Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly

A/RES/73/341View PDF

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A document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 123Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly, published in 2019.

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Accessibility Appointment of Officials Gender Equality Organizational Change

What does this mandate say?

66 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms its resolution 72/313 of 17 September 2018 and all other previous resolutions adopted by consensus relating to the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly;

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;

Requests the Secretariat to continue updating regularly and equally the multilingual web page devoted to the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly in all six official languages and its substantive content within existing resources in a cost-effective manner, including through the use of existing capabilities such as automation of translation, while ensuring the accuracy of translation;

Decides to establish, at its seventy-fourth 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-fourth 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 seventy-third session and, as a result, continue to update the inventory to be attached to the report to be submitted at the seventy-fourth session of the Assembly, including the separate indication of relevant provisions that were not implemented, with reasons therefor;

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-fourth session;

Role and authority of the General Assembly

Reaffirms the role and authority of the General Assembly and the strict respect of the Charter-based prerogatives and division of work among the principal organs of the United Nations;

Welcomes the decision of the President of the General Assembly at its seventy-third session to select “Making the United Nations relevant to all people: global leadership and shared responsibilities for peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies” as the theme of the general debate, and also welcomes the decision of the President-elect of the General Assembly to select “Galvanizing multilateral efforts for poverty eradication, quality education, climate action and inclusion” as the theme of the general debate of the seventy-fourth session of the Assembly;

Stresses the importance of implementing the resolutions of the General Assembly on a non-selective basis, including those related to the revitalization of its work that require a follow-up or further actions, as shown in the updated inventory of Assembly resolutions on revitalization annexed to the report of the Ad Hoc Working Group;

Welcomes the efforts of the President of the General Assembly to reinforce synergy, coherence and complementarity between the agendas of the Assembly and its Committees, and the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies, and encourages regular interaction between the Presidents of the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council in this regard;

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

Also recalls the need to enhance synergies and coherence by addressing gaps, overlaps and duplication where they are found to exist in the agendas of the General Assembly, especially of its Second and Third Committees, and the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies, in accordance with relevant rules of procedure and in the light of the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Requests the General Committee, while exercising its functions under rule 40 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, to pay special attention to reduction of such overlap;

Stresses the need to limit the number of high-level events in the margins of the general debate;

Underlines the urgent need to preserve the primacy of the general debate of the General Assembly and for Member States and the United Nations system to singly and collectively limit the number of side events held in parallel with or in the margins of the general debate;

Recognizes the value of holding interactive inclusive thematic debates on current issues of critical importance to the international community, calls for the rationalizing of such debates to ensure high-level attendance, and calls upon the President of the General Assembly to be mindful of the regular agenda of the Assembly when organizing such debates;

Requests the President of the General Assembly to reconsider the timing of the plenary meetings of the Assembly on the report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization and on the report of the Security Council, in close coordination with the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council, so that discussions of these important reports are not conducted in a perfunctory manner;

Reiterates its decision to hold an interactive and comprehensive dialogue between the Permanent Missions and the Secretariat as mandated in resolution 71/323 of 8 September 2017, during the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group, and strongly emphasizes the importance of the follow-up on issues raised during the dialogue aimed at improving the work of the Secretariat in its interaction with Permanent Missions, including the circulation of these follow-up measures to Permanent Missions;

Requests the Secretariat to circulate in advance to the Permanent Missions all new or updated administrative instructions and other documents that have an impact on Member States with respect to the delivery of standard administrative services;

Notes the progress aimed at increasing the visibility of the General Assembly in the media and in bringing the priorities of the Assembly to a wider audience, and requests the Department of Global Communications of the Secretariat to continue to take appropriate measures to further enhance public awareness of the role and activities of the Assembly, including on as many platforms as possible;

Takes note of the proposals provided by the Secretariat for addressing the cost of the use of the Delegates’ Dining Room and other venues at United Nations Headquarters in New York by delegations, and decides to continue the consideration of this issue during its seventy-fourth session;

Commends the President of the General Assembly and the Secretary-General for their efforts to phase out single-use plastic food containers and disposable cutlery at United Nations catering venues in New York, and notes the desirability that these measures would not lead to any additional increase in the prices of goods and services provided by vendors;

Working methods

Stresses the desirability of the General Assembly further streamlining its agenda and dedicating more time for dialogue as well as the review of the implementation of the resolutions it adopts;

Reaffirms existing relevant mandates related to the improvement of the working methods of the Main Committees;

Requests the Secretariat to brief the Ad Hoc Working Group at the seventy-fourth session of the General Assembly on past decisions regarding the streamlining of the agenda of the Assembly to further address the issue of the increasingly overloaded agenda of the Assembly;

Requests each Main Committee to further discuss its working methods, and in this regard invites the Chairs of the Main Committees to continue briefing the Ad Hoc Working Group during the seventy-fourth session on any best practices and lessons learned with a view to improving working methods, and to coordinate their briefings through, inter alia, possible identification of commonalities in the working methods and the lessons learned;

Reiterates its request to the President of the General Assembly at its seventy-fourth session to identify proposals, in a timely manner, through consultations with all Member States, the President of the Economic and Social Council and the General Committee, within their respective mandates, aimed at addressing gaps, overlaps and duplication where they are found to exist in the agenda of the Assembly as they relate to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a whole, and reaffirms the respective mandates of the Main Committees of the Assembly, and on that basis, calls upon all of them to continue their consideration of addressing gaps, overlaps and duplication in their respective agendas as they relate to the 2030 Agenda as a whole, and in this regard requests them to make proposals available for discussion during the seventy-fourth session of the Assembly;

Takes note with appreciation of the updated mapping assessment of the Sustainable Development Goals coverage developed during the seventy-third session of the General Assembly as an evolving reference document for the consideration of Member States during the seventy-fourth session of the Assembly, and also takes note of the initial efforts made during the seventy-third session of the Assembly to develop possible criteria to identify overlaps and duplication where they are found to exist, with a view to continuing the work on agenda alignment with the aim of focusing the work of the Assembly more effectively and efficiently on the timely implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Emphasizes that the General Assembly and its Main Committees, at the seventy-fourth session, in consultation with Member States, should continue their consideration of and make concrete 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, during the seventy-fourth session of the Assembly;

Welcomes the increasing number of women candidates nominated for the subsidiary organs of the General Assembly in seeking to promote gender balance, and encourages Member States to continue to do so;

Reiterates the need to produce the Journal of the United Nations in all six official languages in strict compliance with rule 55 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, and in that regard emphasizes the importance of the extension of the information in the Journal published in the six official languages, reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to brief the Ad Hoc Working Group, on a yearly basis, on the progress achieved in this regard, and requests the Secretariat to continue to explore cost-neutral options to that effect;

Requests the Secretariat to continue to improve, harmonize and unify e-services provided to Member States under e-deleGATE with a view to creating a full-fledged delegates’ online workplace in order to save costs, reduce the environmental impact and improve the distribution of documents;

Decides that all meetings of the General Assembly and its subsidiary organs should make provisions for accessible seating for representatives with disabilities through the following process:

Upon a request by a delegation for accessible seating, the seating order in a given meeting room is changed in such a way as to allow the requesting delegation to move to the closest accessible seat from the one it occupies in accordance with the order established for each session of the Assembly, and the seating order for the rest of the delegations is moved by one seat;

Should there be more than one request for accessible seating, the delegations requesting such seats will move to the accessible seats which are closest to their respective seats, which they occupy in accordance with the order established for each session of the Assembly, and the seating order for the rest of the delegations is moved by the corresponding number of seats, omitting the ones newly occupied by the requesting delegations;

Requests, in this regard, the Secretariat to inform the Member States as soon as possible of any changes to the seating plans of the conference rooms;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit a comprehensive report during the seventy-fourth session of the General Assembly on the ways to improve the accessibility of the United Nations Headquarters premises for persons with disabilities;

Invites other principal organs of the United Nations and their subsidiary organs to make similar accommodations, as provided in paragraphs 33 and 34 above, for their meetings;

Requests the Secretariat to bring this decision to the attention of any State, organization or entity that seeks to organize a meeting to be held at the United Nations, and encourages such State, organization or entity to make arrangements for accessible seating in the manner mentioned in paragraphs 33 and 34;

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General entitled “Opening of the regular sessions of the General Assembly”, submitted pursuant to resolution 72/313;

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

Reaffirms the important role played by the Secretary-General in the context of the current global challenges and in the implementation of the three pillars of the United Nations, namely, peace and security, human rights and sustainable development;

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 of 13 March 2003, 58/126 of 19 December 2003, 58/316 of 1 July 2004, 59/313 of 12 September 2005, 60/286 of 8 September 2006, 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 20 August 2013, 68/307 10 September 2014, 69/321 of 11 September 2015, 70/305 of 13 September 2016, 71/323 and 72/313, 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;

Encourages future Presidents of the General Assembly to actively contribute to the implementation of provisions guiding the selection and appointment of the ninth Secretary-General, as contained in all relevant resolutions, in particular resolutions 69/321 and 70/305, and stresses the need for the selection and appointment process of the Secretary-General and other executive heads to be guided by the principles of transparency and inclusiveness;

Welcomes the progress achieved in the selection and appointment process of the Secretary-General in the consensual resolutions 69/321, 70/305, 71/323 and 72/313, in full compliance with the General Assembly mandate under Article 97 of the Charter, and reaffirms previous resolutions referring to gender balance and regional rotation in the course of the identification and appointment of the best candidate for the post of Secretary-General;

Decides to further assess during the seventy-fourth session of the General Assembly the selection and appointment process of the Secretary-General, consolidate the advances gained in the relevant Assembly resolutions and explore possible steps to further improve the process, including the collaboration between the Assembly and the Security Council, consistent with Article 97 of the Charter, as well as to explore the possibility for the incumbent Secretary-General to present a vision statement for the next term and to brief the Member States on its content;

Reiterates the possibility of providing the process of selection and appointment of the Secretary-General with notional timelines in accordance with paragraph 72 of its resolution 72/313, and decides to further discuss this issue during its seventy-fourth session in the Ad Hoc Working Group;

Decides that the Secretary-General-designate shall take an oath of office before the General Assembly during a swearing-in ceremony, as detailed in the annex to the present resolution;

Welcomes again the ongoing efforts of the Secretary-General towards achieving equal and fair distribution in terms of the gender and geographical balance of the executive heads of the United Nations system and the Senior Management Group of the Organization, while securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, in accordance with Article 101 of the Charter and its resolutions 46/232 of 2 March 1992, 51/241, and 71/263 of 23 December 2016, commends in particular the fact that gender parity was achieved in the Senior Management Group, and requests that further effective measures be taken in this regard;

Supports the request of the Secretary-General for Member States to submit the names and résumés of nationals who may be considered for positions of executive heads and senior management of the Secretariat;

Welcomes the fact that gender parity has already been reached in the Senior Management Group, and commends the Secretary-General’s commitment to reach gender parity and to recruit staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible across the United Nations Organization;

Reiterates 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 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;

Requests the Office of Human Resources of the Secretariat to continue with the practice of providing a briefing to the Ad Hoc Working Group on the gender and geographical balance of the executive heads of the United Nations system and the Senior Management Group of the Organization, as well as with a breakdown showing those originating from the States that are permanent members of the Security Council;

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

Emphasizes the important role of the President of the General Assembly within the United Nations Organization, as well as in the overall success of the work of the Assembly;

Invites Member States to equally consider women as candidates for the position of President of the General Assembly, and encourages Presidents-elect to continue to strive for both gender and geographical balance within the Office of the President of the General Assembly;

Notes with appreciation the decision of Member States to fund the transition period, the trust fund in support of the Office of the President of the General Assembly, seconding national staff as well as the convening of annual retreats;

Welcomes the induction programme delivered to the Office of the President of the General Assembly, and calls upon the Secretariat to strengthen the programme through enhanced content and increased delivery time;

Recognizes the heavy reliance of the Office of the President of the General Assembly on voluntary contributions to deliver on a growing number of mandates entrusted to it by the Assembly;

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to provide to the President of the General Assembly, within existing resources, adequate administrative, technical, logistical and protocol-related support necessary to effectively execute his or her mandates as president of a principal organ of the United Nations;

Recalls that the activities of the President of the General Assembly have increased continuously and markedly in recent years, also recalls the provisions regarding the support for the Office of the President of the General Assembly in previous resolutions, and expresses continued interest in seeking ways to further support and strengthen the Office in accordance with existing procedures, in particular rule 153 of the rules of procedure of the Assembly;

Requests the Secretary-General to take the measures necessary to preserve and further strengthen the institutional memory of the Office of the President of the General Assembly, through utilizing existing United Nations record-keeping and archiving facilities;

Requests the Secretariat to issue, within existing resources, in coordination with the Office of the President of the General Assembly, a compendium of best practices of past Presidents that could serve to contribute to strengthening the institutional memory of the Office;

Emphasizes the importance of a handover report for the institutional memory of the Office of the President of the General Assembly in accordance with resolution 69/321 and other relevant mandates contained in resolutions on the revitalization of the work of the Assembly;

Calls upon the President of the General Assembly to organize the informal interactive dialogue of the Member States with the candidate(s) for the position of President of the General Assembly pursuant to resolution 71/323 as a question and answer session with targeted and relevant questions, that serves as a follow-up to the vision statement of the candidate(s) and draws on the plans and priorities of each candidate for his or her term, and emphasizes the need to provide enough time so that all participants would have the opportunity to put forward questions;

Encourages the Office of the President of the General Assembly to expedite the posting of all relevant documents, including the President’s speeches, letters, travels, activities, decisions and press releases, on the relevant websites of the United Nations.

Oath of office of the Secretary-General

I, [name], solemnly swear to exercise in all loyalty, discretion and conscience the functions entrusted to me as Secretary-General of the United Nations, to discharge these functions and regulate my conduct with the interests of the United Nations only in view and in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, without seeking or accepting any instructions in regard to the performance of my duties from any Government or other authority external to the Organization.

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