1 report of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2024.
2024A/79/628Standards of accommodation for air travel report of the Secretary-General
iIdentified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.
What does this mandate say?
82 operative paragraphs
1
Reaffirms that the Fifth Committee is the appropriate Main Committee of the General Assembly entrusted with responsibilities for administrative and budgetary matters, and reaffirms the role of the Fifth Committee in carrying out a thorough analysis and approving human and financial resources and policies, with a view to ensuring full, effective and efficient implementation of all mandated programmes and activities and the implementation of policies in this regard;
2
Also reaffirms rule 153 of its rules of procedure;
3
Further reaffirms the Regulations and Rules Governing Programme Planning, the Programme Aspects of the Budget, the Monitoring of Implementation and the Methods of Evaluation;
4
Reaffirms the established budgetary procedures and methodologies, based on its resolutions 41/213 and 42/211;
5
Also reaffirms the Financial Regulations and Rules of the United Nations;
6
Further reaffirms its resolution 78/244 of 22 December 2023;
7
Endorses the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, subject to the provisions of the present resolution;
8
Stresses that finance serves as a foundation of and an important element underpinning United Nations governance;
9
Also stresses that effective and efficient mandate delivery is the overriding factor in determining the Secretariat’s resource requirements and its overall staffing structure;
10
Urgesall Member States to fulfil their financial obligations as set out in the Charter of the United Nations on time, in full and without conditions;
11
Requeststhe Secretary-General to make every effort to facilitate Member States’ payments of their assessed contributions;
12
Stresses the importance of early engagement with Member States to outline the implementation of the recent General Assembly resolutions on budgetary matters and their impact on the presentation format of the proposed programme budget;
13
Emphasizes the importance of comprehensive budgetary performance in the management of the programme plan and programme budget, and requests the Secretary-General to clearly link the budget inputs to tangible results;
14
Requeststhe Secretary-General to continue to strengthen internal controls in programme planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and reporting;
15
Invitesthe Secretary-General to continue to pursue cost-effective and efficient practices in future budget submissions;
16
Notes the increased size and volume of documentation that forms the proposed programme budget, and notes with appreciation that the Secretary-General continues his efforts to enhance the quality, clarity and usability of the proposed programme budget in consultation with Member States, while maintaining the level of information provided to Member States;
17
Stresses that any delay in the issuance of the documentation required by the Fifth Committee impacts negatively its intergovernmental decision-making process;
18
Requeststhe Secretary-General to present the overall year-on-year evolution of the proposed budget compared to the approved budget on a comparable scope in the course of his early engagement with the Member States before meetings of the Fifth Committee during the main part of the session;
19
Notes the provision of information to Member States online, and encourages the Secretary-General to continue his efforts in this regard;
20
Stresses that results-based budgeting and results-based management are mutually supportive management tools and that improved implementation of results-based budgeting enhances both management and accountability in the Secretariat, and encourages the Secretary-General to continue his efforts in this regard;
21
Encouragesthe Secretary-General to continue his efforts to improve the presentation of the proposed programme budget and, in particular, to ensure that resources are clearly linked to a results-based budgeting framework and reflect existing mandates and the measures to achieve them;
22
Requeststhe Secretary-General to include in future programme budgets the indicative cost estimates of major construction projects in the top-line budget figure in the introductory section of the budget, for information purposes only;
23
Takes note of paragraph 23 of the report of the Advisory Committee;
24
Decides to recost the proposed programme budget only once, no later than at the start of the main part of the session, including income sections;
25
Reiterates its concern about the high number of vacancies, and requests the Secretary-General to fill vacant positions expeditiously, and to conduct a review on how to effectively utilize existing posts, including those that have been vacant for 24 months or longer, and to report the results of the review by proposing either their retention, with clear justification of need, changing of post or proposing their abolishment, as appropriate, in his future reports;
26
Reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to undertake pre-posting of job openings irrespective of the liquidity situation of the Organization and to proactively approach pre-posting of vacancies in order to be in a position to expeditiously launch and complete recruitment actions, including the appointment of the selected candidates;
27
Stresses the importance of using realistic and consistent vacancy rate assumptions when formulating post resources budget requests;
28
Expresses its serious concern at the low rate of compliance with the advance purchase policy directive, recalls paragraphs 8 and 9 of its resolution 77/263 B, and requests the Secretary-General to immediately implement the decision of the General Assembly that compliance with the advance purchase policy for travel is a prerequisite to undertaking any travel above economy class for all staff below the level of Assistant Secretary-General, with exceptions made for delayed travel documents, when appropriate;
29
Decides to further reduce non-post resources by 1,889,900 United States dollars;
30
Recalls paragraph 83 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and requests the Secretary-General to improve the rejuvenation of the Secretariat through strategic workforce and succession planning for all posts that are vacant or will become vacant owing to upcoming retirements and to take measures to increase entry-level posts and decrease high-level posts, and for downward reclassification of existing vacant posts and to report on the measures taken and results achieved at the seventy-ninth session;
31
Decides to abolish the following posts that have been vacant for more than 24 months:
a
One P-2 post of Associate Architect in the Office of Programme Planning, Finance and Budget;
b
Two P-2 posts of Associate Information Systems Officer in the Office of Information and Communications Technology;
c
Two General Service (Other level) posts of Information Systems Assistant in the Office of Information and Communications Technology;
32
Also decides that the staffing table for 2024 shall be as set out in the annex to the present resolution;
Part I
Overall policymaking, direction and coordination
Section 1
Overall policymaking, direction and coordination
33
Takes note of paragraph I.9 of the report of the Advisory Committee, approves the establishment of the Office of Data Protection and Privacy, and decides to establish one D-1 post of Chief Data Protection and Privacy Officer, one P-3 post of Data Protection and Privacy Officer and one P-2 post of Associate Data Protection and Privacy Officer;
34
Also takes note of paragraph I.12 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides to establish one P-5 post of Senior Political Affairs Officer in the Office of the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi;
35
Decides to establish one P-2 post and one P-3 post of Protocol Affairs Officer in the Office of the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi;
36
Also decides to approve the conversion of one P-5 post within the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict without setting a precedent;
Section 2
General Assembly and Economic and Social Council affairs and conference management
37
Takes note of paragraphs I.87, I.88 and I.89 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and approves the proposal of the Secretary-General for non-post resources;
Part II
Political affairs
Section 3
Political affairs
38
Decides not to redeploy one Political Affairs Officer (P-3) and one Administrative Assistant (Local level) in the Liaison Office from Nairobi to Arusha;
39
Takes note of paragraphs II.33, II.34 and II.39 of the report of the Advisory Committee;
40
Decides to convert the following extrabudgetary positions to regular budget posts within the Countering Terrorism Section to support the presence of the Office of Counter-Terrorism in Central Asia:
a
Programme Management Officer and Regional Coordinator (P-4) established in 2018 and redeployed to Ashgabat in 2023;
b
Programme Management Officer (P-3) established in 2019 and deployed in Ashgabat;
41
Also decides to convert one extrabudgetary position of Programme Management Officer (P-4) established in 2019 and redeployed to Madrid in 2021 to a regular budget post within the Special Projects Section to support the implementation of the Global Programme on Countering Terrorist Threats against Vulnerable Targets;
Section 4
Disarmament
42
Takes note of paragraphs II.96 and II.97 of the report of the Advisory Committee;
Part III
International justice and law
Section 7
International Court of Justice
43
Takes note of paragraphs III.14 and III.18 of the report of the Advisory Committee;
Section 8
Legal affairs
44
Takes note of paragraph III.79 of the report of the Advisory Committee;
45
Decides that regular budget resources for the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Persons Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011 under section 8, Legal affairs, for 2024 amount to 17,167,400 dollars before recosting;
Part IV
International cooperation for development
Section 9
Economic and social affairs
46
Takes note of paragraph IV.7 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides to establish two posts (1 P-3 and 1 P-2);
47
Also takes note of paragraph IV.10 of the report of the Advisory Committee;
Section 10
Least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States
48
Recalls that, within the context of the priority for the promotion of sustainable economic growth and sustainable development, particular attention should be paid to the needs of the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States, and requests the Secretary-General to continue his efforts to mobilize adequate resources to support the implementation of the mandates under this section;
49
Takes note of paragraph IV.39 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides to establish a P-3 post of Statistician;
50
Also takes note of paragraph IV.40 of the report of the Advisory Committee;
Section 11
United Nations system support for the African Union’s Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want
51
Recalls that the development of Africa is an established priority of the United Nations, and reaffirms its commitment to addressing the unique needs of Africa;
52
Takes note of paragraph IV.63 of the report of the Advisory Committee;
Section 14
Environment
53
Takes note of paragraph IV.140 of the report of the Advisory Committee;
Part V
Regional cooperation for development
Section 20
Economic development in Europe
54
Appreciates the Secretary-General’s efforts to abolish posts in a cost-neutral manner when proposing post establishments, and takes note of paragraph V.61 of the report of the Advisory Committee;
Section 21
Economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean
55
Acknowledges the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean on its seventy-fifth anniversary, and notes with appreciation its cooperation with the United Nations development system, including its collaborative work with entities of the system on country programme implementation, as well as its contribution in promoting common regional strategies and messages to provide demand-driven support to countries in the region;
Section 22
Economic and social development in Western Asia
56
Recalls paragraph V.110 of the report of the Advisory Committee, commends the participation of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia in the spending review, trusts that the outcome of this exercise will allow the Commission to generate increased efficiency in its mandate delivery, and requests that further expenditure reviews reorganize existing resources to more efficiently deliver on mandates;
Section 23
Regular programme of technical cooperation
57
Recalls paragraphs V.151 and XIII.43 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and requests the Secretary-General to strengthen the complementarity, where appropriate, between the Development Account and the regular programme of technical cooperation to maximize mandate delivery and effectiveness of regular budget funding on development to support the countries in need to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and report thereon in the next programme budget proposal;
58
Recalls paragraph V.122 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and stresses that activities of the regular programme of technical cooperation should respond to the needs of Member States and requests the Secretary-General to continue his efforts to facilitate the provision of specific advisory services, capacity-building and technical support to address Member States’ specific needs related to sustainable development;
59
Requeststhe Secretary-General to report within the programme budget report on the results achieved by the activities carried out under the regular programme of technical cooperation, including transparent information on the criteria used for the allocation of resources to the implementing entities for the sake of transparency and accountability;
Part VI
Human rights and humanitarian affairs
Section 26
Palestine refugees
60
Takes note of paragraph VI.82 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and agrees to the reclassification of the post of Director of the Department of Human Resources from D-1 to D-2 level;
61
Decides to reallocate the remaining 50 per cent of resources related to executive and administrative management functions envisaged to be proposed by the Secretary-General in the 2025 budget to the 2024 budget;
Part VII
Global communications
Section 28
Global communications
62
Takes note of paragraph VII.14 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and approves the redeployment of one Public Information Officer (P-3) from New York to Geneva;
63
Recalls paragraph VII.10 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides to establish only 20 general temporary assistance positions: 4 Editor (P-4) (1 each for Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish), 8 Press Officer (P-3) (2 each for Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish), 4 Editorial Assistant (General Service (Other level)) (1 each for Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish), and 4 Public Information Assistant General Service (Other level) (1 each for Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish);
Part VIII
Common support services
Section 29A
Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance
64
Recalls paragraph 41 of its resolution 77/278 of 18 April 2023, and notes with appreciation efforts taken by the Secretary-General in this regard, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the quality and quantity of information available on the new online Secretariat workforce portal are not less than what used to be available on the HR Insight online reporting tool;
65
Takes note of paragraph VIII.6 of the report of the Advisory Committee;
Section 29B
Department of Operational Support
66
Takes note of paragraph VIII.35 of the report of the Advisory Committee;
67
Also takes note of paragraph VIII.36 of the report of the Advisory Committee;
Section 29C
Office of Information and Communications Technology
68
Decides not to establish six general temporary assistance positions related to the report of the Secretary-General on capital investment planning;
Section 29F
Administration, Vienna
69
Takes note of paragraph VIII.167 of the report of the Advisory Committee;
Part X
Jointly financed administrative activities and special expenses
Section 31
Jointly financed administrative activities
70
Decides to establish the post of Legal Officer (P-4) in the secretariat of the International Civil Service Commission and the post of Evaluation and Inspection Officer (P-3) in the secretariat of the Joint Inspection Unit, to be funded through organizations participating in the cost-sharing formulas;
71
Also decides to establish one post at the P-4 level to strengthen the capacity of the secretariat of the International Civil Service Commission to fulfil the task required to conduct the comprehensive review of the compensation package, and invites the organizations to cover its financing as an exceptional measure and without setting a precedent;
72
Recalls paragraphs X.24, X.29, X.38 and X.41 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and invites the organizations to cover an increase of joint expenditures as an exceptional measure and without setting a precedent;
73
Also recalls paragraph X.29 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides to increase non-post resources of the International Civil Service Commission by 1,418,000 dollars (38 per cent) and to approve an amount of 3,730,900 dollars (100 per cent) for non-post resources as proposed by the Commission;
Part XIII
Development Account
Section 35
Development Account
74
Decides to increase the Development Account by an additional 1 million dollars in 2024;
Income section 2
General income
75
Decides that income from bank interest shall be 12,000,000 dollars;
Income section 3
Services to the public
76
Decides to increase the income under income section 3 by 1,204,900 dollars, while maintaining garage rates at their current level and not introducing any changes in the garage operations policies;
77
Also decides that a vacancy rate of 11.1 per cent for Professional staff and 9.1 per cent for General Service staff shall be used as a basis for the calculation of the budget for 2024.
50th (resumed) plenary meeting
22 December 2023
Staffing table for 2024
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