The General Assembly,
 
      Recalling its resolutions 47/227 of 8 April 1993, 48/207 of 21 December
1993, 49/125 of 19 December 1994 and 50/121 of 20 December 1995,
 
      Having considered the report of the Secretary-General, the report of the
Acting Executive Director of the United Nations Institute for Training and
Research on the activities of the Institute and the report of the Joint
Inspection Unit,
 
      Noting with interest the steps being taken to complete the restructuring
process of the Institute, and welcoming the recent progress made by the
Institute in its various programmes and activities, including the improved
cooperation that has been established with other organizations of the United
Nations system and with regional and national institutions,
 
      Expressing its appreciation to the Governments and private institutions
that have made or pledged financial and other contributions to the Institute,
 
      Welcoming the opening of the Institute's liaison office in New York
following the recommendation of the Board of Trustees of the Institute and the
relevant resolutions of the General Assembly,
 
      Reiterating that the funding of training programmes offered at the
specific request of Member States or departments and units of the Organization
and other organs of the United Nations system and the specialized agencies
should be arranged by the requesting parties,
 
      Recognizing that training activities should be accorded a larger and
more visible role in support of the management of international affairs and in
the execution of the economic and social development programmes of the United
Nations system,
 
      1.    Reaffirms the relevance of the United Nations Institute for
Training and Research, particularly in view of the growing importance of
training within the United Nations and the training requirements of all Member
States, and the pertinence of research activities related to training
undertaken by the Institute within its mandate;
 
      2.    Invites the Institute to strengthen its cooperation with other
United Nations institutes and relevant national, regional and international
institutes;
 
      3.    Requests that relevant measures be taken by the Board of Trustees
of the Institute with respect to the regularization of the post of Executive
Director of the Institute;
 
      4.    Renews its appeal to all Governments and to private institutions
that have not yet contributed financially or otherwise to the Institute to
give it their generous financial and other support, and urges the States that
interrupted their voluntary contributions to consider resuming them in the
light of the progress made in the restructuring and revitalization of the
Institute;
 
      5.    Takes note of the report of the Joint Inspection Unit on the
relocation of the Institute, and the subsequent decision of the Board of
Trustees of the Institute to postpone any decision on the possibility of
relocating the Institute;
 
      6.    Requests the Secretary-General to explore in consultation with the
Executive Director of the Institute, as well as with the heads of United
Nations programmes and funds, ways and modalities of cooperation, in order to
better define the role of the Institute in the fields of training, research
and methodology, assessment and capacity-building within the United Nations
system, and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its fifty-second
session; 
 
      7.    Requests the Joint Inspection Unit, in close cooperation with the
Institute and relevant United Nations bodies, to prepare a study, as
recommended by the Unit in its report, on the training institution programmes
and activities of the United Nations system, and to submit a report thereon
for consideration by the General Assembly at its fifty-second session.