A/HRC/RES/13/1 more than half of the posts of the Office of the High Commissioner and for more posts than the four remaining regional groups combined, Reaffirming the importance of continuing the ongoing efforts to address the imbalance regarding the regional representation of the staff of the Office of the High Commissioner, Underlining that the paramount consideration for employing staff at every level is the need for the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, and taking into account Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, expressing its conviction that this objective is compatible with the principle of equitable geographical distribution, Reaffirming that the Fifth Committee is the appropriate Main Committee of the General Assembly entrusted with responsibilities for administrative and budgetary matters, 1. Expresses its serious concern at the fact that, despite the measures taken by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the imbalance in the geographical representation of its composition continues to be prominent, and that a single region occupies more posts in both the professional and technical categories, as well as permanent and temporary categories, than the other four regions all together; 2. Welcomes the statement made by the High Commissioner in her report that achieving geographical balance in the staff of her Office will remain one of her priorities, and requests the High Commissioner to continue to take all measures needed to redress the current imbalance in geographical distribution of the staff of the Office; 3. Notes the increase in the past three years in the percentage of staff from regions identified as requiring better representation, and the various measures proposed and already taken to address the imbalance in geographical distribution of the staff, while noting with concern the small increase in 2009 and no change in the status of the prominent region, and stresses the need to implement additional measures to redress the prominent imbalance in a more expeditious way; 4. Takes note of the progress achieved towards improved geographic diversity in the staff of the Office, and takes note also of the commitment of the High Commissioner to remain attentive to the need to maintain the emphasis on the broadest possible geographic diversity of her Office, as stated in the conclusion of her report; 5. Requests the High Commissioner to work on the broadest geographical diversity of her staff by enhancing the implementation of measures to achieve a better representation of countries and regions that are unrepresented or underrepresented, particularly from the developing world, while considering applying a zero-growth cap on the representation of countries and regions already overrepresented in the Office of the High Commissioner; 6. Welcomes the efforts made towards the achievement of a gender balance in the composition of the staff and the decision to continue to pay special attention to this issue; 7. Requests future High Commissioners to continue to enhance the ongoing efforts made in the fulfilment of the goal of a geographical balance in the composition of the staff of the Office; 8. Underlines the importance of continuing to promote geographical diversity in the recruitment of and promotion to high-level and Professional posts, including senior managers, as a principle of the staffing policies of the Office of the High Commissioner; 2