A/RES/54/248
Page 3
B
UTILIZATION OF CONFERENCE-SERVICING RESOURCES AND FACILITIES
Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on the provision of interpretation services to
meetings of regional and other major groupings of Member States, 3 the report of the Secretary-General on
the improved utilization of conference facilities at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, 4 the report of the
Secretary-General on the possibility of establishing a permanent interpretation service at the United Nations
Office at Nairobi, 5 the report of the Secretary-General on the impact of economy measures on the delivery
of mandated conference services, 6 the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary
Questions on these issues 7 and the report of the Secretary-General on career development in language
services,8
1. Notes with concern the proposed reduction of resources for conference services for the biennium
2000-2001, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure that efficiency measures are carefully analysed to
avoid any negative impact on conference services, in the light of the level and quality of services provided
to Member States;
2. Emphasizes the importance of providing adequate conference-servicing resources to all United
Nations conference centres;
3. Notes with appreciation that the overall utilization factor for 1998 exceeded the benchmark of
80 per cent, in particular at Geneva and Vienna;
4. Encourages the optimum utilization of conference services in New York, taking into full
consideration issues of efficiency and effectiveness, including the limitations of small delegations;
5. Emphasizes, therefore, the need to ensure equal opportunity for all Member States to participate
fully in meeting their obligations under the Charter of the United Nations, and in this connection urges
intergovernmental bodies when adopting their programmes of work to avoid as much as possible, inter alia,
the scheduling of simultaneous, parallel and/or late night meetings;
6. Reiterates its request to the Committee on Conferences to continue to consult with those bodies
that consistently utilized less than the applicable benchmark figure of their allocated resources for the past
3
A/54/208.
4
A/54/221.
5
A/54/262.
6
A/53/833.
7
Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 7 (A/54/7),
paras. 108-114.
8
A/53/919 and Add.2.
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