Progress in the Implementation of General Assembly Resolution 79/226 on the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review of Operational Activities for Development of the United Nations System

E/RES/2026/22View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Economic and Social Council, under agenda item 7 Operational activities of the United Nations for international development cooperation, published in 2026.

What subjects does this mandate have?

12 subjects

Accountability Coordination Within UN System Country Teams Development Finance Governance Internal Oversight Operational Activities Organizational Reform Programme Evaluation Regional Cooperation Resident Coordinators Sustainable Development

What’s in this document?

30 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of General Assembly resolution 79/226 on the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system;¹

¹A/81/75-E/2026/61 and A/81/75/Add.1-E/2026/61/Add.1.

Welcomes the support provided by the United Nations development system entities to programme countries, upon their request, for the implementation of national development priorities;

Also welcomes the ongoing efforts of the Secretary-General on the repositioning of the United Nations development system, and acknowledges the progress achieved thus far in advancing all reform mandates contained in General Assembly resolutions 71/243 and 72/279;

Takes note of the information provided in the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the quadrennial comprehensive policy review, including UN80-related proposals, and requests the Secretary-General to provide further detailed information on these proposed reforms and measures to the General Assembly at its eighty-first session, including but not limited to their expected contributions to the implementation of the mandates contained in the quadrennial comprehensive policy review, measures to reduce duplication and improve efficiency, funding and governance arrangements, implications for the mandates for the United Nations development system entities at all levels and the impact on country-level delivery in programme countries, in accordance with their national development priorities and needs, in order to facilitate timely and well-informed intergovernmental decision-making on these reforms, where required;

Requests the Secretary-General, in the context of the UN80 Initiative and its related reform proposals affecting the United Nations development system, to provide clear, detailed and evidence-based information on the implications of such proposals for multi-country office arrangements, including their impact on programme delivery, coordination, country presence, operational effectiveness, staffing, financing and support to programme countries served by multi-country offices, in order to facilitate informed intergovernmental consideration and decision-making during the eighty-first session of the General Assembly;

Reiterates the call upon the entities of the United Nations development system to integrate and mainstream the Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries,² the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for Small Island Developing States: A Renewed Declaration for Resilient Prosperity³ and the Awaza Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2024–2034,⁴ as well as support for the implementation of Agenda 2063 of the African Union and its second 10-year implementation plan (2024–2033) into their operational activities for development, and in this regard urges the United Nations country teams, the multi-country offices and the entities of the United Nations development system to incorporate the goals and objectives of the programmes of action for countries in special situations, as applicable, and national development priorities, in the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks and regional and country programme documents for countries in special situations, in full consultation and coordination with their national Governments;

²General Assembly resolution 76/258, annex.

³General Assembly resolution 78/317, annex.

⁴General Assembly resolution 79/233, annex; see also resolution 79/279.

Urges entities of the United Nations development system with operational activities for development that have not done so to fully align their strategic plans and their strategic planning and budgeting cycles with the quadrennial comprehensive policy review, taking into account their respective mandates;

Recognizes the progress made by the reinvigorated resident coordinator system and the reconfigured United Nations country teams, requests all United Nations development system entities to strengthen their efforts to prepare and finalize their entity-specific country development programme documents, according to their entity-specific mandates, and in accordance with and aligned with the agreed priorities and outcomes of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework and in consultation and agreement with host Governments, underlines that members of United Nations country teams should share their country programme documents with the Resident Coordinators to confirm alignment with United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework priorities, and requests relevant development system entities, in coordination with the Development Coordination Office, to make the relevant United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework and/or its outcome matrix available to Member States and the governing bodies when the draft country programme document is presented for consideration, in accordance with relevant Executive Board processes and timelines;

Requests the Secretary-General to strengthen the authority and leadership of resident coordinators, as the highest-ranking representatives of the United Nations development system, over United Nations country teams, and system-wide accountability on the ground for implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework and supporting countries in their implementation of the 2030 Agenda,⁵ as mandated in paragraph 9 of resolution 72/279;

⁵General Assembly resolution 70/1.

Welcomes the contributions of the resident coordinator system to the results of the repositioned United Nations development system, takes note of the ongoing work on the recalibration of the resident coordinator system to ensure that it remains fit for purpose and improves in delivering on its mandate, as agreed in resolution 72/279, and is responsive to programme country needs and priorities, and requests that this recalibration continue to be undertaken in close consultation with programme countries, in this regard, takes note of the proposal of the Secretary-General for a resident coordinator model at the country level that tailors coordination capacity to specific development contexts, needs and priorities;

Stresses the need to continue to improve the transparency, accountability and responsiveness of the United Nations development system to the priorities and needs of programme countries, including building the capacity of the United Nations development system, and ensuring its ongoing, adequate and tailored capacity development at the country level, as well as through regular, transparent and inclusive communication with host Governments;

Emphasizes the importance of ensuring that programme countries have timely access to the full range of expertise and capacities available across the United Nations development system, in accordance with their national priorities, needs and Cooperation Framework outcomes, including through further flexible access to expertise, arrangements and other delivery modalities, with a view to enhancing the effectiveness, responsiveness and impact of support provided to programme countries, ensuring that expertise is available in response to demand from programme countries;

Recalls the request made to the Secretary-General in General Assembly resolution 72/279 to work, through the United Nations Sustainable Development Group and in consultation with Member States, to determine the appropriate criteria with regard to the presence and composition of United Nations country teams, takes note of the proposed criteria in the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the quadrennial comprehensive policy review, further requests the Secretary-General to continue to provide updated information to Member States at the eighty-first session of the General Assembly and at subsequent sessions, within existing reporting, including on the possible changes and impacts on the presence and composition of United Nations country teams, including those in multi-country office settings, and stresses that any potential reconfiguration will be made in full consultation and agreement with host Governments, as well as with the applicable programme country under the respective multi-country office;

Recognizes that a needs-based, efficient configuration of United Nations country teams, developed in full consultation and agreement with host Governments and in accordance with the mandates and comparative advantages of United Nations development system entities, can improve the coherence and effectiveness of United Nations development system support at the country level;

Calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system to fully and effectively participate in consultations relating to the presence and composition of United Nations country teams, to be finalized through open and inclusive dialogue between the host Government and the United Nations development system facilitated by the resident coordinator, while ensuring respect for national ownership;

Notes the critical role that the United Nations development system plays in facilitating countries’ implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals, and remains seriously concerned about the lack of adequate, predictable and sustainable funding for the United Nations development system entities, the resident coordinator system, and development activities as a whole, and stresses the need to prioritize voluntary contributions to core, pooled, thematic and joint funding mechanisms at all levels, including the Joint Sustainable Development Goals Fund, and to limit earmarking to activities in accordance with the national priorities and plans of programme countries;

Welcomes the update on the funding compact, noting its voluntary nature and noting with concern that core contributions now stand at 12 per cent of the total voluntary contributions to the United Nations development system against a funding compact target of 30 per cent, calls upon Member States and entities of the United Nations development system to contribute to the full and effective implementation of the funding compact, and requests the Secretary-General to report on its implementation for further consideration by the Economic and Social Council at its annual operational activities for development segment;

Emphasizes that adequate, predictable and sustainable funding of the resident coordinator system is essential to delivering a coherent, effective, efficient and accountable response in accordance with national needs and priorities;

Acknowledges there would be a submission of a refined, comprehensive and detailed report on the financing of and governance over the resident coordinator system to the General Assembly at its eighty-first session, as requested in section XVIII, paragraphs 3 and 4, of General Assembly resolution 79/258 A;

Welcomes the progress made in strengthening the United Nations development system’s oversight, system-wide evaluations and results-based management and reporting to the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, as well as the efforts made on providing more detailed and timely information, and encourages the continued strengthening of such evidence-based reporting, in compliance with General Assembly resolution 79/226;

Takes note of the report of the Executive Director of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group System-Wide Evaluation Office on the functioning and work of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group System-Wide Evaluation Office,⁶ pursuant to General Assembly resolution 79/226, in which the Assembly requested that the Executive Director present the annual report to the Economic and Social Council at its operational activities for development segment, in this regard re-emphasizes the need to ensure the independence, credibility and effectiveness of the Evaluation Office, and looks forward to receiving its future reports to the Economic and Social Council on the functioning and work of the Office, especially its findings, recommendations and follow-up;

⁶E/2026/56.

Also takes note of the report of the Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group on the work on the Development Coordination Office,⁷ including on the operational, administrative and financing aspects of the activities of the Office, as well as the report on the system-wide contribution to the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and looks forward to continuing to receive on an annual basis an evidence-based, comprehensive, analytical and detailed report to the Economic and Social Council at its operational activities for development segment, to include detailed financial, budgetary and expenditure data as well as data on increased efficiencies and on the results of the work of resident coordinators at the country level in all future reporting on the implementation of the reinvigorated resident coordinator system;

⁷E/2026/67.

Notes with appreciation the efforts of the entities in complying with requests to report on the implementation of the quadrennial comprehensive policy review within their annual reporting, and reiterates its request to the entities of the United Nations development system that have not already done so to consolidate their annual reporting on the implementation of the quadrennial comprehensive policy review within their annual reporting on the implementation of their strategic plans and to continue to improve the quality of their annual reports to the Economic and Social Council, including to reflect their respective contributions to the work of the United Nations development system;

Reiterates the call to the United Nations development system entities to complete the United Nations development system reform checklist for the United Nations entities’ governing bodies, invites the governing bodies to use the checklist as a tool to facilitate their oversight role in support of full implementation of the relevant reform mandates contained in General Assembly resolution 72/279, and takes note of the entities that have not completed the United Nations development system reform checklist;

Welcomes progress in advancing efficiency efforts to date, and requests the United Nations development system to improve the implementation of harmonized business practices, including the Business Operations Strategies, Common Back Offices, Common Premises and Global Shared Services, noting that implementation remains uneven, so that funding freed up by such gains is redeployed to development activities, including coordination;

Calls upon the United Nations development system to further accelerate the consolidation of common back-office functions to improve efficiency;

Emphasizes the need for information-sharing and reporting, and in this regard recalls the establishment of a clear, matrixed, dual reporting model, with United Nations country team members accountable and reporting to their respective entities on individual mandates, and periodically reporting to the Resident Coordinator on their individual activities and contributions to collective results, as well as the reporting by the Resident Coordinator to the Secretary-General and to the host Governments on the implementation of the Cooperation Framework;

Requests continued efforts to improve the performance of personnel of the United Nations development system, including the resident coordinator system, at all levels, and in this regard reaffirms the importance of the full implementation of the management and accountability framework;

Reaffirms that the Economic and Social Council, including through its operational activities for development segment, serves as a platform to ensure and enhance accountability and oversight for and the acceleration of system-wide performance and results in relation to the 2030 Agenda;

Welcomes the discussions at the 2026 operational activities for development segment, and requests the Secretary-General to continue to provide briefing notes and informal briefings to all Member States on progress in the implementation of General Assembly resolution 79/226 in preparation for the General Assembly resolution on the operational activities for development of the United Nations system to be negotiated at the eighty-first session of the General Assembly.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What subjects does this mandate have?

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