Questions Relating to the Proposed Programme Budget for 2020

A/RES/74/262View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 135 Proposed programme budget for 2020, published in 2020.

What other versions does this mandate have?

7 versions · 2020–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/242

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/242	Questions relating to the proposed programme budget for 2026	5,163	19%Compare
2024	A/RES/79/257	Questions relating to the proposed programme budget for 2025	4,745	27%Compare
2023	A/RES/78/252	Questions relating to the proposed programme budget for 2024	3,428	35%Compare
2023	A/RES/77/262	Questions relating to the proposed programme budget for 2023	2,892	39%Compare
2022	A/RES/76/245	Questions relating to the proposed programme budget for 2022	2,802	33%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

10 reports · 2020–2025

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2025	A/80/112	Strengthening the effectiveness and impact of the Development Account report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/79/257
2025	A/80/153	Strengthening the effectiveness of the regular programme of technical cooperation report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/79/257
2024	A/79/628	Standards of accommodation for air travel report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/74/262A/RES/78/252
2024	A/79/510	Capital investment planning report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/76/245
2023	A/78/536	Capital investment planning report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/76/245

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 subjects

Budgetary Policy Financial Implications Programme Budgeting Resources Allocation Staffing

What’s in this document?

77 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms that the Fifth Committee is the appropriate Main Committee of the General Assembly entrusted with responsibilities for administrative and budgetary matters, and reaffirms the role of the Fifth Committee in carrying out a thorough analysis and approving human and financial resources and policies, with a view to ensuring full, effective and efficient implementation of all mandated programmes and activities and the implementation of policies in this regard;

Also reaffirms rule 153 of its rules of procedure;

Further reaffirms the Regulations and Rules Governing Programme Planning, the Programme Aspects of the Budget, the Monitoring of Implementation and the Methods of Evaluation;⁵

⁵ST/SGB/2018/3.

Reaffirms the established budgetary procedures and methodologies, based on its resolutions 41/213 and 42/211;

Also reaffirms the Financial Regulations and Rules of the United Nations;⁶

⁶ST/SGB/2013/4 and ST/SGB/2013/4/Amend.1.

Further reaffirms its resolution 74/251 of 27 December 2019;

Stresses that finance serves as a foundation of and an important element underpinning United Nations governance;

Endorses the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,4 subject to the provisions of the present resolution;

Stresses that all Member States should fulfil their financial obligations as set out in the Charter of the United Nations on time, in full and without conditions;

Notes the progress made in implementing the management reforms agreed in resolutions 72/266 A, 72/266 B and 73/281 on shifting the management paradigm in the United Nations;

Also notes that organizational reforms should contribute to greater efficiency and effectiveness in delivering on the Organization’s mandated programmes and activities without negatively affecting their full implementation, and requests the Secretary-General to provide results and examples in this regard in the context of his next budget submission;

Reaffirms that no changes to the budget methodology, to established budgetary procedures and practices or to the financial regulations may be implemented without prior review and approval by the General Assembly, in accordance with established budgetary procedures;

Reiterates the need for Member States to participate fully in the budget preparation process, from its early stages and throughout the process;

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to strengthen internal controls in programme planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and reporting;

Emphasizes the importance of comprehensive budgetary performance in the management of the programme budget, and requests the Secretary-General to clearly link the budget inputs to tangible results;

Stresses that results-based budgeting and results-based management are mutually supportive management tools and that improved implementation of results-based budgeting enhances both management and accountability in the Secretariat, and encourages the Secretary-General to continue his efforts in this regard;

Decides that a vacancy rate of 9.1 per cent for Professional staff and 7.4 per cent for General Service staff shall be used as a basis for the calculation of the budget for 2020;

Also decides that the staffing table for 2020 shall be as set out in the annex to the present resolution;

Bears in mind the rules governing the duration and extension of special post allowances and that the granting of such benefits should be restricted to exceptional cases only, and requests the Secretary-General to comply with those rules and review the existence of posts that have been vacant or encumbered through special post allowances for more than one year and to report thereon in his next budget proposal;

Decides to reduce non-post resources for programme support components by 2 per cent;

Also decides to reduce the budget for information and communications technology capital expenditures by 4 million United States dollars;

Further decides to reduce resources for furniture and equipment by 12.5 per cent;

Reiterates that the use of consultants should be kept to a minimum and that the Organization should use its in-house capacity to perform core activities or to fulfil functions that are recurrent over the long term;

Recalls paragraph 70 of its resolution 65/247 of 24 December 2010, notes the continued use of consultants in the core activities of the Organization, and in this regard decides to reduce the proposed resources for consultants by 10 per cent, in addition to the reductions recommended by the Advisory Committee;

Decides to reduce resources for contractual services by 5 per cent;

Also decides to reduce resources for travel of staff by 10 per cent;

Expresses concern at the low rate of compliance with the advance purchase policy directive, and requests the Secretary-General to make stronger efforts to further enhance the rate of compliance with the advance purchase policy directive across all travel categories, taking into account the patterns and nature of official travel and the reasons for non-compliance by each department, office and field mission;

Decides that only the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly, the President of the International Court of Justice and heads of delegations of least developed countries shall be entitled to first-class accommodation for air travel;

Also decides to modify the Travel and Subsistence Regulations of the International Court of Justice contained in the annex to its resolution 37/240 of 21 December 1982 by replacing “first-class accommodation” with “accommodation in the class immediately below first class” in article 1, paragraph 2 (a), and requests the Secretary-General to further extend the scope of the advance purchase policy to include the International Court of Justice to secure further savings from business-class bookings;

Notes the efforts of the Secretary-General to strengthen training and development provided to staff in support of the decentralization and delegation of decision-making authority;

Stresses that all extrabudgetary posts must be administered and managed with the same rigour as regular budget posts;

Also stresses that extrabudgetary resources shall be used in consistency with the policies, aims and activities of the Organization, and requests the Secretary-General to provide information on the financial and human resource implications of the use of extrabudgetary resources in the Organization in his next proposed programme budget;

Decides to reduce resources for document printing for the formal meetings of the Fifth Committee by 5 million dollars in the respective sections, to contribute to greening the United Nations;

Part I

Overall policymaking, direction and coordination

Section 1 Overall policymaking, direction and coordination

Decides that answers provided to the Advisory Committee by the Secretariat shall be made available to the General Assembly, as supplementary information;

Recalls paragraph I.23 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and looks forward to the annual report of the Secretary-General foreseen in resolution 72/279 of 31 May 2018;

Takes note of paragraphs I.15 and I.16 of the report of the Advisory Committee, decides not to approve the proposed establishment of one P-5 post to support the office of the President of the General Assembly, and decides to maintain the transitionary period of one month;

Section 2 General Assembly and Economic and Social Council affairs and conference management

Emphasizes the importance of the initiatives related to the accessibility of persons with disabilities to conference services and facilities;

Recalls paragraph I.48 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides to establish one P-4 post and one P-3 post (Translator) in the Chinese Translation Section in Geneva;

Part II

Political affairs

Section 3 Political affairs

Recalls paragraphs 87, 88 and II.15 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides not to abolish the post of Political Affairs Officer (P-3) in the Central and Southern Africa Division in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs;

Section 5 Peacekeeping operations

Recognizes the important role of peacekeeping and special political missions at the national, subregional, regional and international levels, as appropriate, in maintaining peace and security in fulfilment of their mandates;

Section 6 Peaceful uses of outer space

Notes the increased workload in the Office for Outer Space Affairs, and requests the Secretary-General to review resourcing for the Office in future budget proposals;

Part III

International justice and law

Section 7 International Court of Justice

Decides not to approve upward reclassifications in the International Court of Justice;

Also decides to reduce the resources for consultants for members of the Court by 143,300 dollars;

Section 8 Legal affairs

Recalls paragraph III.35 of the report of the Advisory Committee, decides not to approve the conversion of 58 general temporary assistance positions to temporary posts, and decides to reduce resources accordingly;

Takes note of paragraphs III.47, III.48, III.49, III.52, III.53, III.54, III.55 and III.56 of the report of the Advisory Committee;

Decides that regular budget resources for the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Persons Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011 under section 8, Legal affairs, for 2020 amount to 17,806,200 dollars before recosting;

Part IV

International cooperation for development

Section 10 Least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States

Reaffirms the importance of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway,⁷ the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development⁸ and other intergovernmentally agreed outcomes, including the political declaration of the high-level midterm review of the Samoa Pathway adopted on 10 October 2019,⁹ and encourages the Secretary-General to continue to support small island developing States through the Small Island Developing States Unit in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States;

⁷Resolution 69/15, annex.

⁸Resolution 70/1.

⁹Resolution 74/3.

Notes the planned deliverables of subprogramme 2, Landlocked developing countries, and subprogramme 3, Small island developing States, for the period 2018–2020, regrets the inadequate resources for these subprogrammes, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to take the action necessary to ensure that additional post and non-post resources are allocated to these subprogrammes in the context of the proposed programme budget for 2021 to enable them to effectively carry out their increased mandates;

Section 11 United Nations support for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development

Recalls that the development of Africa is an established priority of the United Nations, and reaffirms its commitment to address the unique needs of Africa;

Requests the Secretary-General to fill the four vacant posts in the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa as expeditiously as possible;

Section 14 Environment

Reaffirms the mandate contained in its resolution 2997 (XXVII) of 15 December 1972, by which it established the United Nations Environment Programme, and other relevant resolutions that reinforce its mandate, as well as the Nairobi Declaration on the Role and Mandate of the United Nations Environment Programme of 7 February 1997,¹⁰ the Malmö Ministerial Declaration of 31 May 2000¹¹ and the Nusa Dua Declaration of 26 February 2010;¹²

¹⁰Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-second Session, Supplement No. 25 (A/52/25), annex, decision 19/1, annex.

¹¹Ibid., Fifty-fifth Session, Supplement No. 25 (A/55/25), annex I, decision SS.VI/1, annex.

¹²Ibid., Sixty-fifth Session, Supplement No. 25 (A/65/25), annex I, decision SS.XI/9.

Section 16 International drug control, crime and terrorism prevention and criminal justice

Decides to establish one post of Legal Adviser (P-3) in the secretariat of the International Narcotics Control Board;

Part V

Regional cooperation for development

Section 20 Economic development in Europe

Takes note of paragraph V.49 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides not to establish one post of Chief of Service (D-1);

Also takes note of paragraphs V.50 and V.54 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides to retain one post of Associate Population Affairs Officer (P-2), one post of Senior Administrative Assistant (General Service (Principal level)) and one post of Team Assistant (General Service (Other level));

Section 21 Economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Welcomes the initiative of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean to digitize its library and documentation systems, as well as the approach taken to increase the electronic distribution of its publications while ensuring the availability of alternatives in areas with limited Internet access;

Also welcomes the efforts of the Commission in reducing the costs of printing and disseminating publications as well as the progress made in expanding outreach and increasing the dissemination of its publications, and encourages the Secretary-General to conduct an analysis to determine whether the systems and strategies of the Commission can be replicated at other regional commissions and in United Nations departments and offices, and to provide an update on the matter in his next budget proposal;

Recalls paragraphs 88 and V.69 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides not to abolish one post of Associate Programme Management Officer (P-2) in subprogramme 3, Macroeconomic policies and growth, and one post of Associate Programme Management Officer (P-2) in subprogramme 8, Natural resources and infrastructure, at the Commission;

Part VI

Human rights and humanitarian affairs

Section 24 Human rights

Recalls its resolution 68/268 of 9 April 2014, and decides to allocate a maximum of four official working languages for the work of the human rights treaty bodies, with the inclusion, on an exceptional basis, of a fifth official language, when necessary to facilitate communication among the members, as determined by the committee concerned, taking into account that these measures will not constitute a precedent, given the special nature of the treaty bodies, and without prejudice to the right of each State party to interact with the treaty bodies in any of the six official languages of the United Nations;

Decides not to redeploy one post of Human Rights Officer (P-3);

Part VII

Global communications

Section 28 Global communications

Notes the ongoing reform of the Department of Global Communications, and requests the Secretary-General to report on how the reform can contribute to improving the full, effective and efficient implementation of its mandate both at Headquarters and in the field;

Recalls paragraph 165 of its resolution 72/261, requests the Secretary-General to report on the maintenance and improvement of the quality and accuracy of official meeting coverage and press releases, and also requests the Secretary-General to report on the qualitative and quantitative benefits of those efforts in the context of the next budget proposals;

Takes note of paragraph VII.11 of the report of the Advisory Committee, decides to establish six general temporary assistance positions in the United Nations Information Service at Geneva, comprising one post of Webcast Officer (P-3), one post of Associate Webcast Officer (P-2) and four posts of Webcast Assistant (General Service (Other level)), and decides not to establish one post of National Professional Officer in the United Nations Information Centre in Colombo;

Decides to establish one P-3 post in the Hindi Unit of UN News;

Also decides to establish one P-3 post in the Urdu Unit of United Nations Radio;

Further decides to reduce the proposed non-post resources by 600,000 dollars;

Part VIII

Common support services

Section 29A

Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance

Recalls paragraphs 9, 10 and 11 of its resolution 72/266 B, underlines the crucial role of training in accompanying reform through organizational and cultural change, takes note of paragraphs VIII.16, VIII.17 and VIII.20 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides to reduce the proposed training resources by 700,000 dollars;

Section 29B

Department of Operational Support

Recalls paragraphs 9 and 10 of its resolution 72/266 B, and underlines the crucial role of training in accompanying reform through organizational and cultural change;

Takes note of paragraph VIII.33 of the report of the Advisory Committee;

Section 29C

Office of Information and Communications Technology

Approves an additional appropriation in the amount of 199,500 dollars for improving accessibility for persons with disabilities and others to United Nations premises in New York through the development of a way-finder program, under section 29C, Office of Information and Communications Technology;

Section 29E

Administration, Geneva

Recalls paragraph VIII.70 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides not to approve the upward classification of one post of Chief of the Information and Communications Technology Service (P-5) as a D-1 in subprogramme 4, Information and communications technology operations;

Decides to further reduce resources by 100,100 dollars;

Section 29G

Administration, Nairobi

Recalls paragraph VIII.98 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides not to approve the reclassification of one post of Procurement Officer (P-3) as a P-4 post and one post of Travel Officer (P-2) as a P-3 post;

Decides not to abolish one post of Procurement Assistant (Local level) (subprogramme 3, Support services);

Part IX

Internal oversight

Section 30 Internal oversight

Takes note of paragraph IX.12 of the Advisory Committee, and decides to establish three general temporary assistance positions of Investigator (1 P-4 and 2 P-3) in the Vienna Investigations Office;

Part XII

Safety and security

Section 34 Safety and security

Decides not to abolish 10 posts of Security Officer (Local level) in the Security and Safety Service in Beirut and to apply a 50 per cent vacancy rate;

Recalls paragraph XII.22 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides to approve resources for the malicious acts insurance policy for 2020 in the amount 3,996,107 dollars;

Income section 3

Services to the public

Decides to reduce non-post resources for catering operations by 250,000 dollars, and also decides not to allocate resources for the renovation of the Vienna Café.

52nd (resumed) plenary meeting 27 December 2019

Staffing table for 2020

Category | Number of posts | Professional and higher | Deputy Secretary-General | 1 | Under-Secretary-General | 36 | Assistant Secretary-General | 32 | D-2 | 116 | D-1 | 298 | P-5 | 902 | P-4 | 1 532 | P-3 | 1 445 | P-2/1 | 522 | Subtotal | 4 884 | General Service and related | Principal level | 271 | Other level | 2 313 | Subtotal | 2 584 | Other | Security Service | 307 | Local level | 1 908 | Field Service | 107 | National Professional Officer | 87 | Trades and Crafts | 95 | Subtotal | 2 504 | Total | 9 972

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?

Part I

Overall policymaking, direction and coordination

Section 1

Overall policymaking, direction and coordination

Section 2

General Assembly and Economic and Social Council affairs and conference management

Part II

Political affairs

Section 3

Political affairs

Section 5

Peacekeeping operations

Section 6

Peaceful uses of outer space

Part III

International justice and law

Section 7

International Court of Justice

Section 8

Legal affairs

Part IV

International cooperation for development

Section 10

Least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States

Section 11

United Nations support for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development

Section 14

Environment

Section 16

International drug control, crime and terrorism prevention and criminal justice

Part V

Regional cooperation for development

Section 20

Economic development in Europe

Section 21

Economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Part VI

Human rights and humanitarian affairs

Section 24

Human rights

Part VII

Global communications

Section 28

Global communications

Part VIII

Common support services

Section 29A

Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance

Section 29B

Department of Operational Support

Section 29C

Office of Information and Communications Technology

Section 29E

Administration, Geneva

Section 29G

Administration, Nairobi

Part IX

Internal oversight

Section 30

Internal oversight

Part XII

Safety and security

Section 34

Safety and security

Income section 3

Services to the public

Table of contents