A/RES/57/305 paragraph 7, of resolution 55/258, to continue to develop a comprehensive monitoring system and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session; V Consultants and individual contractors 1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;6 2. Reaffirms that consultants shall not perform functions of staff members of the Organization or have any representative or supervisory responsibility; 3. Reiterates that the Secretary-General should refrain from using consultants to carry out functions assigned to established posts and that consultants should be hired only in strict accordance with existing rules and relevant General Assembly resolutions and where expertise is not available within the Organization; 4. Also reiterates that in areas where consultants are frequently hired for a period of more than one year, the Secretary-General should submit proposals, where necessary, for the establishment of posts and should report thereon to the General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session; 5. Reaffirms the guidelines, principles and comments contained in section VIII, paragraph 11, of resolution 53/221; 6. Takes note of the recommendation contained in paragraph 5 of the report of the Advisory Committee;3 7. Endorses the recommendation made by the Committee for Programme and Coordination at its forty-second session that the Secretary-General should make greater efforts to ensure geographical balance among qualified consultants and individual contractors;7 8. Requests the Secretary-General to report biennially, starting at its fifty-ninth session, on the use of consultants and individual contractors within the Secretariat and the regional commissions and the factors contributing to that, with statistics for each year of the two-year period, including information on their duties; VI Employment of retired former staff 1. Endorses the conclusions and recommendations on the employment of retired former staff contained in paragraphs 10, 11, 13 and 14 of the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions;3 2. Requests the Secretary-General to have recourse to the employment of retired former staff only if the operational requirements of the Organization cannot be met by existing staff; 3. Also requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the employment of retired former staff has no adverse effects on the career planning and mobility of other United Nations staff members; _______________ 6 7 8 A/57/310. Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 16 (A/57/16), para. 45.