Pattern of conferences A/RES/71/262 the necessity of reviewing its provisional biennial calendar of conferences and meetings in the light of the ongoing intergovernmental consultations on the further strengthening of the Council; II Utilization of conference-servicing resources 10. Reaffirms the practice that, in the use of conference rooms, priorit y must be given to meetings of Member States; 11. Calls upon the Secretary-General and Member States to adhere to the guidelines and procedures contained in the administrative instruction for the authorization of the use of United Nations premises for me etings, conferences, special events and exhibits; 5 12. Emphasizes that such meetings, conferences, special events and exhibits must be consistent with the purposes and principles of the United Nations; 13. Notes that the overall utilization factor for all calendar bodies at the four main duty stations in 2015 was 80 per cent, as it was in 2014, as compared with 78 per cent in 2013, and thus met the established benchmark of 80 per cent; 14. Requests the Committee on Conferences to consult those bodies that have consistently utilized less than the applicable benchmark of their allocated resources for the past six years, with a view to making appropriate recommendations in order to achieve the optimum utilization of conference-servicing resources; 15. Urges the secretariats and bureaux of bodies that underutilize their conference-servicing resources to work more closely with the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management of the Secretariat and to consider changes to their programmes of work, as appropriate, including adjustments based on previous patterns of recurring agenda items, with a view to making improvements in their utilization factors; 16. Urges those intergovernmental bodies whose average utilization factor has for the past six years been below the benchmark of 80 per cent to take that factor into account when planning their future sessions in order to achieve that benchmark; 17. Reiterates its request to intergovernmental bodies to review their meeting entitlements and to plan and adjust their programmes of work on the basis of their actual utilization of conference-servicing resources in order to improve their efficient use of conference services; 18. Recognizes that late starts and unplanned early endings seriously affect the utilization factor of the bodies owing to the amount of time lost, and invites the secretariats and bureaux of bodies to pay adequate attention to avoiding late starts and unplanned early endings; 19. Welcomes the steps taken by those bodies that have adjusted their programmes of work in order to achieve the optimum utilization of conference servicing resources; _______________ 5 ST/AI/416. 3/14