Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review of Operational Activities for Development of the United Nations System

A/RES/79/226View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 23aOperational activities for development of the United Nations System, published in 2024.

What other versions does this mandate have?

4 versions · 2013–2024

2024A/RES/79/226Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations SystemLatestCompare with previous version
2020A/RES/75/233Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations SystemCompare with previous version
2017A/RES/71/243Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations systemCompare with previous version
2013A/RES/67/226Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system

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

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

18 entities

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?

9 topics

Coordination Within UN System Development Development Assistance Development Finance Governance Operational Activities Organizational Reform Resident Coordinators Sustainable Development

What does this mandate say?

142 operative paragraphs

IGeneral guidelines

Reaffirms that the fundamental characteristics of the operational activities for development of the United Nations system should be, inter alia, their universal, voluntary and grant nature, their neutrality and their multilateralism, as well as their ability to respond to the development needs of programme countries in a flexible manner, and that the operational activities for development are carried out for the benefit of programme countries, at the request of those countries and in accordance with their own policies and priorities for development;

Underscores that there is no “one size fits all” approach to development, and reiterates the call to the United Nations development system to continue to enhance its efforts, in a flexible, transparent, accountable, timely, coherent, coordinated and integrated manner, and to continue to pursue full alignment of operational activities for development at the country level with national development plans and strategies to strengthen national ownership and leadership at all stages of the operational activities of the United Nations development system in order for the entities to respond to national development needs and priorities in accordance with their mandates, while ensuring the full involvement of all relevant stakeholders at the national level;

Recognizes that there are different approaches, visions, models and tools available to each country, in accordance with its national circumstances and priorities, to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Also recognizes that the strength of the United Nations development system lies in its legitimacy, at the country level, as a neutral, objective, transparent and trusted partner for all countries;

Stresses that national Governments have the primary responsibility for their countries’ development and for coordinating, on the basis of national strategies and priorities, all types of external assistance, including that provided by multilateral organizations, in order to effectively integrate such assistance into their development processes;

Recognizes that national efforts should be complemented by supportive global and regional programmes, measures and policies aimed at expanding the development opportunities of all countries, supported by an enabling economic environment, including coherent and mutually supporting world trade, tax, monetary and financial systems, and enhanced global economic governance, while taking into account national conditions and ensuring respect for national ownership;

Reaffirms the need to continue to strengthen the United Nations development system to further enhance its coherence, efficiency, transparency and accountability, as well as its capacity to address effectively and in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the full range of development challenges of our time, as set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and that it must continue to adapt and respond, including to proactively work to build capacity, to evolving development challenges and opportunities for development cooperation so that no one is left behind;

Welcomes the progress achieved to date in implementing the United Nations development system reform, as initiated by the General Assembly in its resolution 72/279, including the realization of the main elements of the reform mandates, and underscores the importance of attaining outstanding reform goals with a view to the full and timely implementation of the reform mandates at all levels, and requests the Secretary-General to provide an update in 2028 within the annual report on the implementation of the General Assembly resolution on the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system on the progress of the United Nations development system reform;

Reiterates its call to the entities of the United Nations development system, within their respective mandates, to continue to mainstream the Sustainable Development Goals in their strategic planning and, where applicable, in their regional and country programme documents, their work and reporting at all levels, taking into account that the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and is an indispensable requirement for sustainable development and should therefore continue to be the highest priority for and overarching objective of the operational activities of the United Nations development system;

Recognizes that the individual entities of the United Nations development system have specific experience and expertise, derived from and in line with their mandates and strategic plans, and stresses in this regard that improvement of coordination, collaboration, efficiency and coherence at the country, regional and global levels should be undertaken in a manner that recognizes their respective mandates and roles with consideration for comparative advantages, and enhances the effective utilization of their resources and their unique expertise;

Reiterates the call to the United Nations development system to continue to support developing countries in their efforts to achieve internationally agreed development goals and their development objectives, and requests the system to address, within existing resources and mandates, the special challenges facing the most vulnerable countries and, in particular, African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States, the need for special attention to countries in conflict and post-conflict situations and countries and peoples under foreign occupation, as well as the specific challenges facing the middle-income countries, in line with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Urges the United Nations development system to continue to enhance its support for the implementation of the Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries, the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for Small Island Developing States: A Renewed Declaration for Resilient Prosperity and the new Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2024–2034, as well as the African Union Agenda 2063 and its second 10-year implementation plan, and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, all of which are integral to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system to integrate and mainstream them fully into their operational activities for development;

Emphasizes that realizing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls will make a crucial contribution to progress across all the Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda, and reiterates the calls upon all entities of the United Nations development system to continue to promote gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by enhancing and accelerating gender mainstreaming through the full implementation of the System-wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, developed under the leadership of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), as well as the United Nations country team performance indicators for gender equality and the empowerment of women (the UNCT SWAP “scorecard”) in particular with regard to gender-responsive performance management and strategic planning, and to enhance the collection, availability and use of sex-disaggregated data, reporting and resource tracking, and drawing on available gender expertise in the system at all levels, including in UN-Women, to assist in mainstreaming gender equality in the preparation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, through a gender equality outcome, where appropriate and relevant in the country context and ensuring that gender equality expertise is available throughout the United Nations development system at all levels;

Recognizes that, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, people who are vulnerable must be empowered, further recognizes that those whose needs are reflected in the Agenda include all children, youth, persons with disabilities, people living with HIV/AIDS, older persons, Indigenous Peoples, refugees and internally displaced persons and migrants, and calls upon the United Nations development system to continue to have a particular focus on the poorest, most vulnerable and those furthest behind;

Requests the entities of the United Nations development system, within their respective mandates and where applicable, to consider using the multidimensional vulnerability index, including the vulnerability-resilience country profiles, in their relevant programmes of work and reporting, focusing on the countries interested in its use, as a complement to existing measures, in line with General Assembly resolution 78/322;

Requests the United Nations development system to support, as appropriate and within existing mandates, the independent high-level expert group on measures that complement and go beyond gross domestic product, to be established by the Secretary-General, and subsequently the United Nations-led intergovernmental process on measures that complement and go beyond gross domestic product;

Calls upon the United Nations development system entities as well as United Nations country teams, within their respective mandates, to continue to work collaboratively to accelerate the full and effective mainstreaming of disability inclusion into the United Nations system, including by mobilizing and budgeting resources, and implementing and providing measurable reporting on the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy across its programmes and operations, and stressing the need for country-level support and capacity-development efforts aimed at empowering and learning from persons with disabilities and their representative organizations, by selecting senior disability inclusion focal points from existing staff within the United Nations development system entities;

Urges Member States and the United Nations development system to explore and promote concrete new avenues for the full, effective, structured and sustainable participation of young people in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda;

Recognizes the positive role that sustainable development can play in mitigating drivers of conflicts, disaster risks, humanitarian crises and complex emergencies, and also recognizes that a comprehensive whole-of-system response, including greater cooperation, coherence, coordination and complementarity among development, disaster risk reduction, humanitarian action and sustaining peace, is fundamental to most efficiently and effectively addressing needs and attaining the Sustainable Development Goals;

Underscores the importance of results-based management, within and across entities and at all levels of the United Nations development system, as an essential element of accountability that can, inter alia, contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets, and requests the United Nations development system and its individual entities to continue to strengthen results-based management, focusing on long-term development outcomes, developing common methodologies for planning and reporting on results, including on agency-specific activities, and on inter-agency and joint activities, improving integrated results and resources frameworks, where appropriate, and enhancing a results-oriented culture in the entities of the United Nations development system;

Notes the importance of the contribution of the United Nations development system with the aim of supporting government efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, leaving no one behind, based on full respect for human rights, including the right to development, and stresses in this regard that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated;

IIContribution of United Nations operational activities for development

Reiterates the call to the United Nations development system to continue to support countries, upon their request, in the acceleration of the implementation, follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially in the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development, including by focusing on addressing the gaps and challenges, including those identified by voluntary national reviews, bearing in mind that the Sustainable Development Goals and targets are integrated and indivisible, global in nature and universally applicable, taking into account the different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities, and in this regard urges the United Nations development system:

To continue to allocate resources to realize the development objectives of developing countries, and to support the endeavour to reach the furthest behind first, while taking into account the universal and inclusive nature of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

To ensure a coherent, balanced and integrated approach within the system towards its support to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets, including their interconnections and cross-cutting elements, in accordance with each entity’s mandate and bearing in mind their comparative advantages, taking into account new and evolving development challenges and the need to build on lessons learned, address gaps, avoid duplication and overlap and strengthen the inter-agency approach in this regard;

Calls upon the United Nations development system entities, while respecting their respective roles and mandates, to update and build upon their unique contributions and added value to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the preparation of their strategic plans and similar planning documents, and in this regard requests each individual entity to elaborate on how it plans to further engage in coherent and integrated support, with a stronger focus on actions, results, coherence, progress and impact in the field, as called for in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, under the guidance of and in close consultation with their respective governing bodies, taking into account, inter alia, lessons learned from their midterm reviews, the outcome of the present resolution, and the efforts of the United Nations development system to address the needs, priorities and challenges of programme countries;

Also calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system to continue to provide evidence-based and integrated policy advice and programmatic support to help countries in the implementation of, follow-up to and reporting on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly by mainstreaming the Sustainable Development Goals into national plans, including by promoting sustained and inclusive economic growth, social development and environmental protection, and ending poverty in all its forms and dimensions, and requests, in this regard, the United Nations country teams, under the leadership and coordination of the Resident Coordinators, to contribute their expertise, tools and platforms in line with their respective mandates and strategic plans and as agreed in the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks in consultation and coordination with national Governments;

Recognizes that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, as set out in the 2030 Agenda, notes with concern the rise in global poverty, which disproportionately impacts women and girls, and requests the United Nations development system to strengthen actions to accelerate progress on eradicating poverty;

Requests the entities of the United Nations development system to enhance coordination to support the efforts on the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions through integrated, coordinated and coherent strategies at all levels, in accordance with the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields;

Requests the United Nations development system to strengthen actions to accelerate progress on ending hunger and malnutrition in all its forms, and to contribute in a coherent manner to achieving food security and building inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems;

Also requests the United Nations development system to strengthen actions to accelerate progress on Sustainable Development Goal 6 in programme countries, upon request, in line with national priorities, needs and plans, acknowledging that water and sanitation are critical for sustainable development and the eradication of poverty;

Emphasizes the essential role of inclusive and sustainable industrial development as part of a comprehensive strategy of structural economic transformation in eradicating poverty and supporting sustained economic growth and thus contributing to sustainable development in developing countries, and invites the relevant entities of the United Nations development system to support efforts in this regard in line with the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals;

Recognizes that, in a demographically diverse world, population dynamics, including differences in the pace of population growth or decline, changing population age structures, urbanization and international migration, will continue to shape the world for present and future generations, and requests the United Nations development system to support Member States, upon their request and in line with national priorities, taking into account the needs of women and children, in their response to demographic trends and realities, such as rapid population growth, declining birth rates and ageing populations, as well as in addressing the interlinkages between population issues and development across all regions, including by helping to build capacity and strengthen statistical systems in programme countries;

Requests the United Nations development system to continue to support programme countries in developing and implementing nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including social protection floors, and by 2030 to achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable, and takes note with appreciation of the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions;

Calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system to promote partnerships to achieve universal health coverage, which includes primary healthcare, ensure affordable and equitable access for developing countries to health products and technologies and promote other health measures necessary to deal with future health-related challenges and countermeasures needed to respond to pandemics and other health emergencies, including through financing, health systems strengthening, building capacity, technology transfer on mutually agreed terms and know-how for local and regional manufacturing and production of medical countermeasures, including medicines, vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, health technologies and other health products in developing countries;

Recognizes the United Nations contribution to the promotion of all human rights for sustainable development, and calls upon all entities of the United Nations development system, in accordance with their respective mandates, to assist Governments, upon their request and in consultation with them, in their efforts to respect and fulfil their human rights obligations and commitments under international law, as a critical tool to operationalize the pledge to leave no one behind;

Calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system to support programme countries that are parties to the Paris Agreement in their implementation of the Agreement, as appropriate and in accordance with their national development policies, plans, priorities and needs, in particular their nationally determined contributions and national adaptation plans, as well as the decisions of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement, including all decisions adopted under the “UAE Consensus”;

Also calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system to adopt and mainstream a more climate- and environment-responsive approach into their programmes and strategic plans, where appropriate, as well as in cooperation frameworks and their policy advice to programme countries, in accordance with national development policies, plans, priorities and needs, and continue to advance a system-wide approach, implement measures and report regularly to their respective governing bodies, through existing reporting and mandates, on their efforts to reduce their climate and environmental footprint, and ensure consistency of their operations and programmes with low emissions and climate-resilient development pathways and addressing pollution, halting biodiversity loss and restoring, conserving, protecting and sustainably using the environment;

Further calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system, at the request of national Governments and taking into account their respective mandates, to improve their support, including, where appropriate, in partnership with relevant stakeholders, with regard to strengthening the mobilization of the means of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals from all sources, in line with the 2030 Agenda and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, including through capacity-building, integrated policy advice and programmatic support, technical assistance, high-quality, timely, reliable and disaggregated data, normative support, support to national institutions, the leveraging of partnerships and the leveraging of science, technology and innovation, in accordance with national development policies, plans, priorities and needs;

Underscores the importance of localization of the Sustainable Development Goals, and calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system, where appropriate at the request of national Governments, and in line with national development policies, plans and priorities, to improve their support to the building, developing and strengthening of national, subnational and local institutions and capacities, and to continue to also support locally driven development approaches and pathways in coordination with national Governments, including through tailored and integrated support and by incorporating appropriate capacity development and strengthening in programmes and projects;

Emphasizes the need for country-driven enhanced capacity-building for sustainable development, in this regard calls for the strengthening of cooperation in science, technology and innovation, including through promoting an open, fair, inclusive and non-discriminatory environment as well as equity, collaboration and openness in the development and dissemination of research and innovation, so that scientists, innovators and policymakers everywhere can access and contribute to the latest science and evidence, as well as through North-South, South-South and triangular, regional and international cooperation, and reiterates the importance of human resources development, including training, the exchange of experience and expertise, knowledge-sharing and technical assistance for capacity-building, which involves strengthening institutional capacities, including planning, management, monitoring and evaluation capacities, in a sustained manner;

Encourages the entities of the United Nations development system, within their respective mandates, to support programme countries, upon request and in line with national priorities, needs and plans, to harness digital technologies to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and to close all digital divides by, inter alia, promoting universal, affordable and meaningful connectivity, scaling up digital capacity development, supporting resilient, safe, inclusive and interoperable digital public infrastructure, promoting digital public goods and information integrity and harnessing artificial intelligence, for sustainable development, while considering relevant commitments in the Global Digital Compact and recognizing the need to scale up international cooperation and financing for digital capacity development and promoting digital readiness, particularly in developing countries;

Calls upon the United Nations development system to encourage the safe development and deployment of new and existing technologies for the global good, sharing the benefits while managing the risks, and to ensure that the products and technologies developed are affordable, available and accessible to those most in need, including the most vulnerable;

Also calls upon the United Nations development system to strengthen its focus on supporting programme countries in a coherent and integrated manner in developing national capacities for research, development planning, collection and analysis of data disaggregated by income, sex, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographical location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts, sectoral data development plans, implementation, reporting, monitoring and evaluation, with an emphasis on addressing the gap in data collection and analysis and the effective integration of the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainable development, and in this regard recognizes that the resources of the United Nations development system, including the knowledge base and expertise of all resident and non-resident agencies, should be available for access by developing countries, and welcomes efforts of the United Nations development system to take a more coherent approach to supporting national data and statistical systems;

Further calls upon the United Nations development system to enhance its capacities in supporting programme countries to embed the needs and interests of future generations and long-term thinking in policymaking processes by fostering cooperation and facilitating greater use of anticipatory planning and foresight, based on science, data and statistics;

Reaffirms the central role of Governments in contributing to the work of the United Nations development system, while recognizing that authorities at the subnational level, such as local and regional authorities, where appropriate, development partners and relevant stakeholders, international financial institutions, civil society and the private sector can positively support national development efforts and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and requests the United Nations development system to continue supporting programme countries to leverage robust partnerships, in accordance with national development policies, plans, priorities and needs, with a view to achieving the scale and pace of progress needed to realize the Goals by 2030;

Reiterates that the entities of the United Nations development system should enhance its support to South-South and triangular cooperation, at the request and with the ownership and leadership of developing countries, through a system-wide approach, bearing in mind their respective mandates and comparative advantages, taking into account that South-South cooperation is a complement to, rather than a substitute for, North-South cooperation, in line with the Nairobi and Buenos Aires outcome documents of the High-level United Nations Conferences on South-South Cooperation, held in 2009 and 2019, respectively;

Calls upon the United Nations development system entities to further integrate, as appropriate, South-South and triangular cooperation into their strategic frameworks and planning instruments, and urges them to allocate sufficient financial resources dedicated to supporting and facilitating South-South and triangular cooperation;

Also calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system to leverage their comparative advantages, in full compliance with their respective mandates, to continue to enhance cooperation, collaboration and coordination with humanitarian assistance and peacebuilding efforts at the national level in countries facing humanitarian emergencies, including complex emergencies, and in countries in conflict and post-conflict situations, including through agency-specific actions and inter-agency collaboration at the country level, in order to foster greater self-reliance and resilience and promote development, in accordance with national plans, needs and priorities, and in this regard:

Re-emphasizes that in countries facing humanitarian emergencies, there is a need to work collaboratively to move beyond short-term assistance towards contributing to longer-term development gains, including by engaging, where possible, in joint risk analysis, coherent and complementary planning, learning and knowledge exchange, needs assessments, practice response and a coherent multi-year time frame, with the aim of reducing need, vulnerability and risk over time, in compliance with international law, and in line with General Assembly resolution 46/182 of 19 December 1991 and the annex thereto and all subsequent General Assembly resolutions on the subject, including its resolution 78/119 of 8 December 2023, fully respecting humanitarian principles in the provision of humanitarian assistance, and in accordance with national plans and priorities, stressing that this should not adversely affect resources for development;

Also re-emphasizes that development is a central goal in itself and that in countries in conflict and post-conflict situations the development work of the entities of the United Nations development system can contribute to peacebuilding and sustaining peace, in accordance with national plans, needs and priorities and respecting national ownership, and stresses in this regard the need to improve inter-agency coordination and synergy, including through the comprehensive review of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture, with the aim to maximize the sustainable impacts, results and effectiveness of support for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, stressing that this should not adversely affect resources for development;

Requests the Joint Steering Committee to Advance Humanitarian and Development Collaboration to conduct briefings with Member States on its work at least twice a year;

Calls upon the United Nations development system, including United Nations country teams under the leadership of Resident Coordinators, within their respective mandates, to assist programme countries, upon their request and in line with their national policies and priorities for development, in addressing the development needs of internally displaced persons and to find durable solutions for them;

Recognizes progress made in mainstreaming disaster risk reduction into the United Nations development system’s integrated policy and operational support to Governments, and requests relevant entities of the United Nations development system, in consultation with host Governments and in line with national policies, priorities and needs, to elaborate on disaster risk reduction in the common country analysis and in United Nations planning and programming documents, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, and to understand disaster risk, strengthen disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk, invest in disaster risk reduction for resilience, and enhance disaster preparedness for effective response and to build back better in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction, taking note of the ongoing efforts of the Coalition for Disaster-Resilient Infrastructure, the Risk-Informed Early Action Partnership, the Early Warnings for All initiative and the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems initiative, and encourages the United Nations development system to support programme countries in the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, including multi-hazard early warning systems, taking note of the political declaration of the high-level meeting on the midterm review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 and the United Nations Plan of Action on Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilience: Towards a Risk-informed and Integrated Approach to Sustainable Development;

Calls upon the United Nations development system to improve and ensure support and assistance to programme countries, upon their request, in developing their national capacities to ensure inclusive, safe and equitable quality education, promote lifelong learning opportunities for all for sustainable development, including early childhood education and remote learning, and achieve the related targets of the Sustainable Development Goals, recognizing that education, including girls’ education, is a main driver of development and contributes to the achievement of all internationally agreed development goals, including the Sustainable Development Goals, the development of human potential, the eradication of poverty and the fostering of greater understanding among peoples;

Encourages United Nations development system entities, in accordance with their respective mandates, to assist Governments in taking action to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence and discrimination against all women and girls, including through the strengthening of institutional mechanisms and legal frameworks, and through multisectoral and coordinated approaches, and to support Governments, upon their request, to adopt specific measures to protect the poor, women, youth and children from all forms of violence and discrimination;

Notes with appreciation the support provided to the least developed countries by the entities of the United Nations development system in the implementation of the Doha Programme of Action, and urges the entities of the development system to continue to mainstream the Programme of Action into their work;

Recognizes that small island developing States remain a special case for sustainable development, and in this regard calls upon the relevant entities of the United Nations development system to ensure the mainstreaming of the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for Small Island Developing States and issues related to small island developing States in their work, including at the national, regional and global levels, and to continue to support small island developing States, upon their request, in addressing their particular economic, social and environmental vulnerabilities, as outlined in the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda, by strengthening technical assistance initiatives, policy guidance and programme development, in line with their respective mandates and in cooperation with relevant institutions, funds and facilities;

Also recognizes that Africa has special challenges and development needs, calls upon the United Nations system to strengthen the quality of its assistance, partnership and coordinated regional efforts in Africa and to align its support for the specific needs and priorities of the African region, with a special focus on, inter alia, improving data and statistics, enhancing economic transformation and diversification, harnessing the demographic dividend, strengthening quality education and health systems, leveraging new technologies for inclusive development, achieving universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, promoting investment in climate action, financing climate change mitigation and adaptation in Africa, and the implementation of the African Union-United Nations Framework on the Implementation of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and in this regard invites the United Nations development system to support the second 10-year implementation plan (2024–2033) of the African Union Agenda 2063;

Looks forward to the convening of the third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries and the full implementation of the new Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2024–2034, which is integral to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and aims to accelerate sustainable development and resilience in landlocked developing countries, calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system to actively engage in the implementation and reviews of the Programme of Action at the national, subregional, regional and global levels, in close cooperation and partnership with all relevant stakeholders, and to integrate the Programme of Action into their strategic plans and work, and further calls upon the United Nations development system to mainstream the new Programme of Action into the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, developed under the coordination of the Resident Coordinators at the country level, in a coordinated and cohesive manner;

Calls upon the United Nations development system to continue to develop and provide tailored support to middle-income countries in a manner that addresses their specific challenges while mindful of their diversity, and recognizes that a shift from a traditional model of direct support and service provision towards a greater emphasis on accurate and multidimensional assessment of each country’s specific needs and support for the leveraging of partnerships and financing is needed, also calls upon the United Nations development system to advance the elaboration of a specific inter-agency, comprehensive, system-wide response plan for middle-income countries, taking note of the mapping exercise conducted by the Secretary-General and his recommendations, that is aimed at better addressing the multidimensional nature of sustainable development and facilitating sustainable development cooperation and coordinated and inclusive support to middle-income countries, and invites the Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group to consider filling leadership gaps on middle-income countries’ issues within existing resources, such as through the appointment of a focal point on middle-income countries;

Calls upon the United Nations Sustainable Development Group to further strengthen its collaboration with international financial institutions, including multilateral development banks, to improve synergies at the regional and country levels, with a view to accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda through enhanced operational effectiveness and efficiency;

Recognizes that volunteerism can be a powerful and cross-cutting means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and encourages the United Nations development system, in partnership with Member States, civil society and the private sector, to continue supporting such efforts and promoting the conducive environment for volunteerism and volunteers, in particular those from developing countries, to enhance the sustainability of development results;

IIIFunding of operational activities for development of the United Nations system

Recognizes that the integrated nature of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for a more sustainable funding approach, and stresses the need for adequate quantity and quality of voluntary funding to continue to support the United Nations operational activities for development, as well as the need to improve funding practices to make voluntary funding more predictable, transparent, flexible, effective and efficient, less earmarked and better aligned with the national priorities and plans of programme countries, as reflected in the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, as well as with the strategic plans and mandates of United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies, in order to enable the United Nations development system to work at all levels in a coherent, coordinated, efficient and, where appropriate, integrated manner, reducing duplication and increasing impact;

Stresses that core resources are the bedrock of the United Nations operational activities for development, owing to their untied nature, and in this regard, expresses concern at the continuing and accelerated decline in the share of core contributions to the entities of the United Nations development system in recent years;

Acknowledges the efforts by developed countries to increase resources for development, including commitments by some developed countries to increase official development assistance, expresses concern that most countries still fall short of their respective official development assistance commitments, including the commitment by many developed countries to achieve the targets of 0.7 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance to developing countries and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent to the least developed countries, and urges those developed countries that have not yet done so to make concrete efforts in this regard in accordance with their commitments;

Recalls the operationalization of the Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries, and in this regard invites Member States, as well as international organizations, foundations and the private sector, to provide voluntary financial contributions and technical assistance to ensure its full and effective implementation, and urges the United Nations system and other relevant international and regional organizations to support, in a coordinated manner, the activities of the Technology Bank, while respecting the relevant provisions of the intellectual property rights-related agreements;

Reiterates the call for the enhancement of accountability, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness in the funding of the United Nations operational activities for development in order to incentivize contributions by donor countries and other contributors, and calls upon United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies to continue to publish timely, harmonized and verifiable data on funding flows, including annual data disaggregated by the level of earmarking in line with the funding compact, as well as to continue to enhance the visibility of contributors at all levels, including by making information available on providers of flexible global funding and the results they helped to achieve;

Urges the United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies to ensure that funds targeted at and budgeted for development programmatic activities are not diverted to unnecessary overhead costs, to maximize funds available for development purposes;

Encourages the United Nations development system entities to ensure that their business models are structured in a manner that supports the accelerated, comprehensive and balanced implementation of the 2030 Agenda;

Welcomes the funding compact, noting its voluntary nature, and encourages all Member States and entities of the United Nations development system to contribute to its full and effective implementation and to continue the dialogue, inter alia, in the respective governing bodies as well as at the country level with host Governments and development partners to jointly make progress towards compliance with their funding compact commitments to help to achieve development results on the ground, taking note of the progress made thus far in the fulfilment of the first funding compact commitments by all parties;

Requests donor countries and encourages other contributors to maintain and substantially increase their core contributions to the United Nations development system, in particular its funds, programmes and specialized agencies, and to contribute on a multi-year basis, in a sustained and predictable manner, in line with Member States’ commitments under the funding compact, and encourages Member States to protect core contributions in case of financial constraints;

Notes that non-core resources represent an important contribution to the overall resource base of United Nations operational activities for development as a complement to, and not a substitute for, core resources, and that they should support and be aligned with programme priorities regulated by intergovernmental bodies and processes, and also notes that non-core resources pose their own challenges by potentially increasing transaction costs, fragmentation, unproductive competition and overlap among entities and/or providing disincentives for pursuing system-wide priorities, strategic positioning and coherence, and in this regard:

Urges donor countries and encourages other contributors to make non-core contributions more flexible and aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework and strategic plans of United Nations development system entities as approved by their intergovernmental governing bodies, to preferably assign resources at the beginning of the annual planning period, preferably for multiple years, and to prioritize pooled, thematic and joint funding mechanisms at all levels, including the Joint Sustainable Development Goals Fund, and limit earmarking to activities in accordance with the national priorities and plans of programme countries;

Urges the entities of the United Nations development system to continue to take active steps to strengthen their accountability to Member States and build their trust by, inter alia, strengthening transparency of results and clear reporting of funding needs and expenditures, giving clear visibility to outcomes and impact achieved through core and flexible funding, in particular with regard to entities’ contributions to the United Nations system-wide results, including those achieved through joint programming, and deepening the achievement of efficiencies within and across entities to increase resources for programmes instead of administrative costs;

Acknowledges the progress achieved by the Development Coordination Office so far, and requests it to continue to strengthen the transparency of the resident coordinator system through clear reporting on the results and impact of coordination and regular briefings to Member States on the implementation of the resident coordinator system to facilitate open dialogue on the system’s performance, including at the country level, and increase efficiencies of the resident coordinator system;

Urges the entities of the United Nations development system to continue enhancing the transparency and accountability of inter-agency pooled funding mechanisms, including by continuing the application of the gender equality marker, as well as to continue developing well-designed pooled funds, as a complement to agency-specific funds, that reflect and support common objectives and cross-cutting issues for United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies, and urges the entities of the United Nations development system to enhance their participation, where appropriate, in such funding mechanisms;

Also urges the entities of the United Nations development system, through their governing bodies, to continue taking concrete steps to address on a continuous basis the decline of the share of core contributions and the growing imbalance between core and non-core resources, including by, but not limited to:

Exploring options on how to incentivize donor countries, other countries in a position to do so and other contributors to ensure an adequate and predictable level of core and non-core funding on a multi-year basis, including by enhancing the quality of reporting and the demonstration of the links between expenditures and programme results;

Identifying, in the context of integrated results and resources frameworks, the level of resources adequate to produce the results expected in their strategic plans, including administrative, management and programme support costs;

Exploring options to broaden and diversify the donor base in order to reduce the reliance of the system on a limited number of donors;

Reaffirms the principle of full cost recovery, proportionally from core and non-core resources, thereby avoiding the use of core or regular resources to subsidize activities financed by non-core or extrabudgetary resources, and reiterates its request to the United Nations development system to analyse and explore in a collaborative manner options for harmonized cost-recovery policies, based on common cost classification and cost-recovery methodologies, and invites relevant governing bodies of United Nations development system entities that have not yet done so to review evidence-based proposals for updated and more harmonized cost-recovery policies, including cost classifications, from their respective entities, and urges relevant entities of the United Nations development system, Member States and other contributors to comply with agreed cost-recovery policies;

Also reaffirms that an important role of international public finance, including official development assistance, is to catalyse additional resource mobilization from other sources, both public and private, as well as to assist countries in strengthening domestic enabling environments, building essential public services and unlocking additional finance through blended or pooled financing and risk mitigation, notably for infrastructure and other investments that support private sector development;

Urges the United Nations development system to mobilize multiple funding sources, further explore and implement innovative funding approaches to mobilize additional resources for sustainable development, and deepen partnerships with other relevant stakeholders, including with the private sector and international financial institutions, with a view to diversifying potential sources of quality funding, especially core funding, for operational activities for development, in alignment with the provisions of the present resolution and with the priorities and plans of the programme countries, and encourages in this regard the entities of the United Nations development system to share knowledge and best practices on ways to incentivize innovative funding, taking into account the experiences of other multilateral institutions, and to include this information in their regular financial reporting;

Recognizes the need to further support the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework by substantially increasing joint resource mobilization and distribution for joint programmes at the country level, including through incentives for joint resource mobilization and programming, and stresses the need for efforts leading towards an integrated funding approach at the country level, where applicable, while paying due respect to different organizational mandates and modalities;

Expresses its serious concern at the fact that the share of expenditure for operational activities for development of the United Nations system in the least developed countries is at just 50.7 per cent of total allocations, urges the United Nations development system to continue to prioritize allocations to least developed countries, while reaffirming that the least developed countries, as the most vulnerable group of countries, need enhanced support to overcome structural challenges that they face in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and requests the United Nations development system to provide assistance to graduating countries in the formulation and implementation of their national transition strategies and to consider country-specific support for graduated countries for a fixed period of time and in a predictable manner;

Emphasizes that core funding provides United Nations entities the flexibility to allocate funds to priority areas in their strategic plans, including underfunded areas that were further exacerbated by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, and in this regard stresses the urgent need to address the continued imbalance between core and non-core resources by meeting the funding compact commitment of 30 per cent core resources by 2027;

Also emphasizes that adequate, predictable and sustainable funding of the resident coordinator system is essential for a coherent, effective, efficient and accountable response to achieve results on the ground in accordance with national needs and priorities, and takes note of the report of the Secretary-General in this regard;

Welcomes the operationalization of the online portal to reflect real-time contributions and expenditures related to the reinvigorated resident coordinator system, and notes the improvements made to the special purpose trust fund portal to better report contribution data by donor and United Nations entity in order to ensure further transparency, and in this regard continues to encourage all Member States to provide voluntary contributions to the special purpose trust fund;

Notes with appreciation the efforts of the Secretary-General to improve visibility of the funding status of the entire United Nations development system in order to promote further transparency, and to continue providing relevant recommendations in this regard in his report on the implementation of the present resolution;

IVGovernance of the United Nations operational activities for development

Continues to stress that the governance architecture of the United Nations development system must be more efficient, transparent, accountable and responsive to Member States and able to enhance coordination, coherence, effectiveness and efficiency of the operational activities for development within and among all levels of the United Nations development system in order to enable system-wide strategic planning, implementation, reporting and evaluation to better support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Requests the United Nations Sustainable Development Group to review the current reporting requirements for its members on the quadrennial comprehensive policy review and related reporting on United Nations development system reform, and to make a proposal for further streamlining of the reporting requirements to reduce the burden on United Nations Sustainable Development Group members and Member States, and to, where applicable and required, submit proposed streamlining options to the relevant governing bodies;

Calls upon United Nations Sustainable Development Group entities to further strengthen their internal oversight mechanisms, and encourages the governing bodies of the members of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group to strengthen the execution of their governance and oversight functions, building on best practices and in close collaboration with their respective entities and other governing bodies;

Welcomes a revitalized, strategic, flexible and results- and action-oriented United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, as the most important instrument for the planning and implementation of United Nations development activities in each country, in support of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and the programme countries’ policies, plans, priorities and needs, to be prepared and finalized in full consultation and agreement with national Governments, through the United Nations country team, under the leadership and coordination of the Resident Coordinators;

Reaffirms the central role and the importance of the active and full participation of national Governments in the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, in order to enhance national ownership and achieve full alignment of operational activities with national priorities, challenges, planning and programming, and in this sense continues to encourage national Governments to consult with relevant stakeholders, including civil society and non-governmental organizations;

Recognizes the progress made by the reinvigorated resident coordinator system and the reconfigured United Nations country teams, requests all United Nations development system entities to strengthen their efforts to prepare and finalize their entity-specific country development programme documents, according to their entity-specific mandates, and in accordance with and aligned with the agreed priorities and outcomes of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework and in consultation and agreement with host Governments, underlines that members of United Nations country teams should share their country programme documents with the Resident Coordinators to confirm alignment with United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework priorities, and requests relevant development system entities, in coordination with the Development Coordination Office, to make the relevant United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework and/or its outcome matrix available to Member States and the governing bodies when the draft country programme document is presented for consideration, in accordance with relevant Executive Board processes and timelines;

Recalls the establishment of a clear, matrixed, dual reporting model, with United Nations country team members accountable and reporting to their respective entities on individual mandates, and periodically reporting to the Resident Coordinator on their individual activities and on their respective contributions to the collective results of the United Nations development system towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda at the country level, on the basis of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, as well as the reporting by the Resident Coordinator to the Secretary-General and to the host Government on the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework;

Reiterates its request to present annual reports to the programme country Governments on the results achieved by the United Nations country team as a whole, structured around the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, and linked to national development results, and to make such comprehensive, country-level, system-wide reports publicly available, with the consent of the national Governments;

Calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system to ensure that their country offices utilize the UN-Info platform in a timely and consistent manner to ensure the availability of information on the work of United Nations country teams, facilitate monitoring of the implementation of United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks and improve accountability for delivery to national Governments, as well as to enable reporting on the system-wide contribution to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals;

Underscores the importance of coherence, accountability and transparency for implementing reforms at the country level, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General and members of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group to ensure full implementation of the management and accountability framework in all United Nations country teams;

Calls upon the United Nations development system entities to complete the United Nations development system reform checklist for United Nations entities’ governing bodies, and invites the governing bodies to use the checklist as a tool to facilitate their oversight role in support of full implementation of the relevant reform mandates contained in General Assembly resolution 72/279;

Reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to continue regular follow-up, monitoring and reporting, including to the Economic and Social Council at its operational activities for development segment, on the work of regional assets of the United Nations development system in support of the 2030 Agenda with a view to enhancing transparency, accountability, efficiency, coordination and results-based management at the regional level in order to ensure that the longer-term reprofiling and restructuring of the regional assets of the United Nations are addressed on a region-by-region basis and in accordance with the region’s specific needs and priorities, as agreed in resolution 74/297 of 11 August 2020;

Emphasizes the role of the General Assembly in developing key system-wide strategic policy orientations and operational modalities for the United Nations development system;

Reaffirms that the Economic and Social Council, including through its operational activities for development segment, serves as a platform to ensure and enhance accountability and oversight for and the acceleration of system-wide performance and results in relation to the 2030 Agenda;

Emphasizes the importance of a more responsive and impactful operational activities for development segment, and in this regard:

Requests that all reporting be made available to Member States at least two weeks ahead of the segment;

Also requests that the Bureau of the Economic and Social Council, in consultation with regional groups, duly consider improvements to the programme;

Encourages making the segment more responsive and interactive, including, but not limited to, through the active participation of the executive heads of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group entities;

Welcomes the establishment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group System-wide Evaluation Office, re-emphasizes the need to ensure its independence, credibility and effectiveness, and requests that the Executive Director of the System-wide Evaluation Office, beginning in 2025, present the annual report to the Economic and Social Council at its operational activities for development segment;

Calls upon the United Nations development system entities to abide by the relevant rules of procedure and working methods and to continue playing their part in enhancing system-wide coherence, coordination, harmonization, efficiency, transparency and impact for development, reduce duplication and build synergies, as appropriate and in accordance with decisions of their respective governing bodies and, where appropriate, guidance from the United Nations Sustainable Development Group, and further requests these entities to align their policies, guidelines and regulations with the United Nations development system reforms;

Reiterates its request to the United Nations Sustainable Development Group to conduct regular briefings with Member States on its activities;

Requests the Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group to continue to present to the Economic and Social Council at its operational activities for development segment a timely, comprehensive, evidence-based, analytical and detailed performance report on an annual basis, including information on progress made and remaining challenges and obstacles encountered, as well as on the operational, administrative and financial aspects of the activities of the Development Coordination Office, while noting that the Office assumes managerial and oversight functions of the resident coordinator system under the leadership of an Assistant Secretary-General and with collective ownership of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group;

VFunctioning of the United Nations development system

Reaffirms the need to move towards integrated action in response to the integrated and indivisible nature of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, while stressing the importance of strengthening national ownership and leadership by building on existing efforts to operate as a system within and among countries and at the regional and global levels, as well as enhancing the coordination, coherence, effectiveness and efficiency of operational activities for development, to address the needs and priorities of programme countries and in line with their respective national plans and strategies;

100

Reiterates the importance of empowered, strategic, effective and impartial leadership through the resident coordinator system to foster coordination and collaboration at the country level and facilitate integrated support to host Governments, in consultation with them, calls upon all entities of the United Nations development system to fully support the reinvigorated resident coordinator system, in particular by complying with the management and accountability framework and ensuring that their operational activities for development at the country level are aligned with and supportive of the strategic objectives as laid out in the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks, and further calls upon their governing bodies to reinforce within the respective entities the need for continued cooperation with the Resident Coordinators;

101

Calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system to actively continue to support the Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries at the national, subregional, regional and global levels, in close cooperation and partnership with the World Bank and the international financial institutions, and to integrate the Doha Programme of Action into their strategic plans and annual work programmes, and also calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system to support the Resident Coordinators in the least developed countries and to assist them in the mainstreaming of the Doha Programme of Action into development planning at the country level in a coordinated and cohesive manner;

102

Emphasizes the need to continue to reduce the burden on the entities of the United Nations development system by promoting more efficient and streamlined processes by seeking to harmonize donor requirements, in line with the funding compact;

103

Requests the Secretary-General to fill all Resident Coordinator vacancies in a timely and efficient manner, and to avoid undue delay as much as possible, and, additionally, to keep an updated and rolling pool of possible Resident Coordinator candidates with a sound development background paired with diverse and relevant expertise and skill sets in other relevant areas, and also requests the Secretary-General to continue to take measures to ensure geographical representation among the Resident Coordinators, with a view to improving representation of developing countries, and ensure gender balance;

104

Urges the United Nations development system to align its staff capacities to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including by building transformative and empowered leadership, repositioning staff capacities to respond to the cross-sectoral requirements of the 2030 Agenda, promoting inter-agency mobility and facilitating a mobile and flexible global workforce;

105

Stresses the need to ensure that the Resident Coordinators have sufficient leadership, prerogative, impartiality, management tools, experience and skill sets, and that they receive the necessary comprehensive training in an ongoing manner to effectively carry out their mandate and exercise their role as the highest-ranking representative of the United Nations development system at the country level;

106

Reiterates its request to the Development Coordination Office to duly inform the Governments of programme countries in a timely manner when the tenure of the Resident Coordinator is coming to an end, as well as about the selection process for the new Resident Coordinator, which should be done in consultation with, and taking into account the general profile desired by, the host Government in the selection process, and in the case of multi-country offices, Governments of countries serviced by these offices;

107

Reaffirms that the reinvigorated role of Resident Coordinators entails dedicated, independent, impartial and empowered coordination, as outlined in resolution 72/279, and that the focus of the resident coordinator system should remain sustainable development, with the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions as its overarching objective, consistent with the integrated nature of the 2030 Agenda and in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, and with national leadership and ownership;

108

Urges the resident coordinator system to continue supporting programme countries’ development efforts, including to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, by improving the efficiency, effectiveness and transparency of operational activities for development at the country level through the promotion of strategic support for national plans and priorities, enhancing sustainable development results, thus making operations more coherent and efficient, coordinated and integrated, and reducing costs at the country level;

109

Reiterates its request to United Nations country teams under the leadership of the Resident Coordinator to strengthen joint programming, integrated policy advice, as appropriate, and the use of joint programmes at the country level to more effectively support the delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework;

110

Encourages the United Nations development system to consider options for improving the efficiencies of coordination and reporting processes at the country team level;

111

Calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system to engage in country team configuration discussions facilitated by the Resident Coordinators and finalized through open and inclusive dialogue between the host Government and the United Nations development system, to support the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework by ensuring that their presence at the country level is tailored to meet the specific challenges, priorities and needs of programme countries and that the necessary skills, capacities and expertise are available, and requests that efforts be taken to ensure that this expertise is accessible whether or not an entity has presence in a country;

112

Calls upon the Resident Coordinators in countries experiencing humanitarian emergencies, when the onset is sudden or where a humanitarian coordinator has not already been designated or appointed, to work with the host Government and with humanitarian and development actors to provide, through a transparent, collaborative process, a joint, impartial, comprehensive and methodologically sound assessment of needs for each emergency to inform strategic decisions;

113

Requests the Secretary-General to provide Resident Coordinators who also serve as Humanitarian Coordinators and/or Deputy Special Representatives of the Secretary-General with adequate training and support, to ensure that they are well prepared and equipped to work and support Governments in countries facing humanitarian emergencies and countries in conflict and post-conflict situations;

114

Invites all relevant entities of the United Nations development system, led by the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, to extend necessary support in a coordinated manner to the least developed countries aspiring to graduate in developing their graduation and smooth transition strategies, and calls upon these entities of the United Nations development system to ensure that graduation-related capacity development and activities are coordinated and demand-driven and to encourage an ambitious and flexible approach to help Governments to mitigate the impact of graduation;

115

Acknowledges the progress achieved in the revamping of the regional level of the United Nations development system, and recognizes the contribution of the regional economic commissions and the regional teams of the United Nations development system, and underlines the need to continue to preserve and reaffirm them in addressing development challenges and to support countries and regions in their implementation of the 2030 Agenda, in line with national development policies, plans, priorities and needs, recognizing the specificities of each region and bearing in mind that there is no one size fits all;

116

Encourages strengthened collaboration within the United Nations development system, including the resident coordinator system, regional offices of the United Nations development system and United Nations regional economic commissions, including through the work of regional collaborative platforms to enhance the coherence and effectiveness of development activities across the regional, subregional and national levels, ensuring that the regional assets are fit for purpose in supporting countries and regions in their implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and that regional expertise is made available at the country level, taking into account, as appropriate, the work of other regional intergovernmental bodies;

117

Notes with appreciation the implementation of the recommendations of the multi-country offices reviews that aim at enhancing service delivery to countries served by these offices, welcomes the update provided by the Secretary-General, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to continue to regularly monitor and report on the work of multi-country offices at the annual operational activities for development segment, with a view to considering any further adjustments necessary to ensure the delivery of sustainable and effective development resources and services to enable countries served by multi-country offices to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

118

Requests the United Nations development system to accelerate efforts to simplify and harmonize programming instruments by entities, business practices, processes, common business operations and reporting, as well as leverage and utilize, as appropriate, digital technologies solutions in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, including by taking necessary steps at the headquarters level, as appropriate;

119

Reiterates that entities within the United Nations development system should operate according to the principle of mutual recognition of best practices in terms of policies and procedures, with the aim of facilitating active collaboration across agencies and reducing transaction costs for Governments and collaborating agencies, and takes note of the Mutual Recognition Statement of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination;

120

Stresses the need for the United Nations development system to strengthen and improve the ongoing design and implementation of harmonized business practices, including the Business Operations Strategies, Common Back Offices, Common Premises and Global Shared Services in order to optimize opportunities for collaboration, maximize efficiency gains and strengthen its reporting processes on impact in terms of efficiency gains resulting from these business practices, so that funding freed up by such gains is redeployed to development activities, including coordination;

121

Requests the United Nations development system to continue to support all programme countries, regardless of which modality for the delivery of assistance they prefer to adopt, in accordance with their national development plans and priorities;

122

Stresses the need to ensure equal and fair distribution based on gender balance and on as wide a geographical basis as possible, and in this regard recalls its resolutions 46/232 of 2 March 1992 and 51/241 of 31 July 1997, 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;

123

Calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system to continue efforts to achieve gender balance in appointments within the United Nations system at the global, regional and country levels for positions that affect operational activities for development, including appointments to Resident Coordinator and other high-level posts, with due regard to the representation of women from programme countries, in particular developing countries, while keeping in mind the principle of equitable geographic representation;

124

Notes with concern the continued system-wide incidents of sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment, and in this regard calls upon the Secretary-General, as a matter of urgency, to increase prevention and response efforts to address this matter, at all levels, acknowledges the efforts made by the United Nations development system entities to, inter alia, improve the safety of their operations and service delivery, sufficiently resource their protection measures, ensure that their policies and procedures deliver impact, support system-wide efforts and a more joined-up approach with implementing partners, and ensure that their workplaces are free from discrimination and exploitation, including sexual exploitation and abuse, violence and sexual harassment, and urges them to accelerate efforts to implement the Secretary-General’s zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse;

VIFollow-up, monitoring and reporting

125

Reaffirms that all entities of the United Nations development system carrying out operational activities for development should continue to align their planning and activities, including through their governing bodies where applicable, to take appropriate action consistent with each entity’s mandate, role and expertise for the full implementation of the present resolution;

126

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to strengthen the analytical quality of system-wide reporting on funding, performance and programme results for the United Nations operational activities for development, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, and in this regard calls for the publication of timely, reliable, verifiable and comparable system-wide and entity-level data, definitions and classifications;

127

Also requests the Secretary-General to present to the Economic and Social Council a report in 2025, 2026 and 2027 on system-wide implementation of the provisions of the present resolution, including an update and amendments where necessary of the existing monitoring and reporting framework for the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development with specific and measurable performance indicators on progress made, and on that basis invites the Economic and Social Council to exchange views on lessons learned and challenges and to propose to the General Assembly overall recommendations to contribute to strengthening the oversight of States over the United Nations development system and to guide the overall progress in the full implementation of the provisions of the present resolution through the annual General Assembly follow-up resolution on the operational activities for development of the United Nations system;

128

Requests the United Nations speakers at the operational activities for development segment to engage in a meaningful dialogue and respond to questions raised at the operational activities for development segment of the Economic and Social Council, in order to better inform the deliberations on the annual General Assembly follow-up resolution on the operational activities for development of the United Nations system;

129

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its eighty-third session, through the Economic and Social Council, a comprehensive analysis of the implementation of the present resolution, including an addendum taking into account the recommendations provided by the operational activities for development segment of the Council, as well as of the unfulfilled mandates contained in Assembly resolution 75/233 and in the subsequent follow-up resolutions.

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