United Nations Common System Resolutions

A/RES/80/236A-BView PDF

Who created this mandate?

A document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 144United Nations common system, published in 2025.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

2 entities

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

7 topics

Coordination Within UN System International Civil Service Personnel Management Post Adjustment Salaries and Allowances Standards of Conduct Working Conditions

What does this mandate say?

21 operative paragraphs

A

Takes note with appreciation of the work of the International Civil Service Commission;

Takes note of the report of the Commission for 2025;

Reaffirms the role of the General Assembly in approving conditions of service and entitlements for all staff serving in the organizations of the United Nations common system, bearing in mind articles 10 and 11 of the statute of the Commission;

Reminds executive heads and governing bodies of the United Nations common system that failure to fully respect the decisions taken by the General Assembly on the Commission’s recommendations could prejudice claims to enjoy the benefits of participation in the common system, including organizations’ participation in the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, as stated in article 3 (b) of the Fund’s regulations;

Recalls its resolution 73/273, recognizes that multilingualism strengthens workforce diversity, welcomes the inclusion of multilingualism of the workforce in the programme of work of the Commission, and notes that the language incentive will be considered within the next comprehensive review as a measure to promote multilingualism in the common system;

Underlines the importance for the General Assembly to maintain comprehensive oversight of the common system compensation package and consider its components in a holistic manner;

Recalls its resolution 70/244, and notes the importance of the premise of overall cost containment and sustainability, as well as the agreed criteria of competitiveness and flexibility of the compensation package, in the comprehensive review;

Also recalls its resolution 70/244, and notes the importance of the broad objectives of effective mandate delivery, flexibility, attractiveness, coherence, transparency, cost-effectiveness, stability and predictability in the comprehensive review;

Welcomes the efforts taken by the Commission to conduct the comprehensive review of the compensation package, namely the development of its outline, scope, structure, parameters and timeline and establishment of working groups to facilitate the process, and looks forward to the timely completion and publication of the review for consideration of the General Assembly at its eighty-first session;

Requests the Commission to align its work and the implementation of its work programme with the objectives of cost containment and other agreed objectives, need for efficiency, and long-term financial sustainability of the United Nations common system including through rationalization of allowances and benefits;

Recalls its resolutions 79/252 A and B and further notes the UN80 Initiative launched by the Secretary-General, and in this regard requests the Commission to take into consideration the context of the UN80 Initiative and the decisions of Member States thereon in conducting its workplans, including targeted enhancements, and align itself with the objectives of cost containment and other agreed criteria, bearing in mind the need for efficiency and long-term sustainability of the common system while giving due consideration to the United Nations staff and their mission-critical work;

Requests the Commission to explore options for a revised margin range and decreased desirable midpoint for the margin between the net remuneration of officials in the Professional and higher categories of the United Nations in New York and officials in comparable positions in the comparator civil service, and to provide recommendations for consideration and decision of the General Assembly at its eighty-first session, based on an analysis on the impact of such a midpoint on the United Nations common system, including on the current application of the Noblemaire principle, attraction and retention of staff members, and overall attractiveness and predictability of the compensation package, based on quantitative analysis and modelling of the budgetary implications;

Requests the Secretary-General, in his capacity as Chair of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, to provide to the Commission fully disaggregated data by entity, grade level, duty station and compensation component, as available, enabling the Commission’s data analyses to be supported by sufficient information, and requests the Commission to present in its future reports how its conclusions are derived from the underlying data;

Also requests the Secretary-General, in his capacity as Chair of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, to collect qualitative and quantitative system-wide attrition data for all staff categories, to allow the Commission to analyse attrition trends, and requests that the data analysis be shared with the General Assembly at future sessions;

Encourages the organizations of the United Nations common system to use non‑financial incentives and administrative measures, including career development opportunities, recognition, and strengthened organizational culture, and requests the Office of Human Resources of the Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance to support these efforts;

I.Conditions of service applicable to both categories of staff

Approves, with effect from 1 January 2026, the revised standards of conduct for the international civil service, contained in annex XIII to the report of the Commission, and requests the Commission, in line with the established procedure, to incorporate into the revised version of the standards of conduct comprehensive guidance, including preventing conflicts of interest, promoting a culture of efficiency, economical, responsible and efficient use of resources as well as strengthening financial discipline and oversight, and report thereon to the General Assembly in its next report;

II.Conditions of service of staff in the Professional and higher categories

Confirms that teleworking is not a right or an entitlement but a measure of flexibility that organizations have the option to provide to staff according to the organizations’ needs, and requests the Commission to introduce a common framework for adjustments to compensation-related elements after a period of 60 cumulative working days, taking into account exceptional circumstances, and report thereon in the context of its next annual report at the main part of the eighty-first session;

A.Base/floor salary scale

Recalling its resolution 44/198, by which it established a floor net salary level for staff in the Professional and higher categories by reference to the corresponding base net salary levels of officials in comparable positions serving at the base city of the comparator civil service (the United States federal civil service),

Approves, with effect from 1 January 2026, as recommended by the Commission in paragraph 156 of its report, the revised unified base/floor scale and updated pay protection points for staff in the Professional and higher categories, as contained in annex VIII to the report;

B.Evolution of the United Nations/United States net remuneration margin

Recalling section I.B of its resolution 51/216 and the standing mandate from the General Assembly, in which the Commission is requested to continue its review of the relationship between the net remuneration of the United Nations staff in the Professional and higher categories in New York and that of the comparator civil service (the United States federal civil service) employees in comparable positions in Washington, D.C. (referred to as “the margin”),

Reaffirms that the range of 110 to 120 for the margin between the net remuneration of officials in the Professional and higher categories of the United Nations in New York and officials in comparable positions in the comparator civil service should continue to apply, on the understanding that the margin would be maintained at a level around the desirable midpoint of 115 over a period of time;

Notes that the margin between net remuneration of the United Nations staff in grades P-1 to D-2 in New York and that of officials in comparable positions in the United States federal civil service in Washington, D.C., for the period from 1 January to 31 December 2025 is 117;

Recalls its decision contained in resolution 70/244 that, if the margin trigger levels of 113 or 117 are breached, the Commission should take appropriate action through the operation of the post adjustment system;

Notes the Commission’s decision to continue monitoring the level of the margin and to take the necessary corrective action under the operation of the post adjustment system should the trigger levels of 113 or 117 be breached.

69th (resumed) plenary meeting

30 December 2025

B

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;

Endorses the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions.