A/RES/51/220 Page 2 2. Also reaffirms that the outline should provide a greater level of predictability of resources required for the following biennium, promote a greater involvement of Member States in the budgetary process and thereby facilitate the broadest possible agreement on the programme budget; 3. Takes note of the report of the Committee for Programme and Coordination2 and the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions;3 4. Invites the Secretary-General to prepare his proposed programme budget for the biennium 1998-1999 on the basis of a total preliminary estimate of 2,512 million United States dollars at initial 1996-1997 rates, recosted to 2,480 million dollars at revised 1996-1997 rates; 5. Decides that the contingency fund shall be set at the level of 0.75 per cent of the preliminary estimate at 1998-1999 rates, namely at 19 million dollars; 6. Also decides that the proposed programme budget for the biennium 1998-1999 shall contain provisions for recosting on the basis of the existing methodology; 7. Further decides that the preliminary estimate of resources for the proposed programme budget for the biennium 1998-1999 does not include a provision for special missions for which there are no legislative mandates; 8. following: (a) Decides that the priorities for the biennium 1998-1999 are the Maintenance of international peace and security; (b) Promotion of sustained economic growth and sustainable development, in accordance with relevant General Assembly resolutions and recent United Nations conferences; (c) Development of Africa; (d) Promotion of human rights; (e) Effective coordination of humanitarian assistance efforts; (f) Promotion of justice and international law; (g) Disarmament; (h) Drug control, crime prevention and combating international terrorism in all its forms and manifestations; 9. Requests the Secretary-General to submit, in the context of his proposed programme budget for the biennium 1998-1999, the following information: (a) Outputs deferred, postponed or curtailed in 1996-1997 and their disposition in the proposed programme budget for the biennium 1998-1999; (b) Number of posts for the biennium by section and by category; (c) Proposed vacancy rate for the Professional and the General Service categories for budgetary purposes; /...