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If we do not take into account the recommendations requiring additional resources,
according to the Secretary-General’s report if all the proposed cost-saving measures
were to be implemented and respected, the treaty body system would achieve potential
annual savings amounting to 20.6 mil. USD.
3.4 General Assembly Resolution 68/268
In April 2014, based on the development described above, the General Assembly
adopted a resolution 68/268 on
Strengthening and enhancing the effective functioning of
the human rights treaty body system.
The resolution contains the outcome of the whole
process in the form of 41 particular measures whose implementation is supported by
the UN General Assembly.
It is appropriate to mention at least the fundamental provisions and to distinguish
them with regard to their character according to their relationship to resourcing
needs. First, the supported measures with cost-saving effect are the following:
•
word limits on state party documentation
•
word limits on treaty body documentation
•
reducing the languages of translation of treaty body documentation
•
reducing the working languages for document translation
•
reducing the translations of summary records
•
adjusting rules for travel of experts
Second, the measures that are supported by the UN General Assembly resolution
and that would require additional resources are the following:
•
additional meeting time
•
webcasting
•
videoconferencing
•
capacity-building of states to comply with their treaty obligations
Among other measures that are difficult to assign to one of the above groups, the
following ones should be mentioned:
•
using the simplified reporting procedure
•
harmonization of working methods of different treaty bodies
•
implementation of the guidelines on the independence and impartiality of
the treaty body members
27
From the point of view of financing the system, the idea of the final resolution is
that the resources saved within the first group of measures (roughly 20 mil. USD) can
be used for the second one, primarily for provision of additional meeting time. Based
on the resolution each of the treaty bodies will receive an additional meeting time of
two weeks annually and the amount of meeting time will be reviewed biennially and
amended on the basis of actual reporting.
27
Guidelines on the independence and impartiality of members of the human rights treaty bodies (‘the
Addis Ababa guidelines‘), A/67/222, Annex I.