Independent Audit Advisory Committee Concludes Twentieth Session

 

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations held its twentieth session from 11 to 14 December 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 Independent Audit Advisory Committee — namely Adrian P. Strachan (Vice-Chairman); Vadim V. Dubinkin; J. Christopher Mihm; and Vinod Rai — were in attendance.

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee’s deliberations included inter alia meetings with:

1.    The Board of Auditors, on the major transformational projects in the United Nations, namely:  UMOJA; International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS); and the Capital Master Plan (CMP), and discussions on how risk is being managed in the Organization.

2.    Mounir Zahran, Chairman of the Joint Inspection Unit, on: (i) the cooperation among United Nations oversight bodies; (ii) the salient features of the report of the Joint Inspection Unit on the investigation function in the United Nations System; (iii) the content of the proposed workplan for 2012; and (iv) the status of the acceptance/implementation rate of Joint Inspection Unit recommendations, including an update with respect to its web-based tracking system.

3.    Gina Casar, Assistant Secretary-General, Controller, on the Office of Internal Oversight Services(OIOS) proposed budget for the support account for the period 1 July 2013-30 June 2014, and an update on the status of implementation of IPSAS.

4.    Yukio Takasu, Under-Secretary-General for Management, on: (i) the Implementation of the General Assembly resolution on accountability A/Res/64/259, including enterprise risk management; (ii) the status of implementation of oversight recommendations; (iii) key issues in the oversight bodies’ reports being discussed in the 67^th session of the General Assembly; (iv) update on the reform initiatives i.e. UMOJA, IPSAS, CMP; and (v) emerging risks.

5.    Ernesto Baca, the Assistant Secretary-General of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), on the status of implementation of the UMOJA project.

6.    David Kanja, Assistant Secretary-General, and senior managers of the OIOS regarding a wide range of matters, including: (i) the in-depth technical construction audit of the CMP operational constraints; (ii) the status of vacant posts; (iii) updated status of all outstanding recommendations; (iv) assessment of the impact of the recent reform initiatives of OIOS; and (v) follow-up on the issues that arose in the course of the year including the complaint from the International Trade Centre (ITC) regarding audit and investigation functions of OIOS.  In addition, the Independent Audit Advisory Committee was briefed on:  (i) the status of workplan implementation — planned vs. actual for the year 2012; (ii) budget proposal under the support account for peacekeeping operations for 2013-2014; (iii) the corresponding workplan and capacity gap analysis and budget execution; and (iv) status of implementations of the results of the Internal Audit Division External Quality Assurance.  Furthermore, the Independent Audit Advisory Committee was briefed on the outcome of external reviews performed on Inspection and Evaluation Division and Investigation Division and the implementation action plans were also discussed.

7.    The Management Committee, on the status of the oversight function in the organization — especially as it related to investigations, follow-up of oversight recommendations and the status of the enterprise risk management and the internal control systems in the United Nations.

Consistent with article 4 of its rules of procedure, the Independent Audit Advisory Committee unanimously elected J. Christopher Mihm as the Chairman of the Committee and Vadim V. Dubinkin as Vice-Chairman for the following year starting 1 January 2013.

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee also extended its appreciation to the outgoing Chairman John F.S. Muwanga and Vice-Chairman Adrian P. Strachan for the services rendered during the year.

The next (twenty-first) session of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee is scheduled for 4-6 February 2013 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 Bamuwamye, at 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