A/RES/52/248 Page 3 10. Reaffirms that the expenses of the Organization, including backstopping of peacekeeping operations, shall be borne by Member States, and, to that effect, the Secretary-General should request adequate funding to maintain the capacity of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the Secretariat; 11. Decides to maintain for the period 1 July 1998 to 30 June 1999 the funding mechanism for the support account used in the current period, from 1 July 1997 to 30 June 1998, as provisionally approved in paragraph 3 of its resolution 50/221 B; 12. Expresses its concern over the continuing acceptance of gratis personnel in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations; 13. Notes the commitment of the Secretary-General4 to phase out gratis personnel and to replace them with United Nations-funded personnel by the end of February 1999, as presented to the Fifth Committee at its resumed 68th meeting on 26 June 1998;5 14. Reiterates its request in paragraph 26 of its resolution 51/239 A; 15. Requests the Secretary-General expeditiously to fill vacant support account posts in a transparent manner consistent with the Charter of the United Nations, in particular Articles 100 and 101, relevant resolutions and the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations, including the requirement regarding the use of official or working languages; 16. Approves four hundred support account-funded temporary posts for the period from 1 July 1998 to 30 June 1999; 17. Also approves the proposal for conversion of the posts mentioned in paragraph 19 of the report of the Secretary-General,1 subject to paragraph 16 above, and requests the Secretary-General to undertake functions currently carried out by type II gratis personnel within the level of approved posts, as reflected in paragraph 16, through recruitment, redeployment and changes in work distribution, bearing in mind the recommendations of the Advisory Committee with respect to the recruitment process, to ensure the required expertise of serving military officers and civilian police, in accordance with Articles 97, 100 and 101 of the Charter of the United Nations; 18. Further approves the support account post and non-post requirements for the period from 1 July 1998 to 30 June 1999 in the amount of 34.4 million United States dollars; 19. Notes that the Advisory Committee intends to report in September 1998, having completed its detailed post-by-post justification on the basis of the information provided, on the workload of all posts, in accordance with resolutions 51/243 and 51/239 A, and would welcome its advice, as well as that of the Secretary-General, on the structure of those departments dealing with backstopping of peacekeeping operations, including issues of coordination and overlap; 4 See A/C.5/52/54. See also A/C.5/52/54/Rev.1, circulated on 14 July 1998. 5 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-second Session, Fifth Committee, 68th meeting (A/C.5/52/SR.68/Add.1), and corrigendum. /...