Editorial Manual

Documents relating to programme budget implications

General Assembly  

According to rule 153 of the rules of procedure, no resolution involving expenditure may be recommended by a committee for approval by the General Assembly unless it is accompanied by an estimate of expenditures prepared by the Secretary-General. No resolution in respect of which expenditures are anticipated shall be voted on by the Assembly until the Fifth Committee has had an opportunity to state the effect of the proposal on the budget.

In the case of draft resolutions of the First, Second, Third, Fourth and Sixth Committees, the Secretary-General's statement of programme budget implications (referred to informally as a PBI) is issued as a document of the Main Committee to which the substantive item is allocated (see model 1).

After the draft resolution is adopted by the sponsoring Committee, the same statement of programme budget implications is submitted to the Fifth Committee, with the addition of a new introductory paragraph (see model 2). These documents should not be re-edited.

Subsequently, the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions submits a report on the same question to the General Assembly (see model 3).

The Fifth Committee adopts a decision informing the General Assembly of the cost of the proposal (see model 4).

In the case of draft resolutions on items allocated to the plenary rather than to a Main Committee, the process is similar, but because the statement of programme budget implications is submitted first to the Fifth Committee (see model 5), the text is new and must be edited.

Order of agenda items

In statements on draft resolutions of the First, Second, Third, Fourth and Sixth Committees, the substantive agenda item (i.e. the item allocated to that Committee) is listed first in the corner notation, followed by the budget item (see model 1).

Conversely, in documents of the Fifth Committee and the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, the budget item appears first in the corner notation, followed by the substantive item (see model 2).

Format and headings  

The format and sequence of headings are as follows:

The internal headings identified with roman numerals are coded as (H1).

There is no summary.

 
Economic and Social Council

Under rule 31 of the rules of procedure of the Economic and Social Council, before a proposal involving expenditure is approved by the Council, the Secretary-General must prepare an estimate of the programme budget implications of the proposal (see model 8).

The document is circulated under the relevant substantive agenda item.

Headings

The headings are as follows: