Thank you, President.
We have the honour to brief you in our capacity as Co-Chairs of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Mandate Implementation Review, and pursuant to General Assembly resolution 80/251, provide the Assembly with an update on the progress of the Working Group at the end of the eightieth session.
The Secretary-General's UN80 Initiative continues to guide our collective effort to strengthen the effectiveness, efficiency and coherence of the United Nations. Attention to mandate creation, implementation and review remain one of the central workstreams of that Initiative and we are grateful for the sustained energy that Member States have brought to this task.
Within this session, resolution 80/251 set out four specific deliverables for the Working Group under paragraph 33(d): developing templates and model clauses, by the end of May 2026; consideration of the Secretary-General's review of mandated reports, by the end of July 2026; and developing criteria and modalities to guide decisions on the renewal, adaptation, merger, replacement or retirement of General Assembly mandates, both by the end of August 2026. President, we are grateful for this opportunity to report to the Assembly today on our progress against each deliverable.
President, Colleagues,
As called for under paragraph 33(d)(i) of the resolution, on 29th May 2026, we had the honour to transmit to Member States finalized concept note, resolution and decision templates, and model mandate implementation review and retirement clauses. These tools are intended to help Member States implement our agreement in resolution 80/251 to provide concise concept notes for new mandates, and to include mandate implementation review clauses in all new and renewing mandates. They reflect the sustained input of Member States and close consultation with the Secretariat. We remain grateful to all who contributed.
Delegations have been encouraged to use and adapt these tools for new or renewing resolutions initiated from 1st June onward, and we were pleased that the first concept note making use of them was submitted within days of their circulation. We wish to underline, as we did at the time, that these templates are offered as reference tools rather than rigid formats, recognizing that no single approach will fit every mandate, proponents remain free to adapt the model language, or to draft new clauses to suit circumstances the templates do not anticipate, or simply to fit the unique context of each mandate.
President,
Pursuant to paragraph 16 of resolution 80/251, the Secretariat was requested to review the full portfolio of the Secretary-General's mandated reports and to identify candidates for combination or a change in periodicity, for presentation to Member States by the end of June 2026. The Secretariat's note to this end was circulated at the end of June, and we convened the Working Group on 16 July to consider it.
Here, the Secretariat outlined practical improvements it intends to apply from September across its reporting, including concise update reports where there has been no material change, clearer word limits, and greater use of data and visual presentation. The secretariat also advised that specific recommendations arising from their reporting review would be brought forward when individual mandates come up for consideration or renewal in the respective mandating bodies.
For us as Member States, receiving and putting these recommendations into action will be a key task in the upcoming committee season.
President,
Paragraphs 33(d)(iii) and (iv) of resolution 80/251 task the Working Group with developing, respectively clear and objective criteria to guide decisions on the renewal, adaptation, merger, replacement or retirement of General Assembly mandates, and modalities to guide the review of the existing stock of such mandates. Given how closely related these two deliverables are, we chose to pursue them in tandem.
From an initial exchange of views on 2 June, we circulated a non-paper on 12 June and held hybrid workshops on 16 and 18 June, followed by a Working Group meeting on 16 July. We are truly grateful to the many delegations who engaged with us in the room on those occasions, as well as through written submissions.
All of these inputs culminated in a report of the Co-Chairs on criteria and modalities, which we circulated on 14 August 2026.
The report consolidates the inputs and reflections received into a practical framework comprising: agreed principles to be applied as criteria to guide Member States in assessing mandates, and a menu of flexible review modalities. We wish to stress, as the report itself makes clear, that it is offered as guidance rather than as a set of prescriptive requirements, and that no single criterion is intended to determine an outcome for any individual mandate.
On criteria, the report sets out nine principles drawn from paragraph 1 of the resolution, and from the understandings reached in our consultations. Building on these principles, the report proposes three core criteria for Member States to consider when assessing a mandate for renewal, adaptation, merger, replacement or retirement. Namely: whether the objectives have been achieved, the impact of its implementation, and its coherence with related mandates, together with supporting considerations covering the mandate's original design, its implementation status, its reporting requirements, duplication or fragmentation, and its resourcing. A checklist reflecting these criteria is also annexed to the report as a practical tool for Member States.
On modalities, the report reflects the broad convergence we heard that reviews of the existing stock of mandates should be undertaken primarily by the bodies that originated them consistent with their own working methods, with the Working Group serving as a forum for coordination and the exchange of lessons learned rather than as a central review mechanism. The report sets out a menu of modalities for Main Committees and other bodies to draw upon, including thematic clustering, adjustment of reporting periodicity, and consolidation of related mandates, together with continued strengthening of the Mandate Registry as a shared evidence base.
To test this framework in practice, we will invite volunteer groupings of Member States to undertake thematic pilot reviews, with the lessons learned informing any further refinement and scaling of review modalities. The report also clarifies that this work will continue to be informed by the Secretary-General's reports requested in 80/251.
President,
Member States have not yet had the opportunity to react to this report in a reconvened meeting of the Working Group, which we intend to convene shortly. What we have presented reflects our best effort as Co-Chairs to consolidate a genuinely broad range of views into a coherent, practical and usable framework. We wish to be clear that this report represents a further step in an ongoing and inclusive process, and not a concluded outcome. It does not prejudge the decisions of Member States, nor constitute the implementation of any review mechanism.
President,
We take this opportunity to thank again the Secretariat, for briefing the Working Group throughout the session on the practical tools being developed to support our work. Including on the launch of transcripts.un.org, and an expanded mandates.un.org registry, which we were informed will continue to grow in functionality. The Secretariat has also proposed a technical briefing,
with timing to be announced, to walk delegations through these tools in greater detail, and we would encourage the broadest possible participation.
We also wish to thank you, President of the General Assembly and your office, the Secretary-General and your Executive Office, and the broader Secretariat for their unfailing support, on both substance and logistics. Our collective work on mandates would not be possible without this.
President,
In line with resolution 80/251, we have sought today to give the Assembly an account of where our work stands at this juncture. We remain conscious that the tasks entrusted to us under Resolution 80/251 are not yet complete. Resolution 80/251 envisages that the Working Group's substantive consideration will continue beyond this session, and if called on to do so, we intend to use the period ahead to bring the criteria and modalities work to a landing that commands the broadest possible support among Member States.
Colleagues, your engagement and inputs throughout this period have been thoughtful, constructive, and Ambassadors and experts alike have been generous with your time. We take this opportunity to thank you all once again for your continued spirit of collaboration and collegiality. We are committed to carrying the momentum built during this session forward, so that the practical improvements we have begun, and the spirit of partnership that has carried us this far, continues to deliver tangible results for Member States and for the people the United Nations serves.
Thank you.