A/RES/52/206 Page 2 Recognizing that training activities should be accorded a more visible and larger 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 in view of the growing importance of training within the United Nations and the training requirements of States, and the pertinence of research activities related to training undertaken by the Institute within its mandate; 2. Invites the Institute to strengthen further its cooperation with other United Nations institutes and relevant national, regional and international institutes, as well as with projects; 3. 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 successful restructuring and revitalization of the Institute; 4. Stresses the need for an effective division of labour among the main training and research institutions of the United Nations system, taking into account the distinct and complementary mandates of the United Nations University, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research and the United Nations Staff College Project, and in this regard notes the recommendations of the Joint Inspection Unit; 5. Also stresses the need for better coordination among the main training and research institutions of the United Nations system, and in this regard notes the recommendations of the Joint Inspection Unit; 6. Further stresses in this regard the need for the General Assembly to consider all major training issues in a coherent manner without prejudice to its resolution 50/227 of 24 May 1996; 7. Welcomes the initiative of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Director to explore the possibilities for the Institute to become a partner of the agencies and bodies of the United Nations system with respect to their training programmes, especially for developing countries and countries with economies in transition, consistent with the division of labour; 8. Requests the Board of Trustees to attract, to the extent possible, experts from developing countries and countries with economies in transition for the preparation of the relevant training materials for the programmes and activities of the Institute; 9. Calls upon the Secretary-General to explore all possible ways and means to provide additional facilities to the Institute for conducting programmes and training courses that are provided at no cost to States and to their representatives accredited to United Nations offices in New York, Nairobi, Geneva and Vienna; 10. Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Institute, as well as with the United Nations funds and programmes, to explore ways and modalities to utilize systematically the Institute in the execution of training and capacity-building programmes; 11. Also requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-third session on the implementation of the present resolution. 77th plenary meeting 18 December 1997