A/RES/75/233 GA

United Nations A/RES/75/233 General Assembly Distr.: General 30 December 2020 20-17649 (E) 070121 *2017649* Seventy-fifth session Agenda item 25 (a) Operational activities for development: operational activities for development of the United Nations system Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 21 December 2020 [on the report of the Second Committee (A/75/463/Add.1, para. 21)] 75/233. Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system The General Assembly, Reaffirming the importance of the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities, through which the General Assembly establishes key system- wide strategic policy orientations and operational modalities for the development cooperation and country-level modalities of the United Nations development system, Expressing its resolve to use this review as the main instrument to provide guidance to the United Nations development system on its operational activities for development in order to support countries in their efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in a coherent and integrated manner and ensure effective delivery of support and services to programme countries in line with the mandates of the entities of the United Nations development system, and in accordance with national development policies, plans, priorities and needs, and that efforts are strengthened and accelerated in this decade of action and delivery for sustainable development, building upon a United Nations development system that is more strategic, accountable, transparent, coherent, collaborative, efficient, effective and results-oriented, Reaffirming its resolution 70/1 of 25 September 2015, entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, in which it adopted a comprehensive, far-reaching and people-centred set of universal and transformative Sustainable Development Goals and targets, its commitment to working tirelessly for the full implementation of the Agenda by 2030, its recognition that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, its commitment to achieving sustainable development in its three dimensions – economic, social and environmental – in a balanced and integrated manner, and to building upon the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals and seeking to address their unfinished business, A/RES/75/233 Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system 20-17649 2/23 Reaffirming also its resolution 69/313 of 27 July 2015 on the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, which is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, supports and complements it, helps to contextualize its means of implementation targets with concrete policies and actions, and reaffirms the strong political commitment to address the challenge of financing and creating an enabling environment at all levels for sustainable development in the spirit of global partnership and solidarity, Reaffirming the Paris Agreement,1 and encouraging all its parties to fully implement the Agreement, and parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change2 that have not yet done so to deposit their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, where appropriate, as soon as possible, Recognizing that the achievement of the three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity3 is crucial for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, that climate change is one of the growing drivers of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation and that the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and ecosystem functions and services, contribute significantly to climate change mitigation and adaptation, disaster risk reduction and food security and nutrition, and acknowledging that tackling climate change, addressing biodiversity loss and promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns can accelerate the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions, and the achievement of the 2030 Agenda, Recalling its resolution 69/283 of 3 June 2015 on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, and its resolution 71/256 of 23 December 2016, annex, on the New Urban Agenda, as well as all other outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social, environmental and related fields, and the internationally agreed development goals, including the Sustainable Development Goals, and recognizing the vital role played by these conferences and summits in shaping a broad development vision and in identifying commonly agreed objectives which have contributed to our understanding of, and our actions to overcome, the challenges to improving human life in different parts of the world, Recognizing that there can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development, and that the development work of the entities of the United Nations development system, in accordance with their respective mandates, through their support for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in countries in conflict and post-conflict situations, contributes to peacebuilding and sustaining peace when reducing people’s needs, addressing risks for development programming and fostering resilience, at the request of those countries and in accordance with their national ownership, plans and priorities, Reaffirming the importance of freedom, peace and security, respect for all human rights, including the right to development, the right to an adequate standard of living and the right to food in the context of national food security, the rule of law, gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls, the right to enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and the overall commitment to just, inclusive and democratic societies for development, Reaffirming that promoting gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls, in accordance with the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 4 and the outcomes of relevant United Nations conferences and resolutions of the General __________________ 1 See FCCC/CP/2015/10/Add.1, decision 1/CP.21, annex. 2 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1771, No. 30822. 3 Ibid., vol. 1760, No. 30619. 4 Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4–15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution 1, annexes I and II. Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system A/RES/75/233 3/23 20-17649 Assembly, including through investing in the development of all women and girls and promoting their economic, social and political empowerment and full, equal and meaningful participation and equal access to leadership and representation at all levels, and promotion of equal access to and control over economic and productive resources, decent work, social protection, inclusive and equitable quality education, health and technology, addressing barriers to their empowerment and their realization and enjoyment of their human rights, including the need to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls, is of fundamental importance and has a multiplier effect for achieving sustained and inclusive economic growth, poverty eradication and sustainable development, Reaffirming further its resolution 71/243 of 21 December 2016 and its previous resolutions on the quadrennial comprehensive policy review, 5 triennial comprehensive policy review6 and other relevant resolutions7 on the operational activities for development of the United Nations system, Reaffirming its resolution 72/279 of 31 May 2018 on the repositioning of the United Nations development system in the context of the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system, Recalling Economic and Social Council resolutions 2019/15 of 8 July 2019 and 2020/23 of 22 July 2020, and previous resolutions8 and the role of the Council in providing coordination and guidance to the United Nations system to ensure that those policy orientations are implemented on a system-wide basis in accordance with the present resolution and relevant General Assembly resolutions,9 Recalling also its resolutions 66/288 of 27 July 2012, 67/290 of 9 July 2013, 68/1 of 20 September 2013, 70/299 of 29 July 2016 and 74/298 of 12 August 2020, reaffirming the commitment to engage in systematic follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in accordance with the principles contained therein, and asserting that the high-level political forum on sustainable development has a central role in overseeing a network of follow-up and review processes of the 2030 Agenda at the global level, working coherently with the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and other relevant organs and forums, in accordance with existing mandates, Recognizing that relevant stakeholders, including international financial institutions, civil society and the private sector, can positively contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and encouraging their contribution in supporting national development efforts in accordance with national plans and priorities, Taking note of the reports of the Secretary-General on the implementation of General Assembly resolution 71/243 on the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system, 10 Taking note also of the reports of the Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group on the work of the Development Coordination Office, including on the operational, administrative and financing aspects of the activities of the Office, 11 __________________ 5 Resolution 67/226. 6 Resolutions 44/211, 47/199, 50/120, 53/192, 56/201, 59/250 and 62/208. 7 Resolutions 52/12 B, 52/203, 64/289, 73/248, 74/238 and 74/297. 8 Economic and Social Council resolutions 2013/5, 2014/14 and 2015/15. 9 Resolutions 48/162, 50/227, 57/270 B, 61/16, 65/285, 68/1 and 72/305. 10 A/73/63-E/2018/8, A/74/73-E/2019/4 and A/75/79-E/2020/55. 11 E/2019/62, E/2019/62/Corr.1 and E/2020/54. A/RES/75/233 Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system 20-17649 4/23 Noting with great concern the threat to human health, safety and well-being caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, as well as the severe disruption to societies and economies and the devastating impact on lives and livelihoods, and that the poorest and most vulnerable are the hardest hit by the pandemic, reaffirming the ambition to get back on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by designing sustainable and inclusive recovery strategies to accelerate progress towards the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda and to help to reduce the risk of future shocks, and recognizing that the COVID-19 pandemic requires a global response based on unity, solidarity and renewed multilateral cooperation, Recognizing the essential role of the United Nations as the body that can effectively bring together a global response to control and contain the spread of COVID-19 and address the critical interlinkages between health, trade, finance and economic and social development, and acknowledging that the disease will negatively impact endeavours aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, Welcoming the declaration on the commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations,12 I General guidelines 1. 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 for development 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; 2. Underscores that there is no “one size fits all” approach to development, and reiterates the call to the United Nations development system to continue to enhance its efforts, in a flexible, transparent, accountable, timely, coherent, coordinated and integrated manner, and to continue to pursue full alignment of operational activities for development at the country level with national development plans and strategies to strengthen national ownership and leadership at all stages of the operational activities of the United Nations development system in order for the entities to respond to national development needs and priorities in accordance with their mandates, while ensuring the full involvement of all relevant stakeholders at the national level; 3. Recognizes that the strength of the United Nations development system lies in its legitimacy, at the country level, as a neutral, objective, transparent and trusted partner for all countries; 4. 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; 5. Recognizes that national efforts should be complemented by supportive global and regional programmes, measures and policies aimed at expanding the development opportunities of all countries, supported by an enabling economic environment, including coherent and mutually supporting world trade, monetary and financial systems, and enhanced global economic governance, while taking into account national conditions and ensuring respect for national ownership; __________________ 12 Resolution 75/1. Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system A/RES/75/233 5/23 20-17649 6. Reaffirms the need to continue to strengthen the United Nations development system to further enhance its coherence, efficiency and accountability, as well as its capacity to address effectively and in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the full range of development challenges of our time, as set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 13 and that it must continue to adapt and respond, including to proactively work to build capacity, to evolving development challenges and opportunities for development cooperation so that no one is left behind; 7. Welcomes the progress achieved by the United Nations development system in implementing General Assembly resolutions 71/243 and 72/279, takes note of the remaining challenges, and looks forward to the full and timely implementation of all reform mandates and provisions as contained in relevant General Assembly resolutions; 14 8. Reiterates its call to the entities of the United Nations development system, within their respective mandates, to continue to mainstream the Sustainable Development Goals in their strategic planning documents, their work and reporting at all levels, taking into account that the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development and should therefore continue to be the highest priority for and underlying objective of the operational activities of the United Nations development system; 9. Recognizes that the individual entities of the United Nations development system 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, collaboration, efficiency and coherence at all levels should be undertaken in a manner that recognizes their respective mandates and roles with consideration for comparative advantages, and enhances the effective utilization of their resources and their unique expertise; 10. Reiterates the call to the United Nations development system to continue to support developing countries in their efforts to achieve internationally agreed development goals and their development objectives, and requests the system to address, within existing resources and mandates, the special challenges facing the most vulnerable countries and, in particular, African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States, the need for special attention to countries in conflict and post-conflict situations and countries and peoples under foreign occupation, as well as the specific challenges facing the middle-income countries, in line with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development 15 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; 11. Urges the United Nations development system to continue to enhance its support for the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011–2020,16 towards a transition to the new decade, the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway17 and the Vienna Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2014– 2024,18 as well as the African Union Agenda 2063 and the New Partnership for Africa’s __________________ 13 Resolution 70/1. 14 Resolutions 72/279 and 74/297. 15 Resolution 69/313, annex. 16 Report of the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, Istanbul, Turkey, 9–13 May 2011 (A/CONF.219/7), chap. II. 17 Resolution 69/15, annex. 18 Resolution 69/137, annex II. A/RES/75/233 Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system 20-17649 6/23 Development,19 all of which are integral to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system to integrate and mainstream them fully into their operational activities for development; 12. Emphasizes that realizing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls will make a crucial contribution to progress across all the Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda, and calls upon all entities of the United Nations development system to continue to promote gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by enhancing and accelerating gender mainstreaming through the full implementation of the System-wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, developed under the leadership of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), as well as the United Nations country team performance indicators for gender equality and the empowerment of women (the UNCT SWAP “scorecard”) in particular with regard to gender-responsive performance management and strategic planning, and to enhance the collection, availability and use of sex-disaggregated data, reporting and resource tracking, and drawing on available gender expertise in the system at all levels, including in UN-Women, to assist in mainstreaming gender equality in the preparation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, through a gender equality outcome, where appropriate and relevant in the country context and ensuring that gender equality expertise is available throughout the United Nations development system at all levels; 13. Recognizes, after the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, that people who are vulnerable must be empowered; further recognizes that those whose needs are reflected in the Agenda include all children, youth, persons with disabilities, people living with HIV/AIDS, older persons, indigenous peoples, refugees and internally displaced persons and migrants, and calls upon the United Nations development system to continue to have a particular focus on the poorest, most vulnerable and those furthest behind; 14. Calls upon the United Nations development system entities as well as United Nations country teams, within their respective mandates, to continue to work collaboratively to accelerate the full and effective mainstreaming of disability inclusion into the United Nations system, including by implementing and reporting on the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy across its programmes and operations, and stressing the need for capacity-development efforts aimed at empowering persons with disabilities and their representative organizations; 15. Urges Member States and the United Nations development system to explore and promote concrete new avenues for the full, effective, structured and sustainable participation of young people in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda; 16. Recognizes the positive role that sustainable development can play in mitigating drivers of conflicts, disaster risks, humanitarian crises and complex emergencies, and also recognizes that a comprehensive whole-of-system response, including greater cooperation, coherence, coordination and complementarity among development, disaster risk reduction, humanitarian action and sustaining peace, is fundamental to most efficiently and effectively addressing needs and attaining the Sustainable Development Goals; 17. Underscores the importance of results-based management, within and across entities and at all levels of the United Nations development system, as an essential element of accountability that can, inter alia, contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets, and requests the United Nations development system and its individual entities to continue to strengthen results-based __________________ 19 A/57/304, annex. Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system A/RES/75/233 7/23 20-17649 management, focusing on long-term development outcomes, developing common methodologies for planning and reporting on results, including on agency-specific activities, and on inter-agency and joint activities, improving integrated results and resources frameworks, where appropriate, and enhancing a results culture in the entities of the United Nations development system; 18. Notes the importance of the contribution of the United Nations development system with the aim of supporting government efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, leaving no one behind, based on full respect for human rights, including the right to development, and stresses in this regard that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated; II Contribution of United Nations operational activities for development 19. Reiterates the call to the United Nations development system to continue to support countries, upon their request, in the acceleration of the implementation, follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially in the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development, including by focusing on addressing the gaps and challenges, including those identified by voluntary national reviews, bearing in mind that the Sustainable Development Goals and targets are integrated and indivisible, global in nature and universally applicable, taking into account the different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities; 20. Stresses the importance of continuing to mainstream the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as appropriate, into the work of each entity of the United Nations development system, in line with their respective mandates and respecting the intergovernmentally agreed decisions of their governing bodies, with a view to redoubling efforts and ensuring delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 in this decade of action and delivery, and in this regard urges the United Nations development system: (a) To continue to allocate resources to realize the development objectives of developing countries, and to support the endeavour to reach the furthest behind first, while taking into account the universal and inclusive nature of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; (b) To ensure a coherent approach to addressing the interconnections and cross-cutting elements across the Sustainable Development Goals and targets; (c) To ensure a balanced and integrated approach within the system towards its support to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets, in accordance with each entity’s mandate and bearing in mind their comparative advantages, taking into account new and evolving development challenges and the need to build on lessons learned, address gaps, avoid duplication and overlap and strengthen the inter-agency approach in this regard; 21. Calls upon the United Nations development system entities, while respecting their respective roles and mandates, to update and build upon their unique contributions and added value to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the preparation of their strategic plans and similar planning documents, and in this regard requests each individual entity to elaborate on how it plans to further engage in coherent and integrated support, with a stronger focus on actions, results, coherence, progress and impact in the field, as called for in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, under the guidance of and in close consultation with their respective governing bodies, taking into account, inter alia, lessons learned from their midterm reviews, the outcome of the present resolution, A/RES/75/233 Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system 20-17649 8/23 and the efforts of the United Nations development system to address the needs, priorities and challenges of programme countries; 22. Underscores the important role of the United Nations development system in contributing to capacity development at the country level, and calls upon the entities of the development system, where appropriate at the request of national Governments, to improve their support, including through tailored and integrated support, to the building, development and strengthening of national, subnational and local institutions and capacities, to support sustainable development results at the country level and to promote national ownership and leadership, in line with national development policies, plans and priorities including by incorporating appropriate capacity development elements in relevant programmes and projects, taking into account their respective mandates and bearing in mind their comparative advantages; 23. Calls upon the United Nations development system entities, at the request of national Governments and taking into account their respective mandates, to improve their support, including, where appropriate, in partnership with relevant stakeholders, with regard to strengthening the mobilization of the means of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals from all sources, in line with the 2030 Agenda and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, including through capacity-building, integrated policy advice and programmatic support, technical assistance, high-quality, timely, reliable and disaggregated data, normative support, support to national institutions, leverage partnerships and the leveraging of science, technology and innovation, in accordance with national development policies, plans, priorities and needs; 24. Also calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system to continue to provide evidence-based and integrated policy advice and programmatic support to help countries in the implementation of, follow-up to and reporting on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly by mainstreaming the Sustainable Development Goals into national plans, including by promoting sustained and inclusive economic growth, social development and environmental protection, and ending poverty in all its forms and dimensions, and requests in this regard the Resident Coordinators and United Nations country teams to contribute their expertise, tools and platforms in line with their respective mandates strategic plans and as agreed in the Cooperation Frameworks or equivalent planning framework; 25. Recognizes that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, as set out in the 2030 Agenda, notes with concern the rise in global poverty, and requests the United Nations development system to strengthen actions to accelerate progress on poverty eradication; 26. Requests the United Nations development system to support programme countries in implementing nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including social protection floors, and by 2030 to achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable; 27. Calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system, in the context of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic: (a) To achieve and work towards building back better and a sustainable inclusive and resilient recovery which is people-centred, gender-sensitive and respects human rights, has a particular focus on the poorest, most vulnerable and those furthest behind and protects the planet, achieves prosperity and universal health coverage by 2030; (b) To support and work with programme countries in a coherent and collaborative manner in implementing, with urgency, sustainable solutions and catalysing partnerships, leveraging digital technologies where appropriate including Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system A/RES/75/233 9/23 20-17649 with financial institutions and the private sector for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in the post-COVID-19 era; (c) To give particular attention to the specific challenges of developing countries, in particular countries in special situations; (d) To analyse the lessons learned from the response plans to the pandemic at the national, regional and global levels and to identify gaps and challenges in order to better prepare and provide assistance, upon request, for possible related future shocks including through contingency planning, risk information and early warning systems, where appropriate; 28. Recognizes the United Nations contribution to the promotion of all human rights for sustainable development, calls upon all entities of the United Nations development system, in accordance with their respective mandates, to assist Governments upon their request and in consultation with them, in their efforts to respect and fulfil their human rights obligations and commitments under international law, as a critical tool to operationalize the pledge to leave no one behind; 29. Calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system to: (a) Adopt and mainstream a more climate- and environment-responsive approach into their programmes and strategic plans, where appropriate, as well as in cooperation frameworks, or equivalent planning frameworks, and their policy advice to programme countries, in accordance with national development policies, plans, priorities and needs, including supporting programme countries that are parties to the Paris Agreement in their implementation of the Agreement; (b) Advance the development of a system-wide approach, implement measures and report regularly to their respective governing bodies, through existing reporting and mandates, on their efforts to reduce their climate and environmental footprint; ensure consistency of their operations and programmes with low emissions and climate-resilient development pathways; stressing the urgency of climate action and contribute to the post-2020 global biodiversity framework; and (c) Fulfil their pledges made at the 2019 Climate Action Summit convened by the Secretary-General and follow up on the 2020 summit on biodiversity convened by the President of the General Assembly; 30. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure full and effective implementation, across the United Nations development system, including its specialized agencies, funds and programmes, of the United Nations System Strategic Approach on Climate Change Action as well as of the United Nations System-wide Framework of Strategies on the Environment, and of their future revisions, and continue working towards the development of a common approach to integrating biodiversity and ecosystem-based approaches for sustainable development into United Nations policy and programme planning and delivery, with a view to its swift and effective implementation across the United Nations system in accordance with national development policies, plans, priorities and needs; 31. Emphasizes the need for country-driven enhanced capacity-building for sustainable development, in this regard calls for the strengthening of cooperation in science, technology and innovation, including North-South, South-South and triangular, regional and international 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; A/RES/75/233 Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system 20-17649 10/23 32. Calls upon the United Nations development system to strengthen its focus in supporting programme countries in developing national capacities for development planning, collection and analysis of data disaggregated by income, sex, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts, sectoral data development plans, implementation, reporting, monitoring and evaluation, with an emphasis on addressing the gap in data collection and analysis and 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; 33. 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 in increasing the capacity to engage in results-oriented innovative national, regional and global partnerships, with relevant stakeholders, encourages the United Nations development system to intensify its collaboration with these stakeholders, bearing in mind the provisions of resolution 73/254 of 20 December 2018, and calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system to share knowledge and best practices in partnership approaches with a view to improving transparency, coherence, due diligence, accountability and impact; 34. Recognizes that development partners and relevant stakeholders, including international financial institutions, civil society and the private sector, can positively support national development efforts and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and requests the United Nations development system to continue supporting programme countries to leverage robust partnerships, in accordance with national development policies, plans, priorities and needs, with a view to achieving the scale and pace of progress needed to realize the Goals by 2030; 35. Reiterates that the entities of the United Nations development system should enhance its support to South-South and triangular cooperation, at the request and with the ownership and leadership of developing countries, through a system- wide approach, bearing in mind their respective mandates and comparative advantages, taking into account that South-South cooperation is a complement to, rather than a substitute for, North-South cooperation, in line with the Nairobi20 and Buenos Aires21 outcome documents of the High-level United Nations Conferences on South-South Cooperation, held in 2009 and 2019, respectively; 36. Calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system to leverage their comparative advantages, in full compliance with their respective mandates to continue to enhance cooperation, collaboration and coordination with humanitarian assistance and peacebuilding efforts at the national level in countries facing humanitarian emergencies, including complex emergencies, and in countries in conflict and post-conflict situations, including through agency-specific actions and inter-agency collaboration at the country level, in full compliance with respective mandates of the United Nations development system entities, which contributes to collective outcomes on the basis of jointly developed and risk-informed analysis and coherent and complementary joined-up planning and action in order to foster greater self-reliance and resilience and promote development, in accordance with national plans, needs and priorities, and in this regard: (a) Re-emphasizes that in countries facing humanitarian emergencies, there is a need to work collaboratively to move beyond short-term assistance towards __________________ 20 Resolution 64/222, annex. 21 Resolution 73/291, annex. Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system A/RES/75/233 11/23 20-17649 contributing to longer-term development gains, including by engaging, where possible, in joint risk analysis, needs assessments, practice response and a coherent multi-year time frame, with the aim of reducing need, vulnerability and risk over time, in compliance with international law, and in line with General Assembly resolution 46/182 of 19 December 1991 and the annex thereto and all subsequent General Assembly resolutions on the subject, including its resolution 74/118 of 16 December 2019, fully respecting humanitarian principles in the provision of humanitarian assistance, and in accordance with national plans and priorities, stressing that this should not adversely affect resources for development; (b) Re-emphasizes that development is a central goal in itself and that in countries in conflict and post-conflict situations the development work of the entities of the United Nations development system can contribute to peacebuilding and sustaining peace, in accordance with national plans, needs and priorities and respecting national ownership, and stresses in this regard the need to improve inter-agency coordination and synergy with the aim to maximize the sustainable impacts, results and effectiveness of support for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, stressing that this should not adversely affect resources for development; (c) Requests the Joint Steering Committee to Advance Humanitarian and Development Collaboration to conduct regular briefings with Member States on its work; 37. Recognizes progress made in mainstreaming disaster risk reduction into the United Nations development system’s integrated policy and operational support to Governments, and requests relevant entities of the United Nations development system, in consultation with host Governments and in line with national policies, priorities and needs, to elaborate on disaster risk reduction in the common country analysis and in United Nations planning and programming documents, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework;22 to mobilize resources, leverage partnerships and assign technical resources to elaborate recovery programmes, to ensure a full, inclusive and sustainable post-disaster recovery and to build back better, with emphasis on the three dimensions of sustainable development; to incorporate disaster preparedness and risk management into post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation and reconstruction processes at the country level, noting in this regard the work of relevant mechanisms and initiatives of the United Nations and Governments including the United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response and the Coalition for Disaster-Resilient Infrastructure and using opportunities during the recovery phase to develop capacities that reduce disaster risk in the short, medium and long term; to continue to integrate disaster risk reduction and the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–203023 into the work and to align their work with the United Nations Plan of Action on Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilience: Towards a Risk-informed and Integrated Approach to Sustainable Development; and to increase support to Governments in the collection of data on disaster loss, the production of risk knowledge, the conduct of multi-hazard risk assessments, the development, financing and implementation of national and local disaster risk reduction strategies, the strengthening of synergies between disaster risk reduction, climate change mitigation and adaptation, the management of financial and economic risks and sustainable development policies, strategies and investments; 38. Calls upon the United Nations development system to improve and ensure support and assistance to programme countries, upon their request, in developing their national capacities to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all for sustainable development, including remote __________________ 22 Or equivalent planning framework. 23 Resolution 69/283, annex II. A/RES/75/233 Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system 20-17649 12/23 learning, and to achieve the related targets of the Sustainable Development Goals; recognizing that education, including girls’ education, is a main driver of development and contributes to the achievement of all internationally agreed development goals, including the Sustainable Development Goals, the development of human potential, the eradication of poverty and the fostering of greater understanding among peoples; 39. Encourages United Nations development system entities, in accordance with their respective mandates, to assist Governments in taking action to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence and discrimination against women and girls, including through the strengthening of institutional mechanisms and legal frameworks, and through multisectoral and coordinated approaches, and to support Governments, upon their request, to adopt specific measures to protect the poor, women, youth and children from all forms of violence and discrimination; 40. Notes with appreciation the support provided to the least developed countries by the entities of the United Nations development system in the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action, and urges the entities of the development system to actively engage in the process towards the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries; 41. Recognizes that small island developing States remain a special case for sustainable development, and in this regard calls upon the relevant entities of the United Nations development system to ensure the mainstreaming of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway and issues related to small island developing States in their work, including at the national, regional and global levels, and to continue to support small island developing States, upon their request, in addressing their particular economic, social and environmental vulnerabilities, as outlined in the SAMOA Pathway, by strengthening technical assistance initiatives, policy guidance and programme development, in line with their respective mandates and in cooperation with relevant institutions, funds and facilities; 42. Calls upon the United Nations system to strengthen the quality of its partnership and coordinated regional efforts in Africa and to align its support for the region to the specific needs and priorities of Africa, with a special focus on, inter alia, improving data and statistics, the implementation of the African Union-United Nations Framework on the Implementation of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, enhancing economic transformation and diversification, harnessing the demographic dividend, leveraging new technologies for inclusive development, accelerating energy access and transition and promoting investment in climate change mitigation and adaptation in Africa; 43. Calls upon the United Nations development system to support the full and effective implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2014–2024, in line with the Political Declaration of the High-level Midterm Review on the Implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2014– 202424 and the road map for accelerated implementation adopted by the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries on 23 September 2020, including by, inter alia, supporting landlocked developing countries and transit countries in leveraging opportunities provided by regional integration and cooperation, addressing cross- border collaboration with transit countries, improving trade facilitation and the smooth flow of goods in transit, increasing competitiveness and the potential to join regional value chains and enhance structural transformation, providing coordinated and targeted capacity-building, technical support and provision for tools to develop __________________ 24 Resolution 74/15. Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system A/RES/75/233 13/23 20-17649 policies, strategies, mechanisms and necessary skills to accelerate progress on the specific goals, objectives and priorities of the Programme of Action, including resilient transport, energy, digital connectivity and inclusion, and stresses that the revamping of the regional assets should, inter alia, improve the coordinated support of the United Nations development system to address the special needs of landlocked developing countries to ensure better practical results on the ground; 44. Also calls upon the United Nations development system to continue to develop their support to middle-income countries facing specific challenges in all their diversity, and recognizes that a gradual shift from a traditional model of direct support and service provision towards a greater emphasis on integrated high-quality policy advice, strengthening institutions, capacity development and support for the leveraging of partnerships and financing is needed, and invites the United Nations Sustainable Development Group, under the leadership of the Secretary-General, to develop a joint framework of collaboration with multilateral development banks to improve synergies at the regional and country levels, including specific attention to middle-income countries, as set out in the Secretary-General’s road map for financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 2019–2021; 45. Recognizes that volunteerism can be a powerful and cross-cutting means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the important role that volunteers play in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, and encourages the United Nations development system, in partnership with Member States, civil society and the private sector, to support such efforts and promote the conducive environment for volunteerism and volunteers to enhance the sustainability of development results; III Funding of operational activities for development of the United Nations system 46. Recognizes that the integrated nature of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for a more sustainable funding approach, and stresses the need for adequate quantity and quality of voluntary funding to continue to support the United Nations operational activities for development, as well as the need to improve funding practices to make voluntary funding more predictable, transparent, flexible, effective and efficient, less earmarked and better aligned with the national priorities and plans of programme countries, as reflected in the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework,25 as well as with the strategic plans and mandates of United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies, in order to enable the United Nations development system to work at all levels in a coherent, coordinated, efficient and, where appropriate, integrated manner, reducing duplication and increasing impact; 47. Stresses that core resources are the bedrock of the United Nations operational activities for development, owing to their untied nature, and in this regard, expresses concern at the continuing and accelerated decline in the share of core contributions to the entities of the United Nations development system in recent years; 48. Acknowledges the efforts by developed countries to increase resources for development, including commitments by some developed countries to increase official development assistance, expresses concern that many countries still fall short of their 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, 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; __________________ 25 Or equivalent planning framework. A/RES/75/233 Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system 20-17649 14/23 49. Welcomes the operationalization of the Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries, and invites Member States, as well as international organizations, foundations and the private sector, to provide voluntary financial contributions and technical assistance to ensure its full and effective implementation, and urges the United Nations system and other relevant international and regional organizations to support, in a coordinated manner, the activities of the Technology Bank, while respecting the relevant provisions of the intellectual property rights- related agreements; 50. Reiterates the call for the enhancement of accountability, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness in the funding of the United Nations operational activities for development in order to incentivize contributions by donor countries and other contributors, and calls upon United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies to publish timely, harmonized and verifiable data on funding flows as well as to continue enhancing the visibility of contributors at all levels, including by making information on providers of flexible global funding available to the country representatives of the respective funds, programmes and specialized agencies; 51. Urges donor countries and encourages other contributors to maintain and substantially increase their core contributions to 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, and encourages Member States to protect core contributions in case of financial constraints; 52. Notes that non-core resources represent an important contribution to the overall resource base of United Nations operational activities for development as a complement to, and not a substitute for, core resources, and that they should support and be aligned with programme priorities regulated by intergovernmental bodies and processes, and also notes that non-core resources pose their own challenges by potentially increasing transaction costs, fragmentation, unproductive competition and overlap among entities and/or providing disincentives for pursuing system-wide priorities, strategic positioning and coherence; 53. Urges Member States and other contributors providing non-core contributions, to the extent practicable, to make them more flexible and aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, 26 as well as the strategic plans of United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies, to reduce transaction costs by, inter alia, streamlining and harmonizing requirements related to reporting, monitoring and evaluation, to 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, and to give priority to pooled, thematic and joint funding mechanisms applied at all levels, where appropriate, and limit earmarking to activities in accordance with the national priorities of programme countries; 54. Welcomes the funding compact, noting its voluntary nature, and encourages all Member States and entities of the United Nations development system to contribute to its full and effective implementation and to continue the dialogue, inter alia, in the respective governing bodies to jointly make progress towards compliance with their funding compact commitments to help achieve development results on the ground, taking note of the progress made thus far in the fulfilment of the funding compact commitments by all parties; 55. Urges the entities of the United Nations development system to continue enhancing the transparency and accountability of inter-agency pooled funding mechanisms, as well as to continue developing well-designed pooled funds, as a __________________ 26 Or equivalent planning framework. Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system A/RES/75/233 15/23 20-17649 complement to agency-specific funds, that reflect and support common objectives and cross-cutting issues for United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies, and urges the entities of the United Nations development system to enhance their participation, where appropriate, in such funding mechanisms; 56. Also urges the entities of the United Nations development system, through their governing bodies, to continue taking concrete steps to address on a continuous basis the decline of the share of core contributions and the growing imbalance between core and non-core resources, including by, but not limited to: (a) Exploring options on how to incentivize donor countries, other countries in a position to do so and other contributors to ensure an adequate and predictable level of core and non-core funding on a multi-year basis, including enhancing reporting and demonstration of programme results; (b) Identifying, in the context of integrated results and resources frameworks, the level of resources adequate to produce the results expected in their strategic plans, including administrative, management and programme support costs; (c) Exploring options to broaden and diversify the donor base in order to reduce the reliance of the system on a limited number of donors; 57. Reaffirms the principle of full cost recovery, proportionally from core and non-core resources, thereby avoiding the use of core or regular resources to subsidize activities financed by non-core or extrabudgetary resources, and reiterates its request to the United Nations development system to analyse and explore in a collaborative manner options for harmonized cost-recovery policies, based on common cost classification and cost-recovery methodologies, noting in this regard the good practice established through the common cost-recovery policy of the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Children’s Fund and UN-Women, as adopted by their respective Executive Boards in 2020 and invites relevant governing bodies to review evidence-based proposals for updated cost-recovery policies from their respective entities, and urges relevant entities of the United Nations development system, Member States and other contributors to comply with agreed cost recovery policies; 58. Reaffirms that an important role of international public finance, including official development assistance, is to catalyse additional resource mobilization from other sources, both public and private, as well as to assist countries in strengthening domestic enabling environments, building essential public services and unlocking additional finance through blended or pooled financing and risk mitigation, notably for infrastructure and other investments that support private sector development; 59. Urges the United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies to mobilize resources for their operational activities for development to complement core resources by encouraging flexible, adequate, predictable and less earmarked funding, including through well-designed, transparent and accountable funding mechanisms at all levels, including at country level; 60. Urges the United Nations development system to mobilize multiple funding sources and deepen partnerships with other relevant stakeholders, with a view to diversifying potential sources of funding, especially core funding, for operational activities for development, in alignment with the provisions of the present resolution; 61. Urges the entities of the United Nations development system to further explore and implement innovative funding approaches to catalyse additional resources for sustainable development, and encourages in this regard the entities of the United Nations development system to share knowledge and best practices on ways to incentivize innovative funding, taking into account the experiences of other A/RES/75/233 Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system 20-17649 16/23 multilateral institutions, and to include this information in their regular financial reporting; 62. Recognizes that for different Sustainable Development Goal investment areas, different types of finance may represent the most effective financing modalities, and urges the entities of the United Nations development system, in accordance with their mandates, to further explore financing strategies for the Sustainable Development Goals, including through innovative financing and blended finance, to respond to the unique situation of countries, especially those with special needs, and to share best practices in this regard; 63. Recognizes the need to further support the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework by substantially increasing common resource mobilization and distribution for joint programmes at the country level, including through incentives for joint resource mobilization and programming, and stresses the need for efforts leading towards an integrated funding approach at the country level, where applicable, while paying due respect to different organizational mandates and modalities; 64. Expresses its serious concern at the fact that the share of expenditure for operational activities for development of the United Nations system in the least developed countries has stagnated at just 48 per cent of total allocations, urges the United Nations development system to continue to prioritize allocations to least developed countries, while reaffirming that the least developed countries, as the most vulnerable group of countries, need enhanced support to overcome structural challenges that they face in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and requests the United Nations development system to provide assistance to graduating countries in the formulation and implementation of their national transition strategies and to consider country-specific support for graduated countries for a fixed period of time and in a predictable manner; 65. Urges the entities of the United Nations development system, consistent with their mandates, to align their next integrated budgets with the present resolution and in that context to further improve the functioning and effectiveness of the structured dialogues on how to fund the development results agreed in the strategic plans including through the implementation of the Funding Compact commitments; 66. Emphasizes that core funding provides United Nations entities the flexibility to allocate funds to priority areas in their strategic plans, including underfunded areas that will be further exacerbated by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, and in this regard stresses the urgent need to address the continued imbalance between core and non-core resources by meeting the funding compact commitment of 30 per cent core resources by 2023; 67. Also emphasizes that adequate, predictable and sustainable funding of the Resident Coordinator system remains a concern and is essential to delivering a coherent, effective, efficient and accountable response in accordance with results on the ground to meet national needs and priorities and stresses the need to fully operationalize the three funding sources set out in paragraph 10 of its resolution 72/279, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure independent and transparent management of the dedicated trust fund established for the reinvigorated Resident Coordinator system; 68. Commends the establishment and the operationalization of an online portal to reflect real-time contributions and expenditures related to the reinvigorated resident coordinator system, and urges further improvement of the Special Purpose Trust Fund portal to better report contribution data by donor and United Nations Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system A/RES/75/233 17/23 20-17649 entities in order to ensure further transparency and encourage all Member States to provide voluntary contributions to the Special Purpose Trust Fund; 69. Requests the Secretary General, in consultations with the United Nations development system entities, to consider ways to show better visibility of the funding status of the entire United Nations development system in order to promote further transparency, and to include relevant recommendations in this regard in his report on the implementation of the present resolution; IV Governance of the United Nations operational activities for development 70. Continues to stress that the governance architecture of the United Nations development system must be more efficient, transparent, accountable and responsive to Member States and able to enhance coordination, coherence, effectiveness and efficiency of the operational activities for development within and among all levels of the United Nations development system in order to enable system-wide strategic planning, implementation, reporting and evaluation to better support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; 71. Welcomes a revitalized, strategic, flexible and results- and action-oriented United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework as the most important instrument for the planning and implementation of United Nations development activities in each country, in support of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, to be prepared and finalized in full consultation and agreement with national Governments; 72. Reaffirms the central role and the importance of the active and full participation of national Governments in the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, in order to enhance national ownership and achieve full alignment of operational activities with national priorities, challenges, planning and programming, and in this sense continues to encourage national Governments to consult with relevant stakeholders, including civil society and non-governmental organizations; 73. Notes the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework Guidance, issued in 2019 by the United Nations Sustainable Development Group; 74. Recognizes the progress made by the reinvigorated Resident Coordinator system and the reconfigured United Nations country teams, underscores the importance for all United Nations development system entities to prepare and finalize their entity-specific country development programme documents in accordance with the agreed priorities of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework and in consultation and agreement with host Governments, 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; 75. 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 on their respective contributions to the collective results of the United Nations development system towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda at the country level, on the basis of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, as well as the reporting by the Resident Coordinator to the A/RES/75/233 Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system 20-17649 18/23 Secretary-General and to the host Government on the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework; 76. Reiterates its request to present annual reports to the programme country Governments on the results achieved by the United Nations country team as a whole, structured around the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, or equivalent planning framework, and linked to national development results, and to make such comprehensive, country-level, system-wide reports publicly available, with the consent of the national Governments; 77. Underscores the importance of accountability for implementing reforms at the country level, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General and members of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group to ensure full implementation of the Management and Accountability Framework in all United Nations country teams; 78. Requests the Secretary-General to continue regular follow-up, monitoring and reporting, including to the Economic and Social Council at its operational activities for development segment, on the work of regional assets of the United Nations development system in support of the 2030 Agenda with a view to enhancing transparency, accountability, efficiency, coordination and results-based management at the regional level in order to ensure that the longer-term reprofiling and restructuring of the regional assets of the United Nations are addressed on a region- by-region basis and in accordance with the region’s specific needs and priorities, as agreed in resolution 74/297 of 11 August 2020; 79. Reaffirms that the Economic and Social Council, 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, as well as to provide guidance and overall coordination of the United Nations development system; 80. Emphasizes the role of the General Assembly in developing key system- wide strategic policy orientations and operational modalities for the United Nations development system; 81. Recalls the decision by the Secretary-General to regularly brief the Economic and Social Council in his capacity as Chair of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination in order to enhance further the transparency of the activities of the Board and the United Nations Sustainable Development Group to ensure their effective interaction with and improve their responsiveness to Member States, while respecting their working methods, particularly with regard to the implementation of cross-system issues; 82. Emphasizes the need to ensure the independence, credibility and effectiveness of the evaluation office, and in this regard requests the Secretary- General to provide relevant information to the Economic and Social Council at its 2021 operational activities for development segment about the Office’s proposed structure, funding modalities as indicated in the report of the Secretary-General27 as well as collaboration with other entities in the system with an evaluation mandate; 83. Calls upon the United Nations development system entities to abide by the relevant rules of procedure and working methods and to continue playing their part in enhancing system-wide coherence, coordination, harmonization and efficiency, reduce duplication and build synergies, as appropriate and in accordance with decisions of their __________________ 27 A/75/79-E/2020/55. Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system A/RES/75/233 19/23 20-17649 respective governing bodies, and further requests these entities to align their policies, guidelines and regulations with the United Nations development system reforms; 84. Requests the United Nations Sustainable Development Group to conduct regular briefings with Member States on its activities, including those of the Core Group; 85. Requests the Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group to continue to present a timely, comprehensive, evidence-based, analytical and more detailed performance report on an annual basis, including on progress made and remaining challenges and obstacles encountered, as well as on the operational, administrative and financial aspects of the activities of the Development Coordination Office, to the Economic and Social Council at its operational activities for development segment, while noting that the Office assumes managerial and oversight functions of the Resident Coordinator system under the leadership of an Assistant Secretary-General and with collective ownership of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group; V Functioning of the United Nations development system 86. Reaffirms the need to move towards integrated action in response to the integrated and indivisible nature of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, while stressing the importance of strengthening national ownership and leadership by building on existing efforts to operate as a system within and among countries and at the regional and global levels, as well as enhancing the coordination, coherence, effectiveness and efficiency of operational activities for development, to address the needs and priorities of programme countries and in line with their respective national plans and strategies; 87. Reiterates the request to the Secretary-General to submit for the consideration of the General Assembly, before the end of its seventy-fifth session, a review with recommendations on the functioning of the reinvigorated Resident Coordinator system, including its structure, performance and funding arrangement; 88. Reiterates the importance of empowered, strategic, effective and impartial leadership through the resident coordinator system to foster coordination and collaboration at the country level and facilitate integrated support to host Governments, in consultation with the national Government, requests all entities of the United Nations development system to fully support the reinvigorated Resident Coordinator system, in particular by complying with the Management and Accountability Framework, by promoting inter-agency mobility and by ensuring that their operational activities for development at country level are supportive of the strategic objectives as laid out in the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks, and stresses the need to ensure that Resident Coordinators have sufficient leadership, prerogative, impartiality, management tools, experience and skills sets to effectively fulfil their mandate; 89. Calls on the entities of the United Nations development system to actively engage in the preparation of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries and in reviews of the next Programme of Action for least developed countries at the national, subregional, regional and global levels, in close cooperation and partnerships with the World Bank and the international financial institutions, and to integrate the next programme of action into their strategic plans and annual work programmes, and further calls on the entities of the United Nations development system to support the Resident Coordinators in the least developed countries and to assist them in the mainstreaming of the next Programme of Action into development planning at the country level in a coordinated and cohesive manner; A/RES/75/233 Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system 20-17649 20/23 90. Requests the Secretary-General to avoid vacancies and have all Resident Coordinators in place no later than 31 December 2021, in accordance with the provisions of section V of resolution 71/243, resolution 72/279 and resolution 74/297, and while noting the progress made, and also requests the Secretary-General to have an updated and rolling pool of possible resident coordinator candidates with adequate, diverse and relevant expertise and skill sets and to take further measures to ensure geographical representation among the Resident Coordinators, with a view to improving representation of developing countries, and ensure gender balance; 91. Urges the United Nations development system to align its staff capacities to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including by building transformative and empowered leadership, repositioning staff capacities to respond to the cross-sectoral requirements of the 2030 Agenda, promoting inter-agency mobility and facilitating a mobile and flexible global workforce; 92. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure in an ongoing manner that Resident Coordinators receive the necessary training to acquire the skills and knowledge needed to effectively exercise the new leadership role envisaged for them; 93. Requests the Development Coordination Office to duly inform the Governments of programme countries in a timely manner when the tenure of the Resident Coordinator is coming to an end, as well as about the selection process for the new Resident Coordinator, taking into account the general profile desired by Governments in the selection process; 94. Recognizes that the presence of the entities of the United Nations development system at the country level should be tailored to meet the specific challenges and needs of programme countries, and reaffirms that the Resident Coordinator system should continue to support government efforts, including to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and that the focus of the Resident Coordinator system should remain sustainable development, with the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions as its overarching objective, consistent with the integrated nature of the 2030 Agenda and in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 28 and national leadership and ownership; 95. Recognizes the efforts by the entities of the United Nations development system to collaboratively implement a new generation of United Nations country teams, with needs-based tailored country presence, to be built on the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework and finalized through open and inclusive dialogue between the host Government and the United Nations development system, facilitated by the Resident Coordinator, to ensure the best configuration of support on the ground, as well as enhanced coordination, transparency, efficiency and impact of United Nations development activities, in accordance with national development policies, plans, priorities and needs; 96. Reiterates the request to United Nations country teams under the leadership of the Resident Coordinator to strengthen joint programming processes and the use of joint programmes at the country level, where appropriate; 97. Recognizes the important role of the Resident Coordinator system in supporting government efforts, including to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of operational activities for development at the country level through the promotion of strategic support for national plans and priorities, enhancing sustainable development results, thus making __________________ 28 Or equivalent planning framework. Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system A/RES/75/233 21/23 20-17649 operations more coherent and efficient, coordinated and integrated, and reducing costs at the country level; 98. Calls upon the Resident Coordinators in countries experiencing humanitarian emergencies, when the onset is sudden or where a humanitarian coordinator has not been designated or appointed, to work with humanitarian and development actors to provide, through a transparent, collaborative process, a joint, impartial, comprehensive and methodologically sound assessment of needs for each emergency to inform strategic decisions; 99. Requests the Secretary-General to provide Resident Coordinators with adequate training and support, including in particular to Resident Coordinators who also serve as Humanitarian Coordinators or Deputy Special Representatives of the Secretary-General, to ensure that they are well-prepared and equipped to work and support Governments in countries facing humanitarian emergencies and countries in conflict and post-conflict situations; 100. Takes note of the Secretary-General’s Road Map for Digital Cooperation and recognizes that digital technologies can be a key enabler of sustainable development and that unlocking their full potential is essential to attain the Sustainable Development Goals, encourages cooperation between the United Nations development system and programme countries in order to improve digital inclusion; 101. Invites all relevant entities of the United Nations development system, led by the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, to extend necessary support in a coordinated manner to the countries aspiring to graduate in developing their graduation and smooth transition strategies, and calls upon these entities of the United Nations development system to ensure that graduation-related capacity development and activities are coordinated and demand-driven and to encourage an ambitious and flexible approach to help Governments to mitigate the impact of graduation; 102. Takes note of the provisions of resolutions 72/279 and 74/297 on the revamping of the regional assets of the United Nations development system; 103. Recognizes the contribution of the regional economic commissions and the regional teams of the United Nations development system, and underlines the need to continue to preserve and reaffirm them in addressing development challenges and to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, recognizing the specificities of each region and bearing in mind that no one size fits all; 104. Notes the ongoing implementation of the multi-country offices reviews, and reiterates the request to the Secretary-General to conduct regular monitoring, reporting and follow-up, including to the annual operational activities for development segment, with a view to considering the adjustments necessary to ensure the delivery of sustainable and effective development resources and services to enable countries served by multi-country offices to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; 105. Requests the United Nations development system to further simplify and harmonize agency-specific programming instruments, business practices, processes, common business operations and reporting as well as leverage and utilize, as appropriate, digital technologies solutions in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework,29 including by taking necessary steps at the headquarters level, as appropriate; __________________ 29 Or equivalent planning framework. A/RES/75/233 Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system 20-17649 22/23 106. Reiterates that entities within the United Nations development system should operate according to the principle of mutual recognition of best practices in terms of policies and procedures, with the aim of facilitating active collaboration across agencies and reducing transaction costs for Governments and collaborating agencies, takes note of the Mutual Recognition Statement of the Chief Executives Board, and urges entities of the United Nations development system that have not yet done so to sign on to the statement; 107. Stresses the need for the United Nations development system to strengthen and improve the ongoing design and implementation of harmonized business practices in order to optimize opportunities for collaboration, including the Business Operations Strategies, Common Back Offices and Common Premises at the country level, and to strengthen its reporting processes on impact in terms of efficiency gains resulting from these new business practices, while recognizing progress in this regard, in order to free up more funding for development activities, including coordination; 108. Invites the United Nations development system to review and update results-based management guiding documents, including taking into consideration feedback from Member States, including programme countries, as appropriate; 109. Reiterates the call to the United Nations development system to further its synergies and inter-agency efforts to maximize the efficient use of the offices and resources on the ground and to avoid duplications and overlaps, including between the United Nations development system, national institutions and other relevant stakeholders, while also strengthening support for capacity-building to national institutions in order to improve their use and sustainability, while acknowledging the progress made in this regard; 110. Requests the United Nations development system to continue to support all programme countries, regardless of which modality for the delivery of assistance they prefer to adopt, in accordance with their national development plans and priorities; 111. Stresses the need to ensure equal and fair distribution based on gender balance and on as wide a geographical basis as possible, and in this regard recalls its resolutions 46/232 of 2 March 1992 and 51/241 of 31 July 1997, adopted without a vote, which contain the principles that the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity are the paramount considerations in the recruitment and performance of international civil servants and that, as a general rule, there should be no monopoly on senior posts in the United Nations system by nationals of any State or group of States; 112. Calls upon the entities of the United Nations development system to continue efforts to achieve gender balance in appointments within the United Nations system at the global, regional and country levels for positions that affect operational activities for development, including appointments to Resident Coordinator and other high-level posts, with due regard to the representation of women from programme countries, in particular developing countries, while keeping in mind the principle of equitable geographic representation; 113. Notes progress made and calls upon the United Nations development system entities to continue efforts and focus on preventing and taking immediate action on tackling sexual exploitation, abuse and sexual harassment, including by ensuring that policies and procedures deliver impact and are resourced sufficiently, and that proposed actions are implemented at the country, regional and global levels, and to take measures to ensure that its workplaces are free from discrimination and exploitation, including sexual exploitation and abuse, violence and sexual Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system A/RES/75/233 23/23 20-17649 harassment, and to continue to implement the Secretary General’s zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse; VI Follow-up, monitoring and reporting 114. Reaffirms that the integrated nature of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for a United Nations development system that works in a coordinated and coherent manner while preserving each entity’s mandate and role and leveraging each entity’s expertise, and in this regard, calls upon the governing bodies of the funds, programmes and specialized agencies to support the system-wide implementation of the 2030 Agenda; 115. Takes note of the System-wide Strategic Document dated 10 July 2019; 116. Reaffirms that all entities of the United Nations development system carrying out operational activities for development should continue to align their planning and activities, including through their governing bodies where applicable, to take appropriate action consistent with each entity’s mandate, role and expertise for the full implementation of the present resolution; 117. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to strengthen the analytical quality of system-wide reporting on funding, performance and programme results for the United Nations operational activities for development, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, and in this regard calls for the publication of timely, reliable, verifiable and comparable system-wide and entity-level data, definitions and classifications; 118. Also requests the Secretary-General to present to the Economic and Social Council a report in 2021, 2022 and 2023 on system-wide implementation of the provisions of the present resolution, including an update and amendments where necessary of the existing monitoring and reporting framework for the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development with specific and measurable performance indicators on progress made, and on that basis invites the Economic and Social Council to exchange views on lessons learned and challenges and to propose to the General Assembly overall recommendations to contribute to strengthening the oversight of States over the United Nations development system and to guide the overall progress in the full implementation of the provisions of the present resolution through the annual General Assembly follow-up resolution on the operational activities for development of the United Nations system; 119. Requests the United Nations Secretariat to prepare written responses to unanswered questions, and concerns raised at the operational activities for development segment of the Economic and Social Council, regarding the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the present resolution, in order to better inform the deliberations on the annual General Assembly follow-up resolution on the operational activities for development of the United Nations system; 120. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-ninth session, through the Economic and Social Council, a comprehensive analysis of the implementation of the present resolution, including an addendum taking into account the recommendations provided by the operational activities for development segment of the Council, as well as of the unfulfilled mandates contained in Assembly resolutions 67/226 of 21 December 2012 and 71/243 and in the subsequent follow-up resolutions. 48th plenary meeting 21 December 2020

UN Project. “A/RES/75/233.” UN Project, https://un-project.org/votes/resolution/A-RES-75-233/. Accessed .

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