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

A/RES/67/226View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 25a Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations System, published in 2012.

What other versions does this mandate have?

4 versions · 2013–2024

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/79/226

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2024	A/RES/79/226	Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations System	13,209	57%Compare
2020	A/RES/75/233	Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations System	11,954	35%Compare
2017	A/RES/71/243	Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system	8,963	16%Compare
2013	A/RES/67/226	Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system	13,947	–

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

18 reports · 2016–2026

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2026	A/81/75 E/2026/61	Implementation of General Assembly resolution 79/226 on the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations System report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/79/226
2026	A/81/75/Add.1 E/2026/61/Add.1	Implementation of General Assembly resolution 79/226 on the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations System : funding of the United Nations development system report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/79/226
2025	A/80/74 E/2025/53	Implementation of General Assembly resolution 79/226 on the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations System report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/79/226
2024	A/79/72/Add.1 E/2024/12/Add.1	Implementation of General Assembly resolution 75/233 on the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations System : funding of the United Nations development system report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/75/233
2023	A/78/72 E/2023/59	Implementation of General Assembly resolution 75/233 on the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations System report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/75/233

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 subjects

Capacity Building Coordination Within UN System Development Assistance Operational Activities Programme Ownership Resident Coordinators

What’s in this document?

212 operative paragraphs

I.Introduction

Takes note with appreciation of the reports of the Secretary-General on the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system⁹ and the analysis of funding of operational activities for development of the United Nations system for 2010;¹⁰

⁹A/67/93-E/2012/79 and A/67/320-E/2012/89.

¹⁰A/67/94-E/2012/80.

Takes note of the relevant reports of the Joint Inspection Unit;¹¹

¹¹See A/64/375-E/2009/103 and Corr.1, A/65/71, A/65/394, A/66/308, A/66/348, A/66/380, A/66/710 and A/66/717.

Notes the advances that the United Nations development system is making in the implementation of General Assembly resolution 62/208, and calls upon the United Nations system to accelerate its full implementation, taking into account the provisions of the present resolution;

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 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 that development assistance by the United Nations development system should be able to respond to the varying development needs of programme countries and should be in alignment with their national development plans and strategies in accordance with its mandates;

Recognizes that the strength of the United Nations operational system lies in its legitimacy, at the country level, as a neutral, objective and trusted partner for both programme countries and donor 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;

Emphasizes that the operational activities for development of the United Nations system should be valued and assessed on the basis of their impact on the programme countries as contributions to enhance the capacity of those countries to pursue poverty eradication, sustained economic growth and sustainable development;

Decides that, with the agreement and consent of the host country, the United Nations development system should assist national Governments in creating an enabling environment in which the links and cooperation between national Governments, the United Nations development system, civil society, national non-governmental organizations and the private sector that are involved in the development process are strengthened, including, as appropriate, during the United Nations Development Assistance Framework preparation process, with a view to seeking new and innovative solutions to development problems in accordance with national policies and priorities;

Recognizes the important role and comparative advantage of the United Nations development system in supporting national efforts, accelerating progress on the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals, addressing all development challenges, including inequality, supporting the poor and people in vulnerable situations and advancing the integration of the economic, social and environmental pillars of sustainable development;

Stresses the need to make the United Nations development system more relevant, coherent, efficient and effective in its support to developing countries to achieve the internationally agreed development goals, on the basis of their national development priorities and strategies, and also stresses that reform efforts should enhance organizational efficiency, achieve concrete development results and strengthen the accountability and transparency of the system to Member States;

Requests the United Nations development system to continue its efforts to respond to national development plans, policies and priorities, which constitute the only viable frame of reference for programming operational activities at the country level, on the basis of national ownership and leadership, and to pursue full integration of operational activities for development at the country level with national planning and programming, under the leadership of national Governments, at all stages of the process, while ensuring the full involvement of all relevant stakeholders, at all levels, as appropriate;

Recognizes that strengthening the role and capacity of the United Nations development system to assist countries in achieving their development goals requires continuing improvement in its effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and impact, along with a significant increase in resources and an expansion of its resource base on a continuous, more predictable and assured basis;

Also recognizes that sustainable development should be given due consideration by the programmes, funds and specialized agencies of the United Nations system and other relevant entities, such as international financial institutions and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, in accordance with their respective existing mandates, and in this regard invites them to further enhance the mainstreaming of sustainable development into their respective mandates, programmes, strategies and decision-making processes in support of the efforts of all countries, in particular developing countries, in the achievement of sustainable development;

Calls upon the United Nations system to improve the management of facilities and operations by taking into account sustainable development practices, building on existing efforts and promoting cost-effectiveness, in accordance with legislative frameworks, including financial rules and regulations, while maintaining accountability to Member States;

Encourages the Secretary-General, through the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination and the United Nations Development Group, as appropriate, to make efforts to enhance the coherence, effectiveness and efficiency of the United Nations development system;

Reaffirms the need for continuously enhancing the transparency of the activities of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination and of the United Nations Development Group, in particular to ensure their effective interaction with and improve their responsiveness to Member States, while respecting their working methods, and in this regard requests:

The Secretary-General, in his capacity as Chair of the Chief Executives Board for Coordination, to further enhance the quality and quantity of information on the website of the Board and to publish and make available to Member States the inter-agency agreements and decisions of the Board;

The Secretary-General, in his capacity as Chair of the Chief Executives Board for Coordination, to ensure a transparent approach in priority-setting, and to include appropriate information on the work of the Board in its annual overview report to the Economic and Social Council, to be reviewed by the Committee for Programme and Coordination;

The United Nations Development Group to consult the pertinent governing bodies of its constituent agencies on major resource and policy decisions;

The President of the Economic and Social Council to continue to convene periodic briefings for Member States and the Secretariat following the biannual sessions of the Chief Executives Board for Coordination, taking into account the need to schedule the briefings within a time frame that permits the full utilization of opportunities by Member States for an effective dialogue with the Board regarding its activities;

Recognizes that the individual United Nations funds, programmes and agencies 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 and coherence at the country level should be undertaken in a manner that recognizes the respective mandates and roles and enhances the effective utilization of resources and the unique expertise of all United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies;

Urges all Member States to pursue full implementation of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, and recognizes the positive contribution that these goals can make in providing direction to the operational activities for development of the United Nations system, in accordance with national development efforts and priorities;

Reaffirms the central role of Governments in contributing to the work of the United Nations development system, while recognizing the importance of the United Nations development system increasing capacity to engage in results-oriented innovative national, regional and global partnerships with diverse stakeholders, including international financial institutions, civil society, the private sector and foundations, and encourages the United Nations development system to intensify its collaboration with these stakeholders;

Stresses the need for the United Nations system to work consistently across its entities, funds and programmes and specialized agencies by enhancing coordination within programme countries and by building strong linkages within programme countries and between national, regional and global levels;

Recognizes the importance of improving strategic planning at the United Nations agency and national levels, as well as of consistent, reliable and comprehensive statistical data and analysis about United Nations operational activities supporting national efforts in order to provide an understanding of evolution and trends contributing to sound policy decisions and to effectively implement the present resolution;

Requests the United Nations development system to take into account the needs of persons with disabilities in its operational activities for development, including in the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, and to address the continuing lack of adequate and reliable information on disability and to strengthen coherence and coordination across the United Nations system in this regard;

II.Funding of operational activities of the United Nations for development

A.General principles

Stresses the need for adequate quantity and quality of funding for operational activities as well as the need to make funding more predictable, effective and efficient;

Emphasizes that increasing financial contributions to the United Nations development system, in particular core resources, is key to achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, and in this regard recognizes the mutually reinforcing links between increased effectiveness, efficiency and coherence of the United Nations development system, achieving concrete results in assisting developing countries to eradicate poverty and achieving sustained economic growth and sustainable development through its operational activities for development and the overall resourcing of the United Nations development system;

Stresses that core resources, because of their untied nature, continue to be the bedrock of the operational activities for development of the United Nations system, in this regard notes with concern that the share of core contributions to United Nations funds and programmes has declined in recent years, and recognizes the need for organizations to address, on a continuous basis, the imbalance between core and non-core resources;

Notes that non-core resources represent an important contribution to the overall resource base of the United Nations development system and complement core resources to support operational activities for development, thus contributing to an increase in total resources, while noting the need to make non-core resources more flexible and aligned with strategic plans and national priorities and recognizing that non-core resources are not a substitute for core resources;

Recognizes that non-core resources pose challenges, in particular restricted earmarked funding such as single-donor project-specific funding, through potentially increasing transaction costs, fragmentation, competition and overlap among entities and providing disincentives for pursuing a United Nations-wide focus, strategic positioning and coherence, and may also potentially distort programme priorities regulated by intergovernmental bodies and processes;

Also recognizes the overall positive trends of funding for United Nations operational activities in the period from 1995 to 2010, and notes with concern the decline in official development assistance in 2011 as well as the imbalance between core and non-core resources;

Acknowledges the efforts by developed countries to increase resources for development, including commitments by some developed countries to increase official development assistance, calls for the fulfilment of all official development assistance commitments, including the commitments by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance by 2015, as well as the target of 0.15 per cent to 0.20 per cent for 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;

Affirms the importance of accountability, transparency and improved results-based management and further harmonized results-based reporting on the work of the United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies, and in nationally owned outcomes, for increased quantity and quality of funding for operational activities;

Encourages the funds, programmes and specialized agencies of the United Nations development system to intensify collaboration to achieve more effective use of development resources, as well as their expertise and actions towards strengthening national capacities in accordance with national priorities and development plans;

B.Enhancing overall funding, in particular core resources

Urges donor countries and other countries in a position to do so to maintain and substantially increase their voluntary contributions, in a manner consistent with their capacities, to the core/regular budgets of 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;

Stresses that funding for operational activities should be aligned with the national priorities and plans of the programme countries as well as the strategic plans, mandates, resource frameworks and priorities of the United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies, and underscores in that regard the need to further strengthen the delivery of results and the results-based frameworks of the funds, programmes and specialized agencies of the United Nations development system and to improve their reporting on outputs and nationally owned outcomes;

Requests the United Nations funds and programmes, and encourages the specialized agencies, to report to their governing bodies at the first regular session of 2014 on concrete measures taken to emphasize the importance of broadening the donor base and increasing the number of countries and other partners making financial contributions to the United Nations development system in order to reduce the reliance of the system on a limited number of donors, as well as on progress made in increasing the donor base;

Encourages the United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies to further improve their communication to the general public on their mandates and development results, recognizing the important contribution made by those Governments in providing significant core contributions to regular resources of those organizations, and invites the United Nations funds and programmes and specialized agencies to provide information on efforts made in communicating to the general public in their annual reports to the Economic and Social Council from 2013 onwards;

Encourages the United Nations funds and programmes to continue to actively engage with the Bretton Woods institutions, the regional development banks, civil society, the private sector and foundations with a view to diversifying potential sources of funding, especially core funding, for their operational activities for development, in alignment with the core principles of the United Nations development system and with full respect for the national priorities of programme countries;

Expresses concern over the lack of progress by the governing bodies in the development and operationalization of the concept of the “critical mass” of core resources;

Reiterates the potential positive impact of determining the level of critical mass of core funding for United Nations development agencies, and requests the funds and programmes to define common principles for the concept of critical mass of core resources, which may include the level of resources adequate to respond to the needs of the programme countries and to produce the results expected in strategic plans, including administrative, management and programme costs, and to present specific proposals to their respective governing bodies by the end of 2013 with a view to a decision in 2014;

C.Improving the predictability and quality of resources

Recognizes that Member States and the United Nations development system should prioritize the allocation of core/regular resources and non-core resources that are more predictable, flexible, less earmarked and better aligned with the priorities of programme countries, including those included in the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, and with the strategic plans and mandates of United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies;

Encourages the governing bodies of the United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies, as appropriate, to ensure that all available and projected core and non-core resources are consolidated within an integrated budgetary framework, based on the priorities of their respective strategic plans;

Requests that, as a practice, all available and projected financial contributions for operational activities for development of the United Nations system at the country level be consolidated within a common budgetary framework, which would not constitute a legal constraint on the spending authority of resources, and that the framework be used to strengthen the quality of system-wide resource planning in support of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, and also requests the funds and programmes, and encourages the specialized agencies, to provide the necessary information on contributions to the resident coordinators upon agreement with programme countries;

Stresses the need to avoid the use of core/regular resources to subsidize non-core/extrabudgetary financed activities, including the use of core/regular resources to cover costs related to the management and support of non-core/extrabudgetary funds and their programme activities;

Encourages Member States making non-core contributions to reduce transaction costs, assign resources, as much as possible, at the beginning of the annual planning period, while encouraging multi-year duration of implementation of development-related activities, streamline and harmonize requirements related to reporting, monitoring and evaluation and give priority to pooled, thematic and joint funding mechanisms applied at the global, regional and country levels;

Acknowledges the ongoing work by the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) towards agency-specific integrated budgets, including harmonization of cost classification, and looks forward to the completion of this work to allow a better alignment of programming and resources in the next generation of strategic plans;

Requests, in this regard, the executive boards of the funds and programmes and the governing bodies of the specialized agencies, as appropriate, to organize structured dialogues during 2014 on how to finance the development results agreed in the new strategic planning cycle of their respective entities, with a view to making non-core resources more predictable and less restricted/earmarked, broadening the donor base and improving the adequacy and predictability of resource flows;

D.Ensuring full cost recovery

Welcomes the decisions of the Executive Boards of the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Children’s Fund and UN-Women on a harmonized cost classification methodology, in particular with regard to the classification of costs relating to programme activities and to non-programme activities, takes note of the current work being undertaken by the four organizations on a harmonized conceptual framework and calculation methodology for cost recovery rates, and in this regard looks forward to its completion by early 2013;

Reaffirms, in this regard, that the guiding principle governing the financing of all non-programme costs should be based on full cost recovery, proportionally, from core and non-core funding sources;

Acknowledges the principle of full cost recovery;

Also acknowledges that United Nations organizations have different business models and mandates and that this implies that their funding structures differ;

Notes with concern that the non-programme costs relating to non-core programme activities continue to draw resources from core resources for programme activities;

Urges Member States making non-core contributions to reduce transaction costs and to streamline reporting requirements, where possible;

Requests the executive boards of the United Nations funds and programmes, and encourages the governing bodies of the specialized agencies, to adopt cost recovery frameworks by 2013, with a view to their full implementation in 2014, based on the guiding principle of full cost recovery, proportionally, from core and non-core resources, and a simple, transparent and harmonized methodology, providing incentives, including through differentiated cost recovery rates, and taking into account different volumes and nature of funds to increase core funding and more predictable, flexible and less earmarked non-core contributions that are aligned with the strategic plans adopted by the respective governing bodies;

Requests the United Nations funds and programmes, and urges the specialized agencies, to include estimated amounts to be recovered in their budgets and to report on actual cost recovery amounts as part of their regular financial reporting;

Requests the Secretary-General to report on the progress made in the context of his annual report on the funding of operational activities for development, including options for incentive mechanisms for increasing core resources, to be applied at a system-wide level;

Requests the United Nations funds and programmes to further pursue reductions in management costs in the effort to minimize the necessary cost recovery rate within the existing budget framework;

III.Contribution of United Nations operational activities to national capacity development and development effectiveness

A.Capacity-building and development

Recognizes that capacity development and ownership of national development strategies are essential for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, and calls upon organizations of the United Nations development system to provide further support to the efforts of developing countries, in alignment with the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, to establish and/or maintain effective national institutions and to support the implementation and, as necessary, the devising of national strategies for capacity-building, including policy advisory support, to deal with national and global challenges;

Encourages the United Nations system to promote sustainable development outcomes through strengthening normative and operational linkages within the United Nations system and, in this regard, to direct particular efforts to supporting programme countries, at their request, in building national capacity for inclusive, equitable, participatory, transparent and accountable national development processes, in order to target and empower the poor and people in vulnerable situations;

Emphasizes the need for enhanced capacity-building for sustainable development, and in this regard calls for the strengthening of technical and scientific cooperation, including North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation, and reiterates the importance of human resources development, including training, the exchange of experience and expertise, knowledge transfer and technical assistance for capacity-building, which involves strengthening institutional capacities, including planning, management, monitoring and evaluation capacities;

Stresses that capacity development is a core function of the United Nations development system and one of the key interrelated principles that must be applied at the country level, and in this regard notes the efforts undertaken by the United Nations development system to identify capacity gaps, in particular the 2010 common country assessment/United Nations Development Assistance Framework guidelines and the 2010 United Nations Development Assistance Framework guidance and support package;

Calls upon the United Nations development system to strengthen its focus on developing national capacities for development planning, disaggregated data collection and analysis, implementation, reporting, monitoring and evaluation, with an emphasis on 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;

Also calls upon the United Nations development system to further support the capacity-building and capacity development of developing countries, upon their request, and to effectively coordinate and evaluate the impact of external development assistance in line with national development plans and priorities;

Requests the United Nations development system to develop, for the consideration of Member States, a common approach for measuring progress in capacity development, as well as to develop specific frameworks aimed at enabling programme countries, upon their request, to design, monitor and evaluate results in the development of their capacities to achieve national development goals and strategies;

Calls upon United Nations organizations to adopt measures that ensure sustainability in capacity-building activities, and reiterates that the United Nations development system should use, to the fullest extent possible, and strengthen national execution/implementation and available national expertise and technologies as the norm in the implementation of operational activities by focusing on national structures and avoiding, wherever possible, the practice of establishing parallel implementation units outside of national and local institutions;

Stresses that programme countries, in order to meet the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration,Error: Reference source not found should have access to new and emerging technologies, which requires technology transfer, technical cooperation and the building and nurturing of scientific and technological capacity to participate in the development and adaptation of these technologies to local conditions, and in this regard urges Member States and the United Nations system to support the promotion and transfer of new and emerging technologies to programme countries;

Encourages the United Nations development system to make increased use of national public and private systems for support services, including for procurement, security, information technology, telecommunications, travel and banking, as well as, when appropriate, for planning, reporting and evaluation, and also encourages the United Nations development system to avoid and significantly reduce the number of its parallel project implementation units in programme countries as a means of strengthening national capacities and reducing transaction costs;

Recalls paragraph 127 of General Assembly resolution 62/208 on the importance of the use of national professional staff and national consultants, wherever feasible and to the advantage of the programme countries;

Urges all organizations of the United Nations development system to intensify inter-agency sharing of information, at the system-wide level, on good practices and experiences gained, results achieved, benchmarks and indicators and monitoring and evaluation criteria concerning their capacity-building and capacity development activities;

B.Poverty eradication

Reaffirms that eradicating poverty is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development in developing countries, particularly in Africa, and underlines the importance of accelerating sustainable, broad-based, inclusive and equitable economic growth for the benefit of all people and the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals;

Acknowledges that the eradication of poverty through the development of national capacities in developing countries should continue to be a core area of focus for the United Nations development system, and that its development programmes and projects should attempt to address this greatest global challenge as their underlying objective;

Calls upon the organizations of the United Nations development system, including the funds, programmes and specialized agencies, in accordance with their mandates, to assign the highest priority to poverty eradication, and stresses that efforts in this area should be scaled up to address the root causes of extreme poverty and hunger;

Acknowledges the complexity of the challenge of poverty eradication, emphasizes that, in accelerating poverty eradication, the United Nations development system must be driven by national priorities and operate in an integrated, coordinated and coherent manner, making full use of the interlinked and mutually reinforcing pillars of the United Nations development system, and encourages the use of diverse strategies;

Encourages the United Nations development system to share good practices, lessons learned, strategies, programmes and policies, such as capacity-building, employment generation, education, vocational training, rural development and the mobilization of all possible resources, among others, which aim at achieving poverty eradication and promoting the active participation of those living in poverty in the design and implementation of such programmes and policies as mandated by the United Nations development system, with the aim of accelerating progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals and informing the process leading to the post-2015 development agenda;

C.South-South cooperation and development of national capacities

Reaffirms the increased importance of South-South cooperation, and in this regard calls upon the funds, programmes, specialized agencies and other entities of the United Nations system to mainstream support to South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation into the regular country-level programming of operational activities for development, to strengthen support mechanisms at the global and regional levels, including drawing upon the knowledge networks of global entities and the capacities of the regional commissions and the United Nations development system regional teams, and to help developing countries, at their request and with their ownership and leadership, to develop capacities to maximize the benefits and impact of South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation in order to achieve their national goals, with special emphasis on the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals;

Requests the United Nations development system to intensify its information-sharing, reporting and evaluation on support to and results achieved through South-South cooperation, including triangular cooperation;

Welcomes the fact that the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation continues to facilitate the wide diffusion of and access to information relating to experiences, best practices and potential partners in South-South cooperation on the Web of Information for Development, its electronic databank;

Also welcomes the increasing importance of South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation in international development efforts, while stressing the important development challenges that all developing countries continue to face, recognizes in this regard the increasing potential of South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, and calls upon all countries in a position to do so, as well as other stakeholders, to increase their support for South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation, especially by providing technical assistance and mobilizing financial resources on a sustainable basis;

Stresses the importance of strengthening the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, within the United Nations Development Programme, and calls upon the United Nations development system to provide the Office with further support to enable it to fulfil its mandate;

Requests the heads of the specialized agencies, the United Nations funds and programmes and the regional commissions to pay special attention to the implementation of South-South cooperation projects managed or supported by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation;

D.Gender equality and women’s empowerment

Welcomes the establishment and operationalization of UN-Women, noting the importance of its work for more effective and coherent gender mainstreaming across the United Nations and its role in leading, coordinating and promoting accountability of the United Nations system in its work on gender equality and the empowerment of women, as established by General Assembly resolution 64/289, and recognizes its role in assisting Member States upon their request;

Requests the organizations of the United Nations development system to substantially increase the investment in and focus on outcomes and outputs relating to gender equality and the empowerment of women in United Nations development framework programmes;

Calls upon the United Nations development system to consider the role of men and boys in gender mainstreaming policies;

Requests the United Nations development system to expand and strengthen the use of the United Nations country team performance indicators for gender equality and the empowerment of women (the “scorecard”) as a planning and reporting tool for assessing the effectiveness of gender mainstreaming for use by the country teams in the context of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework;

Encourages the United Nations development system to institute greater accountability for gender equality in evaluations conducted by country teams by including gender perspectives in such evaluations;

Urges all organizations of the United Nations development system, in particular UN-Women, within their respective mandates, to strengthen the coordination of gender-responsive operational activities through existing coordination mechanisms at the country level and in partnership, where appropriate, with other relevant entities and national stakeholders;

Welcomes the development of the United Nations System-wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, under the leadership of UN-Women, as an accountability framework to be fully implemented by the United Nations development system;

Requests the Joint Inspection Unit to undertake a system-wide evaluation of the effectiveness, value added and impact of the System-wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women as a tool for performance monitoring and accountability for submission to the General Assembly following its full implementation;

Calls upon the United Nations development system to acquire sufficient technical expertise for gender mainstreaming in programme planning and implementation to ensure that gender dimensions are systematically addressed and, in this regard, to draw on the gender expertise available in the United Nations system, including at UN-Women, to assist in the preparation process of the United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks and other development programming frameworks;

Requests the United Nations development system, including its agencies, funds and programmes, within their respective organizational mandates and in line with existing rules and regulations, to continue working collaboratively to enhance gender mainstreaming within the United Nations system, including by ensuring that the various existing accountability mechanisms of the United Nations system provide for more coherent, accurate and effective monitoring, evaluation and reporting on gender equality results and on the tracking of gender-related resource allocation and expenditure, including through the promotion of the use, where appropriate, of gender markers, and encouraging the use by United Nations country teams of gender accountability mechanisms to assist and improve their performance at the country level;

Encourages the organizations of the United Nations development system to collect, analyse and disseminate comparable data, disaggregated by sex and age, in a regular and systematic manner, in order to guide country programming, and to support the preparation of organization-wide and country-level documents, such as the strategic, programmatic and results-based frameworks, and to continue to refine their tools for measuring progress and impact;

Calls upon the organizations of the United Nations development system, within their organizational mandates, to further improve their institutional accountability mechanisms and to include intergovernmentally agreed gender equality results and gender-sensitive indicators in their strategic frameworks;

Also calls upon the organizations of the United Nations development system to continue efforts to achieve gender balance in appointments within the United Nations system at the central, regional and country levels for positions that affect operational activities for development, including appointments of resident coordinators and other high-level posts, with due regard to the representation of women from programme countries, in particular developing countries, and keeping in mind the principle of equitable geographical representation;

E.Transition from relief to development

Stresses that the impacts of natural disasters are severely hampering efforts to achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, and emphasizes the importance of reducing vulnerabilities to natural disasters;

Recognizes that the United Nations development system has a vital role to play in countries affected by natural disasters or conflicts that are in transition from relief to development, while recognizing that this is a complex, non-linear process, and in this regard requests the United Nations development system to respond to requests from countries affected by disasters or conflicts that are in transition from relief to development to support their national priorities, while recognizing the differences in these situations;

Stresses the need for transitional activities to be undertaken under national ownership, and requests the United Nations development system to contribute in this regard to the development of national capacities at all levels to manage the transition process;

Calls upon donors and countries in a position to do so to provide timely, predictable, flexible and sustained financial contributions for the operational activities of the United Nations system for the early recovery and long-term development of countries in transition from relief to development, and invites Member States to examine their own humanitarian and development financing mechanisms, as appropriate, in order to improve fast and flexible financing for prevention, resilience, preparedness, response and the transition from relief to development;

Recognizes the important role that effective and responsive resident coordinator/humanitarian coordinator systems can play in situations of transition from relief to development with a view to planning and delivering humanitarian assistance in ways that are supportive of early recovery, in accordance with their mandates and the priorities of national Governments and upon the request of affected national Governments;

Calls upon United Nations humanitarian entities, other relevant humanitarian organizations, development partners, the private sector, donor countries and affected States to enhance cooperation and coordination and to continue to utilize and develop appropriate tools, with a view to planning and delivering humanitarian assistance in ways that are supportive of early recovery as well as of sustainable rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts;

Calls for further strengthening of the coordination role of the resident coordinator/humanitarian coordinator, as appropriate, in countries in transition from relief to development, so as to enable the resident coordinator to effectively and efficiently coordinate operational activities for development of the United Nations system in countries in situations of transition from relief to development;

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Requests the United Nations development system to assign priority to providing adequate and sustained financial and technical support to ensure effective strategic and operational planning and coordination capacity in the offices of resident coordinators in countries in situations of transition from relief to development;

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Invites the United Nations development system to take into account, in its assistance to countries emerging from conflict that are on the agenda of the Peacebuilding Commission, the advisory role that the Commission can play in relation to peacebuilding and recovery strategies, with a view to helping countries to lay the foundation for their economic and social recovery and development and ensuring national ownership of the peacebuilding process;

102

Recognizes the need for the United Nations development system, as requested, to support inclusive country-level and country-owned transition from relief to development in countries affected by natural disasters or conflict, based on country-led assessments, and underlines the importance of building strong partnerships by providing aid and managing resources more effectively, and aligning these resources for results, in line with country priorities, and by enhancing transparency, risk management and the use of country systems, strengthening national capacities and timeliness of aid and improving the speed and predictability of funding to achieve better results, while underlining the importance of thorough planning and coordination between the United Nations agencies, funds and programmes and the Secretariat, within their respective mandates, to better respond to the needs and priorities of the affected States;

103

Requests the members of the United Nations development system, upon the request of affected countries, to further delegate authority in the areas of programming and allocation of resources, as appropriate, to field representatives of United Nations entities in order to enable the respective entities to respond effectively and efficiently to national needs and priorities in countries in situations of transition from relief to development;

104

Encourages the United Nations development system to strengthen operational partnerships with other multilateral organizations and other stakeholders working in countries in situations of transition from relief to development, in particular the World Bank, as appropriate;

105

Encourages the United Nations system and the Bretton Woods institutions to continue strengthening their efforts to improve coordination with regard to the transition from relief to development, including, where relevant, the development of joint responses for post-disaster and post-conflict needs assessments, programme planning, implementation and monitoring, in full consultation with affected Member States, including funding mechanisms, in order to deliver more effective support and to lower transaction costs for countries in transition from relief to development;

106

Stresses the importance of strengthening cooperation and coordination among the operational activities for development, humanitarian assistance and peacebuilding efforts of the United Nations system, in accordance with their respective mandates and the national priorities of countries in transition from relief to development, in support of national efforts;

107

Requests the United Nations development system to accelerate progress in deepening coordination between Secretariat entities and members of the United Nations development system, inter alia, through the simplification and harmonization of programming instruments and processes and business practices, with a view to providing effective, efficient and responsive support to national efforts in countries in transition from relief to development;

108

Encourages Member States and relevant United Nations organizations to integrate disaster risk reduction into their respective activities, including measures aimed at restoring and improving services and infrastructure as part of the early recovery and transition phase;

109

Emphasizes that building and strengthening resilience at the local, national and regional levels is critical to reducing the impact of disasters, including by saving lives, reducing suffering, mitigating damage to property and providing a more predictable and effective delivery of assistance and relief, and in this regard, while recognizing that building resilience is a long-term development process, stresses the need for continued investment in preparedness, prevention, mitigation and response capacity;

110

Encourages the international community and relevant United Nations entities, including the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, the United Nations funds and programmes, as well as the specialized agencies, to give due consideration to prevention, preparedness and disaster risk reduction activities, in particular by supporting national and local efforts in that regard;

111

Emphasizes that the United Nations development system should further leverage its capacities at the regional level to enhance support to countries in transition from relief to development, with a view to preventing the spillover and recurrence of the conflict in the region/subregion;

112

Requests the United Nations development system to ensure that the profiles of the resident coordinators in countries in transition from relief to development also include the qualifications of a humanitarian coordinator and that appropriate training on coordination and provision of humanitarian assistance is provided;

IV.Improved functioning of the United Nations development system

A.United Nations Development Assistance Framework

113

Reaffirms the central role and the importance of the active and full participation of national Governments during the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework process, in order to enhance ownership and achieve full alignment of operational activities with national priorities, challenges, planning and programming;

114

Requests resident coordinators and United Nations country teams to strengthen consultation with national Governments and relevant stakeholders, including civil society and non-governmental organizations, in agreement with national Governments, with a view to ensuring that the development and implementation of all United Nations planning and programming documents are fully aligned with national development needs and priorities;

115

Recognizes that the country-level presence of the United Nations development system should be tailored to meet the specific development challenges and needs of programme countries, as required, to implement national plans, strategies and programmes to be supported by the system, in line with the mandates of different entities, and that the work of the United Nations development system at the country level should be fully in line with the priorities agreed with the national authorities;

116

Emphasizes that programme countries should have access to and benefit from the full range of mandates and resources of the United Nations development system, whereby national Governments should determine which resident and non-resident United Nations organizations will best respond to specific needs and priorities of the individual country, including in the case of non-resident agencies through hosting arrangements with resident organizations, as appropriate;

117

Requests the United Nations development system to take measures in full consultation with Member States to further improve the United Nations Development Assistance Framework as a strategic framework and to simplify the United Nations Development Assistance Framework process in order to reduce the workload of national Governments and other stakeholders, decrease the time necessary for the preparation of relevant documents and ensure alignment with Government planning cycles, thus improving the focus on results and promoting better division of labour within the United Nations system at the country level;

118

Encourages the United Nations development system to further strengthen joint programming processes at the country level, where appropriate, as a useful way to promote greater coherence, taking into account the principles of national ownership, alignment with national priorities and the comparative advantage of individual entities of the United Nations system at the country level;

119

Requests the United Nations development system to further simplify and harmonize agency-specific programming instruments and processes in alignment with the United Nations Development Assistance Framework in order to better respond to national priorities, challenges and needs and to reduce transaction costs for national Governments and other stakeholders, and further requests funds and programmes, and encourages the specialized agencies, to consult, inform and discuss with their respective governing bodies progress achieved in this regard by the end of 2013;

120

Encourages the United Nations development system, in line with the United Nations Development Assistance Framework and under the leadership of the resident coordinators, to continue promoting better division of labour within the United Nations system at the country level;

121

Calls upon the funds and programmes, and encourages the specialized agencies, to carry out any changes required to align their planning and budgeting cycles with the quadrennial comprehensive policy review, including the implementation of midterm reviews, as necessary, and to report to the Economic and Social Council on adjustments made to fit the new comprehensive review cycle at the substantive session of the Council;

B.Resident coordinator system

122

Stresses that the resident coordinator system, while managed by the United Nations Development Programme, is owned by the United Nations development system as a whole and that its functioning should be participatory, collegial and mutually accountable within that system, reaffirms in this context the importance of the implementation of the previous resolutions of the General Assembly regarding the United Nations presence at the country level, and reiterates the central role of the resident coordinators, under the leadership of Governments, in ensuring the coordination of United Nations operational activities for development at the country level, including in the common country assessment and the formulation and implementation of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, with a view to improving the effectiveness of the response of the United Nations development system to national development needs, priorities and challenges of programme countries, including through appropriate resources and accountability;

123

Recognizes that resident coordinators, especially in countries with large country teams, complex coordination situations or in situations of complex emergencies, lack the capacity to address equally well all the tasks inherent to their functions, and reiterates therefore the need for the resident coordinator function to be supported by training, preparation, support and the qualifications necessary for the resident coordinators to perform their functions effectively while also ensuring that the profiles of the resident coordinators are aligned with the needs, priorities and challenges of programme countries;

124

Decides to improve the effectiveness of the resident coordinator system, and in this regard requests the United Nations development system:

To improve the way in which individuals are attracted, selected, trained, appraised and retained within the resident coordinator system, with a view to bringing in and developing high-calibre leaders, working on behalf of and reflecting the full spectrum of the United Nations development system, including non-resident agencies, and to ensure that their profiles enable them to effectively address all the tasks inherent to their functions and are aligned with the needs, priorities and challenges of programme countries;

To achieve diversification in the composition of the resident coordinator system in terms of geographical distribution and gender;

To develop an integrated strategy of training and support to resident coordinators to help them to better respond to the needs, priorities and challenges of programme countries and address the demands of the United Nations development system without competing demands;

To ensure the participation of all United Nations agencies, funds and programmes on an equal footing in the process of nominating candidates for the position of resident coordinator;

To strengthen the capacity of the offices of the resident coordinators with a view to enhancing the coherence and effectiveness at the country level through improved access of the resident coordinator offices to the expertise available within the United Nations development system in response to national needs, priorities and challenges;

To ensure that country-level coordination is cost-effective and is based on an efficient resident coordinator office which is flexible and responsive to the development needs, priorities and challenges of programme country Governments;

To find more effective ways of identifying, mobilizing and deploying the assistance necessary to achieve tangible results in programme countries, including through the pooling of the capacities of different entities in the same sectors and at global, regional and national levels, bearing in mind the differentiated needs of programme countries;

To encourage the United Nations Development Programme to appoint country directors, where cost-effective, in agreement with national Governments, to run core United Nations Development Programme activities, including fundraising, so as to ensure that resident coordinators are fully available for their system-wide tasks;

To strengthen coordination with all development stakeholders, including civil society, at the country level, in agreement with the national Governments, in support of national development plans and priorities;

To ensure the appropriate decentralization of authority from headquarters to the country-level representatives of the funds, programmes and specialized agencies, where relevant, for making decisions on programmatic and financial matters related to the programming activities, as agreed with national authorities;

125

Requests the United Nations development system to enhance investment in staff development, including through the provision of the appropriate level of resources, so that the United Nations development system has the right mix of capacities and skills, including for high-quality policy and programme advice, and the highest standards of leadership skills, management training and continuous learning to provide effective capacity development and other support in response to national needs, priorities and challenges, including enhanced emphasis on joint training across agencies;

126

Recognizes that there is a need to enhance the planning and coordination function of the resident coordinators, including through the full exercise of the responsibility and authority of the resident coordinators already provided by the General Assembly under its relevant resolutions, by allowing the resident coordinators to propose to members of United Nations country teams and relevant non-resident agencies, as appropriate, and in full consultation with Governments and with the funds, programmes and specialized agencies, including within the established United Nations Development Assistance Framework development and mid-term review processes:

The amendment of projects and programmes, where required, in order to bring them into line with the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, without prejudice to the approval process through the governing bodies;

Amendments to the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, or its action plan, if it is determined that some activities are no longer aligned with the broader strategy of the United Nations development system in response to the national needs, priorities and challenges of the programme country concerned;

127

Also recognizes the benefits of ensuring:

The effective response of the resident coordinator system to the needs, priorities and challenges of programme countries;

The ownership of the resident coordinator system by all members of the United Nations development system;

That resident coordinators are able to effectively address all the tasks inherent to their functions;

That the resident coordinator system is effectively managed under the leadership of the Secretary-General on behalf of the entire United Nations development system, drawing on all the assets of the system in support of national needs, priorities and challenges;

128

Urges the United Nations development system to provide further financial, technical and organizational support for the resident coordinator system, and requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the members of the United Nations development system, and based on the recent review of existing funding modalities in support of the resident coordinator system called for in Economic and Social Council resolution 2011/7, to submit, for the consideration of the Council and the General Assembly in 2013, concrete proposals on the modalities for the funding of the resident coordinator system in order to ensure that resident coordinators have the necessary stable and predictable resources to fulfil their mandate effectively, without compromising resources allocated to programmatic activities, with due regard for the principle of fairness, which should reflect the direct involvement of each agency, based on the proportion of services used;

129

Requests the United Nations development system, in this regard, to ensure that the funding for the resident coordinator system will not adversely impact the resources available for development programmes in programme countries, and in this regard requests the United Nations development system to ensure, where possible, that cost savings as a result of joint efforts and coordination between entities of the United Nations development system at the country level will accrue to development programmes;

130

Notes that, in response to the request by Member States contained in paragraph 58 of General Assembly resolution 59/250, the management and accountability system of the United Nations development and resident coordinator system, including the “functional firewall” for the resident coordinator system, has been developed within the United Nations development system in order to provide an accountability framework for resident coordinators to exercise oversight of the design and implementation of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, and in this regard calls upon:

The United Nations development system to ensure the full implementation, including monitoring, of the management and accountability system of the United Nations development and resident coordinator system, including the functional firewall for the resident coordinator system, in areas that do not require intergovernmental approval;

The United Nations development system to ensure that resident coordinators, supported by members of the United Nations country teams, are accountable to national authorities for the delivery of results agreed in the United Nations Development Assistance Framework and report to them on the results of the country teams as a whole;

The funds, programmes and specialized agencies of the United Nations development system, where appropriate, to implement the request of the General Assembly, contained in paragraph 37 (c) of its resolution 50/120, that the resident coordinators provide formal input to the regular performance appraisals of all entity representatives who are members of the country team on their contributions to its effective and efficient functioning, and in this regard reiterates the importance of the mutual appraisal between the resident coordinators and the members of the country teams in the performance assessment process;

131

Requests the Secretary-General to regularly assess and report, on a comprehensive and quantitative basis, on progress in furthering programme and operational coordination at the country level in order to inform annual reporting to the Economic and Social Council on the functioning of the resident coordinator system;

C.“Delivering as one”

132

Notes the outcomes of the intergovernmental conferences on “Delivering as one” held in Maputo (2008), Kigali (2009), Hanoi (2010), Montevideo (2011) and Tirana (2012) as concrete recommendations to further the “Delivering as one” process, and emphasizes the importance of continuing the sharing of information regarding the implementation of “Delivering as one” by Member States and the United Nations system;

133

Takes note of the outcome of the independent evaluation of lessons learned from “Delivering as one”, as presented in the note by the Secretary-General;¹²

¹²A/66/859.

134

Recognizes the achievements and experience in the implementation of “Delivering as one” by a number of pilot programme countries on a voluntary basis as an important contribution for enhancing the coherence, relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of the United Nations development system in those countries, strengthening national ownership and leadership in the operational activities for development of the United Nations system and achieving strategic results, especially on cross-cutting issues, and notes, furthermore, that a number of programme countries have adopted the “Delivering as one” modality on a self-starter basis, and that their experience can positively contribute to enhancing United Nations operational activities at the country level;

135

Also recognizes that the pooled funding mechanisms are important tools in advancing “Delivering as one”, and calls upon Member States and United Nations funds and programmes, as appropriate, to contribute financially to assure the extension of these mechanisms in “Delivering as one” countries;

136

Reaffirms that the “no one size fits all” approach and the principle of the voluntary adoption of “Delivering as one” should be maintained so that the United Nations system can tailor its approach to partnership with individual programme countries in a way that best suits their national needs, realities, priorities and planning modalities, as well as their achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, other internationally agreed development goals and the United Nations post-2015 development agenda;

137

Requests the United Nations development system to identify and address challenges and bottlenecks, in particular at the headquarters level, which have prevented United Nations country teams in “Delivering as one” countries from fully realizing the efficiency gains under the “Delivering as one” approach and to report thereon as part of the annual reporting on the implementation of the present resolution for the consideration of the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly;

138

Also requests the United Nations development system to provide programme countries that are considering adoption of the “Delivering as one” approach with information on issues such as “Delivering as one”-specific joint planning, programming, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, reporting and funding mechanisms, as well as on the support provided by the resident coordinator office and the United Nations country team, with a view to enabling them to take an informed decision on modalities for the delivery of assistance;

139

Recognizes that in “Delivering as one” countries a well-supported resident coordinator office, and resident coordinator, that is managed on behalf of the entire United Nations development system, is necessary to ensure United Nations coherence, effectiveness and efficiency at the country level;

140

Requests the United Nations system to build on the best practices and lessons learned in implementing “Delivering as one” by a number of countries and to further consolidate the process by clearly outlining the core elements of each of the “ones”, based on lessons learned, including by formulating standard operational procedures as guidelines for the successful work of the United Nations country teams in “Delivering as one” countries, as well as for other countries that consider joining “Delivering as one”, and to report on this process and standard operating procedures to the Economic and Social Council during the operational activities segment of its substantive sessions;

141

Also requests the United Nations system, including the funds, programmes and specialized agencies, to support programme countries that have adopted the “Delivering as one” approach with an integrated package of support comprising standard operating procedures as well as guidance on “Delivering as one”-specific programming, monitoring and evaluation, reporting, pooled funding mechanisms and support to the resident coordinator system, in line with the management and accountability system of the United Nations development and resident coordinator system, including the functional firewall for the resident coordinator system, and the simplification and harmonization of business practices;

142

Emphasizes the need to establish common monitoring, evaluation and reporting mechanisms on the implementation of “Delivering as one” towards greater accountability to Member States and a more results-based generation of “Delivering as one”, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to come up with proposals for the consideration of Member States;

143

Requests the Secretary-General to include in his annual report options for the review and approval of the common country programme documents of the “Delivering as one” countries and to make appropriate recommendations for the consideration of the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly by 2013;

D.Regional dimensions

144

Recognizes the contribution of the regional commissions as well as interregional, regional and subregional cooperation to addressing development challenges related to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals;

145

Encourages, in this regard, the United Nations development system to strengthen collaboration with regional and subregional intergovernmental organizations and regional banks, as appropriate and consistent with their respective mandates;

146

Requests the regional commissions as well as the funds, programmes, specialized agencies and other entities of the United Nations development system at the regional level to further strengthen cooperation and coordination among themselves and with their respective headquarters, in close consultation with the Governments of the countries concerned and, where appropriate, to include the funds, programmes and specialized agencies that are not represented at the regional level;

147

Recognizes, in regard to the functioning of the United Nations development system, the importance of aligning regional technical support structures and the regional bureaux to provide support to the United Nations country teams, including enhanced technical, programme and administrative support, increasing their collaboration at the regional level, including through co-location, where appropriate and consistent with the needs of the programme countries of the regions concerned, and identifying appropriate mechanisms at the subregional level, where appropriate, bearing in mind the existing subregional offices of the regional commissions, in close consultation with the programme countries concerned, to respond to specific challenges that cannot be adequately responded to at the regional hubs;

148

Calls upon the organizations of the United Nations development system, its regional commissions and other regional and subregional entities, as appropriate and consistent with their mandates, to intensify their cooperation and to adopt more collaborative approaches to support country-level development initiatives, at the request of recipient countries, in alignment with the United Nations Development Assistance Framework and in close coordination with the resident coordinators and the representatives of the United Nations country teams, to establish and/or improve mechanisms to promote knowledge-sharing on and compile successful development experiences and best practices through South-South cooperation or triangular schemes, when appropriate, by improving mechanisms for access to the technical capacities of the United Nations system at the regional and subregional levels;

149

Notes the assistance provided by the United Nations development system at the regional level across a range of areas, including demand-driven advisory services, and requests the United Nations development system at the regional level to substantially enhance support to United Nations country teams in pursuing national development agendas, in alignment with the United Nations Development Assistance Framework and in close coordination with the resident coordinators;

150

Encourages resident coordinators and United Nations country teams to draw more upon the normative support work and policy expertise that exists within the regional commissions, and requests the regional commissions to further develop their analytical capacities to support country-level development initiatives, at the request of the programme countries, and to support measures for more intensive inter-agency collaboration at the regional and subregional levels, and in this regard urges the regional commissions and their subregional offices to prioritize sustainable development initiatives at the country level through, inter alia, more efficient and effective capacity-building, development and implementation of regional agreements and arrangements addressing the regional and subregional dimensions of national development goals and the exchange of information, best practices and lessons learned;

151

Notes the technical support functions provided by the United Nations Development Group regional teams to the resident coordinators and the United Nations country teams, including quality assurance of United Nations development assistance frameworks, performance management, troubleshooting in country-specific contexts and other areas of operational support services, and encourages resident coordinators and United Nations country teams to draw more upon this type of support provided by the United Nations Development Group regional teams;

E.Simplification and harmonization of business practices

152

Requests the United Nations development system funds and programmes, and encourages the specialized agencies and other entities of the United Nations, to further pursue higher-quality, more effective and cost-efficient support services in all programme countries by reducing the duplication of functions, and administrative and transaction costs, through the consolidation of support services at the country level, either by delegating common functions to a lead agency, establishing a common United Nations service centre or, where feasible, outsourcing support services without compromising quality of services, and, within their mandates, ensuring that efficiency savings are used for programme activities with a view to building national capacities, and to report on concrete achievements in this regard to their respective governing bodies by the end of 2014 and annually thereafter, and requests the funds and programmes to submit a joint plan in this regard to their executive boards at their first regular sessions in 2014;

153

Requests the funds and programmes, and encourages the specialized agencies and other entities of the United Nations, to further invest in intra-agency rationalization of business operations and to present plans in this regard to their governing bodies by the end of 2013;

154

Also requests the funds and programmes, and encourages the specialized agencies and other entities of the United Nations system, to develop and conclude inter-agency framework agreements regarding the provision of support services regulating the mutual validity of agreements between United Nations entities and third parties at the country level and to delegate the authority to country teams to establish and manage common services and long-term agreements with third parties through standardized inter-agency agreements without further approval requirements by the end of 2013;

155

Requests the Secretary-General, through the High-level Committee on Management and the United Nations Development Group, to present plans for the establishment of common support services at the country, regional and headquarters levels, based on a unified set of regulations and rules, policies and procedures, at the country, regional and headquarters levels, in the functional areas of finance, human resources management, procurement, information technology management and other administrative services, for review by the Economic and Social Council and approval by the executive boards of the funds and programmes and the governing bodies of the specialized agencies by the end of 2014, with a view to implementation by 2016;

156

Recognizes that more cost-effective, efficient and harmonized procurement practices can help to achieve greater effectiveness and better results, and encourages the United Nations development system to consider options for greater collaboration in procurement at the country, regional and global levels, taking into account the United Nations procurement principles of, inter alia, fairness, integrity, transparency and effective international competition, and in this regard requests the funds and programmes, and encourages the specialized agencies and other entities of the United Nations system, to address the barriers to greater procurement cooperation and to fully exploit the potential for improved efficiency and effectiveness through increased collaboration, and to redirect efficiency savings, including from economies of scale, into programmes, and to make full use of the existing long-term agreements, develop new ones and implement the guidelines on common procurement at the country level;

157

Encourages the United Nations development system, in compliance with existing relevant legislative frameworks, to make increased use of national public and private systems for support services, including for procurement, security, information technology, telecommunications, travel and banking, as well as, when appropriate, for planning, reporting and evaluation;

158

Also encourages the United Nations development system to avoid and significantly reduce the number of its parallel project implementation units in programme countries as a means of strengthening national capacities and reducing transaction costs;

159

Requests the Secretary-General to present to the executive boards of the funds and programmes, by the beginning of 2014, a proposal on the common definition of operating costs and a common and standardized system of cost control, paying due attention to their different business models, with a view to their taking a decision on this issue;

160

Requests the funds and programmes, and encourages the specialized agencies and other entities of the United Nations development system, to consider system-wide interoperability of enterprise resources planning systems, with the objective of harmonizing the electronic processing of internal and external management information, supporting harmonized business processes and practices across the entire United Nations development system in all future investments related to existing or new enterprise resources planning systems, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to undertake a study to examine the feasibility of establishing interoperability among the existing enterprise resources planning systems of the funds and programmes and to report on progress in achieving full interoperability in 2016 in the context of the quadrennial comprehensive policy review;

161

Requests the United Nations development system to develop a strategy, in consultation with Member States, by the end of 2013, with concrete goals and targets, to support the establishment of common premises in programme countries that wish to adopt them, with due consideration to security conditions as well as cost-effectiveness, and to report on progress in this regard to the Economic and Social Council on a biennial basis, and encourages United Nations country teams to explore all potential savings across the organizations, including the harmonization of business practices in all functional areas and the consolidation of support services;

162

Also requests the United Nations development system to prioritize the availability of financial and human resources, without compromising the allocation of resources to programmatic activities, to further support the effective harmonization and rationalization of business operations, including the option of developing funding mechanisms and other incentives in support of innovative and sustainable business solutions supporting the further development and implementation of high-quality, efficient and cost-effective common support services;

163

Strongly encourages the governing bodies of the specialized agencies and other relevant United Nations entities to review and discuss the provisions in the present subsection with a view to promoting their implementation by the respective entities and improving harmonization with funds and programmes;

F.Results-based management

164

Affirms the importance of results-based management as an essential element of accountability that can contribute to improved development outcomes and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and the internationally agreed development goals;

165

Acknowledges the work done by agencies and the United Nations development system to improve results tracking and reporting mechanisms, while stressing the need to identify, assess and mitigate risks and address the remaining gaps in planning, management and reporting;

166

Requests the United Nations development system to accelerate work to develop and sustain a results culture at all levels within the funds and programmes, the specialized agencies and other United Nations entities, including by identifying and implementing appropriate incentives for results-based management, removing disincentives for results-based management at all levels and periodically reviewing their results management systems, and to invest in developing capacities and competencies for results-based management;

167

Recognizes progress in improving transparency, and calls for further efforts to ensure coherence and complementarity in the oversight functions, audits and evaluations across the United Nations development system;

168

Requests the Secretary-General to intensify efforts to strengthen and institutionalize results-based management in the United Nations development system, with the objective of improving development results as well as organizational effectiveness, including simplifying, streamlining and harmonizing results-based management systems;

169

Also requests the Secretary-General to articulate and report to the Economic and Social Council at the operational activities segment of its substantive session in 2013, with a view to implementation by 2014, a more robust, coherent and harmonized approach to operational activities for development, focused on results, which would streamline and improve the planning, monitoring, measurement and reporting on system-wide results, and in this regard invites the executive boards of the funds and programmes and the governing bodies of the specialized agencies and other relevant United Nations entities to engage in a focused dialogue on how to balance most effectively the need for reporting on system-wide results at all levels with the current agency-specific reporting requirements, taking into account the challenges in developing results frameworks that demonstrate the United Nations contribution to national development results;

170

Requests the United Nations development system to promote the development of clear and robust results frameworks that demonstrate complete results chains that establish expected results at the output, outcome and impact levels and include measurable indicators with baselines, milestones and targets for monitoring, and in this regard requests the United Nations funds and programmes, and encourages the specialized agencies, to consult Member States during the production of results frameworks of their respective strategic plans, and to report annually on implementation from 2014;

171

Also requests the United Nations development system to achieve alignment between results-based management and accountability by the end of 2013, including finding ways to strengthen delivery and reporting on the United Nations system-wide contribution to national development results, and in this regard requests the United Nations development system to ensure increased mutual accountability for results-based management and reporting at the country level;

172

Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Joint Inspection Unit and Member States, to review results-based management and system-wide results reporting across the United Nations system and to present the review for consideration by the General Assembly in the next quadrennial comprehensive policy review;

G.Evaluation of operational activities for development

173

Emphasizes the importance for organizations of the United Nations development system of having independent, credible and useful evaluation functions, with sufficient resources, and promoting a culture of evaluation that ensures the active use of evaluation findings and recommendations in policy development and improving the functioning of the organizations;

174

Calls upon members of the United Nations development system to further increase institutional and organizational capacity for the evaluation of operational activities for development and to increase training and skills-upgrading in results-based management, monitoring and evaluation methods, as well as to ensure the effective utilization of findings, recommendations and lessons learned in programming and operational decision-making, and requests the funds and programmes and the specialized agencies to develop evaluation plans that are aligned with new strategic plans and are an integrated part of monitoring systems;

175

Emphasizes that programme countries should have greater ownership and leadership of the evaluation of the assistance provided by the United Nations development system, in this regard calls upon members of the United Nations development system to intensify efforts to assist programme countries to strengthen national evaluation capacity in programme countries for the monitoring and evaluation of operational activities for development, and requests the United Nations development system to develop and implement guidelines for further strengthening of national evaluation capacities for operational activities for development, in consultation with programme countries, including defining the responsibilities of different entities;

176

Reaffirms the need to strengthen independent and impartial system-wide evaluation of operational activities for development;

177

Notes, in this regard, the findings and recommendations of the independent review commissioned by the Secretary-General in response to General Assembly resolution 64/289 on a comprehensive review of the existing institutional framework for the system-wide evaluation of operational activities for development of the United Nations system,¹³ and in this regard reaffirms that further strengthening of system-wide evaluation within the United Nations development system should be based on utilizing and enhancing existing mechanisms;

¹³A/66/852.

178

Encourages the enhanced coordination and exchange of experience among the United Nations entities engaged in system-wide evaluation of operational activities for development, namely, the Joint Inspection Unit, the United Nations Evaluation Group, and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Office of Internal Oversight Services and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat;

179

Notes that the Joint Inspection Unit is the only entity within the United Nations system with a specific mandate for independent system-wide evaluation, and acknowledges the reforms initiated by the Unit;

180

Also notes the development of the norms and standards for evaluation by the United Nations Evaluation Group as a professional network, and encourages the use of these norms and standards in the evaluation functions of United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies, as well as in system-wide evaluations of operational activities for development;

181

Requests the Secretary-General to establish an interim coordination mechanism for system-wide evaluation of operational activities for development of the United Nations system composed of the Joint Inspection Unit, the United Nations Evaluation Group, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Office of Internal Oversight Services, and also requests the Secretary-General, through the interim coordination mechanism, to develop a policy for independent system-wide evaluation of operational activities for development of the United Nations system, including submitting a proposal for pilot system-wide evaluations, for discussion by the Economic and Social Council at the operational activities segment of its substantive session in 2013;

182

Requests the funds and programmes, and encourages the specialized agencies and other relevant United Nations entities, to intensify the use and the evaluation of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework and the evaluations of the United Nations system-wide contribution to national development results;

V.Follow-up and monitoring

183

Reaffirms that the governing bodies of the funds, programmes and specialized agencies of the United Nations development system should take appropriate actions for the full implementation of the present resolution, in line with paragraphs 91 and 92 of resolution 56/201;

184

Underscores the importance of ensuring that the strategic plans of funds and programmes are consistent with and guided by the comprehensive policy review, which establishes the main intergovernmentally agreed parameters of the operational activities for development of the United Nations system;

185

Recognizes the major role of the Economic and Social Council, within its Charter mandate, in the overall coordination of funds, programmes and specialized agencies, and in this regard looks forward to its review and assessment of the progress in the implementation of the provisions contained in the present resolution, through the operational activities segment of its annual substantive sessions;

186

Requests the Secretary-General, on the basis of information provided by the funds, programmes and specialized agencies of the United Nations development system, to submit to the Economic and Social Council, at its substantive sessions of 2013, 2014 and 2015, analytical reports on results achieved and measures and processes implemented in follow-up to the present resolution on the quadrennial comprehensive policy review, with a view to ensuring its full implementation;

187

Also requests the Secretary-General to continue to strengthen the analytical quality of system-wide reporting on funding and performance and programme results for United Nations operational activities for development, including the coverage, timeliness, reliability, quality and comparability of system-wide data, definitions and classifications;

188

Further requests the Secretary-General, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council and in cooperation with United Nations resident coordinators, and in an appropriate and cost-effective manner, to conduct a biennial survey, directed to Governments, on the effectiveness, efficiency and relevance of the United Nations system in order to provide feedback on the strengths and main challenges encountered in their interaction with the United Nations development system, with a view to enabling intergovernmental bodies to address them, and also requests that the results of such surveys be published and made available to Member States;

189

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-first session, through the Economic and Social Council, a comprehensive analysis of the implementation of the present resolution in the context of the quadrennial comprehensive policy review, inter alia, by making use of relevant documentation, and to make appropriate recommendations.