Joint Inspection Unit : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolutions 40/259 of 18 December 1985 and 41/213 of 19 December 1986,

Having considered the report of the Joint Inspection Unit on its activities during the period 1 July 1986 to 30 June 1987, welcoming the recommendations for self-improvement contained in section VI thereof, and noting the observations and suggestions of Member States thereon,

Recognizing the need to avoid duplication and overlapping in the activities of subsidiary organs of the General Assembly,

Convinced that the General Assembly should give the Joint Inspection Unit greater guidance on its programme of work with respect to the United Nations,

Convinced also that more systematic follow-up activity regarding the implementation of recommendations of the Joint Inspection Unit would increase the usefulness of the inspection function, particularly in encouraging constructive dialogue between the Unit and the various organizations of the United Nations system,

Bearing in mind the recommendations regarding the Joint Inspection Unit in the report of the Group of High-level Intergovernmental Experts to Review the Efficiency of the Administrative and Financial Functioning of the United Nations,

1.         Invites the Joint Inspection Unit to introduce immediately the improvements recommended in section VI of its report in order to increase the quality and effectiveness of its reports;

2.         Calls upon the Joint Inspection Unit to adopt a more collective approach in the preparation of its programme of work, in the conduct of its work and in the writing of individual reports;

3.         Requests the Joint Inspection Unit to include in its annual report a section on its findings regarding the implementation of its recommendations;

4.         Invites the Joint Inspection Unit, with due regard for its other responsibilities, to include in its proposed programme of work the provision of advice to participating organizations on their methods for internal evaluation and the conduct of more ad hoc evaluations of programmes and activities;

5.         Requests the Joint Inspection Unit to include in its next report the guidelines it follows for selecting, conducting and reporting on its inspections;

6.         Also requests the Joint Inspection Unit to ensure that its reports are co-ordinated, as far as possible, with the programmes of work of the various bodies of the United Nations and that they are submitted in a timely manner;

7.         Further requests the Joint Inspection Unit, in exercising its functions, powers and responsibilities, to take fully into account the mandates of other relevant bodies, especially the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination, the Board of Auditors and the International Civil Service Commission;

8.         Invites the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination and the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, within their respective mandates, to provide the General Assembly with their views on the future programme of work of the Joint Inspection Unit;

9.         Requests the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination to advise the General Assembly on those cases in which the Joint Inspection Unit might perform ad hoc external evaluations of programmes and activities;

10.       Urges Member States to apply the highest standards in selecting candidates for appointment as inspectors, to give special emphasis to relevant experience and qualifications in the fields of personnel management, public administration, inspection and evaluation, and to give consideration to different disciplines;

11.       Requests the Secretary-General to bring to the attention of the appropriate bodies of the United Nations system all reports of the Joint Inspection Unit on matters within their respective areas of competence and to include reference to all reports of the Unit in the documentation listed in the annotated preliminary agendas of the General Assembly and other United Nations bodies under the most appropriate substantive agenda item;

12.       Requests all bodies of the United Nations system to examine closely those reports of the Joint Inspection Unit which are within their respective areas of competence and to comment, as appropriate, on the recommendations contained therein;

13.       Requests the Joint Inspection Unit to report to the General Assembly at its forty-third session on the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution;

14.       Requests the Secretary-General to bring the present resolution to the attention of the executive heads of the participating organizations of the Joint Inspection Unit.