The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice,
Recalling its resolution 18/3 of 24 April 2009 and Commission on Narcotic Drugs resolution 52/13 of 20 March 2009, entitled “Improving the governance and financial situation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime”, in which the Commissions decided to establish a standing open-ended intergovernmental working group on governance and finance, in order to achieve the common objective of strengthening the performance and effectiveness of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,
Recalling also Economic and Social Council decision 2009/251 of 30 July 2009, entitled “Frequency and duration of the reconvened sessions of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice”, in which the Council decided that, starting in 2010, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice would hold reconvened sessions on an annual basis in the second half of the year, in order to be able, pursuant to Commission on Narcotic Drugs resolution 52/13 and Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice resolution 18/3, to consider the reports of and the recommendations proposed by the standing open-ended intergovernmental working group on improving the governance and financial situation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,
Considering that the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice recommends for adoption by the Economic and Social Council the draft decision entitled “Improving the governance and financial situation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime: extension of the mandate of the standing open-ended intergovernmental working group on improving the governance and financial situation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime”,
Reaffirming the role of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs as the principal policymaking organ of the United Nations on matters of international drug control and as the governing body of the drug programme of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the role of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice as the principal policymaking organ of the United Nations on matters of crime prevention and criminal justice and as the governing body of the crime programme of the Office,
Reaffirming also its resolutions 20/1 of 13 April 2011, 22/2 of 26 April 2013, 24/1 of 22 May 2015 and 26/1 of 26 May 2017, and Commission on Narcotic Drugs resolutions 54/10 of 25 March 2011, 56/11 of 15 March 2013, 58/1 of 17 March 2015 and 60/3 of 17 March 2017, entitled “Improving the governance and financial situation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime: recommendations of the standing open-ended intergovernmental working group on improving the governance and financial situation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime”,
Concerned about the financial situation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and aware of the need to continue addressing that situation in a pragmatic, results-oriented, efficient and cooperative manner,
1. Takes note of the note by the Secretariat on the work of the standing open-ended intergovernmental working group on improving the governance and financial situation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime prepared in accordance with Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice resolutions 18/3, 20/1, 22/2, 24/1 and 26/1 and Commission on Narcotic Drugs resolutions 52/13, 54/10, 56/11, 58/1 and 60/3;[1]
2. Expresses appreciation to the Co-Chairs of the working group for their work and to the Secretariat for its assistance in facilitating the work of the working group, and requests the Secretariat to continue providing such necessary assistance, bearing in mind the limited resources available to it;
3. Welcomes the established practice of having a clear schedule of meetings and programme of work for the working group, and encourages the working group to hold at least four meetings a year, with each meeting lasting two days;
4. Requests that relevant documentation for each meeting of the working group continue to be distributed by the Secretariat no later than 10 working days before the meeting;[2]
5. Welcomes the grouping of the items under consideration by the working group into two parts, namely an operational part and a programmatic part;
Operational part
Strengthening the governance and financial situation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
6. Recalls that the working group has, on several occasions, discussed fundraising issues, so as to ensure adequate, predictable and stable funding, and has also discussed ways to achieve a sustainable balance between core and non-core funding for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, so as to ensure delivery capacity and the sustainability of its global and regional programmes;
7. Also recalls that the working group has discussed the development and roll-out of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Strategy 2021–2025 and of the regional strategic visions of the Office and has also discussed the involvement of the Office in the implementation of United Nations reforms;
8. Further recalls that the working group has been considering the implementation of Commission on Narcotic Drugs resolutions 60/10 of 8 December 2017, 61/12 of 7 December 2018, 62/9 of 13 December 2019 and 63/6 of 4 December 2020 and of Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice resolutions 26/5 of 8 December 2017, 27/7 of 7 December 2018, 28/4 of 13 December 2019 and 29/1 of 4 December 2020;
9. Requests the working group to continue examining and discussing the financial and governance situation of the Office, inter alia, by:
(a) Receiving reports on and facilitating the resource mobilization process to promote programmes of the Office, stressing their resource requirements and enhancing funding predictability in line with its strategic frameworks;
(b) Continuing to discuss with the Office efforts to further encourage donors to provide general-purpose funding, including by further increasing communication and the transparency and quality of reporting, and continuing to discuss the reasons for the low level of general-purpose funding, with a view to restoring an adequate balance between general-purpose and special-purpose funds;
(c) Continuing to study the progress and impact of the implementation of full cost recovery and the flexible application and allocation of programme support costs, with a view to increasing the effectiveness and results of the technical assistance programmes of the Office;
(d) Continuing to discuss with the Office the concerns related to regular budget shortfalls and possible solutions to address them;
10. Also requests the working group to consider the implementation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Strategy 2021–2025, other strategies of the Office and other possible subsequent strategic documents, inter alia, by:
(a) Continuing to receive updates on the milestones and deliverables achieved in the implementation of the Strategy for 2021–2025 and other possible subsequent strategic documents;
(b) Continuing to be presented with information on the financial implications of the Strategy for 2021–2025 and other possible subsequent strategic documents, and on potential reallocations to address those implications;
11. Further requests the working group to continue considering the involvement of the Office in the implementation of United Nations reforms, including in terms of enhanced synergies and effectiveness, achievements, challenges, cost savings and benefits, as well as the contributions of the Office to supporting Member States in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;[3]
12. Requests the working group to continue reviewing the implementation by the Office of the mandates contained in the resolutions adopted by the Commissions on the consolidated budget for the Office and its implementation;
13. Also requests the working group to continue considering the efforts of the Office to enhance the organizational arrangements for the meetings of intergovernmental bodies for which the Office serves as the secretariat, including with regard to promoting multilingualism, subject to the availability of adequate resources, in meetings and activities of such bodies;
Improving gender balance and geographical representation
14. Recalls that the working group has been discussing the question of geographical representation and gender balance in the composition of the staff of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime as part of its efforts to improve the governance of the Office;
15. Requests the working group to:
(a) Continue addressing the issue of gender balance and, in line with Article 101 of the Charter of the United Nations, equitable geographical representation and diversity and its evolution in order to discuss possible measures for further improvement in this area by, inter alia, intensifying outreach efforts;
(b) Continue receiving comprehensive updates, including in a disaggregated form, on the composition of the staff and the recruitment policies of the Office and on steps taken to achieve further improvements in this area;
Promoting a culture of evaluation within the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime at all stages of programme planning, development and implementation
16. Recalls that the working group has been shown numerous presentations on evaluation findings, on which occasions participants have reiterated the importance of ensuring accountability, evaluation, transparency and learning in the work of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime;
17. Requests the working group to invite the Independent Evaluation Section to:
(a) Continue providing the working group with information on conducted strategic evaluations and on the integration of the results of those evaluations;
(b) Continue promoting a culture of evaluation throughout the Office at all stages of programme planning, development and implementation;
(c) Continue working with the Office to monitor the implementation of recommendations made by relevant oversight bodies;
(d) Continue working with the Office to increase coordination between evaluation, audit and other oversight bodies, with the aim of building a continuum of oversight of projects and programmes of the Office;
Programmatic part
Promoting an integrated programme approach
18. Recalls that the working group has been following the progress made by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in implementing an integrated programme approach aimed at strengthening the links between normative mandates and operational technical assistance and improving linkages between policy, strategic planning, evaluation, programmatic work, the mobilization of resources and partnerships with all relevant stakeholders;
19. Requests the working group to:
(a) Continue promoting regular dialogue among all Member States, as well as with the Office, on the planning and formulation of the operational activities of the Office, especially with regard to its global and regional programmes, in line with its strategic frameworks, and on the implementation by the Office of relevant thematic resolutions;
(b) Continue receiving updates from the Office on progress made in the implementation of country, regional and global programmes, with those updates to:
(i) Be clustered according to the five thematic areas of the mandated work of the Office;
(ii) Inform Member States about key milestones and deliverables achieved under the programmes, as well as about the envisaged follow-up activities;
(iii) Include overviews of the findings of evaluations of those programmes, as well as information on the management response to evaluation results;
(iv) Also include information on existing funding gaps hampering implementation, as well as on suggestions to address those gaps;
(v) Cover the efforts of the Office to integrate cross-cutting and other relevant issues into the development and implementation of country, regional and global programmes;
Ensuring a comprehensive and coordinated approach to the work of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in the field
20. Recalls that the working group has been discussing the programme development efforts implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime at the regional and country levels;
21. Requests the working group to continue considering the development and implementation of the regional strategic visions of the Office and the implementation of field-based programmes;
Enhancing the strategic response of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, including in relation to, among others, research, scientific evidence-based policies and gender mainstreaming
22. Recalls that the working group has been discussing research activities and publications of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the related timelines, including the criteria and methodology underlying those research activities;
23. Also recalls that the working group has been discussing the question of gender mainstreaming in the policies and programmes of the Office, including the development and implementation of the strategy for gender equality and the empowerment of women of the United Nations Office at Vienna and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, as part of its efforts to align its work with the guidance note on gender mainstreaming in the work of the Office;
24. Requests the working group to:
(a) Continue discussing issues related to advancing the research and analysis capacity of the Office, so as to ensure the formulation and implementation of scientific evidence-based responses and services, and to continue receiving updates, on a regular basis, on ongoing and future research activities and publications of the Office;
(b) Continue addressing the question of gender mainstreaming in the policies and programmes of the Office at the strategic level in order to discuss possible measures for further improvement in this area.
[1] E/CN.7/2021/3-E/CN.15/2021/3 and E/CN.7/2021/3/Add.1-E/CN.15/2021/3/Add.1.
[2] The Commission requests that the draft consolidated budget for the Office be provided no later than 15 working days before the meeting.
[3] General Assembly resolution 70/1.