At its fifty-fourth session, in 1999, under the item entitled “Programme planning”, the General Assembly endorsed the recommendation of the Committee for Programme and Coordination that a progress report on the review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations be submitted biennially to the Assembly through the appropriate intergovernmental bodies (Resolution 54/236 - A|C|F|R|S).

At its resumed sixtieth session, in May 2006, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to establish an effective system of accountability that clearly defined the lines of authority and responsibility; also requested the Secretary-General to ensure that programme managers understood and respected the monitoring and evaluation functions performed by the oversight bodies; decided that staff performance assessment should be further enhanced; requested the Secretary-General to administer and monitor more extensive disclosure of financial and other interests by United Nations officials; recognized the need for incrementally requiring all pertinent staff, in particular those in high-risk areas, to provide relevant financial disclosure, and requested the Secretary-General to report thereon to the Assembly at its sixty-first session in the context of his report on the activities of the Ethics Office; also requested the Secretary-General to report on staff perception of the impact of the Ethics Office on improving ethics and integrity in the Organization; and further requested the Secretary-General to report on the activities of the Ethics Office and the implementation of ethics policies, in the context of his annual report (Resolution 60/254 - A|C|F|R|S).

Gratis personnel provided by Governments and other entities

At its resumed fifty-seventh session, in June 2003, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to provide in subsequent reports, on a biennial basis, information on the use of gratis personnel, indicating their nationality and duration of service, department where employed and functions performed (Resolution 57/281B - A|C|F|R|S).

Reports of the Secretary-General on the activities of the Office of Internal Oversight Services

At its fifty-ninth session, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to provide information to the Assembly at its sixty-first session, in the context of its consideration of matters related to procurement reform, on actions taken to prevent recurrence of incidents of possible conflict of interest and inappropriate procurement practices; and requested the Secretary-General to ensure that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees developed and utilized comprehensive policy guidelines for the selection and management of consultants to ensure transparency and objectivity in their engagement, monitoring and evaluation, as well as to make greater efforts to ensure a geographical balance in the use of qualified consultants and to report thereon to the Assembly at its sixty-first session (Resolution 59/270 - A|C|F|R|S).

Report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services on the inspection of programme and administrative management of the subregional offices of the Economic Commission for Africa

At its sixtieth session, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to support the efforts of the Economic Commission for Africa and its subregional offices to implement the recommendations of the Office of Internal Oversight Services; also requested the Secretary-General to ensure that the information and communications technology capacity and strategy of the Commission and its subregional offices were fully integrated with the information and communications technology strategy of the Organization; further requested the Secretary-General to intensify his efforts to fill vacancies in the subregional offices; and requested the Secretary-General to submit to the Assembly at its sixty-first session a comprehensive plan of action to strengthen the subregional offices, with timelines and clear lines of managerial accountability to ensure that adequate resources were provided to the Commission and its subregional offices to continue their support for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development and the regional economic communities for Africa, as well as to ensure the full implementation of the recommendations of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (Resolution 60/235 - A|C|F|R|S).

Investing in the United Nations: for a stronger Organization worldwide

At its resumed sixtieth session, in May 2006, the General Assembly, reaffirming its determination to strengthen further the role, capacity, effectiveness and efficiency of the United Nations, and thus improve its performance, requested the Secretary-General to submit to the Assembly at its sixty-first session a number of reports, including details regarding specific proposals contained in the report of the Secretary-General entitled “Investing in the United Nations: for a stronger Organization worldwide” (Resolution 60/692 - A|C|F|R|S & Corr.1 - A|C|F|R|S) (resolution 60/260) (Resolution 60/235 - A|C|F|R|S) (see items 46, 110, 115, 120, 121, 130 & 148).

Also at its resumed session, in July 2006, the General Assembly, inter alia, requested the Secretary-General to ensure the full operationalization of the Ethics Office; and also requested him to provide to the Assembly, at its resumed sixty-first session, detailed information on the structure and staffing requirements of the envisaged information and communication technology structure (Resolution 60/283 - A|C|F|R|S, sects. I and II) (see items 46, 110, 115, 120, 121, 130 & 148).

Further at its resumed session, in July 2006, the General Assembly decided to defer until its sixty-first session the consideration of this item and the related documents (decision 60/551 C).

Measures to strengthen accountability in the Secretariat (Resolutions 59/272 - A|C|F|R|S & 60/254 - A|C|F|R|S)

Activities of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (Resolution 59/270 - A|C|F|R|S)

Comprehensive plan of action to strengthen the subregional offices of the Economic Commission for Africa (Resolution 60/235 - A|C|F|R|S)

Investing in people (Resolution 60/260 - A|C|F|R|S & Resolution 60/283 - A|C|F|R|S), A/61/255 - A|C|F|R|S (also under items 46, 110, 115, 120, 121, 130, 145 & 148)

Reforming the Field Service category: investing in meeting the human resources requirements of United Nations peace operations in the 21st century (Resolution 59/266 - A|C|F|R|S, sect. X), A/61/255/Add.1 - A|C|F|R|S (also under items 46, 110, 115, 120, 121, 130, 145 & 148)

Policy for access to United Nations documentation by Member States and the public (Resolution 60/283 - A|C|F|R|S) (also under items 46, 110, 115, 120, 121, 130 & 148)

Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the United Nations Secretariat First Consolidated Report 2005 (Resolution 60/283 - A|C|F|R|S, sect. V), A/61/434 - A|C|F|R|S

Report of the Committee for Programme and Coordination on its forty-sixth session: Supplement No. 16 (A/61/16 - A|C|F|R|S)

(d) Report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services on the inspection of the programme and administrative management of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (Resolutions 48/218 B - A|C|F|R|S, 54/244 - A|C|F|R|S & 59/272 - A|C|F|R|S), A/61/61 - A|C|F|R|S & Add.1 - A|C|F|R|S (also under item 125)

Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the annual report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services for the period from 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2004 (A/59/359 - A|C|F|R|S)

Report of the Committee for Programme and Coordination on its forty-fifth session: Supplement No. 16 and corrigendum (A/61/16 - A|C|F|R|S & Corr.1 - A|C|F|R|S)

Report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services on the inspection programme and administrative management of the subregional offices of the Economic Commission for Africa (A/60/120 - A|C|F|R|S) (also under item 132)

Note by the Secretary-General on strengthening the investigation functions in the United Nations (A/60/674 - A|C|F|R|S)

Report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (A/60/418 - A|C|F|R|S) (also under item 121)