A/RES/51/211
Page 5
C
The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolution 50/206 D of 23 December 1995,
Stressing the need to provide Member States and United Nations bodies
with more comprehensive and accurate information on the costs of meetings and
documentation,
Noting that the introduction of new technologies enhances the quality,
cost-effectiveness and efficiency of conference services,
Stressing the importance of equal access to, and benefit from, the
optical disk system and other new technologies in all six official languages
by all Member States and the need to overcome the difficulties faced by some
Member States, in particular developing countries, in acquiring the technology
to access the optical disk system, as well as other available technologies,
Welcoming the actions taken by the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on
Informatics of the Economic and Social Council to expand and improve
connectivity between United Nations databases and those of Member States,
including through their permanent missions, and the training programmes
initiated to that end,
Appreciating the relevance of these actions as part of the effort to
increase efficiency and to decrease costs,
1.
Strongly urges the Secretary-General, as a matter of priority,
having recourse to voluntary and internal expertise within the United Nations
system, to develop the cost-accounting system for conference services no later
than the next substantive session of the Committee on Conferences;
2.
Requests the Secretary-General to report, through the Committee on
Conferences, to each subsidiary organ of the General Assembly and the Economic
and Social Council on the cost of conference services it utilized in the year
concluded in order to enable those organs to plan more effectively;
3.
Decides that, in the absence of a General Assembly decision to the
contrary, the use of such technologies as the optical disk system and the
Internet shall not constitute an alternative to traditional documents;
4.
Strongly urges the Secretary-General, as a matter of priority, to
provide proposals to the Fifth Committee at the first part of the resumed
fifty-first session, in accordance with paragraph 3 of General Assembly
resolution 50/206 D, on facilitating access by developing countries to the
optical disk system in all six official languages, taking into account the
possible savings from reduced reproduction and distribution costs;
5.
Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the texts of all new
public documents, in all six official languages, and information materials of
the United Nations are made available through the United Nations Web site
daily and are accessible to Member States without delay;
6.
Also requests the Secretary-General to complete the task of
uploading all important older United Nations documents on the United Nations
Web site on a priority basis, so that these archives are also available to
Member States through that medium.
89th plenary meeting
18 December 1996
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