Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly

A/RES/75/325View PDF

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A document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 126Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly, published in 2021.

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2019A/RES/73/341Revitalization of the work of the General AssemblyCompare with previous version

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92 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms its resolutions 73/341 of 12 September 2019 and 74/303 of 4 September 2020 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 issued during the seventy-fifth session and the updated inventory of Assembly resolutions on revitalization annexed thereto, which continues to form a basis for the deliberations of Member States under the item on the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly;

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-sixth and seventy-seventh sessions, 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, with the primary focus on:

During the seventy-sixth session: role and authority of the General Assembly, and working methods;

During the seventy-seventh session: strengthening the accountability, transparency and institutional memory of the Office of the President of the General Assembly and selection and appointment of the Secretary-General and other executive heads;

To also place the primary focus on implementation of the present resolution during the seventy-sixth session, and to submit a report thereon to the Assembly at its seventy-seventh session;

Also decides that the next resolution shall be considered during the seventy-seventh session and biennially thereafter;

Further 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-fifth session and, as a result, continue to update the inventory to be attached to the reports to be submitted at the seventy-sixth and seventy-seventh sessions of the Assembly, including the separate indication of relevant provisions that were not implemented, with reasons therefor;

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-sixth and seventy-seventh sessions;

Reiterates its decision to hold annually 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;

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-fifth session to select “The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism – confronting COVID-19 through effective multilateral action” as the theme of the general debate, and also welcomes the decision of the President-elect of the General Assembly to select “Building resilience through hope – to recover from COVID-19, rebuild sustainably, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people, and revitalize the United Nations” as the theme of the general debate of the seventy-sixth 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 Main Committees and the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies, and encourages regular interaction and continued coordination between the Presidents of the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council in this regard;

Stresses the need for United Nations intergovernmental bodies to effectively address the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a whole, including its Sustainable Development Goals, in order to effectively and efficiently support its accelerated implementation during the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development;

Takes into account the respective mandates and distinct functions of each intergovernmental body, recognizes that it is necessary to further align the agendas of the General Assembly and its Main Committees and the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies with the 2030 Agenda, considering a comprehensive and holistic view of the agendas, and also recognizes the need for the Assembly process on alignment to identify and simultaneously address gaps, overlaps and duplication in a balanced manner and on a case-by-case basis;

Underlines that the work of the General Assembly on the alignment of agendas does not undermine the sovereign right of any Member State to introduce a new agenda item or resolution, taking into account the alignment-related principles and objectives of the present resolution;

Invites delegations proposing draft resolutions, where possible, to consider including provisions to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in the resolutions, and also invites them to take into consideration the principles and objectives agreed during the alignment process;

Invites the General Assembly and its Main Committees and the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies to consider ways to address those Sustainable Development Goals that have limited or no coverage, and ways to avoid overlaps and duplication, bearing in mind their respective mandates, and to make recommendations to Member States for their consideration;

Invites the main sponsors of draft resolutions that are submitted for the consideration of delegations to consider the procedural practices applied during previous sessions with the aim of enhancing the efficiency of the work of the General Assembly and its Main Committees and the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies;

Underlines the urgent need to preserve the primacy, significance and established practice of the general debate of the General Assembly, and:

Stresses the need to limit the number of high-level events held in the margins of the general debate to those of key significance that require immediate attention from Heads of State and Government, and calls upon the President of the General Assembly, Member States, in close coordination with the Secretary-General and heads of other relevant United Nations bodies, to be very mindful of these aspects when planning the events of the high-level week in September and to be guided by the existing mandates agreed upon by Member States;

Encourages 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, as well as other high-level sessions, including by consulting one another to identify side events on similar topics in an effort to minimize overlap and informing the Secretariat of the details of planned side events;

Requests the Secretariat to upload information on the side events, when indicated by the organizers, in the Journal of the United Nations;

Invites Member States to continue discussions on efforts to limit the number of side events held in parallel with or in the margins of the general debate and other high-level sessions, with a view to taking stock and exploring further improvements, as necessary, during the seventy-eighth session of the General Assembly;

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, calls upon the President of the General Assembly to be mindful of the regular agenda of the Assembly when organizing such debates, and urges Member States to be mindful of existing mandates when considering new mandates for meetings of the Assembly and, in this regard, to refrain from mandating recurring high-level and commemorative meetings where possible;

Encourages the President of the General Assembly, supported by the membership, to achieve gender parity among invited speakers and panellists for high-level and other relevant meetings of the General Assembly;

Requests the President of the General Assembly to continue scheduling 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;

Recognizes the timely submission of the report of the Security Council to the General Assembly in accordance with Article 24, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, recalls resolution 69/321 of 11 September 2015 and other relevant resolutions of the Assembly, and reiterates the importance of the Security Council continuing its efforts to provide its annual report to the Assembly in accordance with resolutions 51/193 of 17 December 1996 and 58/126 of 19 December 2003;

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, including during the COVID-19 pandemic with a view to ensuring relevance and providing accurate and reliable information to the global public in a timely manner, 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 throughout its session in all six official languages, including on as many platforms as possible, requests the Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly to continue to make efforts to ensure that multilingualism is not undermined by the measures taken in response to the liquidity situation and the COVID-19 pandemic, and requests the Secretariat to continue to explore cost-neutral options to that effect;

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;

Notes the important role of information and communications technologies in carrying out the work of the United Nations, including the General Assembly, on an exceptional basis, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and:

Recognizes the use of information and communications technologies in holding interactive inclusive thematic debates during the COVID-19 pandemic, and encourages the President of the General Assembly to be mindful of the proper use of such technologies to ensure full and equal participation of Member States when organizing such events;

Requests the Secretariat to brief the Ad Hoc Working Group at the seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, including the use of information and communications technologies, with a view to ensuring better preparedness in exceptional circumstances;

Requests the Secretariat to brief the Ad Hoc Working Group at the seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly on the implementation of 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-sixth 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;

Emphasizes that the General Assembly and its Main Committees, at the seventy-sixth 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-sixth session of the Assembly, and encourages the General Committee to play a more active role in this regard, in line with the rules of procedure of the Assembly;

Requests each Main Committee to submit to the Ad Hoc Working Group during the seventy-sixth session a written update on progress achieved so far in the efforts aimed at improving the working methods of the Committees, taking into account recommendations of the Ad Hoc Working Group as appropriate, and encourages the Ad Hoc Working Group during the seventy-sixth session to appoint two focal points who would work closely with the Chairs and Bureaux of the Main Committees, the President of the General Assembly and the Secretariat to assist the Co-Chairs of the Ad Hoc Working Group in elaborating practical proposals for consideration by the Working Group for the implementation of paragraphs 29 and 30 of the present resolution and of reports submitted by the Main Committees;

Notes the pilot analysis on Sustainable Development Goal 2 carried out during the seventy-fifth session to examine in depth the coverage of Goal 2 (zero hunger) and the mapping developed during the seventy-third session of the Assembly, along with the pilot analysis, which remain relevant reference documents for the consideration of Member States during the seventy-eighth session of the Assembly;

Recognizes that, when considering Sustainable Development Goals that are not fully covered by intergovernmental bodies, due consideration should be given to addressing these through an integrated approach across the intergovernmental bodies, and not in silos;

Highlights that the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting all Sustainable Development Goals and that dedicated attention by intergovernmental bodies is required to address these impacts, notably on the most affected Goals and resulting gaps, and that it will be important to closely monitor various aspects of the 2030 Agenda to enable governments to respond to the pandemic and its impacts and establish the way forward to build back better and to strengthen international cooperation;

Invites the General Committee, within its mandate, to consider the best possible way to conduct the discussions on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic within the agenda of the General Assembly and make recommendations to Member States for their consideration;

Emphasizes that addressing overlaps and duplication in the agendas of the General Assembly and its Main Committees and the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies will free up time and create space in the agendas and allow resources to be applied effectively, and that this will also allow these bodies to better and more comprehensively address the 2030 Agenda as a whole as well as emerging global issues of an important and urgent nature;

Notes that identifying duplication and overlaps in the agendas of the intergovernmental bodies should entail encouraging the General Assembly and its Main Committees and the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies to examine, on a case-by-case basis, all the resolutions and agenda items that focus on the same area, based on their purpose, relevance and content;

Recognizes, at the same time, that some issues may need to be addressed by different intergovernmental bodies from their own specific perspective and based on their respective mandates, which should be reflected in setting agendas and in the reporting of the Secretary-General, taking due consideration of synergies and mandates of respective resolutions;

Invites the General Assembly and its Main Committees and the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies to strengthen synergies and complementarities in their respective work and outcomes, in line with resolution 73/341, when covering interrelated issues, as appropriate;

Reaffirms the respective mandates of the Main Committees of the General Assembly, and on that basis, calls upon those Committees to continue their consideration, in consultation with all relevant bodies, of addressing gaps, overlaps and duplication in their respective agendas as they relate to the 2030 Agenda as a whole and, in this regard, invites the Bureaux of the relevant Main Committees of the Assembly and the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies to facilitate the consideration of the alignment principles by their respective intergovernmental bodies and to present concrete proposals for the consideration of Member States;

Requests the General Committee, while exercising its functions under rule 40 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, and within its mandate, to also consider discussing gaps, overlaps and duplication and make recommendations to Member States for consideration;

Encourages the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Economic and Social Council to continue to convene an annual joint briefing, highlighting the connection between agenda items and their interlinkages across the 2030 Agenda;

Also encourages the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Economic and Social Council to facilitate informal joint meetings of the Bureaux of the Main Committees of the Assembly and the Bureau of the Economic and Social Council to discuss how their respective work relates to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and to ensure synergies among their work and outcomes, as stipulated in resolution 73/341 and the present resolution, on an ongoing basis and in full transparency, including regular reporting on those meetings to the entire membership;

Requests the President of the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session to draw lessons learned from the implementation of the provisions contained in paragraphs 13 to 18 and 32 to 44 of the present resolution on the revitalization of the work of the Assembly and identify further proposals on alignment, and, in the interim, requests the Ad Hoc Working Group, during both the seventy-sixth and the seventy-seventh sessions, to hold one or two dedicated meetings, as required, on the progress of the implementation of the aforementioned provisions;

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 continue 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 all six official languages in order to save costs, reduce the environmental impact and improve the distribution of documents;

Recognizes the need to have open access to the archive of past statements, and requests the Secretariat to ensure open access, by the end of the seventy-sixth session, to all documents uploaded to PaperSmart and, further, to ensure its replacement with the eStatements module of the Journal of the United Nations;

Reaffirms paragraphs 33 to 37 of resolution 73/341, and requests the Secretariat to brief the Ad Hoc Working Group during the seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly on the progress reached so far and on ways to improve the accessibility of the United Nations Headquarters premises for persons with disabilities;

Recalls the report of the Secretary-General entitled “Opening of the regular sessions of the General Assembly”, submitted pursuant to resolution 72/313 of 17 September 2018, and decides, in order to allow more time for the incoming President of the General Assembly and his/her Office to prepare for the general debate, to amend rule 1 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly to read, effective from the opening of the seventy-eighth session:

The General Assembly shall meet every year in regular session commencing on the Tuesday of the second week in September, counting from the first week that contains at least one working day.

The general debate in the General Assembly shall open on the Tuesday of the fourth week in September, counting from the first week that contains at least one working day, and shall be held without interruption over a period of nine working days;

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

Reaffirms the important role played by the Secretary-General in the context of 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 of 29 July 1994, 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 29 August 2013, 68/307 of 10 September 2014, 69/321 of 11 September 2015, 70/305 of 13 September 2016, 71/323 of 8 September 2017, 72/313 of 17 September 2018 and 73/341 of 12 September 2019, 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 next 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 well-qualified and experienced candidate for the post of Secretary-General;

Recommends that the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Security Council, in future joint letters on the selection and appointment process of the Secretary-General, encourage Member States to publicize the call for nominations, including with civil society and other stakeholders with the aim of identifying potential candidates;

Decides that, in order to be circulated in a joint letter by the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Security Council pursuant to the process established in resolution 69/321, nominations of candidates must be submitted by at least one Member State, in accordance with the ongoing practice;

Also decides to further assess during the seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly the selection and appointment process of the Secretary-General, to consolidate the advances gained in the relevant Assembly resolutions and to explore possible steps to improve future processes, including the collaboration between the Assembly and the Security Council, consistent with Article 97 of the Charter;

Notes with appreciation the presentation of a vision statement by the incumbent Secretary-General, and the informal dialogue with Member States and observers of the General Assembly on its content, including the engagement of civil society in line with the letter dated 26 April 2021 from the President of the General Assembly, and encourages the continuation of such practices;

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

Notes 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;

Reiterates the need to follow best practices in all senior appointments, including a public call for candidates, including women;

Reaffirms that no post should be considered the exclusive preserve of any Member State or group of States and that the Secretary-General should ensure that this principle is applied faithfully in accordance with the principle of equitable geographical distribution;

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 its request to the Secretary-General that he continue his ongoing efforts to ensure the attainment of equitable geographical distribution in the Secretariat and to ensure as wide a geographical distribution of staff as possible in all departments and offices and at all levels, including at the Director and higher levels, of the Secretariat;

Reiterates the need to ensure equal and fair distribution based on gender balance and as wide a geographical basis as possible, while also being diverse from a multilingual perspective, 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 candidates’ independence should be considered;

Notes that there is yet to be a woman Secretary-General, and invites Member States to bear this in mind in the future, when nominating candidates for the position of Secretary-General;

Requests the Office of Human Resources of the Secretariat to continue with the practice of providing a briefing to the Ad Hoc Working Group, during the seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly, 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;

Recalls 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;

Also welcomes the initiatives by Member States to support the strengthening of the efficiency and effectiveness of the Office of the President of the General Assembly, including through the annual General Assembly retreat and a transition workshop that includes the revitalization of the work of the Assembly among its central components;

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 Secretariat to provide to the Ad Hoc Working Group during the seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly a written update with recommendations, and a briefing on the functioning of the Office of the President of the General Assembly, as a follow-up to the report of the Task Force convened by the Secretary-General in November 2015 and circulated in the annex to the letter dated 11 March 2016 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the General Assembly, taking into consideration its previous relevant resolutions;

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 and the General Assembly revitalization process, through utilizing existing United Nations record-keeping and archiving facilities, in particular in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library and the Department of General Assembly and Conference Management and the Department of Global Communications of the Secretariat;

Requests the Secretariat to issue, during the seventy-seventh session, 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;

Welcomes the good practice of the organization by the President of the General Assembly of informal interactive dialogues of the Member States, with the engagement of civil society, with the candidate(s) for the position of President of the General Assembly based on his or her vision statement.

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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