United Nations Common System

A/RES/72/255View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 143 United Nations common system, published in 2018.

What else is in this group?

19 documents · 1992–2025

Newer documents in this group exist (latest: 2025).

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/236 A-B	United Nations common system resolutions	—	–
2024	A/RES/79/252[B]	United Nations common system	—	–
2024	A/RES/79/252 A-B	United Nations common system resolutions	—	–
2024	A/RES/79/252[A]	United Nations common system	—	–
2023	A/RES/77/256[B]	United Nations common system	—	–

This group bundles related documents that are not individually ordered.

What subjects does this mandate have?

7 subjects

International Civil Service National Professional Staff Performance Appraisal Personnel Management Post Adjustment Salaries and Allowances Working Conditions

What’s in this document?

25 operative paragraphs

Takes note with appreciation of the work of the International Civil Service Commission;

Takes note of the report of the Commission for 2017;1

Reaffirms the role of the General Assembly in approving conditions of service and entitlements for all staff serving in the organizations of the United Nations common system, bearing in mind articles 10 and 11 of the statute of the Commission;²

²Resolution 3357 (XXIX), annex.

Recalls articles 10 and 11 of the statute of the Commission, and reaffirms the central role of the Commission in regulating and coordinating conditions of service and entitlements for all staff serving in the organizations of the United Nations common system;

Stresses the importance of the United Nations common system, as established in the statute of the Commission, to ensure unity and parity across the United Nations;

Notes with serious concern that some organizations have decided not to implement the decisions of the Commission regarding the results of the cost-of-living surveys for 2016 and the mandatory age of separation;

Calls upon the United Nations common system organizations and staff to fully cooperate with the Commission in the application of the post adjustment system and implement its decisions regarding the results of the cost-of-living surveys and the mandatory age of separation without undue delay;

Reminds executive heads and governing bodies of the United Nations common system that failure to fully respect the decisions taken by the General Assembly on the Commission’s recommendations could prejudice claims to enjoy the benefits of participation in the common system, including organizations’ participation in the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, as stated in article 3 (b) of the Fund’s regulations;

Requests the Commission to recommend appropriate measures to deal with those organizations which do not cooperate fully with the Commission and to report thereon no later than at the seventy-fourth session of the General Assembly;

Invites the Secretary-General, in his capacity as Chair of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, to ensure that decisions of the General Assembly are implemented in full and without undue delay across the common system;

IConditions of service applicable to both categories of staff

A.Use of categories of staff, including General Service, National Professional Officer and Field Service

Approves the guidelines for the use of the National Professional Officer category, as recommended by the Commission in paragraph 48 (a) and annex II of its report;

Invites the organizations of the United Nations common system to abide by existing rules and regulations regarding short-term duty assignments without involving a change of duty station when deploying National Professional Officers outside the country of their employment;

Underscores the need for the organizations to respect the guidelines for the use of National Professional Officers in the context of short-term duty assignments, and in this regard calls upon the organizations to guard against repeated short-term duty assignments of National Professional Officers outside their country of recruitment;

B.Study on performance management and proposals on performance incentives

Recalling its resolution 70/244, by which it requested the Commission to review its recommendation contained in annex III of its report for 2015³ and to study the budgetary and administrative arrangements necessary for the implementation thereof,

³Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventieth Session, Supplement No. 30 (A/70/30).

Approves the proposed principles and guidelines for performance appraisal and management for the recognition of different levels of performance, as recommended in paragraph 65 and annex VI of its report for 2017;

Recommends that the organizations utilize the aforementioned principles and guidelines for recognizing different levels of performance, including non-cash awards and addressing underperformance;

IIConditions of service of staff in the Professional and higher categories

A.Base/floor salary scale

Recalling its resolution 44/198, by which it established a floor net salary level for staff in the Professional and higher categories by reference to the corresponding base net salary levels of officials in comparable positions serving at the base city of the comparator civil service (the United States federal civil service),

Approves, with effect from 1 January 2018, as recommended by the Commission in paragraph 97 of its report, the revised unified base/floor scale for staff in the Professional and higher categories, as contained in annex VII to that report;

B.Evolution of the margin and margin management around the desirable midpoint

Recalling section I.B of its resolution 51/216 and the standing mandate from the General Assembly, in which the Commission is requested to continue its review of the relationship between the net remuneration of the United Nations staff in the Professional and higher categories in New York and that of the comparator civil service (the United States federal civil service) employees in comparable positions in Washington, D.C. (referred to as “the margin”),

Reaffirms that the range of 110 to 120 for the margin between the net remuneration of officials in the Professional and higher categories of the United Nations in New York and officials in comparable positions in the comparator civil service should continue to apply, on the understanding that the margin would be maintained at a level around the desirable midpoint of 115 over a period of time;

Notes that the margin between net remuneration of the United Nations staff in grades P-1 to D-2 in New York and that of officials in comparable positions in the United States federal civil service in Washington, D.C., for the period from 1 January to 31 December 2017 is 113.7;

Recalls its decision contained in resolution 70/244 that, if the margin trigger levels of 113 or 117 are breached, the Commission should take appropriate action through the operation of the post adjustment system;

Notes the decision of the Commission to continue to monitor the level of the margin and to take the necessary corrective action under the operation of the post adjustment system should the trigger levels of 113 or 117 be breached;

C.Post adjustment issues

Notes the efforts by the Commission to improve the post adjustment system;

Requests the Commission to report no later than at the seventy-fourth session of the General Assembly on the implementation of decisions of the Commission regarding the results of the cost-of-living surveys for 2016, including any financial implications;

Also requests the Commission to continue its efforts to improve the post adjustment system in order to minimize any gap between the pay indices and the post adjustment indices and, in this context, to consider the feasibility of more frequent reviews of post adjustment classifications of duty stations;

Further requests the Commission to review the gap closure measure in the post adjustment system during its next round of cost-of-living surveys;

D.Report on diversity, including gender balance and geographical distribution in the United Nations common system

Requests the Commission to continue to provide information to the General Assembly on the progress made by organizations of the United Nations common system in the implementation of existing gender policies and measures towards achieving the goal of 50/50 gender balance and strengthening geographical diversity within the common system, including at senior levels;

Also requests the Commission to continue to monitor the age distribution of the workforce and to report thereon to the General Assembly.