Independent Audit Advisory Committee Holds Thirty-Second Session at Geneva Headquarters, 8-11 December

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations (IAAC) held its thirty-second session from 8 to 11 December at the United Nations Office at Geneva.  The session was presided over by the Chairman, J. Christopher Mihm.  All the other members of the IAAC, namely, Patricia X. Arriagada Villouta (Vice-Chair), Natalia A. Bocharova, Richard Quartei Quartey and Maria Gracia M. Pulido Tan, were in attendance.

The IAAC’s deliberations included inter-alia meetings with:

1. Michael Møller, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, to update him on the work of the IAAC and on matters of mutual interest.
2. Bettina Tucci Bartsiotas, Controller, on (i) the peacekeeping support account budget of Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) for 2016-2017; (ii) and other matters relating to the implementation of Umoja and International Public Sector Accounting Standards.
3. David Kanja, Assistant Secretary-General, Acting Head of the OIOS and senior managers regarding a wide range of matters, including:  (i) status of vacant posts; (ii) execution of the peacekeeping budget; (iii) the recommendations contained in the IAAC annual report, A/70/284; (iv) status of the peacekeeping workplan implementation; and (v) the coordination and cooperation among United Nations oversight bodies.
4. Mary Ncube, Chair, and members of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Independent Advisory Oversight Committee, on sharing of best practices, cooperation and coordination among oversight bodies.
5. Beate Degen, Chair of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Independent Management Advisory Committee, on sharing of best practices, cooperation and coordination among oversight bodies.
6. Linda Ryan, Controller/Director, Division of Financial and Administrative Management, and Henrik Malmquist, Director of the Investigation Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), on (i) proactive investigations; (ii) length of investigations; (iii) fraud prevention, detection and reporting; and (iv) investigation staff recruitment and retention.
7. The Board of Auditors, on the operational implications for the United Nations of the issues and trends apparent in the financial statements of the Organization and reports of the Board of Auditors for 2014.
8. Jorge Flores Callejas, Chair of the Joint Inspection Unit, on (i) the coordination and collaboration among oversight entities; (ii) the status of the JIU’s reviews of fraud prevention and detection and the state of the internal audit function; and (iii) the Joint Inspection Unit’s 2016 programme of work.

The IAAC unanimously re-elected J. Christopher Mihm as the Chair of the IAAC and elected Maria Gracia M. Pulido Tan as Vice-Chair for the following year starting 1 January 2016.

The next (thirty-third) session of the IAAC is scheduled for 17 to 19 February 2016 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

For further information on the work of the IAAC, please contact the Committee’s Executive Secretary, Moses Bamuwamye, at e-mail: bamuwamye@un.org; tel.: +1 212 963 0788; or fax: +1 212 963 0600.