UNITED NATIONS INDEPENDENT AUDIT ADVISORY COMMITTEE HOLDS SIXTH SESSION

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations (IAAC) held its sixth session in New York from 13 to 15 April 2009.  The session was presided over by the Chairman, David M. Walker, who in his opening remarks acknowledged the IAAC members’ perfect attendance at all sessions to date.  The session proceeded with the adoption of the meeting agenda and the summary record of proceedings of the IAAC’s fifth session held from 17 to 19 February 2009.

The IAAC’s agenda for the sixth session included meetings with:

-- The Under-Secretary-General for Management to follow-up on the status of implementation of oversight recommendations and current status of the enterprise risk management and internal control framework.

-- The United Nations Controller to discuss the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) proposed programme budget for the biennium 2010-2011.

-- The Under-Secretary-General and other representatives of OIOS on the proposed programme budget for OIOS for the biennium 2010-2011, including the basis for the budget; how OIOS conducts risk assessments; status of vacancies in OIOS; status of integration of the work of the Procurement Task Force into the Investigations Division; and provisions in the Investigations Manual for due process for staff in connection with investigations.

During this session, the IAAC reviewed the preliminary results of the survey it conducted recently on the effectiveness, efficiency and impact of OIOS functions.  The IAAC will report the results along with comments concerning OIOS to the General Assembly this September.

The IAAC will also prepare a report to the General Assembly and Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) containing comments on the OIOS proposed programme budget for the biennium 2010–2011.  This report will be submitted for publication by 5 June 2009.

The IAAC’s planned information-sharing discussion with the heads of oversight from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), as well as the meeting with the United Nations Ethics Office scheduled for the afternoon of 14 April, could not take place due to a power outage at the United Nations Secretariat.  These meetings will be rescheduled for the next IAAC session.

The next (seventh) session of the IAAC is scheduled for 30 June to 2 July 2009.

For further information on the work of the IAAC, please contact the Committee’s Executive Secretary, Uren Pillay, at e-mail: pillay@un.org, tel: +1 212 963 5674, fax: +1 212 963 0600

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For information media • not an official record