A/RES/64/259 Having considered the report of the Secretary-General entitled “Towards an accountability system in the United Nations Secretariat”, 1 the related report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions 2 and the report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services on the review of the practice of the Secretariat regarding the sharing of information contained in reports of consultants on management-related issues, 3 0F 1F 2F 1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;1 2. Endorses the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,2 subject to the provisions of the present resolution; 3. Reaffirms its role with regard to the structure of the Secretariat, and stresses that proposals to amend the overall departmental structure, as well as the format of the programme budget and the biennial programme plan, are subject to its review and prior approval; Requests the Joint Inspection Unit to submit to the General Assembly, for 4. consideration at the main part of its sixty-seventh session, a comparative analysis report on various accountability frameworks in the United Nations system; Reaffirms its commitment to strengthening accountability in the United 5. Nations Secretariat and the accountability of the Secretary-General to Member States and the achievement of results, and urges the Secretary-General to further strengthen consultation with the oversight bodies with a view to ensuring accountability in the Secretariat; Stresses the importance of promoting a culture of accountability, results6. based management, enterprise risk management and internal controls at all levels in the Secretariat through the continued leadership and commitment of senior managers, and requests the Secretary-General to take appropriate measures to this end, including, inter alia, the training of relevant staff; Also stresses, as one of the essential components of accountability, the 7. importance of compliance with the Charter of the United Nations, its resolutions and the regulations and rules; A. Definition of accountability and roles and responsibilities 8. Decides that accountability shall be defined as follows: Accountability is the obligation of the Secretariat and its staff members to be answerable for all decisions made and actions taken by them, and to be responsible for honouring their commitments, without qualification or exception. Accountability includes achieving objectives and high-quality results in a timely and cost-effective manner, in fully implementing and delivering on all mandates to the Secretariat approved by the United Nations intergovernmental bodies and other subsidiary organs established by them in compliance with all resolutions, regulations, rules and ethical standards; truthful, objective, _______________ 1 A/64/640. A/64/683 and Corr.1. 3 A/64/587. 2 2