Questions Relating to the Programme Budget for the Biennium 2002-2003

A/RES/57/292View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 112 Programme budget for the biennium 2002-2003, published in 2003.

What else is in this group?

29 documents · 1977–2015

Newer documents in this group exist (latest: 2015).

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2015	A/RES/69/262	Questions relating to the programme budget for the biennium 2014-2015	6,604	–
2013	A/RES/67/246	Questions relating to the programme budget for the biennium 2012-2013	8,403	–
2011	A/RES/65/259	Questions relating to the programme budget for the biennium 2010-2011	7,116	–
2009	A/RES/63/263	Questions relating to the programme budget for the biennium 2008-2009	3,221	–
2007	A/RES/61/252	Questions relating to the programme budget for the biennium 2006-2007	3,117	–

This group bundles related documents that are not individually ordered.

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

27 reports · 2003–2024

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2024	A/79/313	Twenty-second annual progress report on the implementation of the Capital Master Plan report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/57/292
2023	A/78/318	Twenty-first annual progress report on the implementation of the Capital Master Plan report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/57/292
2022	A/77/299	Twentieth annual progress report on the implementation of the Capital Master Plan report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/57/292
2021	A/76/288	Nineteenth annual progress report on the implementation of the Capital Master Plan report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/57/292
2020	A/75/302	Eighteenth annual progress report on the implementation of the Capital Master Plan report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/57/292

What subjects does this mandate have?

16 subjects

Appropriations Automobile Parking Budget Performance Building Permits Building Standards Business Management Conference and Meeting Services Construction Contingency Funds Financial Implications Internal Oversight Office Buildings Programme Budgeting Programme Expenditures Purchasing Vendors

What’s in this document?

73 operative paragraphs

I.Plan to increase the regular budget component of the United Nations Office at Nairobi

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the plan to increase the regular budget component of the United Nations Office at Nairobi,² and endorses the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions thereon;³

²A/57/362.

³A/57/7/Add.3, sect. A. For the final text, see Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 7.

Welcomes the intention of the Secretary-General to continue to strengthen the United Nations Office at Nairobi, and urges him to increase the regular budget component of the Office in future bienniums so as to ensure that the Office is able fully to execute programmes and activities within its mandate;

Requests the Secretary-General to take into account the provisions of the present resolution in the context of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2004–2005;

II.Capital master plan

Recalling its resolutions 54/249 of 23 December 1999, 55/238 of 23 December 2000, 56/234 and 56/236 of 24 December 2001 and 56/286 of 27 June 2002,

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on the capital master plan,⁴

⁴A/57/285.

Having also considered the related report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,⁵

⁵A/57/7/Add.4. For the final text, see Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 7.

Takes note with concern of the hazards, risks and deficiencies of the current condition of the United Nations Headquarters complex, and concurs with the Secretary-General that a decision on viable solutions must be made to ameliorate those conditions;

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the capital master plan;3

Also takes note of the related report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,4 and endorses the observations and recommendations contained therein, subject to the provisions of the present resolution;

Welcomes with appreciation the offer of support from the City and State of New York, and acknowledges their efforts to make possible the implementation of the capital master plan;

Scope of the capital master plan

Decides to implement the capital master plan on the basis of the baseline scope under the first approach to phasing and swing space, with a projected construction budget of 1,049 million United States dollars,⁶ a variance of plus or minus 10 per cent, that is, a range currently estimated at 944.1 million to 1,153.9 million dollars, a proposed construction start date of October 2004 and a construction duration of five years;

⁶The amount of 1,049 million dollars, with a variance of plus or minus 10 per cent, assumes a construction start date of October 2004 and reflects a baseline scope estimate of 991 million dollars, a swing space estimate of 96 million dollars, a decrease of 17 million dollars in respect of previously approved security measures, a decrease of 57 million dollars in respect of the exclusion of a new large conference room and multi-function hall in the existing complex and the addition of 36 million dollars in respect of the inclusion of the replacement of the curtain wall.

Notes that the projected budget should be increased by up to 144 million dollars should the Assembly decide to implement any of the scope options referred to in paragraph 11 below;

Authorizes the Secretary-General to proceed with the remaining phases of design development and construction documentation, bearing in mind the provisions set out below;

Baseline scope

Approves the implementation of the baseline scope as amended by the exclusion of the proposed new large conference room and multi-function hall in the parking garage;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session plans for the three additional conference rooms foreseen in the baseline scope, including the information used to determine the need for such additional space and the size of each room;

Also requests the Secretary-General to include in those plans viable solutions for allowing natural light into the rooms, with a view to ensuring occupationally healthy conditions;

Scope options

Approves the inclusion in the design documents of the proposed scope options for security, redundancy and contingency and sustainability within the design work for the capital master plan, without prejudice to the final decision to be made by the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session with regard to the scope options to be included, and also approves the contingency plans for retaining the proposed new large conference room and multi-function hall in the parking garage of the United Nations Headquarters complex;

Swing space

Endorses the proposal of the Secretary-General, in line with the first approach to phasing and swing space, to complete the negotiations with the City of New York for the construction and lease purchase of a new United Nations consolidated building on a section of the Robert Moses Playground, including the cost of providing alternative park amenities for the community to compensate for the loss of part of the playground;

Requests the Secretary-General to include a permanent large conference room and a permanent multi-function hall in a design of the new United Nations consolidated building;

Also requests the Secretary-General to ensure that, in addressing the design of the United Nations consolidated building, the necessary security and environmental parameters are respected;

Approves, in principle, the approach of the Secretary-General that the acquisition of the United Nations consolidated building will be made through a lease-purchase agreement with the United Nations, upon the expiry of which the building and the land on which it stands would be owned by the United Nations;

Parking

Takes note with concern of the existing difficulties with regard to the availability of parking at the United Nations;

Requests the Secretary-General to study all viable options to ensure sufficient parking spaces so as to meet the existing and future needs of diplomatic missions and Secretariat staff within the projected overall budget of the capital master plan, and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session in the context of its consideration of the capital master plan;

Management and oversight

Requests the Secretary-General to put in place strict control standards for all phases of the plan prior to and during its implementation, defining the precise refurbishment work to be done and the technical results to be achieved so as to ensure that there are no cost overruns associated with the overall project, that the project is completed successfully within the envisaged time frame and budget and within the agreed technical specifications, that there are financial penalties for contractors in the case of non-respect of deadlines and that there is a guarantee which will ensure the long-term quality of the work undertaken;

Concurs with the intention of the Secretary-General to establish an independent and impartial advisory board, as outlined in paragraph 66 of his report,3 and requests him, in establishing the board, to reflect wide geographical representation;

Takes note of the information included in paragraph 75 of the report of the Secretary-General3 and of the fact that the Board of Auditors, in order to avoid a conflict of interest, did not assume responsibility for the validation of initial project costs;

Stresses in this regard the importance, as a matter of transparency, of the Secretary-General reporting to the General Assembly on such situations;

Also stresses the importance of oversight with respect to the development and implementation of the capital master plan, and requests the Board of Auditors and all other relevant oversight bodies to initiate immediate oversight activities and to report annually thereon to the General Assembly;

Takes note of annexes II and III to the report of the Secretary-General,3 and requests the Secretary-General to issue a corrigendum that reflects the current organizational structure of the Secretariat for managing the capital master plan, both at present and over the course of its implementation;⁷

⁷The corrigendum was subsequently issued as A/57/285/Corr.1.

Appropriation and funding

Decides that a special account for the capital master plan should be established, and requests the Secretary-General to make the necessary arrangements in this regard, in accordance with the provisions of regulation 6.6 of the Financial Regulations and Rules of the United Nations;

Also decides to appropriate 25.5 million dollars to the special account for the capital master plan for the biennium 2002–2003, in accordance with the relevant resolutions on the scale of assessments applicable for the biennium 2002–2003, for design and related project management and management of pre-construction services for the baseline scope and scope options;

Authorizes the Secretary-General to enter into commitments of up to 26 million dollars for the biennium 2004–2005 to provide for the remaining work, related project management and management of pre-construction services for the baseline scope and scope options;

Welcomes the preparedness of the Secretary-General to initiate a campaign to encourage and secure private donations;

Reaffirms the importance of continuing efforts to secure financial resources from the public and private sectors for upgrading facilities and equipment, including the participation of private companies in infrastructural improvements, where such participation has no financial implications for the Organization, and also reaffirms that the acceptance of any donation should conform to the international and intergovernmental character of the Organization and should be in full compliance with the Financial Regulations and Rules of the United Nations;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session on:

The status of possible funding arrangements, including a financial package to be provided by the host country;

Other contributions and his efforts to secure such contributions from public and private sources;

All aspects of the outcome of negotiations with the City and State of New York;

The progress of the design work;

Procurement

Requests the Secretary-General, considering the need to continue to explore ways to increase procurement opportunities for vendors from developing countries and countries with economies in transition, to take the provisions of General Assembly resolutions 54/14 of 29 October 1999 and 55/247 of 12 April 2001 on procurement reform fully into consideration in the implementation of the capital master plan;

Also requests the Secretary-General to report to it on an annual basis on the awarding of contracts for procurement for the capital master plan;

Final provisions

Decides that none of the provisions of the present resolution, with the exception of paragraphs 24 to 26 and all requested design specifications, are binding in the event that the City and State of New York cannot fulfil their commitments to the capital master plan and if the host country does not offer a financing package to cover the project, described in paragraph 5 of the present section;

Also decides to revert to the issue of the financing of the capital master plan at its fifty-eighth session;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to it annual progress reports on the implementation of the capital master plan;

III.Estimates in respect of matters of which the Security Council is seized

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on the estimates in respect of matters of which the Security Council is seized⁸ and the related report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,⁹

⁸A/C.5/57/23.

⁹A/57/7/Add.17. For the final text, see Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 7.

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the estimates in respect of matters of which the Security Council is seized,7 and endorses the observations and recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions contained in its report;8

Approves, under the procedures provided for in paragraph 11 of annex I to its resolution 41/213 of 19 December 1986, an additional appropriation of 60,039,000 dollars for the nineteen special political missions presented in the report of the Secretary-General under section 3, Political affairs, of the programme budget for the biennium 2002–2003;

Also approves an appropriation of 8,183,100 dollars under section 32, Staff assessment, to be offset by a corresponding amount under Income section 1, Income from staff assessment, of the programme budget for the biennium 2002–2003;

IV.Strengthening the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the Secretariat

Recalling paragraph 103 of its resolution 56/253 of 24 December 2001,

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on strengthening the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the Secretariat¹⁰ and the related report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,¹¹

¹⁰A/57/152 and Corr.1, A/57/152/Add.1 and Corr.1 and 2 and A/57/152/Add.2.

¹¹A/57/7/Add.13. For the final text, see Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 7.

Reaffirms the priorities of the Organization as set out in the medium-term plan for the period 2002–2005,¹² namely:

¹²Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-fifth Session, Supplement No. 6 (A/55/6/Rev.1), para. 26.

Maintenance of international peace and security;

Promotion of sustained economic growth and sustainable development in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and recent United Nations conferences;

Development of Africa;

Promotion of human rights;

Effective coordination of humanitarian assistance efforts;

Promotion of justice and international law;

Disarmament;

Drug control, crime prevention and combating international terrorism in all its forms and manifestations;

Also reaffirms the role of the Centre for International Crime Prevention of the Office on Drugs and Crime¹³ of the Secretariat in contributing to the prevention of international terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, as mandated and reflected in the medium-term plan;¹⁴

¹³Formerly known as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention.

¹⁴See Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-fifth Session, Supplement No. 6 (A/55/6/Rev.1), programme 12.

Further reaffirms the role of the Centre in providing, at the request of Member States, technical assistance in the prevention of international terrorism in all its forms and manifestations;

Approves, as a charge against the contingency fund, an amount of 230,900 dollars for one D-1, one P-4, one P-3 and two General Service (Other level) posts under section 14, Crime prevention and criminal justice, of the programme budget for the biennium 2002–2003 and a related amount of 55,600 dollars under section 32, Staff assessment, offset by the amount of 55,600 dollars under income section 1, Income from staff assessment, and decides that the balance of resource requirements as detailed in the annex to the report of the Secretary-General¹⁵ shall be reflected in the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2004–2005;

¹⁵A/57/152/Add.2.

V.United Nations Institute for Training and Research

Recalling its resolutions 47/227 of 8 April 1993 and 56/208 of 21 December 2001,

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Institute for Training and Research¹⁶ and the related report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,¹⁷

¹⁶A/57/479.

¹⁷A/57/7/Add.15. For the final text, see Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 7.

Emphasizes the need to find a viable financial solution to ensure the future effective functioning of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research;

Notes with concern that the Institute has accumulated a debt to the United Nations and to the Fondation immobilière pour organisations internationales owing to lack of payment of rent and maintenance for its liaison offices in New York and Geneva;

Requests the Secretary-General, on the basis of consultations with the Executive Director of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session on the financial viability of the Institute, including the status of all voluntary contributions and the payment of the accumulated debt of the Institute, as well as on provisions offered to other comparable organizations;

Also requests the Secretary-General to address, in the context of the programme budget for the biennium 2004–2005, based on the aforementioned consultations with the Institute, specific proposals and options on how best to address the issue of its past and future maintenance and rental costs, drawing on the provisions made for other organizations associated with the United Nations;

VI.First performance report on the programme budget for the biennium 2002–2003

Having considered the first performance report of the Secretary-General on the programme budget for the biennium 2002–2003¹⁸ and the related report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,¹⁹

¹⁸A/57/616.

¹⁹A/57/7/Add.16. For the final text, see Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 7.

Reaffirms the budgetary process as approved in its resolution 41/213 of 19 December 1986 and as reaffirmed in subsequent resolutions;

Also reaffirms its resolutions 56/253 and 56/254 A to C of 24 December 2001 and 56/274 B, 56/286 and 56/287 of 27 June 2002;

Takes note of the first performance report of the Secretary-General on the programme budget for the biennium 2002–2003,Error: Reference source not found and endorses the observations and recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,Error: Reference source not found subject to the provisions of the present resolution;

Decides to appropriate an amount of 6,896,100 dollars to support the meeting requirements of the Counter-Terrorism Committee for the period from 1 January 2002 to 31 March 2003 in the programme budget for the biennium 2002–2003 as follows: 6,531,900 dollars under section 2, General Assembly affairs and conference services, and 364,200 dollars under section 27 D, Office of Central Support Services;

Notes the continued unpredictability of the service requirements for the activities of the Counter-Terrorism Committee and the scope for absorption of some or all of the costs related to the servicing of the Committee;

Reiterates paragraph 2 of its resolution 56/288 of 27 June 2002, in which it requested the Secretary-General to ensure the provision of conference and support services to the Counter-Terrorism Committee without adversely affecting other conference services;

Decides to consider further the conference and support servicing of the Counter-Terrorism Committee for 2003 in the light of the review by the Security Council of the activities of the Committee;

Decides also to approve 9.9 million dollars for realized vacancy rates in 2002 and to consider the actual realized vacancy rates for 2003 in the context of the second performance report on the programme budget for the biennium 2002–2003;

Reiterates paragraphs 133 to 136 of its resolution 56/253;

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to provide information on regular budget expenditures on a quarterly basis in the appropriate format;

Notes with deep concern the serious and continuing deterioration in the business of the United Nations Postal Administration;

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure, as a matter of priority, that the continuing downward trend in the business of the United Nations Postal Administration is reversed, considering all possible courses of action for the future conduct of its business, and to report thereon to the General Assembly in the context of the second performance report;

Approves a net increase of 176,866,900 dollars in the appropriation approved for the biennium 2002–2003 and a net increase of 2,807,300 dollars in the estimates of income for the biennium, to be apportioned among expenditure and income sections as indicated in the report of the Secretary-General;Error: Reference source not found

VII.Contingency fund: consolidated statement of programme budget implications and revised estimates

Notes that a balance of 31,200 dollars remains in the contingency fund.