Information and Communications Technology, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity for the United Nations : Arrangements for the Secondary Data Centre at Headquarters

A/RES/63/269View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 118 Programme budget for the biennium 2008-2009, published in 2008.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

3 entities

(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited
Subprogramme 4	Information and communications technology operations	4
Subprogramme 4	Information and communications technology operations	4
Subprogramme 4	Information and communications technology operations	4

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

3 entities

(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
Subprogramme 4	Information and communications technology operations	4	—
Subprogramme 4	Information and communications technology operations	4	—
Subprogramme 4	Information and communications technology operations	4	—

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

What subjects does this mandate have?

11 subjects

Cost Effectiveness Cost-Benefit Analysis Data Centres Data Protection Disaster Preparedness Financial Resources Programme Budgeting Programme Planning Report Preparation Risk Management Special Accounts

What’s in this document?

15 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;1

Reaffirms the need for a global operational framework to enable the United Nations to respond effectively to emergency situations that may impair operations of critical elements of its information and communications technology infrastructure and facilities;

Encourages the Secretary-General to take a unified approach to disaster recovery and business continuity, utilizing all available infrastructure, in order to achieve economies of scale and cost efficiencies;

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the United Nations uses enterprise data centres rather than local data centres as far as possible;

Notes with concern the continued deficiencies in the planning and management of the project;

Regrets that the proposal of the Secretary-General did not provide the necessary assurances that its implementation would sufficiently mitigate risks, including risks related to the physical security of data, during the relocation of the primary data centre to the North Lawn at Headquarters;

Requests the Secretary-General, when utilizing the services of the International Computing Centre, to ensure compliance with all regulations and rules regarding procurement, in order to guarantee the cost-effectiveness of the services provided by the Centre;

Endorses the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,2 subject to the provisions of the present resolution;

Reiterates its request to the Secretary-General, expressed in section IV, paragraph 7, of its resolution 63/262, to ensure that the leased space is fully utilized if it is not possible to terminate the lease;

Notes with concern that the delays caused by the lack of reliable disaster recovery and business continuity services for Headquarters may lead to further cost escalation, including in respect of the capital master plan, and risk to data;

Decides that any further proposal for risk mitigation measures to protect data and the information and communications systems of the Secretariat during the construction work of the capital master plan, if necessary, shall be reported in the context of the annual progress report on the capital master plan;

Requests the Secretary-General to absorb 5,096,880 United States dollars within the approved budget of the capital master plan, and decides that 2,031,860 dollars shall be financed from the resources to be approved for the support account for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010 in order to pursue the most reliable and cost-effective risk mitigation measures during the migration of the primary data centre to the North Lawn;

Also requests the Secretary-General to carry out a classification of critical/non-critical systems of the Secretariat and to provide to the General Assembly an inventory of systems classified according to their degree of criticality at the time of its consideration of the proposal for a permanent secondary data centre;

Further requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the level of protection proposed has been subject to a thorough cost-benefit analysis;

Recalls paragraph 12 of section IV of resolution 63/262, and requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly no later than at the main part of its sixty-fifth session a unified disaster recovery and business continuity plan, including a permanent solution for Headquarters.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

Table of contents

Who cites this mandate in the budget?