A/RES/76/245 GA

United Nations A/RES/76/245 General Assembly Distr.: General 6 January 2022 21-19712 (E) 070122 *2119712* Seventy-sixth session Agenda item 138 Proposed programme budget for 2022 Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 24 December 2021 [on the report of the Fifth Committee (A/76/633, para. 60)] 76/245. Questions relating to the proposed programme budget for 2022 The General Assembly, Reaffirming its resolutions 41/213 of 19 December 1986, 42/211 of 21 December 1987, 45/248 B, section VI, of 21 December 1990, 55/231 of 23 December 2000, 56/253 of 24 December 2001, 58/269 and 58/270 of 23 December 2003, 59/276, section XI, of 23 December 2004, 60/283 of 7 July 2006, 61/263 of 4 April 2007, 62/236 of 22 December 2007, 63/262 of 24 December 2008, 64/243 of 24 December 2009, 65/259 of 24 December 2010, 66/246 of 24 December 2011, 68/246 of 27 December 2013, 70/247 of 23 December 2015, 71/272 A of 23 December 2016, 72/261 and 72/266 A of 24 December 2017, 72/266 B of 5 July 2018, 73/281 of 22 December 2018, 74/262 of 27 December 2019, 75/252 and 75/253 A of 31 December 2020, 75/253 B of 16 April 2021 and 75/253 C of 30 June 2021, Reaffirming also the respective mandates of the Committee for Programme and Coordination and the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions in the consideration of the proposed programme budget, Reaffirming further the role of the General Assembly, through the Fifth Committee, in carrying out a thorough analysis and approval of posts and financial resources, as well as of human resources policies, Expressing deep concern about the detrimental effect of the withholding of assessed contributions on the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations and its ability to implement mandates and programmes, Having considered the proposed programme budget for 2022,1 the report of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee on internal oversight: proposed programme __________________ 1 A/76/6 (Introduction), sects. 1–36, income sects. 1–3 and corrigenda. A/RES/76/245 Questions relating to the proposed programme budget for 2022 21-19712 2/9 budget for 20222 and the related report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,3 Having also considered the report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services on the audit of the activities, performance and results of staff support provided to the human rights treaty body system of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,4 Having further considered the notes by the Secretary-General drawing attention to the reports of the Joint Inspection Unit entitled “United Nations common premises: current practices and future prospects”5 and “Blockchain applications in the United Nations system: towards a state of readiness”6 and the notes by the Secretary-General transmitting his comments and those of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination thereon,7 1. Reaffirms that the Fifth Committee is the appropriate Main Committee of the General Assembly entrusted with responsibilities for administrative and budgetary matters, and also reaffirms the role of the Fifth Committee in carrying out a thorough analysis and approving human and financial resources and policies, with a view to ensuring full, effective and efficient implementation of all mandated programmes and activities and the implementation of policies in this regard; 2. Also reaffirms rule 153 of its rules of procedure; 3. Further reaffirms the Regulations and Rules Governing Programme Planning, the Programme Aspects of the Budget, the Monitoring of Implementation and the Methods of Evaluation;8 4. Reaffirms the established budgetary procedures and methodologies, based on its resolutions 41/213 and 42/211; 5. Also reaffirms the Financial Regulations and Rules of the United Nations;9 6. Further reaffirms its resolution 76/236 of 24 December 2021; 7. Endorses the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, subject to the provisions of the present resolution; 8. Stresses that finance serves as a foundation of and an important element underpinning United Nations governance; 9. Recalls paragraph 8 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure the full, effective and efficient implementation of mandated programmes and activities; 10. Emphasizes the importance of full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,10 and notes with appreciation the efforts of the Secretary- General to ensure adequate, sustainable and predictable resources for development, with the aim of leaving no one behind; __________________ 2 A/76/81. 3 Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventy-sixth Session, Supplement No. 7 and corrigendum (A/76/7 and A/76/7/Corr.1). 4 A/76/197. 5 A/75/730. 6 A/76/325. 7 A/75/730/Add.1 and A/76/325/Add.1. 8 ST/SGB/2018/3. 9 ST/SGB/2013/4 and ST/SGB/2013/4/Amend.1. 10 Resolution 70/1. Questions relating to the proposed programme budget for 2022 A/RES/76/245 3/9 21-19712 11. Also emphasizes the importance of promoting sustainable development at the global and regional levels in a balanced and integrated manner in order to tackle current challenges and accelerate post-coronavirus disease (COVID-19) recovery, and looks forward to the Secretariat and other United Nations bodies continuing to support efforts by Member States in this regard; 12. Requests the Secretary-General to further report in the next budget performance report on the impact of COVID-19 on the programme budget for 2021, detailing the recorded budget variances and flexible working arrangements, and to factor lessons learned for the working methods of the Secretariat, without prejudice to the work of intergovernmental bodies, into the next proposed programme budget; 13. Urges all Member States to fulfil their financial obligations as set out in the Charter of the United Nations on time, in full and without conditions; 14. Encourages the Secretary-General to make every effort to facilitate Member States’ payments of their assessed contributions; 15. Recalls that adequate resources must be provided to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of mandates; 16. Notes that organizational reforms should contribute to greater efficiency and effectiveness in delivering the Organization’s mandated programmes and activities without negatively affecting their full implementation, and requests the Secretary-General to provide results and examples in this regard in the context of his next budget submission; 17. Encourages the Secretary-General to continue to provide more budget- related information online and in supplementary documentation; 18. Notes the increased size and volume of documentation that forms the proposed programme budget, and notes with appreciation that the Secretary-General continues his efforts to enhance the quality, clarity and usability of the proposed programme budget in consultation with Member States, while maintaining the level of information provided to Member States; 19. Requests the Secretary-General to continue his efforts in producing more realistic budget assumptions and accurate resource estimates, adapting faster to changes in mandates and actual programme performance, with a view to ensuring a greater focus on results and mandate delivery; 20. Stresses that results-based budgeting and results-based management are mutually supportive management tools and that improved implementation of results- based budgeting enhances both management and accountability in the Secretariat, and encourages the Secretary-General to continue his efforts in this regard; 21. Emphasizes the importance of comprehensive budgetary performance in the management of the programme plan and programme budget, and requests the Secretary-General to clearly link the budget inputs to tangible results; 22. Requests the Secretary-General to include in future proposed programme budgets the indicative cost estimates of major construction projects in the top-line budget figure in the introductory section of the budget, for information purposes only; 23. Reiterates the paramount importance of the equality of the six official languages of the United Nations, underlines that the COVID-19 pandemic has hampered the equal treatment of the six official languages, and requests the Secretary- General to propose concrete measures to improve multilingualism in the next programme budget submission; A/RES/76/245 Questions relating to the proposed programme budget for 2022 21-19712 4/9 24. Recalls paragraph 24 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and requests the Secretary-General to continue to improve upon the common staff cost methodology and improve the accuracy of common staff cost forecasts; 25. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to strengthen internal controls in programme planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and reporting; 26. Decides that a vacancy rate of 10 per cent for Professional staff and 9.2 per cent for General Service staff shall be used as a basis for the calculation of the budget for 2022; 27. Notes with concern that the current overall single vacancy rate by staff category for all sections is inflated and may have an impact on mandate delivery, and requests the Secretary-General to bring the actual vacancy rate in the budget sections to the approved vacancy rate before applying it; 28. Requests the Secretary-General to review those posts that have been vacant for 24 months or longer and to propose either the retention with clear justification of need or the abolishment of those posts in his next budget proposal; 29. Decides that the staffing table for 2022 shall be as set out in the annex to the present resolution; 30. Also decides to reduce resources for consultants by 10 per cent; 31. Further decides to reduce resources for travel of staff by 5 per cent; 32. Takes note of paragraph 70 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides not to reduce information and communications technology-related resources by 1 million United States dollars; 33. Recalls paragraph 73 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides to further reduce resources proposed under supplies and materials by 5 per cent; 34. Decides to reduce resources for general operating expenses by 0.1 per cent; 35. Stresses that all extrabudgetary posts must be administered and managed with the same rigour as regular budget posts; Part I Overall policymaking, direction and coordination Section 1 Overall policymaking, direction and coordination 36. Takes note of paragraph I.15 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and requests the Secretary-General to examine the need to reclassify the three posts, in close consultation with the Advisory Committee, and to report thereon in the next budget proposal; Section 2 General Assembly and Economic and Social Council affairs and conference management 37. Recalls paragraph 8 of its resolution 75/252, commends the increased throughput productivity of the translation services across all duty stations and the achievements made by language staff to meet the revised workload standards, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to ensure adequate training and technical support in order to ensure equal treatment of all official languages; Questions relating to the proposed programme budget for 2022 A/RES/76/245 5/9 21-19712 38. Decides to establish one post of Russian Interpreter (P-3) in New York; Part II Political affairs Section 3 Political affairs 39. Notes the ongoing reforms of the United Nations, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure greater coordination and collaboration between the United Nations and regional and subregional entities, with the ultimate purpose of delivering on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063 of the African Union; Section 5 Peacekeeping operations 40. Recognizes the important role of peacekeeping and special political missions at the national, subregional, regional and international levels, as appropriate, in maintaining peace and security in fulfilment of their mandates; 41. Re-emphasizes the importance of improving the safety and security of peacekeepers and mission personnel, and requests the Secretary-General to fulfil the responsibilities under relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council to improve the safety and security of United Nations peacekeepers and mission personnel; Part III International justice and law Section 8 Legal affairs 42. Takes note of paragraphs III.60, III.61 and III.62 of the report of the Advisory Committee; 43. Decides that regular budget resources for the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Persons Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011 under section 8, Legal affairs, for 2022 amount to 17,159,700 dollars before recosting; Part IV International cooperation for development Section 9 Economic and social affairs 44. Takes note of paragraph IV.5 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides to approve the reclassification of the post of Senior Programme Management Officer, Forest Affairs (P-5) to Deputy Director, Forest Affairs (D-1); 45. Decides to reclassify the P-4 post in the Programme on Ageing Unit to a P-5 post and establish a new P-3 post in the same unit; A/RES/76/245 Questions relating to the proposed programme budget for 2022 21-19712 6/9 Section 10 Least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States 46. Takes note of paragraph IV.24 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides to establish one post of Associate Data Analyst (P-2) in the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States; Section 11 United Nations support for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development 47. Recalls that the development of Africa is an established priority of the United Nations, and reaffirms its commitment to address the unique needs of Africa; 48. Decides to establish one post of Data Analyst (P-3) under subprogramme 1, Coordination of global advocacy of and support for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development; Section 12 Trade and development 49. Welcomes the adoption of the Bridgetown Covenant at the fifteenth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, on 7 October 2021, takes note that, owing to its recent adoption, no provisions are included in the proposed programme budget for 2022 for implementation of the relevant mandates, and therefore requests the Secretary-General to include relevant proposals for implementation of the Covenant in the next proposed programme budget; Section 15 Human settlements 50. Takes note of paragraph IV.124 of the report of the Advisory Committee; Part V Regional cooperation for development Section 18 Economic and social development in Africa 51. Takes note of paragraph V.3 of the report of the Advisory Committee, decides not to abolish the two posts (P-3 and P-4) under programme support in the Economic Commission for Africa, and requests the Secretary-General to expedite and finalize the recruitment process; Section 20 Economic development in Europe 52. Approves the proposal of the Secretary-General for non-post resources; Part VI Human rights and humanitarian affairs Section 24 Human rights 53. Takes note of paragraph VI.20 of the report of the Advisory Committee; Questions relating to the proposed programme budget for 2022 A/RES/76/245 7/9 21-19712 Section 26 Palestine refugees 54. Calls upon the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to further enhance its internal governance and oversight mechanisms to ensure that its management is delivering on the Agency’s mandate with transparency and accountability, while preserving the Agency’s agility and operational response capacity, and to provide an update on progress made in its next budget submission; 55. Decides to approve resources at the Secretary-General level; Section 27 Humanitarian assistance 56. Requests the Secretary-General to explore strengthening his collaboration with regional and subregional organizations, where appropriate, to support humanitarian work; Part VII Global communications Section 28 Global communications 57. Encourages the Secretary-General to continue to explore liaising with regional and subregional organizations in Africa so as to increase knowledge and awareness of the opportunities and activities of the United Nations; 58. Decides to abolish one General Service (Other level) post and one P-3 post under subprogramme 1, Strategic communications services, that have been vacant for more than two years; Part VIII Common support services Section 29A Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance 59. Takes note of paragraph VIII.17 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides to reduce resources under contractual services related to training by 363,300 dollars; Section 29B Department of Operational Support 60. Decides to abolish one General Service (Other level) post that has been vacant for more than two years; Section 29E Administration, Geneva 61. Takes note of paragraph VIII.83 (c) of the report of the Advisory Committee, and approves the proposal of the Secretary-General for non-post resources; Section 29G Administration, Nairobi 62. Takes note of paragraph VIII.140 of the report of the Advisory Committee; A/RES/76/245 Questions relating to the proposed programme budget for 2022 21-19712 8/9 Part IX Internal oversight Section 30 Internal oversight 63. Takes note of paragraph IX.8 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides to establish one post of Deputy Director (D-1) and one post of Evaluation Officer (P-4) under subprogramme 2, Inspection and evaluation; Part XI Capital expenditures Section 33 Construction, alteration, improvement and major maintenance 64. Decides to further reduce resources for alteration, improvement and major maintenance projects by 200,000 dollars; 65. Takes note of paragraph XI.20 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides to reduce the provision under section 33 for the United Nations Office at Geneva by 5 per cent; 66. Also takes note of paragraph XI.22 of the report of the Advisory Committee; 67. Further takes note of paragraph XI.23 of the report of the Advisory Committee; Part XIII Development Account Section 35 Development account 68. Decides to increase, on a non-recurrent basis, the Development Account for 2022 by 1 million dollars. 54th (resumed) plenary meeting 24 December 2021 Annex Staffing table for 2022 Category Number of posts Expenditure sections Professional and higher Deputy Secretary-General 1 Under-Secretary-General 36 Assistant Secretary-General 33 D-2 114 D-1 304 P-5 911 P-4 1 568 P-3 1 485 Questions relating to the proposed programme budget for 2022 A/RES/76/245 9/9 21-19712 Category Number of posts P-2/1 530 Subtotal 4 982 General Service and related Principal level 272 Other level 2 279 Subtotal 2 551 Other Security Service 306 Local level 1 901 Field Service 106 National Professional Officer 88 Trades and Crafts 93 Subtotal 2 494 Expenditure sections total 10 027 Income section 3 Professional and higher P-5 2 P-4 4 P-3 4 P-2/1 3 Subtotal 13 General Service and related Principal level 7 Other level 42 Subtotal 49 Other Security Service 2 Subtotal 2 Income section 3 total 64 Total 10 091

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