THIRD OVERSIGHT COORDINATION MEETING HELD AT HEADQUARTERS 27 OCTOBER

Press Release
ORG/1292

THIRD OVERSIGHT COORDINATION MEETING HELD AT HEADQUARTERS 27 OCTOBER

New York, 28 October 1999 (JIU) -- The United Nations Board of Auditors, the Joint Inspection Unit and the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) held their Third Tripartite Coordination Meeting at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 27 October 1999.

The meeting was hosted by the Chairman of the JIU, Louis-Dominique Ouedraogo. The Board of Auditors delegation was headed by its Chairman, Osei Tutu Prempeh, Auditor-General of Ghana, and the OIOS delegation was headed by Under-Secretary-General Karl T. Paschke. The purpose of the meeting was to further enhance coordination of activities and cooperation among the three oversight bodies.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan addressed the meeting and stressed the crucial importance of oversight for the reform process in the United Nations. He encouraged the three oversight bodies to ensure effective coordination of their efforts, but underlined the need to distinguish between external and internal oversight functions and to respect the separate and distinct roles of each. Recognizing the significant contribution of the oversight bodies to major improvements achieved in the Organization, he urged that with appropriate resources still more is needed from them. He called for an increasingly proactive role of the oversight bodies in identifying and proposing specific measures to improve operations.

The Secretary-General stressed that effective oversight could help to promote trust in the Administration and achieve their goal of moving from micro-management to accountability. In conclusion, the Secretary- General expressed his great personal appreciation to Under-Secretary- General Paschke for having truly served the United Nations well by setting new standards that have been widely recognized inside and outside the Organization (complete remarks issued separately as SG/SM/7198 issued 27 October).

Topics discussed at the meeting included the impact of oversight services in the United Nations during the last five years, the need for internal oversight of jointly financed administrative activities, information technology as an oversight tool and its related security requirements, the experience of oversight activities in the United Nations system by non-United Nations oversight bodies, and the implementation of recommendations by oversight bodies.

- 2 - Press Release ORG/1292 29 October 1999

Participants concurred that oversight bodies have contributed significantly to reform in the United Nations over the past five years, a fact which has been recognized both by Member States and by senior management. There was consensus on the need for internal oversight regarding the administrative activities of jointly financed inter- secretariat units, subject to further consultations, including with the Administrative Coordination Committee. The significant impact of information technology for the oversight function was noted, and the participants agreed that oversight bodies need to integrate traditional oversight and information technology skills, while ensuring that general oversight principles will still apply in an information technology environment. Concern was expressed about the need to address the increasing intrusion of oversight activities in the UN system by non-UN oversight bodies. Information was presented to the meeting by the JIU regarding efforts to follow-up on oversight recommendations.

The Fourth Tripartite Oversight Coordination Meeting will be held in 2000 at the invitation of the Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services.

* *** *