A/RES/53/221 Page 11 (d) In the awarding of contracts, gender balance should be achieved without prejudice to wide geographical distribution; (e) The Office of Human Resources Management of the Secretariat should have authority to take a final decision on whether further contracts should be awarded to contractors in the case of an unsatisfactory performance evaluation by a programme manager; 12. Requests the Secretary-General to circulate the revised guidelines as a matter of priority, throughout the Secretariat, with a view to ensuring full compliance; IX COMPOSITION OF THE SECRETARIAT 1. Notes with concern that twenty-four Member States were unrepresented and ten under-represented in the Secretariat as at 30 June 1998;11 2. Also notes with concern the significant reduction in the number of posts subject to geographical distribution at the P-2 and P-3 levels, as well as the increase in such posts at the D-2 and Assistant SecretaryGeneral levels; 3. Urges the Secretary-General to take the necessary measures, as a matter of priority, to address the imbalance in the post structure of the Secretariat in the context of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2000–2001, bearing in mind that more than one hundred posts subject to geographical distribution at the director level will be vacated by 2002 owing to the retirement of the present incumbents; 4. Requests the Secretary-General, when submitting future reports on the composition of the Secretariat, to discontinue the established practice of showing the representation of staff according to major geographical groupings as referred to in annex II to his report,12 and to list countries in alphabetical order; 5. Recalls that, in accordance with Article 97 of the Charter of the United Nations, the Secretariat shall comprise a Secretary-General and such staff as the Organization may require; 6. Reaffirms that no post should be considered the exclusive preserve of any Member State or group of States, including at the highest levels, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure that, as a general rule, no national of a Member State succeeds a national of that State in a senior post and that there is no monopoly on senior posts by nationals of any State or group of States; 7. Requests the Secretary-General to take all the necessary measures to ensure, at the senior and policymaking levels of the Secretariat, the equitable representation of Member States, especially those unrepresented and under-represented, in particular developing countries, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the 11 A/53/375 and Corr.1, para. 16. 12 A/53/375 and Corr.1. /...