Restructuring plan for the United Nations Institute for Training and Research : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 40/214 of 17 December 1985, in which it requested the Secretary-General to prepare comprehensive specific plans for the future of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research based on the options of either closing down or restructuring the Institute, including a blueprint for a specific scheme for the long-term and stable funding of the Institute and specific suggestions for the improvement of administrative arrangements to ensure cost-effectiveness,

Recalling also its resolutions 37/142 of 17 December 1982 and 38/177 of 19 December 1983, in which it called upon the Secretary-General to submit a report on long-term financing arrangements for the Institute that would place its financing on a more predictable, assured and continuous basis,

Recalling further its resolution 39/177 of 17 December 1984, in which it requested the Secretary-General to prepare a comprehensive study on the Institute, its activities in training and research, its funding and its future role,

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General and the report of the Executive Director of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research,

Recognizing the continuing importance and relevance of the mandate of the Institute, particularly at a time when improvement of the effectiveness of the United Nations is a major preoccupation of Member States,

Noting with regret that the 1985 United Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities was unable to provide the General Fund of the Institute with the level of resources required to maintain it as a viable entity during 1986,

Noting with concern the lack of a sufficiently broad base of donor countries supporting the Institute,

Noting further with regret that voluntary contributions to the Institute have so far been insufficient to guarantee the level of resources needed to maintain it as a viable entity and that it has not been possible to reach agreement on any of the three options for long-term financing arrangements for the Institute recommended by the Board of Trustees, namely, setting up a reserve fund, adopting a replenishment system or establishing an endowment fund,

1.         Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General and the report of the Executive Director of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research;

2.         Reaffirms the continuing relevance of the mandate of the Institute and takes note of the view of the Secretary-General that the mandate remains valid and useful;

3.         Recommends that the Institute be restructured on the basis of the following parameters:

I. PROGRAMME

A. Training

1.         Training shall be the main focus of the Institute's activities during the interim period, and that focus should be duly reflected in the budget allocations;

2.         The core training programme financed from the General Fund shall concentrate on training for international co-operation and multilateral diplomacy at various levels and primarily on training of persons from developing countries;

3.         Training programmes designed and conducted by the Institute for other United Nations bodies and specialized agencies shall not result in any financial obligations for the General Fund and shall be carried out on a fully reimbursable basis;

4.         Training for economic and social development or any other training activities shall be funded from special purpose grants.

B. Research

1.         Ongoing research projects shall continue until completed;

2.         In future priority shall be given to requests made by the Secretary-General for research and study to enhance the effectiveness of the United Nations; to this end, the Secretary-General is requested to make full use of the available expertise and facilities of the Institute;

3.         Other research activities related to the mandate of the Institute, including new projects approved by the Board of Trustees, will be carried out according to the availability of resources;

4.         Research and study falling within the mandate of the Institute may be financed from special purpose grants on a full-cost basis;

5.         Research-cum-training in negotiating techniques, international law and economic and social development shall be funded from special purpose grants.

C. Projects financed from special purpose grants

1.         Special purpose grants shall be welcome as long as they are made for activities that relate directly to the mandate of the Institute and do not overlap with work carried out elsewhere in the United Nations system;

2.         Special purpose grants shall cover, in addition to full costs, project support costs of at least 13 per cent;

3.         The Executive Director of the Institute shall make available to all States, specialized agencies and other United Nations organizations and non-governmental organizations a complete list of training and research programmes that, for lack of financial resources, cannot be financed from the General Fund; donors may make special purpose grants for the execution of such programmes.

II. FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

In the light of the restructured programme set out above, the Secretary-General is requested to review the management, staff and administrative and financial arrangements of the Institute to ensure that the restructured programme is carried out in a cost-effective manner.

A. Budget

The budget estimates for 1987 as set out in the annex to the report of the Secretary-General and in the proposed allocations for 1987 prepared by the Institute are unbalanced, and administrative staff costs are disproportionate to programme delivery costs.

1.         No salaries for posts or parts thereof shall be charged to the training or research programme allocations except for those of the Professional and General Service staff assigned to the two branches responsible for those programmes;

2.         Allocations for programme and general operational costs shall correspond to the priority given to activities;

3.         General operational costs shall be reduced to a minimum, particularly in the sections related to staff travel, fund-raising, furniture and equipment, communications and miscellaneous expenses;

4.         Staff costs shall be reduced in relation to operational costs so that their ratio is equivalent to that of similar organizations of the United Nations system;

5.         The Institute shall rely entirely on voluntary contributions;

6.         The Institute shall consider ways of increasing its income, inter alia, rental income, through more efficient use of its premises.

B. Staff

The Secretary-General is requested to review the composition and grading of the staff, including the post of Executive Director, taking into account the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity and paying due regard to as wide a geographical basis as possible, with a view to:

1.         Diversifying the composition of the Professional staff to avoid limiting it to senior posts, and utilizing the experience and expertise of lower-level Professionals available in the United Nations Institute for Training and Research; in this regard, non-programme functions, such as external relations and administration and finance, of the restructured Institute can be undertaken by lower-level Professionals;

2. Distributing Professional and General Service staff among the various branches of the Institute in proportion to the work-load of and tasks entrusted to the branches in the restructured programme, and at a level that would enable the Institute to carry out a meaningful programme;

3.         Giving priority, in the recruitment of personnel for the execution of projects financed from special purpose grants, to Professional and General Service staff of the Institute who may not be retained as members of the core staff paid from the General Fund, and considering those persons for employment with other organizations of the United Nations system which may draw on their skills, as appropriate;

4.         Keeping a roster of consultants and experts and rotating staff whose services may be needed by the Institute for the execution of projects and programmes, at no cost or through financing from special purpose grants.

C. Board of Trustees

The Secretary-General is requested to ensure full compliance with the decision of the Board that no financial costs shall be charged to the budget of the Institute for the functioning of the Board, and that the selection of members of the Board of Trustees shall include government representatives who are knowledgeable about the work of the Institute and the United Nations;

4.         Requests the Secretary-General to carry out the restructuring of the Institute as from 1 January 1987, in close consultation, as appropriate, with all States, in accordance with the recommendations set out above and with sufficient capacity to ensure the continuation of the Institute as a viable and autonomous entity, and to submit a report to the General Assembly at its forty-second session on the implementation of the present resolution and to include a comprehensive assessment of the experience with the interim solution in 1987 to enable the Assembly to evaluate the situation and reach a decision on the future of the Institute;

5.         Further requests the Secretary-General, in case the necessary financing is not ensured by the implementation of the interim solution as defined above, to take steps with a view to phasing out, as appropriate, the activities of the Institute in the most cost-effective manner possible, and to submit to the General Assembly at its forty-second session a detailed proposal on the reallocation of the appropriate and essential activities of the Institute to other entities of the United Nations system;

6.         Urges all States that have not yet contributed to the Institute to do so, calls upon all States to increase their contributions to the Institute at and following the 1986 United Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities, in order to enable the Institute to implement the restructuring plan and continue to fulfil its important mandate, and appeals to those donors that do not intend to pledge contributions to consider contributing to the Institute at a level commensurate with their capacity;

7.         Appeals to all States to provide appropriate special purpose grants to enable the Institute to implement the training and research programmes that cannot be financed from its General Fund, and calls upon intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to contribute to the Institute.