A/RES/53/221 Page 10 2. Notes with concern the observation of the Board of Auditors that the inadequacies earlier identified by the Board in the hiring of consultants persist;10 3. Reiterates its request that the recommendations of the Board of Auditors as endorsed in General Assembly resolution 51/226 and its resolution 53/204 of 18 December 1998 be fully implemented, and requests the Secretary-General to submit a report through the Board to the Assembly at the main part of its fifty-fourth session; 4. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to submit an annual report to the General Assembly on consultants hired by the United Nations during the preceding year, with an indication of their functions; 5. Takes note of the comments on consultants made by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions in paragraph 15 of its report,2 and requests the Secretary-General to ensure full compliance with the provisions of section VI, paragraph 7, of its resolution 51/226; 6. 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 accordance with the existing rules and relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and where in-house expertise is not available in the Organization; 7. Emphasizes 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; 8. Stresses that consultants should generally not receive training at the expense of the United Nations; 9. Notes with concern that 31 per cent of contractors were hired from only four Member States and were paid 38 per cent of total fees during the biennium 1996–1997, and requests the Secretary-General to take remedial measures in this regard; 10. Reaffirms the principle contained in a recommendation of the Board of Auditors and endorsed in General Assembly resolution 51/226 that the objective of attracting consultants on a wider geographical basis should be achieved, inter alia, by fixing appropriate norms and by closer interaction with substantive offices and requesting units at all duty stations; 11. Takes note of the guidelines contained in the report of the Secretary-General9 subject to the following provisions: (a) There should be a separation of functions between the requesting officers and the officer who processes the contract; (b) The approved terms of reference should form part of the contract; (c) The selection of consultants and individual contractors should be on a wider geographical basis and the question of travel expenses should not distort the geographical balance in the awarding of contracts; 10 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-third Session, Supplement No. 5 (A/53/5), vol. I, chap. II. /...