A/RES/51/241 Page 8 Assembly. XVII. OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE SECRETARIAT: EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL MECHANISMS 48. The Secretariat shall be held strictly accountable for implementing mandates within allocated budgets. 49. For the Secretariat to operate efficiently in fulfilling mandates, micromanagement of the Secretariat by the General Assembly should be avoided. 50. The Secretary-General is encouraged to submit proposals to the General Assembly to improve the presentation of the programme performance report so as to enable the Committee for Programme and Coordination and the Main Committees of the General Assembly, without prejudice to the provisions of section VI of resolution 45/248 B of 21 December 1990, as reaffirmed in resolution 51/221 of 18 December 1996, to consider the portions of the report related to their substantive work with reference to the medium-term plan, with a view to facilitating the consideration of the programme performance report by the Fifth Committee. 51. There shall be a more detailed and structured examination in the Main Committees of the relevant reports of the Board of Auditors, the Joint Inspection Unit and the Office of Internal Oversight Services in relation to the substantive work of these Committees. 52. Accountability and intergovernmental oversight shall be improved by periodic coordination meetings between the Board of Auditors, the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions and the Joint Inspection Unit, with appropriate input from the Office of Internal Oversight Services. 53. "Question time" in all Main Committees would enable a dynamic and candid interchange with responsible Secretariat officials to facilitate the work of the Main Committees in their assessment of fulfilment of mandates, productivity and related issues. 54. Every effort should be made to ensure that the measures referred to above take into account and are mutually reinforcing of the programme evaluation activities carried out by other competent intergovernmental bodies. XVIII. AREAS FOR MORE INTENSIVE WORK BY OVERSIGHT MACHINERY 55. The relevant bodies should request the external and internal oversight machinery to give early attention to, among others, the following areas and to report thereon periodically to the General Assembly: (a) Practice and procedures in the employment of consultants; (b) Practice and procedures in short-term contract employment; (c) Practice and procedures with respect to recruitment; (d) Productivity gains actually achieved from investment in technology and the impact of the postponement/deferral of upgrading technological systems on the long-term functioning of the Organization; (e) Practice and procedures for appointments at the senior level; /...