Programme planning.

  The General Assembly, Recalling its resolution 3043 (XXVII) of 19 December 1972, in which it approved the new form of presentation of the United Nations budget, Recalling also its resolutions 3199 (XXVIII) of 18 December 1973, 31/93 of 14 December 1976, 32/197 of 20 December 1977, 32/206 of 21 December 1977,33/118 of 19 December 1978, 34/224 of 20 December 1979, 35/9 of 3 November 1980 and 36/228 of 18 December 1981, in which it elaborated further on the establishment of an integrated programme planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation system in the United Nations, Having considered the report of the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination on the work of its twenty-second session, chapter VI, section C, of the report of the Economic and Social Council for the year 1982, and the reports of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions on the draft regulations and rules governing programme planning, the programme aspects of the budget, the monitoring of implementation and methods of evaluation and on the review of the Financial Rules and Regulations in the light of the restructuring of the economic and social sectors of the United Nations and on the proposed medium-term plan for the period 1984-1989, Having also considered the proposed medium-term plan for the period 1984-1989, the reports of the Secretary-General on the draft regulations and rules governing programme planning, the programme aspects of the budget, the monitoring of implementation and the methods of evaluation, on the review of the Financial Rules and Regulations in the light of the restructuring of the economic and social sectors of the United Nations, on the procedures for the proposed programme budget review, on the programme performance of the United Nations for the biennium 1980-1981 and on the updating of the special review of the ongoing work programme of the United Nations, and the report of the Joint Inspection Unit entitled "Elaboration of regulations for the planning, programming and evaluation cycle of the United Nations", Having also considered the note by the Chairman of the Fifth Committee reporting on the review of the proposed medium-term plan for the period 1984-1989 by the other Main Committees of the General Assembly, Recalling that the Secretary-General, at the resumed thirty-sixth session and at the thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly, had expressed the intention to improve the effectiveness of the programme planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation system, Bearing in mind the observations contained in the report of the Committee of Governmental Experts to Evaluate the Present Structure of the Secretariat in the Administrative, Finance and Personnel Areas on the need to integrate the whole system of programme planning, budgeting, monitoring and reporting, taking into account modalities existing in other organizations of the United Nations system, Noting the establishment of the Programme Planning and Budgeting Board and of the Central Monitoring Unit, I Medium-term plan

1. Adopts the medium-term plan for the period 1984-1989 as revised by the recommendations of the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination at its twenty-second session and the Economic and Social Council at its second regular session of 1982, taking into account the views of Main Committees of the General Assembly, with the exception of subprogramme 5 of programme 1 of chapter 21, which requires further revision and approval;

2. Considers the medium-term plan, as adopted, to be the principal policy directive of the United Nations;

3. Requests the Secretary-General to issue the medium-term plan for the period 1984-1989, as adopted, as a single-volume printed document;

4. Further requests the Secretary-General to make the necessary methodological improvements to the medium-term plan for the period 1984-1989 in the context of its first revision and in the light of the observations at the second regular session for 1982 of the Economic and Social Council and by the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination at its twenty-second session, as well as the views expressed during the thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly;

II Programme planning, the programme aspects of the budget, the monitoring of implementation and the methods of evaluation

1. Adopts the Regulations Governing Programme Planning, the Programme Aspects of the Budget, the Monitoring of Implementation and the Methods of Evaluation recommended by the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination in its report on its twenty-second session, as revised and set out in the annex to the present resolution, and the related changes to the Financial Regulations of the United Nations, as amended by the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination;

2. Notes that the draft set of rules submitted by the Secretary-General does not conform fully with all the stipulations of the Regulations Governing Programme Planning, the Programme Aspects of the Budget, the Monitoring of Implementation and the Methods of Evaluation;

3. Requests the Secretary-General to issue rules in implementation of and in conformity with those Regulations and with the recommendations of the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination at its twenty-second session, taking into consideration comments made in the Fifth Committee during its review of the draft Regulations, and to submit those rules to the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination at its twenty-third session and to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth session;

4. Confirms the understanding of the Secretary-General that, when appropriating resources for the implementation of the programme budget, the General Assembly also decides that the programme elements and output citations in the proposed programme budget, as revised by the Assembly, shall constitute the commitments against which programme performance is to be reported and assessed;

5. Notes that the Secretary-General intends to issue revisions to the Financial Rules and to submit them to the General Assembly through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions;

6. Requests the Secretary-General to take further steps to improve the effectiveness of programme monitoring, in accordance with section I, paragraph 2 (b), of General Assembly resolution 36/228 A;

7. Requests the Secretary-General:

(a) To report to the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination, at its twenty-third session, on methods and procedures which will be used to provide the General Assembly with programme implications, together with administrative and financial implications of draft resolutions being considered by the General Assembly;

(b) To take the necessary measures to provide the General Assembly, at its thirty-eighth session, with programme implications of draft resolutions being considered by the Assembly;

8. Requests the Secretary-General to submit, through the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination at its twenty-third session, to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth session, an evaluation programme and a timetable for intergovernmental review of evaluation studies, together with the proposed programme budget for the biennium 1984-1985;

9. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth session, through the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination at its twenty-third session and through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, on the measures which he has considered appropriate to take, bearing in mind the views expressed on the matter by delegations, to further integrate the programme planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation functions in the Secretariat;

III Other conclusions and recommendations of the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination

1. Notes with satisfaction and endorses the other conclusions and recommendations of the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination at its twenty-second session;

2. Requests the Secretary-General to comment on those recommendations of the Joint Inspection Unit on the regulations for planning, programming and evaluation in the United Nations which have not yet been reflected in the Regulations for consideration by the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination at its twenty-third session;

3. Requests the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination at its twenty-third session to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth session on the need to amend the programme planning Regulations and Financial Regulations of the United Nations in the light of the recommendations of the Joint Inspection Unit and the comments thereon by the Secretary-General, as well as in the light of the discussion on this subject in the Fifth Committee at the thirty-seventh session.

ANNEX Regulations Governing Programme Planning, the Programme Aspects of the Budget, the Monitoring of Implementation and the Methods of Evaluation PREAMBLE

1. The planning, programming, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation cycle established in the United Nations by decisions of the General Assembly aims at the following:

(a) To subject all programmes of the Organization to periodic and thorough reviews;

(b) To afford an opportunity for reflection before choices among the various types of action possible are made in the light of all existing conditions;

(c) To associate in that reflection all participants in the Organization's actions, especially Member States and the Secretariat;

(d) To assess what is feasible and derive from this assessment objectives which are both feasible and politically acceptable to Member States as a whole;

(e) To translate those objectives into programmes and work plans where the responsibilities and tasks of those who are to implement them are specified;

(f) To indicate to Member States the resources needed to design and implement activities and to ensure that those resources are utilized according to legislative intent and in the most effective and economic manner;

(g) To provide a framework for setting priorities among activities;

(h) To establish an independent and effective system for monitoring implementation and verifying the effectiveness of the work actually done;

(i) To evaluate periodically the results achieved, with a view either to confirming the validity of the orientations chosen or to reshaping the programmes towards different orientations.

2. In pursuance of the above aims, the following instruments are to be utilized in the Organization:

(a) The introduction to the medium-term plan and the medium-term plan itself, whereby orientations are given to the Organization's activities;

(b) The programme budget and the programme performance report, where the Secretariat is committed to precise work plans involving delivery of output and where implementation thereof is monitored and reported;

(c) The evaluation system, which allows for continuing critical review of achievements, collective thinking thereon and formulation of subsequent plans.

Article 1 APPLICABILITY Regulation 1.1. These regulations shall govern the planning, programming, monitoring and evaluation of all activities undertaken by the United Nations, irrespective of their source of financing. Article 2 INSTRUMENTS OF INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT Regulation 2.1. Activities undertaken by the United Nations shall be submitted to an integrated management process reflected in the following instruments:

(a) Medium-term plans;

(b) Programme budgets;

(c) Reports on programme performance;

(d) Evaluation reports.

Each of these instruments corresponds to one phase in a programme planning cycle and, consequently, shall serve as a framework for the subsequent phases. Regulation 2.2. The planning, programming, budgeting and evaluation cycle shall form an integral part of the general policy-making and management process of the Organization. The instruments referred to in regulation 2.1 above shall be used to ensure that activities are co-ordinated and that available resources are utilized according to legislative intent and in the most effective and economic manner. Article 3 MEDIUM-TERM PLAN Regulation 3.1. A medium-term plan shall be proposed by the Secretary-General. Regulation 3.2. The medium-term plan shall be a translation of legislative mandates into programmes. Its objectives and strategies shall be derived from the policy orientations and goals set by the intergovernmental organs. It shall reflect Member States' priorities as set out in legislation adopted by functional and regional intergovernmental bodies within their spheres of competence and by the General Assembly, on advice from the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination. In this context, subsidiary intergovernmental and expert bodies should, accordingly, refrain from making recommendations on the relative priorities of the major programmes as outlined in the medium-term plan and should instead propose, through the Committee, the relative priorities to be accorded to the various subprogrammes within their respective fields of competence. The medium-term plan shall clearly identify new activities. Regulation 3.3. After adoption by the General Assembly, the medium-term plan shall constitute the principal policy directive of the United Nations which:

(a) States the medium-term objectives to be attained in the plan period;

(b) Describes the strategy to be followed to that effect and the means of action to be used;

(c) Gives an indicative estimate of the necessary resources.

Regulation 3.4. The medium-term plan shall serve as a framework for the formulation of the biennial programme budgets within the period covered by the plan. Regulation 3.5. The plan shall cover all activities, substantive and servicing, including those to be financed partially or fully from extrabudgetary resources. Regulation 3.6. The plan shall be presented by programme and objective and not by organizational unit. It shall emphasize the description of objectives and strategies; the presentation and format of the analysis provided therein shall vary according to the type and nature of activities; to this end a distinction shall be made between substantive and servicing activities;objectives shall be time-limited as far as possible, and the plan shall be objective-based in all programmes where that is feasible. The medium-term plan shall identify:

(a) Major programmes, consisting of all activities conducted in a sector;

(b) Programmes, consisting within a major programme, of all activities in a sector which are under the responsibility of a distinct organizational unit, normally at the division level;

(c) Subprogrammes, consisting, within a programme, of all activities that are directed at the accomplishment of one medium-term objective or several closely related objectives.

Regulation 3.7. The plan shall be preceded by an introduction, which will constitute a key integral element in the planning process and shall:

(a) Highlight, in a co-ordinated manner, the policy orientations of the United Nations system;

(b) Indicate the medium-term objectives and strategy and trends deduced from mandates which reflect priorities set by intergovernmental organizations;

(c) Contain the Secretary-General's proposals on priorities.

Regulation 3.8. In order to facilitate the planning process, the Secretary-General shall request the executive heads of the voluntary funds to indicate the likely future volume of extrabudgetary funds sufficiently in advance for this information to be taken into consideration in the preparation of the medium-term plan. Regulation 3.9. The medium-term plan shall cover a six-year period and be submitted to the General Assembly one year before the submission of the proposed programme budget covering the first biennium of the plan period. Regulation 3.10. Sectoral, functional and regional programme-formulating organs shall refrain from undertaking new activities not programmed in the medium-term plan, unless a pressing need of an unforeseeable nature arises, as determined by the General Assembly. Regulation 3.11. The medium-term plan shall be revised as necessary every two years to incorporate required programme changes; revisions to the plan shall be considered by the General Assembly one year before the submission of the proposed programme budget providing for implementation of the changes. The proposed revisions shall be as detailed as required to incorporate the programme implications of the resolutions and decisions adopted by the intergovernmental organs or international conferences since the adoption of the plan. Regulation 3.12. The chapters of the proposed medium-term plan shall be reviewed by the relevant sectoral, functional and regional intergovernmental bodies, if possible during the regular cycle of their meetings prior to their review by the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination, the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly. The Committee for Programme and Co-ordination and the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions shall consider the proposed medium-term plan in accordance with their terms of reference. Regulation 3.13. The participation of sectoral, functional and regional organs in the formulation of the plan shall be achieved by means of an appropriate preparation period. To that end, the Secretary-General shall provide proposals for the co-ordination of their calendars of meetings. The activities in the medium-term plan shall be co-ordinated with those of the concerned specialized agencies through prior consultations. Regulation 3.14. The General Assembly shall consider the proposed medium-term plan in the light of the comments and recommendations of the Economic and Social Council, the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination and the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions. The Assembly shall decide to accept, curtail, reformulate or reject each of the subprogrammes proposed in the plan. Regulation 3.15. The establishment of priorities among both substantive programmes and common services shall form an integral part of the general planning and management process without prejudice to arrangements and procedures now in force or to the specific character of servicing activities. Such priorities shall be based on the importance of the objective to Member States, the Organization's capacity to achieve it and the real effectiveness and usefulness of the results. Regulation 3.16. Intergovernmental and expert bodies shall, when reviewing the relevant chapters of the proposed medium-term plan, recommend priorities among subprogrammes in their field of competence. They shall refrain from making recommendations on priority among major programmes. The Committee for Programme and Co-ordination, when making recommendations, and the Secretary-General, when making proposals on programme priorities, shall take into account the views of the above-mentioned bodies. Regulation 3.17. On the basis of the Secretary-General's proposals and of the recommendations of the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination, the General Assembly shall designate, among the subprogrammes it accepts, those which are of the highest and lowest priority. Regulation 3.18. Priorities as determined by the General Assembly in the medium-term plan shall guide the allocation of budgetary and extrabudgetary resources in the subsequent programme budgets. After the medium-term plan has been adopted by the Assembly, the Secretary-General shall bring the decisions on priorities to the attention of Member States and the governing boards of the voluntary funds. Article 4 PROGRAMME ASPECTS OF THE BUDGET Regulation 4.1. The medium-term plan as adopted and revised by the General Assembly shall serve as the framework for the formulation of the biennial programme budget. In order to facilitate this relationship, the programme budget shall have financial information corresponding to at least one of the three programming levels in the medium-term plan. Regulation 4.2. The programme proposals in the budget shall aim at implementing the strategy in the plan and, therefore, shall be derived from its strategy statements. Programme proposals that are not derived from the plan strategies shall be submitted only as a result of legislation passed subsequent to the adoption of the plan or its last revision. Regulation 4.3. In the proposed programme budget, requested resources shall be justified in terms of the requirements of output delivery. The highest-priority subprogrammes, as decided by the General Assembly, shall have first claim on resources, if budgetary needs are demonstrated, and, if possible, through redeployment in the event that low-priority activities are curtailed or terminated by intergovernmental decision. Regulation 4.4. The proposed programme budget shall be divided into parts, sections and programmes. Programme narratives shall set out subprogrammes, programme elements, output and users. The proposed programme budget shall be preceded by a statement explaining the main changes made in the content of the programme and the volume of resources allocated to them in relation to the previous biennium and indicating the progress envisaged for all activities with time-limited objectives in implementing the plan. The proposed programme budget shall be accompanied by such information annexes and explanatory statements as may be requested by or on behalf of the General Assembly and such further annexes or statements as the Secretary-General may deem necessary and useful. Regulation 4.5. All activities for which resources are requested in the proposed programme budget shall be programmed. Regulation 4.6. Within the proposed programme budget the Secretary-General shall provide the General Assembly with:

(a) A list of programme elements and output included in the previous budgetary period which, in his judgement, can be discontinued and, as a consequence, have not been included in the proposed programme budget;

(b) An identification within each programme of programme elements of high and low priority, each category representing approximately 10 per cent of the resources requested.

Regulation 4.7. The Secretary-General shall provide the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination and the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions with advance copies of the proposed programme budget by the end of April of the year preceding the budgetary period. Regulation 4.8. The Committee for Programme and Co-ordination shall prepare a report on the proposed programme budget, containing its programme recommendations and its general assessment of the related resource proposals. It shall receive a statement by the Secretary-General on the programme budget implications of its recommendations. The report of the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination shall be communicated simultaneously to the Economic and Social Council and to the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions. The Advisory Committee shall receive the report of the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination and study the statement by the Secretary-General. The reports of the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination and the Advisory Committee on each section of the proposed programme budget shall be considered simultaneously by the General Assembly. Regulation 4.9. No Council, Commission or other competent body shall take a decision involving either a change in the programme budget approved by the General Assembly or the possible requirement of expenditure unless it has received and taken account of a report from the Secretary-General on the programme budget implications of the proposal. Article 5 MONITORING OF PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION Regulation 5.1. The Secretary-General shall monitor the delivery of output scheduled in the approved programme budget through a central unit in the Secretariat. After the completion of the biennial budget period, the Secretary-General shall report to the General Assembly, through the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination, on programme performance during that period. Regulation 5.2. An entire subprogramme shall not be reformulated nor a new programme introduced in the programme budget without the prior approval of an intergovernmental body and the General Assembly. The Secretary-General may make such proposals for review by the relevant intergovernmental body if he considers that circumstances so warrant. Regulation 5.3. The Secretary-General shall transmit the biennial programme performance report to all Member States by the end of the first quarter following the completion of the biennial budget period. Article 6 EVALUATION Regulation 6.1. The objective of evaluation is:

(a) To determine as systematically and objectively as possible the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and impact of the Organization's activities in relation to their objectives;

(b) To enable the Secretariat and Member States to engage in systematic reflections, with a view to increasing the effectiveness of the main programmes of the Organization by altering their content and, if necessary, reviewing their objectives.

Regulation 6.2. All activities programmed shall be evaluated over a fixed time period. An evaluation programme as well as a timetable for intergovernmental review of evaluation studies shall be proposed by the Secretary-General and approved by the General Assembly at the same time as the proposed medium-term plan. Regulation 6.3. Evaluation shall be internal and/or external. The Secretary-General shall develop internal evaluation systems and seek the co-operation of Member States in the evaluation process, as appropriate. Evaluation methods shall be adapted to the nature of the programme being evaluated. The General Assembly shall invite such bodies as it sees fit, including the Joint Inspection Unit, to perform ad hoc external evaluations and to report on them. Regulation 6.4. The findings of intergovernmental review of evaluations shall be reflected in subsequent programme design, delivery and policy directives. To this end, a brief report summarizing the conclusions of the Secretary-General on all evaluation studies conducted in the established evaluation programme shall be submitted to the General Assembly at the same time as the text of the proposed medium-term plan.