Realignment of the Functions of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Changes to the Strategic Framework

A/RES/65/227View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda items 105 Crime prevention and criminal justice and 106 International drug control, published in 2011.

What subjects does this mandate have?

7 subjects

Crime Prevention Drug Control Legal Services Programme Budgeting Programme Evaluation Resources Allocation Technical Cooperation

What’s in this document?

14 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on the changes required to the strategic framework and their implications for the Office and for the allocation of resources to the subprogrammes of the programme of work, and on the establishment of an independent evaluation unit and the sustainability of the Strategic Planning Unit of the Office,Error: Reference source not found and welcomes the measures taken to develop a thematic and regional programme approach to the programme of work of the Office;

Notes the anticipated efficiency gains resulting from the proposed realignment, which responds, in particular, to recommendations made by the Office of Internal Oversight Services of the Secretariat, and looks forward to seeing those efficiency gains reflected in the budget for the biennium 2012–2013 for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime;

Also notes that the realignment will not require any change to the strategic framework for the period 2010–2011 and that the thematic and regional programme approach will be reflected in the proposed strategic framework for the period 2012–2013;

Further notes that the proposed realignment will contribute to improving the technical assistance programmes and activities of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime;

Notes that the proposed realignment will not diminish the current status of any of the activities promoted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime;

Recalls that, in Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice resolution 18/6Error: Reference source not found and Commission on Narcotic Drugs resolution 52/14,Error: Reference source not found the Commissions decided that the consolidated budget for the biennium 2010–2011 for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime should contain adequate provisions for the establishment of a sustainable, effective and operationally independent evaluation unit, and urges the Secretariat to swiftly implement that decision and commence with the re-establishment of the independent evaluation unit without further delay;

Requests the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to ensure the sustainability of the Strategic Planning Unit, consistent with the importance of its functions;

Notes that the reinstatement of the post of Chief of the Policy Analysis and Research Branch at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, at the D-1 level, should be considered only after sufficient funding has been made available for the independent evaluation unit and the Strategic Planning Unit;

Also notes, in the preceding context, the realignment of the Division for Treaty Affairs and the Division for Operations of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,⁶ and encourages it as an important step in the process of continuous improvement of the Office;

⁶Ibid., paras. 1–3 and 35.

Highlights the importance of providing legal assistance for drug control and crime prevention and the need to link the provision of such assistance to the work of the Integrated Programme and Oversight Branch of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime;

Notes with concern the financial situation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime;

Urges the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to ensure that the Office submits to the Secretary-General a proposed programme budget for the biennium 2012–2013 that appropriately reflects the financial needs of the Office;

Requests the Secretary-General, in his proposed programme budget for the biennium 2012–2013, to devote due attention to the resource requirements for meeting the mandates entrusted to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, taking into account the relevant crime prevention and criminal justice mandates and the Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem,⁷ with particular focus on under-resourced areas;

⁷United Nations publication, Sales No. E.10.XI.8.

Requests the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to report to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at its twentieth session and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs at its fifty-fourth session on the implementation of the realignment of the Division for Treaty Affairs and the Division for Operations.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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