26 July 1985

52nd plenary meeting

Report of the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination on the work of its twenty-fifth session

The Economic and Social Council,

Having considered the report of the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination on the work of its twenty-fifth session,

I 1. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination on the work of its twenty-fifth session and endorses the conclusions and recommendations contained therein;

2. Re-emphasizes the importance of the programming and co-ordination functions carried out by the Committee in accordance with its mandate and in the context of a continuing need for greater efficiency and effectiveness in the United Nations system;

3. Recalls that the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination is the main subsidiary organ of the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly for planning, programming and co-ordination;

4. Requests the Secretary-General, in accordance with Chapters IX and X of the Charter of the United Nations and the relevant resolutions of the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly, to secure the follow-up and implementation of the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination, once approved by the Council and/or the Assembly, by the organizations of the United Nations system;

5. Welcomes the decision of the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination to include in the provisional agenda for its twenty-sixth session an item on the improvement of its work and the duration of its sessions, and invites it to take into account the views expressed at its twenty-fifth session and at the second regular session of 1985 of the Economic and Social Council;

II Instruments for programming and co-ordination

1. Reiterates that the effectiveness of the instruments at the disposal of the Committee to fulfil its functions, notably cross-organizational programme analyses, in-depth evaluations and triennial reviews of the implementation of its recommendations thereon, programme-budget mechanisms and medium-term plans, should continue to be improved;

2. Re-emphasizes the need to strengthen the links between the recommendations derived from cross-organizational programme analyses and evaluation exercises, on the one hand, and the preparation of programme budgets and medium-term plans on the other hand;

3. Requests the Secretary-General, when presenting documents such as cross-organizational programme analyses and evaluations to the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination, to ensure that they are concise and include objective and critical assessments of the activities and organizational arrangements under review, and of the relationships between activities and mandates;

III Proposed programme budget for the biennium 1986-1987

1. Takes note with satisfaction of the improvements in the format of the proposed programme budget and of the improvements towards the timeliness of its submission to the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination and requests the Secretary-General to take steps to ensure further improvement;

2. Reaffirms the importance of monitoring and evaluation in the programme planning and budgeting cycle and urges the Secretary-General further to refine the methods employed in those exercises;

3. Reiterates that the medium-term plan constitutes the principal policy directive of the United Nations and should continue to serve as the framework for the formulation of the biennial budget;

4. Recognizes that the Secretary-General should keep the issue of decentralization under review and report to the Committee as required on the better distribution of responsibilities between global and regional entities;

IV Cross-organizational programme analyses

1. Endorses the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination concerning the importance, objectives, methodology, style, presentation and follow-up of cross-organizational programme analyses, and future areas for such analyses;

2. Stresses the importance of the effective implementation of the recommendations made by the Committee on the cross-organizational programme analysis of the activities of the United Nations system in the area of economic and technical co-operation among developing countries;

3. Requests the Secretary-General to take fully into account the recommendations of the Committee for the preparation of the cross-organizational programme analysis on economic and social research and policy analysis;

4. Suggests that the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination, in the context of its discussion on the cross-organizational programme analysis on economic and social research and policy analysis, should consider the report of the Secretary-General on recurrent publications of the United Nations with a view to identifying duplication and undue overlaps;

V Cross-organizational review of selected major sectors in the medium-term plans of the organizations of the United Nations system

Decides to choose at its organizational session for 1986 a topic for the next cross-organizational review of the medium-term plans of the organizations of the United Nations system, to be considered at the second regular session of 1987 of the Council;

VI Report of the Joint Inspection Unit on reporting to the Economic and Social Council

1. Takes note of the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination on the report of the Joint Inspection Unit on reporting to the Economic and Social Council;

2. Endorses the recommendations of the Committee that the Secretary-General should submit to it at its twenty-sixth session a report describing the existing expert bodies within the United Nations system;

3. Considers that the Secretary-General, taking into account the views expressed in the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination and the Economic and Social Council, should continue his efforts to bring about improvements, as suggested in his further comments on the report of the Joint Inspection Unit, and should keep the Council informed;

VII Reports of the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination

1. Takes note of the annual overview report of the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination for 1984/85;

2. Requests the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination, in the light of the debate at the second regular session of 1985 of the Economic and Social Council, to continue to improve its annual overview report, which should contain an analytical review of the activities of the Committee, the status of co-ordination efforts among the organizations of the United Nations system, and recommendations for further co-operation and co-ordination among them;

3. Takes note of the Register of Development Activities proposed by the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination in response to Council resolution 1982/71 of 10 November 1982 and General Assembly resolution 37/226 of 20 December 1982 and urges its early implementation;

4. Invites the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination to proceed with the technical design for the establishment and co-operation of the Register and to submit a detailed progress report to the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination at its twenty-sixth session, including, inter alia, information on cost, funding, assessment of utility to Member States and agency participation; regarding the funding, the cost to be borne by the United Nations should be limited to the resources appropriated in the regular budget in connection with paragraph 23 of resolution 37/226.