Progress Towards an Accountability System in the United Nations Secretariat

A/RES/67/253View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 129 Review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations, published in 2013.

What other versions does this mandate have?

10 versions · 2012–2023

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/77/280

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2023	A/RES/77/280	Progress towards an accountability system in the United Nations Secretariat	1,443	29%Compare
2020	A/RES/74/271	Progress towards an accountability system in the United Nations Secretariat	1,594	48%Compare
2019	A/RES/73/289	Progress towards an accountability system in the United Nations Secretariat	1,308	38%Compare
2018	A/RES/72/303	Progress towards an accountability system in the United Nations Secretariat	1,082	37%Compare
2017	A/RES/71/283	Progress towards an accountability system in the United Nations Secretariat	1,162	29%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

12 reports · 2013–2025

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2025	A/80/468	Fifteenth progress report on accountability : strengthening accountability in the United Nations Secretariat report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/70/255
2024	A/79/696	Fourteenth progress report on accountability : strengthening accountability in the United Nations Secretariat report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/70/255
2023	A/78/678	Thirteenth progress report on accountability : strengthening accountability in the United Nations Secretariat report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/70/255A/RES/77/280
2021	A/76/644	Eleventh progress report on accountability : strengthening accountability in the United Nations Secretariat report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/70/255
2021	A/75/686	Tenth progress report on accountability : strengthening accountability in the United Nations Secretariat report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/74/271

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 subjects

Accountability Managers Performance Appraisal Results-Based Management Risk Management Work Programme

What’s in this document?

16 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the second progress report of the Secretary-General on the accountability system in the United Nations Secretariat;Error: Reference source not found

Endorses the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,Error: Reference source not found subject to the provisions of the present resolution;

Reiterates the provisions of paragraphs 4 to 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19 and 20 of section I of General Assembly resolution 66/257;

Notes with concern that the current legacy systems of the United Nations related to monitoring and evaluating progress and performance, and the weaknesses in the financial reporting arrangements, do not contribute to the effective monitoring and evaluation of progress and performance;

Recalls paragraph 38 of the report of the Advisory Committee, recognizes that the results-based management framework still requires further development, and in that regard requests the Secretary-General to start to implement the framework in a phased manner by:

Developing an action plan that includes specific actions to improve the implementation of results-based management in the Secretariat, in particular through the linkage of human resources management to results-based management;

Incorporating into the design of Extension 2 of the Umoja enterprise resource planning project the requirements put forward by the General Assembly in the areas of planning, programming, budgeting, monitoring, reporting and evaluation;

Also recalls paragraph 34 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and requests the Secretary-General to further refine the results-based management framework to take into account the following:

The lessons learned, challenges and opportunities related to the implementation of results-based management;

How the Organization is shifting its focus of accountability and budget process from the delivery of outputs to the delivery of results;

The views of relevant bodies, including the Committee for Programme and Coordination;

and to report accordingly to the General Assembly at the first part of its resumed sixty-eighth session;

Further recalls the commitment of the Secretary-General to the enterprise risk management project as expressed in paragraph 67 of his previous report on progress towards an accountability system in the United Nations Secretariat,⁴ welcomes the progress made towards the implementation of enterprise risk management so far, also welcomes the plans of the Secretary-General to implement a Secretariat-wide risk assessment, and requests him to include the results in the next progress report on accountability;

⁴A/66/692.

Stresses that there is a need to clearly distinguish between the respective roles and responsibilities of the governing bodies and management, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to continue to implement the enterprise risk management policy, focusing on the role and responsibilities of the Secretariat in the management of the risks of its operations;

Recognizes that compacts and end-of-year assessments are unique accountability tools for senior managers and contribute to transparency in the Organization, welcomes the placing of compacts on the intranet of the Secretariat (iSeek) and the inclusion of new indicators that are critical to the effective implementation of the major transformational projects of the Organization, and requests the Secretary-General to consider placing the compacts in the public domain;

Requests the Secretary-General to take further concrete measures to ensure that the compacts system becomes a meaningful and powerful instrument of accountability, to take actions to address systemic issues that prevent managers from meeting their targets and to report to the General Assembly on the progress achieved in this regard at the first part of its resumed sixty-eighth session;

Also requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly on the implementation of the present resolution at the first part of its resumed sixty-eighth session, and decides to keep under review the frequency of future progress reports.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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