The General Assembly,
 
      Recalling its resolutions 45/258 of 3 May 1991, 47/218 A of 23 December
1992, 48/226 A of 23 December 1993, 48/226 B of 5 April 1994, 48/226 C of 29
July 1994 and 49/250 of 20 July 1995 and its decisions 48/489 of 8 July 1994,
49/469 of 23 December 1994 and 50/473 of 23 December 1995,
 
      Having considered the report of the Board of Auditors on the audit of
the support account for peace-keeping operations for the period ended 30
September 1995, the report of the Secretary-General on the support account and
the related report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary
Questions, and the views expressed by Member States in the Fifth Committee,
 
      Reaffirming the need to continue to improve the administrative and
financial management of peace-keeping operations,
 
      1.    Takes note with appreciation of the report submitted by the Board
of Auditors on its audit of the support account for peace-keeping operations;
 
      2.    Also takes note of the observations and recommendations contained
in the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary
Questions, subject to the provisions of the present resolution;
 
      3.    Decides, pending its consideration of the report of the Secretary-
General at the second part of its resumed fiftieth session, in May 1996:
 
      (a)   To authorize the extension until 30 June 1996 of the 61 temporary
posts previously authorized in paragraph 12 of its resolution 49/250;
 
      (b)   To authorize the amounts of 50,000 United States dollars for
general temporary assistance, 40,000 dollars for overtime, 60,000 dollars for
travel, 189,500 dollars for training and 660,100 dollars for common services,
until 30 June 1996, to be financed on the basis of the current funding
methodology and formula;
 
      4.    Also decides to revert to the proposals of the Secretary-General
for the support account for the period from 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1997 at the
second part of its resumed session, in May 1996;
 
      5.    Requests the Secretary-General in this regard to address the
issues contained in the report of the Advisory Committee;
 
      6.    Also requests the Secretary-General to ensure that all submissions
relating to the backstopping at Headquarters of peace-keeping operations are
presented in the context of the report on the support account;
 
      7.    Recognizes the temporary nature of support account posts and
decides in this regard that measures introduced by the Secretary-General in
connection with the regular budget shall not be extended to those posts;
 
      8.    Requests the Board of Auditors to keep under review the issue of
the role and use of extrabudgetary resources, including the use of personnel
loaned by departments and offices at Headquarters supporting peace-keeping
operations, and to report to the General Assembly thereon as appropriate;
 
      9.    Requests the Secretary-General to present in each report on the
support account information on the use of trust funds, including the scope of
activities financed by them;
 
      10.   Also requests the Secretary-General to keep Member States informed
on the establishment of trust funds as well as on the possibilities for their
use.
 
                                        B
 
 
      The General Assembly,
 
      Recalling its resolutions 45/258 of 3 May 1991, 47/218 A of 23 December
1992, 48/226 A of 23 December 1993, 48/226 B of 5 April 1994, 48/226 C of 29
July 1994, 49/250 of 20 July 1995 and 50/221 A of 11 April 1996 and its
decisions 48/489 of 8 July 1994, 49/469 of 23 December 1994 and 50/473 of 23
December 1995,
 
      Having considered the reports of the Secretary-General on the support
account for peace-keeping operations and the related report of the Advisory
Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, and the views expressed
by Member States in the Fifth Committee,
 
      Reaffirming the need to continue to improve the administrative and
financial management of peace-keeping operations,
 
      Noting the recent notable decline in peace-keeping expenditure and
recognizing that this should, in due course, lead to a commensurate decline in
backstopping requirements funded through the support account for peace-keeping
operations,
 
      Recognizing the need for adequate support during the liquidation and
termination phases of peace-keeping operations,
 
      1.    Takes note of the reports of the Secretary-General on the support
account for peace-keeping operations;
 
      2.    Takes note also of the observations and recommendations contained
in the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary
Questions;
 
      3.    Approves, on a provisional basis and for the period from 1 July
1996 to 30 June 1997, the proposals of the Secretary-General with regard to
post and non-post resource requirements as contained in his report of 29
February 1996 and his proposals with regard to the proposed funding mechanism
as amended by the Advisory Committee in paragraphs 35 to 37 and annex II to
its report, subject to the provisions of the present resolution;
 
      4.    Requests the Secretary-General, in the context of his revised
estimates for peace-keeping operations, which are subject to budgetary
fluctuations as defined in General Assembly resolution 49/233 A of 23 December
1994, to present it with information on the impact that such fluctuations
would have on the support account;
 
      5.    Also requests the Secretary-General, in this regard and on the
assumption that the overall level of peace-keeping activities will remain at
current levels, to submit revised resource estimates for the support account
by 15 November 1996, with a view to reducing, to the extent possible, the post
and non-post requirements for the backstopping of peace-keeping operations at
Headquarters and, to a commensurate level, the number of officers on loan from
Member States to the Department of Peace-keeping Operations, to reflect the
recent notable decline in peace-keeping expenditure;
 
      6.    Further requests the Secretary-General to submit a performance
report on the operation of the support account in the context of the annual
consideration by the General Assembly of his proposals for the support
account, including information on redeployments, if any, between units;
 
      7.    Requests the Secretary-General, in preparing his annual proposals
for the support account, and taking into consideration the temporary nature of
the current level of resources, to review and substantiate comprehensively the
entire post and non-post requirements for the support account;
 
      8.    Also requests the Secretary-General, in preparing his report on
the support account for the period from 1 July 1997 to 30 June 1998, to submit
a comprehensive proposal on the total requirement for human resources from all
sources of funding for the backstopping of peace-keeping operations, including
posts financed from the regular budget and trust funds, officers on loan from
Member States and other voluntary contributions during the period from 1 July
1996 to 30 June 1997, to enable the General Assembly to decide on the level of
human resources required, including whether such posts should continue to be
financed by means other than through assessed contributions;
 
      9.    Further requests the Secretary-General, in preparing his report on
the use of the support account for the period from 1 July 1997 to 30 June
1998, to submit proposals that reflect as closely as possible the overall
evolution of peace- keeping budgets and any additional relevant observations
and recommendations regarding the lessons learned from the previous year of
operation of the support account;
 
      10.   Decides, in particular in the context of its consideration of the
above- mentioned proposals, to review the operation of the funding mechanism
referred to in paragraph 3 above, taking into account past experience and the
decline in the level of peace-keeping activities, on the understanding that,
unless otherwise decided, the funding mechanism set out in paragraphs 3 to 5
of its resolution 49/250 will be restored as from 1 July 1997;
 
      11.   Reiterates the provisions contained in paragraphs 8 and 9 of its
resolution 49/250 and paragraph 7 of resolution 50/221 A;
 
      12.   Reiterates its request to the Board of Auditors to keep under
review the issue of the role and use of extrabudgetary resources, including
the use of personnel loaned by departments and offices at Headquarters
supporting peace- keeping operations, in particular the issue of the impact on
the geographic distribution of staff in the Secretariat, and to report thereon
to the General Assembly as appropriate;
 
      13.   Again recalls its resolution 48/226 C, and requests the Secretary-
General to submit to it, no later than 1 September 1996, a detailed report on
various aspects related to the provision of personnel by Member States on loan
to the Department of Peace-keeping Operations;
 
      14.   Decides to keep under review the proposed transfer of twenty-six
posts from the support account to section 3 (Peace-keeping operations and
special missions) and section 26B (Office of Programme Planning, Budget and
Accounts) of the programme budget for the biennium 1996-1997, and to consider
the issue further in the context of the first performance report on the
programme budget to be submitted to the General Assembly at its fifty-first
session; 
 
      15.   Reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to present, in
each report on the support account, information on the establishment and use
of trust funds, including the scope of activities financed by them;
 
      16.   Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the transfer of
posts from the Office of Human Resources Management to the Department of
Peace- keeping Operations is fully implemented no later than 30 June 1996;
 
      17.   Decides to abolish the following posts:
 
      (a)   One General Service post in the Executive Office of the Office of
the Under-Secretary-General for Peace-keeping Operations;
 
      (b)   One General Service post in the Peace-keeping Financing Division
of the Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts;
 
      (c)   Two General Service posts in the Mail Operations Unit of the
Buildings Management Service of the Office of Conference and Support Services;
 
      (d)   Two General Service posts in the Electronic Services Division of
the Office of Conference and Support Services;
 
      (e)   Twelve posts in departments other than the Department of Peace-
keeping Operations, to be determined by the Secretary-General, of which at
least two are in the Department of Administration and Management;
 
      18.   Decides also to establish the following posts:
 
      (a)   Two Professional posts, at the P-5 and P-3 levels, in the Audit
and Management Consulting Division of the Office of Internal Oversight
Services;
 
      (b)   Six Professional posts at the P-4 level in the Mission Planning
Service of the Department of Peace-keeping Operations, subject to post
classification review and full observance of normal recruitment procedures.