UN chief presents proposals for review of mandate implementation

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres proposed a series of suggestions on Friday: fewer meetings, fewer reports and more tailored, transparent systems for monitoring and reporting on mandate implementation.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations, through its three major organs and their subsidiary bodies, has issued over 40,000 mandates since 1946, but 85 percent of active mandates contain no instructions for review or termination, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday.

In his briefing to UN member states on his "Report of the Mandate Implementation Review -- UN80 Initiative: Workstream 2," Guterres identified some of the problems in implementing the mandates: burdensome processes, overlap, duplicative structures and a growing gap between mandates and resources.

"But they were not resolved. In fact, as we all know, these problems have grown worse," Guterres said at the informal meeting of the General Assembly on the next phase of the UN80 Initiative.

In his speech, the secretary-general put forward some ideas for consideration concerning mandate creation, delivery, review and assessment.

He suggested the creation of digital mandate registries, which are easily accessible tools that can now flag potential duplication before it happens. Also, he proposed shorter, clearer, more focused and adequately resourced mandates.

Last year, the UN system supported 27,000 meetings involving 240 bodies. Today, more than half of all mandates require reports. Last year alone, the UN Secretariat produced 1,100 reports, and three out of five reports are on recurring topics, according to the UN chief.

Guterres proposed a series of suggestions: fewer meetings, fewer reports and more tailored, transparent systems for monitoring and reporting on mandate implementation.

The UN chief emphasized that mandates are the business of UN member states. "They are the expression of your will. And they are the sole property and responsibility of member states."

The role of the United Nations "is to implement them fully, faithfully, and efficiently," he said. "My responsibility is to ensure that the Secretariat provides the capacities and inputs required by the course of action that you choose."■