Committee for Programme and Coordination
Legislative Basis, Mandate & Terms of Reference
The Committee for Programme and Coordination (CPC) was established by Economic and Social Council resolution 920 (XXXIV) (1962)
Economic and Social Council resolution 2008 (LX) (1976) defines the Committee's terms of reference.
Chronology of Key General Assembly and ECOSOC Resolutions
1962: The Committee was established under the name "Special Committee on Coordination" by Economic and Social Council resolution on Special Committee on co-ordination with particular emphasis on the United Nations Development Decade. 920 (XXXIV) (1962)
1966: In its resolution 1171 (XLI) (1966) on Reports of the Special Committee on Coordination and the Joint Meeting of the Special Committee and the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination the Economic and Social Council decided
"to change the name of the Special Committee on Co-ordination to 'Committee for Programme and Co-ordination' to reflect better its dual responsibilities."
1976: The Economic and Social Council reviewed the terms of reference of the Committee for Programme and Coordination and approved the consolidated terms of reference as contained in the annex to resolution 2008 (LX) (1976).
Paragraph 6 of the annex to 2008 (LX) (1976) also stated that the reports of the Joint Inspection Unit concerning the economic, social and human rights programmes of the United Nations system, including the reports dealing with the United Nations Development Programme, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, should be examined by the Committee.
In its resolution 31/93 on the Medium Term Plan, the General Assembly approved the consolidated terms of reference as set out in 2008 (LX) (1976) and instructed the Committee for Programme and Coordination to:
- Review in depth, on a selective basis, the major programmes of the plan and to recommend any necessary amendments to the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly
- To determine which programmes, sub-programmes or programme elements are obsolete, or marginal usefulness or ineffective and to recommend, as appropriate, their curtailment or termination
- To assess the degree of substantive co-ordination of selected programme within the United Nations system and to recommend the appropriate action thereon
1987: By its decision 42/450, the General Assembly decided that the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination should, from 1988 onward, be composed of thirty-four States Members of the United Nations, elected for three-year terms on the basis of equitable geographical distribution, as follows:
- 9 seats for African States;
- 7 seats for Asia-Pacific States;
- 7 seats for Latin American and Caribbean States;
- 7 seats for Western European and other States,
- 4 seats for Eastern European States.
1996: In its resolution , the General Assembly decided that the agreed conclusions of the Council concerning the selection of cross-cutting themes common to major international conferences and/or the contribution to an overall review of the implimentation of the programme of action of a United Nations conference should be implemented. It was also agreed that the organizational session of the council, consideration should be given to choosing a second theme dealing with concrete sectoral issues. The General Assembly also decided that the Council should develop a focused dialogue on the chosen theme or themes with the funds and programmes, the regional commissions and the relevant specialized agencies, including the Bretton Woods institutions, as well as the World Trade Organization, as appropriate.
In the same resolution, the General Assembly decided that the functions of the joint meetings of the Administrative Committee on Coordination* and the Committee on Programme and Coordination, which were discontinued, should be assigned to this segment. The implementation of the agreed conclusions of this segment should be followed up in the general segment of the following year.
*The Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) was replaced by the Chief Executives Board (CEB) as a result of ECOSOC Decision .
2003: In its resolution on strengthening the United Nations: an agenda for further change , the General Assembly requested the Secretary General to prepare, on a trial basis, a two year strategic framework to replace the four year medium-term plan and decided to take a final decision at its sixty-second session, on the format, content and duration of the strategic framework.
Specifically, the Committee reviewed:
- The strategic framework in the off-budget years
- The programme budget in budget years
In the same resolution, the General Assembly also decided that the Committee for Programme and Coordination shall no longer consider the budget outline.
2004: General Assembly resolution on the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) invited the Committee for Programme and Coordination, in performing its programmatic, coordination, monitoring and evaluation functions to consider relevant reports of the JIU.
2006: In its resolution on Programme Planning the General Assembly recognized the role of the Committee for Programme and Coordination in monitoring and evaluation, and encouraged the Committee, in reviewing performance and evaluation reports, to provide, inter alia, action-oriented recommendations aimed at enhancing the effectiveness and impact of the activities of the United Nations.
2007: Further to resolution , the General Assembly at its sixty-second session, in its resolution , endorsed the recommendation of the Committee for Programme and Coordination to maintain the strategic framework as the principal policy directive of the United Nations, which serves as the basis for programme planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation, with effect from the biennium 2010-2011.
2017: In its resolution of 24 December 2017 on shifting the management paradigm in the United Nations, the Assembly, inter alia, approved the proposed change from a biennial to an annual budget period on a trial basis and decided that the proposed programme budget shall consist of:
- Part I: the plan outline, which endorses the long-term priorities and the objectives of the Organization;
- Part II: the programme plan for programmes and subprogrammes and programme performance information;
- Part III: the post and non-post resource requirements for the programmes and subprogrammes.
The General Assembly also decided that parts I and II would be submitted through the Committee for Programme and Coordination and part III through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions for the consideration of the General Assembly. The Assembly also decided that the plan outline shall be submitted every three years.
2022: In its resolution , entitled “Shifting the management paradigm in the United Nations: review of changes to the budgetary cycle”, the General Assembly decided to lift the trial period effective from 2023 and requested the Secretary-General to continue with the submission of the programme budget according to an annual cycle. The Assembly also requested the Secretary-General to conduct a comprehensive review on the annual cycle, including its financial, administrative and procedural impact, its impact on the implementation of mandates across sections of the programme budget and the workload and the associated costs, and to submit a report for consideration by the Assembly at the main part of its eighty-third session, in 2028.
In the same resolution, the General Assembly reaffirmed that no changes to the budget methodology, established budgetary procedures and practices or the financial regulations may be implemented without prior review and approval by the Assembly in accordance with established budgetary procedures and requested the Secretary-General to present any proposed changes to the Financial Regulations and Rules of the United Nations ( and ) and the Regulations and Rules Governing Programme Planning, the Programme Aspects of the Budget, the Monitoring of Implementation and the Methods of Evaluation () for the consideration of the Assembly.
Also in the same resolution, the General Assembly reaffirmed that parts I and II of the proposed programme budget shall be submitted through the Committee for Programme and Coordination and part III through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions for the consideration of the Assembly. It also reaffirmed the role of the Committee for Programme and Coordination as the main subsidiary organ of the Assembly and the Economic and Social Council for planning, programming and coordination, as well as in verifying that the programmes of activities of the Organization are implemented in line with the legislative mandates and that the full implementation of regulations and rules is ensured. The Assembly recommended that the Committee for Programme and Coordination, in accordance with its mandate, provide recommendations on all programmes of the proposed programme budget and recalled that it shall consider the proposed programme plans in accordance with its terms of reference, and appreciated the continuous efforts of the Committee to reach consensus on all programmes of the proposed programme budget.
Also in its resolution , the General Assembly reiterated that the Committee for Programme and Coordination and the Advisory Committee should examine the proposed programme budget in accordance with their respective mandates and, preserving the sequential nature of the review processes, submit their conclusions and recommendations to the Assembly for the final approval of the programme budget. It also decided that the sessions of the Committee for Programme and Coordination shall end no later than mid-June to ensure more time for substantial deliberation of the programmes and consultation with relevant United Nations bodies, starting from the sixty-fourth session of the Committee, in 2024, and requested the Secretary-General to assess a procedure to inform the Advisory Committee of possible resource implications that may result from the recommendations of the Committee for Programme and Coordination, for the consideration of the Assembly, to address the sequential nature of the review process under the annual cycle.
In the same resolution, the General Assembly also reiterated that whenever the Committee for Programme and Coordination could not provide conclusions and recommendations on a given subprogramme or programme of the proposed programme budget, the plenary or the relevant Main Committee or Main Committees of the Assembly responsible for those mandates would consider the said subprogramme or programme at the very start of its session in order to provide any conclusions and recommendations to the Fifth Committee, at the earliest opportunity, and no later than four weeks after the start of the session, for timely consideration by the Fifth Committee. The Assembly also decided that the Fifth Committee would consider the report of the Committee for Programme and Coordination at the earliest opportunity during the main part of the sessions of the Assembly, under the agenda item entitled “Programme planning”, and no later than the first week of November.
Also in the same resolution, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to ensure that all the Main Committees had access on their Committee Places of the e-deleGATE portal, for information purposes, before the start of the session, to the programmes of the proposed programme budget and the latest report of the Committee for Programme and Coordination.
In its resolution on programme planning, the General Assembly took note with appreciation of the work of the Committee for Programme and Coordination. The Assembly welcomed the Committee’s report and commended the progress made by the Committee at its sixty-second session and increased engagement by all relevant stakeholders, noted with appreciation that the number of programmes without conclusions and recommendations from the Committee had reduced that year, and noted the letters provided by the Chairs of the Main Committees of the Assembly.
In the same resolution, the General Assembly endorsed the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee on the proposed programme plan for 2023 and programme performance for 2021, contained in chapter II, section A, of its report on the work of its sixty-second session (), and requested the Secretary-General to ensure the timely implementation of the recommendations. The Assembly approved, on an exceptional basis and without creating a precedent, for programmes 3 and 20 of the proposed programme budget for 2023, a programme narrative that was composed solely of the list of mandates at the programme level and the objectives approved by the Assembly in its resolution and the deliverables for 2023 at the subprogramme level. It also approved, on an exceptional basis and without creating a precedent, for programmes 13 and 21 of the proposed programme budget for 2023, a programme narrative that was composed solely of the list of mandates at the programme level and the objectives approved by the Assembly in its resolution and the deliverables for 2023 at the subprogramme level. It further approved the programme plan for programme 6, Legal affairs, of the proposed programme budget for 2023, as contained in the report of the Secretary-General.
General Assembly Resolutions:
31/93 (1976) | (1996) | (2003) | (2004)
(2006) | (2007) | (2017) | (2022) | (2022)
General Assembly Decision:
42/450 (1987)
