Independent Audit Advisory Committee Concludes Its Seventeenth Session

 

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations held its seventeenth session from 13 to 15 February 2012.  The session, which was held at United Nations Headquarters in New York, was presided over by the Chairman, John F. S. Muwanga.  All the other members of the Committee, namely Adrian P. Strachan (Vice-Chairman), Vadim V. Dubinkin, J. Christopher Mihm and Vinod Rai, were in attendance.

The Committee welcomed the new member, J. Christopher Mihm, who replaced David Walker, for a three-year term effective 1 January 2012.

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee’s agenda for the seventeenth session included meetings with:

1.                The Under-Secretary-General for Management, Angela Kane, who briefed the Committee on the status of the implementation of the General Assembly’s accountability resolution 64/259, including Enterprise Risk Management. Ms. Kane also provided some updates on other matters of importance to the Committee, including the status of the implementation of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and the effect of the reform initiative proposed by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).

2.                The Under-Secretary-General, Carman L. Lapointe, and senior managers and staff of OIOS regarding a wide range of matters including, funding arrangements, risk assessments conducted by OIOS, the status of the proposed external peer reviews, and the OIOS proposed reform initiatives.  In addition, the Committee discussed standard agenda items with OIOS pertaining to relationships with management, high-risk issues identified by OIOS, coordination with various oversight bodies and staff vacancies.  The Committee also received a briefing on the OIOS’ peacekeeping budget and workplan execution for 2010/11 and 2011/12, and the workplan and proposed budget for 2012/13 fiscal year.

3.                The Controller, Maria Eugenia Casar, who briefed the Committee on various issues including the status of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and the implications of its dependency on the implementation of the ERP, the status of the reports on the funding arrangements for OIOS and the “After-Service Health Insurance” (ASHI).

4.                The Chief Information Technology Officer, Choi Soon-hong, on the progress in the implementation of the ERP.

The next session of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee is scheduled for 14-16 May 2012 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

For further information on the work of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee, please contact the Committee’s Executive Secretary, Moses Bamuwamyeat e-mail: bamuwamye@un.org, tel.: +1 212 963 0788, fax: +1 212 963 0600.

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For information media • not an official record