change

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2017.

2017A/71/780Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

71 operative paragraphs

Welcomes the report of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly and the updated inventory of Assembly resolutions on revitalization annexed thereto;5

Takes note with appreciation of the multilingual web page devoted to the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly, accessible directly from the United Nations website, which exists in all six official languages, and invites the Secretariat to continue updating regularly and equally that web page and its substantive content in a cost-effective manner;

Decides to establish, at its seventy-first session, an ad hoc working group on the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly, open to all Member States:

To identify further ways to enhance the role, authority, effectiveness and efficiency of the Assembly, inter alia, by building on the progress achieved in past sessions as well as on previous resolutions, including evaluating the status of their implementation;

To submit a report thereon to the Assembly at its seventy-first session;

Also decides that the Ad Hoc Working Group shall continue its review of the inventory of General Assembly resolutions on revitalization annexed to the report of the Ad Hoc Working Group submitted at the seventieth session and, as a result, continue to update the inventory to be attached to the report to be submitted at the seventy-first session of the Assembly;

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General, and requests the Secretary-General to submit an update on the provisions of the General Assembly resolutions on revitalization addressed to the Secretariat for implementation that have not been implemented, with an indication of the constraints and reasons behind any lack of implementation, for further consideration by the Ad Hoc Working Group at the seventy-first session;

Role and authority of the General Assembly

Reaffirms the role and authority of the General Assembly, including on questions relating to international peace and security, in accordance with Articles 10 to 14 and 35 of the Charter of the United Nations, where appropriate, using the procedures set forth in rules 7 to 10 of the rules of procedure of the Assembly, which enable swift and urgent action by the Assembly, bearing in mind that the Security Council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, in accordance with Article 24 of the Charter;

Recognizes that implementation of General Assembly resolutions, including those related to the revitalization of its work, enhances the role, authority, effectiveness and efficiency of the Assembly, and underlines the important role and responsibility of Member States in their full implementation;

Reaffirms that the relationship between the principal organs of the United Nations is mutually reinforcing and complementary, in accordance with and with full respect for their respective functions, authority, powers and competencies as enshrined in the Charter, as demonstrated through the joint activity of the Presidents of the Security Council and the General Assembly in the process of the selection and appointment of the Secretary-General during the seventieth session, and in this regard stresses the importance of further ensuring increased cooperation, coordination and the exchange of information among the Presidents of the principal organs and also with the Secretariat, in particular the Secretary-General;

Welcomes with appreciation the continued practice of holding periodic informal briefings by the Secretary-General on his priorities, travels and most recent activities, including his participation in international meetings and events organized outside the United Nations, and encourages the continuation of this practice;

Takes note of the informal meeting on ways and means to further enhance the cooperation between permanent missions and the Secretariat, held on 15 March 2016, as well as of the letter dated 23 March 2016 from the President of the General Assembly transmitting the summary of that meeting, as part of the interaction between the permanent missions and the Secretariat, requests the Secretary-General to brief the Ad Hoc Working Group at the seventy-first session of the Assembly on the follow-up actions taken, and decides in this regard to establish an interactive and comprehensive dialogue between the permanent missions and the Secretariat within the framework of the Ad Hoc Working Group, aimed at improving the work of the Secretariat in its interaction with the permanent missions;

Reaffirms the importance and benefit of continuing interaction between the General Assembly and international or regional forums and organizations dealing with global matters of concern to the international community, as well as with civil society, where appropriate, and encourages the exploration of appropriate actions or measures, while fully respecting the intergovernmental nature of the Assembly, in conformity with its relevant rules of procedure;

Recognizes the value of holding interactive inclusive thematic debates on current issues of critical importance to the international community, and calls upon the President of the General Assembly to organize such debates in close consultation with the General Committee and the Member States, including with regard to the preliminary programme of such debates, in order to enable an adequate level of participation and an appropriate allocation of time for substantive interactive discussion during the debates so as to enable all interested delegations to state their positions and to facilitate, where appropriate, results-oriented and productive outcomes of such debates, and in this context welcomes the initiative of the President of the Assembly at its seventieth session to select “The United Nations at 70: a new commitment to action” as the theme of the general debate;

Commends improvements in the quality of the annual report of the Security Council to the General Assembly, including as presented in the note by the President of the Council, and welcomes the willingness of the Council to continue to consider other suggestions concerning improvements to the annual report;

Invites the Secretariat, including the Department of Public Information, while carrying out its activities, as mandated by the General Assembly, to continue its efforts to raise the visibility of the Assembly and to enhance world public and media awareness of the contribution made by the Assembly to the fulfilment of the goals of the Organization, as set out in the Charter;

Requests the Secretary-General, under relevant agenda items, to bring to the attention of the Member States constraints that have prevented the Secretary-General from implementing those provisions of General Assembly resolutions that are addressed to the Secretariat;

Working methods

Reaffirms existing relevant mandates related to the improvement of the working methods of the Main Committees, including section C of the annex to resolution 58/316 of 1 July 2004, paragraphs 7 to 13 of resolution 59/313 of 12 September 2005, cluster III of the annex to resolution 60/286 of 8 September 2006 and resolution 69/321, in particular paragraphs 16 and 17 thereof;

Requests each Main Committee to further discuss its working methods at the beginning of every session, and in this regard invites the Chairs of the Main Committees to brief the Ad Hoc Working Group during the seventy-first session on any best practices and lessons learned with a view to improving working methods, as appropriate;

Reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to include, in his report to be submitted at the seventy-first session of the General Assembly under the agenda item entitled “Pattern of conferences”, information regarding the basis for the current practice whereby Member States bear the additional costs of using United Nations Headquarters conference services during business hours;

Welcomes the holding of elections for non-permanent members of the Security Council and members of the Economic and Social Council about six months before the elected members assume their responsibilities, welcomes the note by the President of the Security Council in which the elected Security Council members are invited to observe some of its meetings and activities as from 1 October immediately preceding their term of membership, and also welcomes such efforts to afford elected members appropriate opportunities to prepare for their tenure in the Security Council;

Emphasizes that the General Assembly and its Main Committees, at the seventy-first session, in consultation with Member States, should continue their consideration of and make proposals for the further biennialization, triennialization, clustering and elimination of items on the agenda of the Assembly, including through the introduction of a sunset clause, with the clear consent of the sponsoring State or States, taking into account the relevant recommendations of the Ad Hoc Working Group;

Recalls its resolution 48/264 of 29 July 1994, by which it adopted the Guidelines on the Rationalization of the Agenda of the General Assembly;

Also recalls the need to enhance synergies and coherence and reduce overlap where it is found to exist in the agendas of the General Assembly, especially of its Second and Third Committees, the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies, and the high-level political forum on sustainable development convened under the auspices of the Council and the Assembly, as well as all other related forums, in accordance with relevant rules of procedure and in the light of the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,2 and calls for the continuation of such efforts during the seventy-first session of the Assembly;

Takes note of the report on the strategic alignment of future sessions of the General Assembly with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development submitted by the group created pursuant to the letter dated 16 March 2016 of the President of the Assembly at its seventieth session;

Recalls rules 153 and 154 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, and encourages the Chairs of the Main Committees and the Secretary-General to ensure observance of these rules, within their respective mandates;

Stresses the importance of enhancing the role of the General Committee to support the work of the General Assembly;

Reiterates its invitation to the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly and the Chairs of the Main Committees, in consultation with the General Committee and Member States, to enhance the coordination of the scheduling of the meetings of the Assembly, including high-level meetings and high-level thematic debates, with a view to optimizing their interactivity and effectiveness, especially during the general debate, and distribution of such events throughout the session;

Reaffirms, in this regard, resolution 57/301 of 13 March 2003, by which the General Assembly, inter alia, decided that the general debate shall open on the Tuesday following the opening of the regular session of the Assembly and shall be held without interruption, and encourages the scheduling of future high-level meetings during the first half of the year, from within existing resources, taking into account the calendar of conferences and without prejudice to the current practice of convening one high-level meeting in September at the beginning of each session of the Assembly;

Decides that, with sufficient time before the opening of each regular or special session of the General Assembly, the Secretariat, in particular its protocol and security services, shall hold discussions with all Member States on all aspects related to the organization of the high-level segment of the general debate and any other activities that may have special organizational requirements;

Also decides that, with due consideration given to accessibility issues, in all plenary meetings of the General Assembly, including plenary meetings of high-level events, the seating arrangement of Member States shall follow English alphabetical order, beginning with the name of the country selected by lot each year and avoiding distinctions between Member States as to the rank of the head of delegation;

Recalls the interim arrangement approved by the General Assembly in decision 68/505 of 1 October 2013, recommending a pattern for the rotation of the Chairs of the Main Committees until the seventy-third session of the Assembly, reiterates its request that the Ad Hoc Working Group prepare long-term arrangements concerning the election of the Chairs and Rapporteurs of the Main Committees with the aim of establishing a predictable, transparent and fair mechanism, in consultation with regional groups, and that it submit them to the Assembly no later than at its seventy-second session, and in this regard reiterates its invitation to Member States to present proposals and to devote early attention to the matter of concluding a future arrangement, which would come into effect at the seventy-fourth session of the Assembly, with the annex to resolution 68/307 of 10 September 2014 containing the guidelines on the election of the Chairs and Rapporteurs of the Main Committees to be considered in this context;

Encourages Member States to seek gender balance in the distribution of Chairs of the Main Committees;

Also encourages Member States to make, to the extent possible, full use of the e-services provided by the Secretariat, in order to save costs, reduce the environmental impact and improve the distribution of documents, and in this regard requests the Secretariat to further improve, harmonize and, where appropriate, unify such e-services;

Reiterates the need to fully implement and observe rule 55 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, which provides that during the sessions of the Assembly the Journal of the United Nations shall be published in the languages of the Assembly, expresses its concern about the lack of implementation of rule 55, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to provide during the seventy-first session of the Assembly innovative proposals on the possible changes to the format, production and editing of the Journal, by reallocating existing resources and economizing on the costs of publishing it;

Selection and appointment of the Secretary-General and other executive heads

Commends the Presidents of the General Assembly at its seventieth session and the Security Council for December 2015 for having started the process of soliciting candidates for the position of Secretary-General by sending a joint letter to all Member States, and also commends the circulation to all Member States on an ongoing basis of the names of individuals that have been submitted for consideration as candidates for the position, which have also been posted on the dedicated website of the President of the Assembly together with the vision statements of the candidates;

Also commends the President of the General Assembly at its seventieth session for his active contribution to the implementation of provisions guiding the selection and appointment of the Secretary-General, as contained in resolution 69/321 and in accordance with the role accorded to him by that resolution;

Strongly welcomes the implementation of paragraph 42 of resolution 69/321 through the organization of informal dialogues to which all candidates for the position of Secretary-General have been invited;

Reiterates that the process of selecting and appointing the Secretary-General differs from the process used with regard to the executive heads of the organizations of the United Nations system, given the roles of the Security Council and the General Assembly in accordance with Article 97 of the Charter, emphasizes in particular that the process of selection of the Secretary-General is guided by the principles of transparency and inclusiveness, building on the best practices and the participation of all Member States, and also emphasizes the need to continue to fully implement resolution 69/321;

Notes that the selection and appointment of the next Secretary-General is expected to take place in 2016, and as a result requests, without prejudice to the role of the principal organs as enshrined in Article 97 of the Charter, the President of the General Assembly at its seventy-first session to actively support this process in accordance with the role accorded to him by relevant resolutions, including the present resolution;

Reaffirms paragraph 38 of resolution 69/321, and welcomes the presentation of a significant number of women for the position of ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations, following its invitation to Member States to do so;

Stresses, in particular, the need to ensure the appointment of the best possible candidate for the post of Secretary-General, who embodies the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity and who demonstrates a firm commitment to the purposes and principles of the United Nations, proven leadership and managerial abilities, extensive experience in international relations and strong diplomatic, communication and multilingual skills;

Reaffirms its commitment to continue, in the Ad Hoc Working Group, in accordance with the provisions of Article 97 of the Charter, its thorough consideration of the issues under the third thematic cluster of the Working Group, on the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly, including the examination of innovative ways to improve the process of selecting and appointing the Secretary-General and other executive heads in all its aspects, and recalls all relevant resolutions, including resolutions 11(I) of 24 January 1946, 46/77 of 12 December 1991, 47/233 of 17 August 1993, 48/264, 51/241 of 31 July 1997, 52/163 of 15 December 1997, 55/14 of 3 November 2000, 55/285 of 7 September 2001, 56/509 of 8 July 2002, 57/300 of 20 December 2002, 57/301, 58/126 of 19 December 2003, 58/316, 59/313, 60/286, 61/292 of 2 August 2007, 62/276 of 15 September 2008, 63/309 of 14 September 2009, 64/301 of 13 September 2010, 65/315 of 12 September 2011, 66/294 of 17 September 2012, 67/297 of 29 August 2013, 68/307and 69/321, reaffirming the applicable procedures set out in the rules of procedure of the Assembly, in particular rule 141, and acknowledging existing relevant practices of the Assembly;

Calls upon the President of the General Assembly to monitor and review the implementation by the Assembly of these resolutions;

Welcomes the briefing provided by the Secretariat to the Ad Hoc Working Group on the gender balance and regional origin of the executive heads of the United Nations system and the Senior Management Group of the Organization, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to take all effective measures towards achieving equal and fair distribution based on gender and geographical balance, while securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity;

Recalls its resolution 52/12 B of 19 December 1997, in particular paragraph 2, which notes that the Secretary-General will appoint the Deputy Secretary-General following consultations with Member States, and stresses that the process of appointments to senior posts by the Secretary-General within the Organization should be inclusive and transparent, in accordance with relevant rules of procedure and as set out in the Charter;

Stresses the need to ensure equal and fair distribution based on gender balance and as wide a geographical basis as possible, and in this regard recalls its resolutions 46/232 of 2 March 1992 and 51/241, adopted without a vote, which contain the principles that the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity are the paramount considerations in the recruitment and performance of international civil servants and that, as a general rule, there should be no monopoly on senior posts in the United Nations system by nationals of any State or group of States;

Strengthening the accountability, transparency and institutional memory of the Office of the President of the General Assembly

Commends the President of the General Assembly at its seventieth session for strengthening the transparency and inclusivity of his Office, including the increased and creative use of online facilities, and for releasing detailed information on the finances, official travel, staffing and activities of his Office, and invites future Presidents of the Assembly to follow these good practices;

Notes with appreciation the views expressed by the Office of the President of the General Assembly to the Ad Hoc Working Group on the strengthening of the accountability, transparency and institutional memory of the Office of the President of the General Assembly and its relationship with the Secretariat and the measures already undertaken in this regard, while continuing to explore additional measures where feasible, and notes the support provided by the General Assembly and Economic and Social Council Affairs Division of the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management of the Secretariat to the Office of the President;

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General’s Task Force on the functioning of the Office of the President of the General Assembly;

Encourages the Presidents of the General Assembly to continue with the practice of periodically briefing Member States on their activities, including official travel;

Commends the initiative of convening a retreat on the strengthening of the General Assembly, which brings together the incoming and outgoing presidencies of each session of the Assembly, and in this regard takes note of the summary of the proceedings of the retreat held on 16 June 2015;

Encourages exchanges between the President-elect of the General Assembly and the Council of Presidents of the General Assembly so that Presidents-elect may benefit from the experiences of former Presidents in terms of best practices and lessons learned;

Requests the President of the General Assembly, assisted by the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management, to develop a standardized format for the written handover summary of best practices and lessons learned, to be transmitted to his or her successor as part of the handover briefing at the end of every Presidency and made available to Member States;

Requests the President of the General Assembly to preserve the records and institutional memory during her or his term of office by using existing United Nations record-keeping and archiving facilities, taking into account existing record-keeping standards and practices of the Organization;

Requests the Secretary-General to utilize the existing United Nations record-keeping and archiving facilities in order to archive the documents of the Office of the President of the General Assembly;

Stresses the need to promote and ensure gender balance throughout the United Nations system, and in this regard invites Member States to consider presenting women as candidates for the position of President of the General Assembly, and encourages Presidents-elect to continue to ensure respect for balanced gender and geographical representation in the Office of the President of the General Assembly;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Ad Hoc Working Group at the seventy-first session of the General Assembly on the sources of funding and staffing of the Office of the President of the General Assembly, including on any technical, logistical, protocol-related or financial questions, and for more clarification on the budgetary basis for the provision of such support by the Secretariat;

Decides that the President-elect of the General Assembly shall take an oath of office of his or her own, as detailed in annex I to the present resolution, at the moment of handing over the gavel in the final plenary meeting of the preceding session, and decides that the text of the oath shall be annexed to the rules of procedure of the Assembly;

Also decides that the President of the General Assembly shall observe a code of ethics, as detailed in annex II to the present resolution, and further decides that the text of the code of ethics for the President of the Assembly shall be annexed to the rules of procedure of the Assembly;

Requests the Ethics Office of the Secretariat and the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management to provide an induction briefing to all Presidents of the General Assembly and members of the Office of the President of the General Assembly prior to the assumption of their duties;

Emphasizes the need to ensure, from within agreed resources, that the Office of the President of the General Assembly is allocated dedicated Secretariat staff, with responsibility to, in an efficient and capable manner, coordinate the transition between Presidents, manage interactions between the President and the Secretary-General and preserve institutional memory, welcomes the provision by Member States of staff from their respective permanent missions to be seconded to the Office of the President, and encourages the continuation of this existing good practice;

Requests the Secretary-General, and invites the heads of specialized agencies, funds and programmes, upon request by the President of the General Assembly, to consider seconding staff to work in the Office of the President of the General Assembly on a more systematic basis;

Decides that Presidents of the General Assembly shall provide financial disclosures upon assumption and completion of their duties, in line with the existing United Nations financial disclosure programme;

Notes that the activities of the President of the General Assembly have increased markedly in recent years, recalls provisions regarding support for the Office of the President of the General Assembly in previous resolutions, and expresses continued interest in seeking ways to further support the Office, in accordance with existing procedures, in particular rule 153 of the rules of procedure of the Assembly, as well as to continue discussions within the Ad Hoc Working Group on further steps to strengthen the Office;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit, in the context of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2018–2019, proposals to review the budget allocation of the Office of the President of the General Assembly in accordance with existing procedures and bearing in mind the recommendations contained in the report of the Secretary-General’s Task Force on the functioning of the Office of the President, and in this connection looks forward to considering such proposals during the main part of its seventy-second session;

Also requests the Secretary-General to make non-staff programme budget resources available to Presidents of the General Assembly from the date of their election;

Stresses the importance of the contributions of Member States to the Trust Fund in support of the Office of the President of the General Assembly, and in this regard notes with appreciation the contributions that have been made to the Fund, and encourages Member States to continue to contribute to the Fund and to allow for unspent contributions from previous sessions to be made available for succeeding terms;

Stresses the need for all contributions to be vetted through the Ethics Office and for non-in-kind contributions to be channelled through the Trust Fund;

Requests Presidents of the General Assembly to publish information on the website of the President on an ongoing basis on substantive activities, contributions to the Office of the President of the General Assembly and details of official travel undertaken during his or her Presidency and to produce an end-of-term report on these matters;

Requests the President of the General Assembly, in cooperation with the Secretariat, to report on the implementation of all mandates accorded to him or her by the present resolution to the Ad Hoc Working Group at the seventy-first session of the Assembly.

Oath of Office

I solemnly declare that I shall truthfully perform my duties and exercise the functions entrusted to me as President of the General Assembly of the United Nations in all loyalty, discretion and conscience, and that I shall discharge these functions and regulate my conduct with the interest of the United Nations only in view and in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the code of ethics for the President of the General Assembly, without seeking or accepting any instruction in regard to the performance of my duties from any Government or other source external to the Organization.

Code of ethics for the President of the General Assembly

The President of the General Assembly in performing his or her duties and responsibilities as an elected official, fully in line with the Charter of the United Nations and the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, shall at all times from the date of election observe the highest standards of ethical conduct.

The President shall perform his or her duties and responsibilities in an impartial and equitable manner and in full honesty and good faith.

The President shall avoid any action that might result in or create the appearance of:

The use of the office of the Presidency or resources attached thereto for private gain;

Giving unwarranted preferential treatment to any State, organization or person;

Impeding the work of the Organization, or taking a preferential, biased or prejudged approach;

Affecting adversely the confidence of Member States in the integrity of the work of the Organization.

The President shall engage with Member States in a consultative and cooperative manner, while at the same time refraining from receiving or accepting instructions from any individual or governmental or non-governmental organization or group whatsoever.

The President shall avoid any situation involving a conflict between his or her own personal or private interest and the interests of the Presidency or the United Nations.

The President shall ensure the greatest possible transparency in the utilization of property, premises, services and resources made available for the discharge of the functions of the office and ensure that they are used only for the official business of the Presidency and not for other purposes.

The President shall ensure the greatest possible transparency in any external activities, and any commercial dealings, to protect against conflict of interest. Holding of any commercial office during his or her term in office is not compatible with the post of the President.

In the event that the President considers that a conflict of interest may arise, he or she shall recuse himself or herself from handling the matter and, in accordance with the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, appoint an Acting President in relation to that matter or meeting.

In the fulfilment of his or her mandate, the President is accountable to the General Assembly.

Any reference to the President in the present code shall also include members of his or her office while in the exercise of their functions as members of the Office of the President of the General Assembly.

Nothing in this code shall preclude the President or members of his or her Office from being seconded from their Government or from retaining the privileges, immunities and diplomatic status granted by a Member State.

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