Independent Audit Advisory Committee Holds Tenth Session

 

at Headquarters, 19-21 May

 

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations (IAAC) held its tenth session at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 19 to 21 May 2010.  The session was presided over by the Chairman, David M. Walker, and attended by all the Committee members, Vijayendra N. Kaul (Vice-Chairman), Vadim V. Dubinkin, John F.S. Muwanga and Adrian P. Strachan.

The IAAC’s agenda for the tenth session included:

Meeting with the Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) and senior managers and staff of OIOS.  The IAAC continued their discussions with OIOS on the status of implementation of recommendations by management, including the most critical recommendations, and recommendations not accepted by management.  The IAAC also enquired as to OIOS staff vacancies, operational constraints experienced by OIOS, and discussed the status of implementation of the OIOS work plan for the first quarter of the current calendar year.

Meeting with representatives of the Department of Management to discuss the pilot risk assessment and risk register, as discussed in the report of the Secretary-General “Towards an Accountability System in the United Nations Secretariat”.  In addition, the IAAC discussed the resolution that was recently adopted by the General Assembly on the report and steps that the Administration plans to take to implement the resolution, including time frames for implementation.  The IAAC also took the opportunity to follow up with the Department of Management on the status of implementation of recommendations made by oversight bodies.

The IAAC reviewed the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) and the Fifth Committee reports on the Secretary-General’s Report on Accountability.  The IAAC plans to include its comments to the General Assembly in a separate report.

The IAAC further discussed the review of its terms of reference, which the General Assembly decided to conduct in its sixty-fifth session.  The IAAC will include its related recommendations in its 2010 annual report.

A representative of the office of the Controller also briefed the Committee on United Nations rules and procedures with regard to recruitment of personnel, including the status of recruitment of an Executive Secretary for the Committee.

During the session, the Secretary of the Fifth Committee also briefed the IAAC members on the election process for membership to the IAAC.  The term of office of all current members started on 1 January 2008.  The Committee members serve an initial term of three or four years and can be appointed to a second and final term of three years, with the exception of two of the initial five members of the Committee, who were appointed for four years.  The term of office for three members with three year appointments is due to expire on 31 December 2010.

The next (eleventh) session of the IAAC is scheduled for 21-23 July 2010 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

For further information on the work of the IAAC, please contact the Committee’s Executive Secretary a.i., Ms. Hazelien Featherstone, at e-mail:  featherstoneh@un.org, tel.:  +1 212 963 1595, fax:  +1 212 963 0600.

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For information media • not an official record